Needing some help with a Poweredge dell 2900

Not unlike other "computers", you need drivers. Which RAID controller do you have? During POST, look for a CTRL-C utility for a SAS 5/6 or a CTRL-R utility for a PERC 5/6.

If using the PERC, you MUST configure the drives in a RAID array (it does not support non-RAID). When you configure it in CTRL-R, you must also check the Advanced and Initialize boxes. Do not select RAID 0.

the server is using PERC 5 on it cause I have been trying to set the Hard drivers to be the main boot driver well that is what my boss is wanting from the main server.Would I be able to set them in Raid 1?cause they only have two drivers for the server.

It doesn't matter if you use brand new high-end drives, you still should never use RAID 0, except for a very small number of legitimate scenarios.

You can update the 2900 firmware, and technically, you can run Server 2003 but it is end of life this month and, like XP, the situation should be closely evaluated before using. If this is going to be housing company data, then 2008 should be strongly considered (2008 and 2012 will run just fine on this server).

they are currently trying to install window server 2003 and sorry I know I should be carful on what words I use.The company I am currently working for have two poweredge 2900 that are second hand but the main server that is going to be the main dns has been acting weird ever since they got hit by the bitcoin versus last month but I am getting off topic. I know not to us Raid 0 since i don't know how old the HD are and don't want to risk one of them failing any time soon and losing a lot of the company date so i will be setting them up in Raid1. I am going to have to tell my boss to try and get a copy of window server 2008 or later since ours is kind of out of date. everything here is out of date.

oh ok thank you for that info and i am going to give it a try since i finelly have time to test it out. i will keep you post on what happens and everything. you will either hear from me today or on Monday just depeneds on what happens at work and again thank you for helping me out with this. i am slowly trying to learn how server work but the company has me training in other part of it self so i hardly have the time to learn things about servers.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions along the way. We can help with pretty much anything.

However, it isn't fair (or responsible) of your boss to assign you this task with no training. If it were simply for the learning experience, fine, but if this is for a production system, your boss (if technically capable) should be training you (and if he is not technically capable, he needs to keep out of it and pay for your training and/or hire a technical company to set it up).

UmbrellaCorp.,.

If per chance you are working on a production server I will guarantee you will make some major mistakes which are not repairable except with a high cost, time or money or maybe even you employment. If so, you should hire a IT pro to at least  to get your server setup on your network. I have repaired many server/network nightmares, there is no fun in working over night or 36 hours straight.

Since your going to manage the network I would recommend you purchase a reference book by Mark Minasi, he has a series of books on Microsoft server operating systems .

yes I agree with you and plus I am getting 7,50$ a hour and I know since I am under IT hardware support and if my boss that I work for ever leaves (pray to gods he doesn't)I begin come the main IT support for the server and any other IT work that they would need. I don't mind learning this because I really enjoy computers a lot and one day hope to be working for a major computer company.

I installed the raid allay correct and everything but it is not showing during the window install at all but when we go to install the raid drivers through window's they are not showing up something like that.

Sorry that I am answer your question poorly but I am learning as I go

So, which Windows version are you going with?

If 2003 32-bit, you will need this driver:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=GHNKT&fileId=3000719989&osCode=WNET&productCode=poweredge-2900&languageCode=EN&categoryId=SF

You will need to use nLiteOS.com to integrate the drivers into the install and create new media (or put them on a floppy drive and hit F6 during the install).

If 2008, the drivers should be native but RAID must first be configured. If RAID is configured but the drives are not seen, it is possible the system's firmware is very out of date. Boot to CTRL-R, CTRL MGMT and list the firmware package version. What is the BIOS version?

I see Flash got your raid question answered.

Trust me, your in for a learning experience :emotion-5:  The Minasi books are top notch, the author knows how to explain things, and his server books cover just about everything. Good luck

"Sorry that I am answer your question poorly but I am learning as I go"    No problem, after 32 1/2 years I am still learning as I go. That the nice part about IT, there is always something to learn.

oh ok once the main IT tech guy starts coming back to work. i will be able to try out the thing's you guys have been telling me to do since he is the only one with the server room keys. i can't go inside of it and plus i am trying to learn this stuff quick since i heard from other people that once a year he leave for about three months and if that happens. i take over as the main IT tech support for the company if that happens then i am going to be asking for money since right now i am only getting 7.50$ a hour.