Dell EMC BOSS-S1 User manual

Dell EMC BOSS-S1 (Boot Optimized Server
Storage)
User's Guide

Notes, cautions, and warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
Copyright ©2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other
trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.
2017 - 11
Rev. A02

Contents
1 Overview........................................................................................................................................................5
Supported operating systems...........................................................................................................................................6
Supported PowerEdge systems ......................................................................................................................................6
BOSS-S1 card specications.............................................................................................................................................7
Management applications for the BOSS-S1 controller.................................................................................................. 7
Updating the BOSS-S1 controller.................................................................................................................................... 8
Methods to update the BOSS-S1 rmware....................................................................................................................8
Related documentation..................................................................................................................................................... 8
2 Features........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Foreign import.................................................................................................................................................................... 9
SMART info.........................................................................................................................................................................9
Auto-rebuild.......................................................................................................................................................................10
Non-RAID disks support.................................................................................................................................................. 10
TRIM (Non-RAID physical disk)......................................................................................................................................10
Quick initialization............................................................................................................................................................. 10
Erase physical disk............................................................................................................................................................10
3 Deploying the BOSS card..............................................................................................................................11
Removing the BOSS-S1 card........................................................................................................................................... 11
Removing the M.2 SSD module................................................................................................................................12
Installing the M.2 SSD module.................................................................................................................................. 14
Installing the BOSS-S1 card.............................................................................................................................................15
4 Driver installation..........................................................................................................................................17
5 UEFI/HII RAID conguration utility...............................................................................................................18
Entering the UEFI conguration utility...........................................................................................................................18
Exiting the UEFI conguration utility..............................................................................................................................18
Navigating to BOSS-S1 conguration utility..................................................................................................................19
Physical/virtual disk information.....................................................................................................................................19
Physical disk information............................................................................................................................................19
Virtual Disk Information..............................................................................................................................................19
Virtual disk import...................................................................................................................................................... 20
Creating virtual disks....................................................................................................................................................... 20
Deleting virtual disks........................................................................................................................................................20
RAID rebuild...................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Erase physical disk........................................................................................................................................................... 20
Controller information.......................................................................................................................................................21
Clear controller conguration.................................................................................................................................... 21
6 BOSS-S1 CLI commands............................................................................................................................. 22
Contents 3

Using CLI commands from Windows............................................................................................................................ 22
Using CLI command from Linux..................................................................................................................................... 22
Using CLI commands from ESXi.................................................................................................................................... 22
Supported BOSS-S1 CLI commands............................................................................................................................. 23
7 Troubleshooting........................................................................................................................................... 24
BOSS-S1 CLI displays No Adapter Found error in Linux............................................................................................. 24
LC log displays fan unavailability error........................................................................................................................... 24
Updating BOSS-S1 controller rmware using iDRAC/LC fails....................................................................................24
Physical disk size as zero in iDRAC................................................................................................................................25
Character limitation while naming a virtual disk........................................................................................................... 25
VMFS datastore is disabled on the 14th generation of PowerEdge systems that are shipped with VMware
ESXi installed on BOSS-S1..............................................................................................................................................25
Physical disk not visible to operating system............................................................................................................... 25
Virtual disk not visible to operating system.................................................................................................................. 25
Drive replacement............................................................................................................................................................26
Controller replacement....................................................................................................................................................26
Controller failure............................................................................................................................................................... 26
Unable to boot to M.2 drive installed in slot 1...............................................................................................................26
CLI reports unsupported features..................................................................................................................................26
Failure to install ESXi on RAID 1...................................................................................................................................... 27
8 Getting help.................................................................................................................................................28
Contacting Dell................................................................................................................................................................. 28
Documentation feedback................................................................................................................................................28
4Contents

Overview
BOSS-S1 is a simple RAID solution card designed specically for booting a server's operating system. The card supports up to two 6 Gbps
M.2 SATA drives. The BOSS-S1 adapter card has a x8 connector using PCIe gen 2.0 x2 lanes, available only in the low-prole and half-
height form factor. The BOSS-S1 modular card has a dedicated slot in modular servers.
NOTE: There are no status LEDs on the BOSS-S1 card.
Figure 1. Features of adapter BOSS-S1 card
1SATA drive connector (2) 2 80 mm M.2 SATA drive 1
3 80 mm M.2 SATA drive 2
Figure 2. Features of BOSS-S1 modular card
1modular BOSS-S1 card 2 SATA drive connector
3 80 mm M.2 SATA drive
Topics:
1
Overview 5

• Supported operating systems
• Supported PowerEdge systems
• BOSS-S1 card specications
• Management applications for the BOSS-S1 controller
• Updating the BOSS-S1 controller
• Methods to update the BOSS-S1 rmware
• Related documentation
Supported operating systems
The BOSS-S1 card supports the following operating systems:
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 6.9
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 7.4
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 12 SP3
• VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 3
• VMware ESXi 6.5 Update 1
• Ubuntu version 16.04
NOTE: For the latest list of supported operating systems and driver installation instructions, see the system documentation at
Dell.com/operatingsystemmanuals. For specic operating system service pack requirements, see the Drivers and Downloads
section at Dell.com/manuals.
Supported PowerEdge systems
The following PowerEdge systems support the BOSS-S1 adapter card:
• PowerEdge C4140
• PowerEdge R440
• PowerEdge R540
• PowerEdge R540xd
• PowerEdge R640
• PowerEdge R740
• PowerEdge R740xd
• PowerEdge R940
• PowerEdge R6415
• PowerEdge R7415
• PowerEdge R7425
• PowerEdge T640
• PowerEdge T440
The following PowerEdge systems support the BOSS-S1 modular card:
• PowerEdge C6420
• PowerEdge FC640
• PowerEdge M640 (for M1000e)
• PowerEdge M640 (for VRTX)
6Overview

BOSS-S1 card specications
The following table lists the BOSS-S1 card feature specications:
Table 1. BOSS-S1 card feature specications
Feature BOSS-S1 card
RAID levels RAID 1
Stripe size Supports default 64K stripe size only
Battery backup unit No
Non-Volatile cache No
Virtual disk cache function Write through
Maximum number of virtual disks 1
Maximum number of drives supported Two
Support for Non-RAID disks Yes (supports up to two disks)
Drive types 6 Gbps M.2 SATA SSDs
PCIe support Gen 2
Disk cache policy Drive default
TRIM Non-RAID disk mode
Management applications for the BOSS-S1 controller
Management applications enable you to manage and congure the RAID system, create and manage the disk group, and provide online
maintenance. The management applications for BOSS-S1 card include:
•Unied Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) RAID Conguration Utility — This storage management application is integrated into
the System BIOS (F2). See UEFI/HII RAID conguration utility.
•Dell OpenManage Storage Management — This application enables you to perform controller and enclosure functions for all
supported RAID controllers and enclosures from a single graphical or command-line interface. For more information, see the Dell
OpenManage Storage Management User's Guide at Dell.com/openmanagemanuals.
•BOSS-S1 Command Line Interface (CLI) Utility — This application enables you to check controller, Physical Disk and Virtual Disk
status while booted to an operating system. The application is also used to check SMART data from the physical disks or display
controller events. Windows systems use the mvsetup utility while Linux systems use the mvcli utility. BOSS-S1 CLI Utility also supports
ESXi. For more information about the CLI commands, see BOSS-S1 CLI commands.
NOTE: To use the mvsetup Windows utility, the BOSS-S1 management driver must rst be installed. Linux mvcli does not
require a driver. You may download the latest Windows driver from the Dell.com/support.
NOTE: To remove mvcli from operating systems, uninstall BOSS-S1 drivers from operating systems or remove libraries
and executables.
NOTE: Systems Management through iDRAC/LC is not enabled in the rmware version A00. It is available in A01 and later
versions.
•iDRAC and LC — This application enables you to eectively monitor the RAID and network controllers installed on the system using
iDRAC and LC without an OS installed on the system. For more information, see the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9 User's
Guide at Dell.com/idracmanuals.
Overview 7

Updating the BOSS-S1 controller
You can update controller rmware using Lifecycle Controller (LC), iDRAC, or UEFI shell. The controller rmware can be updated using
BOSS-S1 CLI and Dell Update Package (when booted to an operating system). You can download the latest DUP and BOSS-S1 CLI from
Dell.com/support.
Methods to update the BOSS-S1 rmware
The BOSS-S1 card rmware updates can be done using the following methods:
• Firmware update using operating system Dell Update Packages
• Firmware update using UEFI Shell
• Firmware update using BOSS-S1 CLI
• Firmware update using iDRAC
• Firmware update using Lifecycle Controller
Related documentation
NOTE:
• For all Dell OpenManage documents, go to Dell.com/openmanagemanuals.
• For all operating system documents, go to Dell.com/operatingsystemmanuals.
• For all PowerEdge documentation, go to Dell.com/poweredgemanuals.
8 Overview

Features
BOSS-S1 card supports the below mentioned features:
Topics:
• Foreign import
• SMART info
• Auto-rebuild
• Non-RAID disks support
• TRIM (Non-RAID physical disk)
• Quick initialization
• Erase physical disk
Foreign import
A virtual disk is considered foreign if it is not native to the adapter.
• A virtual disk is considered native to the adapter if:
• The virtual disk was created or imported on the adapter.
• A physical disk is considered native to the adapter if:
• There is no previous virtual disk metadata on the adapter and the physical disk are uncongured.
• All congured virtual disk on the physical disk are deleted
System needs to be rebooted after performing foreign import.
To check for previous virtual disk metadata, see Controller Information. Only a virtual disk or physical disk native to adapter will be
presented to the operating system.
Upon migrating two foreign drives to a controller, you must do either of the following:
• Clear the Controller Conguration if using uncongured drives — Clear Controller Conguration.
• Import the virtual disk if using congured drives — Virtual Disk Import.
SMART info
SMART monitors certain physical aspects of all motors, heads, and physical disk electronics to help detect predictable physical disk failures.
Data on SMART-compliant physical disks can be monitored to identify changes in values and determine whether the values are within
threshold limits. Many mechanical and electrical failures display some degradation in performance before failure.
A SMART failure is also referred to as predicted failure. There are numerous factors that are predicted physical disk failures, such as a
bearing failure, a broken read/write head, and changes in spin-up rate. In addition, there are factors related to read/write surface failure,
such as seek error rate and excessive bad sectors.
NOTE: BOSS-S1 CLI displays error message with the status OK and NOT OK along with smart attributes.
2
Features 9

Auto-rebuild
A virtual disk rebuild will begin on system boot automatically if the native virtual disk is degraded and a valid rebuild target is present. A valid
rebuild target is any functional drive attached to the BOSS-S1 device which is not part of the native virtual disk and is of equal or greater
storage capacity. An auto-rebuild occurs without prompting the user, and any data on the rebuild target is overwritten.
Non-RAID disks support
By default, all disks are in an uncongured state.
NOTE:
• For BOSS-S1, uncongured drives are automatically non-RAID drives. To convert RAID drives to non-RAID drives, delete the virtual
disk.
• BOSS only supports one congured (RAID) and two uncongured states. BOSS does not break unconfigured drives into RAID
and non-RAID states.
TRIM (Non-RAID physical disk)
TRIM allows an operating system to delete a block of data that is no longer considered in use from SSDs. For supported operating systems,
the TRIM command resolves the Write Amplication issue. When an operating system deletes a le, the le is marked for deletion in the le
system, but the contents on the disk are not actually erased. As a result, the SSDs do not know the LBA (Logical Block Addressing)
previously occupied can be erased. With the introduction of TRIM, when a le is deleted, the operating system sends a TRIM command
along with the LBAs that do not contain valid data to the physical disk.
Quick initialization
Quick initialization is a feature that enables you erase the les and le systems from the virtual disk while keeping the virtual disk
conguration intact.
Erase physical disk
Erase physical disk feature deletes metadata from the physical disk. This feature can be enabled only when the physical disk is not part of
any virtual disk.
10 Features

Deploying the BOSS card
This section provides a set of high-level installation and removal instructions for the BOSS-S1 card.
Topics:
• Removing the BOSS-S1 card
• Installing the BOSS-S1 card
Removing the BOSS-S1 card
CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple
repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage
due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that are
shipped with your product.
1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals.
NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior
of the system.
2 Open the system.
3 Locate the BOSS-S1 card on the system board.
CAUTION: To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.
4 For the modular card, loosen the screw that secures the card to the system board.
5 After ensuring that the PCIe bracket is unobstructed, lift the card to remove it from the connector on the system board.
3
Deploying the BOSS card 11

Figure 3. Removing the BOSS-S1 card
1 BOSS-S1 card 2 card connector on the system board
Figure 4. Removing the modular card
1modular card 2 card connector on the system board
Removing the M.2 SSD module
CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple
repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage
due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that are
shipped with your product.
1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals.
12 Deploying the BOSS card

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior
of the system.
2 Open the system.
3 Remove the card. See Removing the BOSS-S1 card.
4 Loosen and remove the screw that secures the M.2 SSD module on the card.
5 Lift the M.2 SSD module away from the card.
Figure 5. Removing the M.2 SSD module
1module connector (2) 2 module (2)
Figure 6. Removing the M.2 SSD module for modular card
1module connector 2 module
Deploying the BOSS card 13

Installing the M.2 SSD module
CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple
repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage
due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that are
shipped with your product.
1 Align the M.2 SSD module connectors with the connectors on the card.
2 Tilt the M.2 SSD module downwards until the module is seated rmly on the card.
3 Tighten the screw that secures the M.2 SSD module on the card.
Figure 7. Installing the M.2 SSD module
1module connector (2) 2 modules (2)
14 Deploying the BOSS card

Figure 8. Installing the M.2 SSD module for modular card
1 module connector 2 modules
Installing the BOSS-S1 card
CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple
repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage
due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that are
shipped with your product.
1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals.
NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior
of the system.
2 Open the system.
3 Hold the card by its edges and align the card connector with the connector on the system board.
CAUTION: To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.
4 Press the card-edge down until the card is fully seated.
5 For modular card, tighten the screw that secures the card to the system board.
6 Close the system.
7 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.
Deploying the BOSS card 15

Figure 9. Installing the BOSS-S1 card
1 BOSS-S1 card 2 card connector on the system board
Figure 10. IInstalling the modular card
1modular card 2 card connector on the system board
16 Deploying the BOSS card

Driver installation
The BOSS-S1 card uses the native AHCI driver of the supported operating systems.
Windows driver installation — The Driver Update Package (DUP) updates drivers on the systems running Windows Server 2012 R2 and
later operating system. DUP is an executable application that updates drivers for specic devices. DUP supports command line interface
and silent execution. For more information, see Dell.com/support.
Linux driver installation — The Driver Update Disk (DUD) images are created only for those operating system releases in which the native
(in-box) driver is insucient for installation.
ESXi driver installation — By default, native AHCI driver is the inbox for installation.
4
Driver installation 17

UEFI/HII RAID conguration utility
The Unied Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) RAID conguration utility is a storage management application integrated into the System
BIOS <F2>. It is used to congure and manage RAID disk groups, virtual disks, and physical disks. This utility is independent of the
operating system.
The following sections provide information about using the UEFI RAID conguration utility. For more information, see the online help option
in the UEFI RAID conguration utility.
NOTE: Use the UEFI RAID conguration utility for initial setup and disaster recovery. Certain advanced features are also oered
in the utility.
Topics:
• Entering the UEFI conguration utility
• Exiting the UEFI conguration utility
• Navigating to BOSS-S1 conguration utility
• Physical/virtual disk information
• Creating virtual disks
• Deleting virtual disks
• RAID rebuild
• Erase physical disk
• Controller information
Entering the UEFI conguration utility
Perform the following steps to boot to the UEFI conguration utility:
1 Turn on the system.
2 While the system is booting, press <F2> to enter System Setup.
3 Click Device Settings.
Device Settings lists all the RAID controllers in the system.
To access the management menu for the controller, use the arrow keys or the mouse.
NOTE: For more information in all the options, click Help that is available on the top right-hand corner of the browser
screen. Help information for individual option menus can also be viewed by scrolling down on each option.
NOTE: Some of the options within the UEFI RAID conguration utility are not present if the controller does not support
the corresponding feature. Options may also be grayed out if the feature is not supported in the existing conguration.
Exiting the UEFI conguration utility
To exit the UEFI conguration utility, perform the following steps:
1 Click Finish at the bottom-right corner on the System Setup Main Menu screen.
5
18 UEFI/HII RAID conguration utility

Displays a warning message to conrm your choice.
2 Click Yes to exit the conguration utility.
NOTE: Depending on the device conguration changes, exiting the UEFI conguration utility may prompt for a system
reboot.
Navigating to BOSS-S1 conguration utility
1 Enter the UEFI conguration utility. See Entering the UEFI RAID conguration utility
The Device Settings screen displays a list of NIC ports and the BOSS-S1 conguration utility.
2 To enter BOSS-S1 conguration utility, click BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility.
Displays the list of Conguration Options:
•Physical/Virtual Disk Information — allows you to view the properties of physical disks and virtual disks
•Create RAID Conguration — allows you to congure a virtual disk
•Delete RAID Conguration — allows you to delete a virtual disk
•RAID Rebuild — allows you to rebuild a degraded RAID volume, if a suitable peer drive is available
•Erase Physical Disk — allows you to clear RAID setting on a physical disk
•Controller Information — allows you to view BOSS-S1 adapter information
Physical/virtual disk information
The Physical/virtual disk information menu allows the user to view physical disk properties and virtual disk properties.
Physical disk information
To view physical disk information:
1 Enter the BOSS-S1 Conguration utility. See Navigating to BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility.
2 Click Physical/Virtual disk information.
3 By default, Physical disk info radio button is selected.
4 All available physical disks are displayed.
5 Select a physical disk to view its information.
Virtual Disk Information
To view virtual disk information:
1 Enter the BOSS-S1 Conguration utility. See Navigating to BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility.
2 Click Physical/Virtual disk information.
3 Select the Virtual disk info radio button.
4 All available virtual disks are displayed.
5 Select a virtual disk to view its information.
6 Quick initialization will be observed in the virtual disk information.
UEFI/HII RAID conguration utility 19

Virtual disk import
The Import operation sets a foreign virtual disk as native to the conguration.
1 Click Virtual disk information.
2 Select Import.
3 Press Enter.
Creating virtual disks
1 Enter the BOSS-S1 conguration utility. See Navigating to BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility.
2 Click create RAID conguration.
3 Select the devices by selecting the radio button next to the available physical disks.
4 Click Next.
5 Specify the name for the virtual disk in the Name eld.
NOTE: Usage of special characters is allowed but HII will display a warning message.
6 Select Quick initialization option as either Yes or No when displayed.
7 Virtual disks are created with Quick initialization by default.
Deleting virtual disks
1 Enter the BOSS-S1 conguration utility. See Navigating to BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility.
2 Click Delete RAID conguration.
3 Select the virtual disk by selecting the check box next to the available RAID conguration.
4 Select Yes by selecting the radio button next to the message Are you sure you want to delete the selected
Virtual Disk?.
5 Click Next to delete the selected virtual disk.
RAID rebuild
You can manually rebuild a degraded virtual disk. RAID rebuild is available only when a degraded RAID volume is present and there is an
available target device. If a foreign virtual disk has rebuild state, rebuild starts automatically when the virtual disk is imported. Clear
conguration operation does not aect any BGA like rebuild.
Erase physical disk
1 Enter the BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to BOSS-S1 Conguration Utility.
2 Click Erase Physical Disk.
3 Select the devices by selecting the check box next to the available Physical Disk conguration.
4 Select the radio button Yes next to the message : Would you like to erase this Physical Disk?
5 Click Next.
After the Physical Disk is successfully erased, the Physical Disk Information tab shows the Physical Disk status as uncongured.
NOTE: Erase physical disk is not supported when physical disk is part of Virtual disk.
20 UEFI/HII RAID conguration utility