Dell PowerVault NX300 User manual

Dell™ PowerVault™
NX300 Systems
Hardware Owner’s
Manual
book.book Page 1 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if
instructions are not followed.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal
injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2009 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc.;
Microsoft, Windows,and Windows Server are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
August 2009 Rev. A00
book.book Page 2 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

Contents 3
Contents
1 About Your System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Accessing System Features During Startup. . . . . . . . 9
Front-Panel Features and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . 10
LCD Panel Features (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Hard Drive Status Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Back-Panel Features and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . 17
Guidelines for Connecting Optional External
Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
NIC Indicator Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Power Indicator Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Diagnostic Lights (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
LCD Status Messages (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Diagnostics Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Alert Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Other Information You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
book.book Page 3 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

4Contents
2 Using the System Setup Program and
UEFI Boot Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Choosing the System Boot Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Entering the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . 58
System Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Entering the UEFI Boot Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
System and Setup Password Features. . . . . . . . . . 72
Embedded System Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Baseboard Management Controller
Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
iDRAC Configuration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3 Installing System Components . . . . . . . 79
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Inside the System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Removing and Replacing the Optional
Front Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Opening and Closing the System . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Hard Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Integrated Storage Controller Card . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Expansion-Card Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
book.book Page 4 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

Contents 5
Internal USB Memory Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
System Board Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
iDRAC6 Express Card (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
iDRAC6 Enterprise Card (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . 106
VFlash Media (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Cooling Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
RAID Battery (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
System Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
System Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Control Panel Assembly-LED/LCD (Optional) . . . . . . 132
SAS Backplane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Power Distribution Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4 Troubleshooting Your System . . . . . . . . 147
Safety First—For You and Your System . . . . . . . . . 147
Troubleshooting System Startup Failure . . . . . . . . 147
Troubleshooting External Connections . . . . . . . . . 147
Troubleshooting the Video Subsystem . . . . . . . . . 148
Troubleshooting a USB Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
book.book Page 5 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

6Contents
Troubleshooting a Serial I/O Device. . . . . . . . . . 149
Troubleshooting a NIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Troubleshooting a Wet System. . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Troubleshooting a Damaged System. . . . . . . . . . 151
Troubleshooting the System Battery . . . . . . . . . . 152
Troubleshooting Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Troubleshooting System Cooling Problems . . . . . . 153
Troubleshooting a Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Troubleshooting System Memory . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Troubleshooting an Internal USB Key . . . . . . . . . 156
Troubleshooting an Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Troubleshooting an External Tape Drive. . . . . . . . 157
Troubleshooting a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Troubleshooting a SAS or SAS RAID
Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Troubleshooting Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Troubleshooting the Microprocessors . . . . . . . . 162
5 Running the System Diagnostics . . . . . . 167
Using Online Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Embedded System Diagnostics Features . . . . . . . 167
When to Use the Embedded System
Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
book.book Page 6 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

Contents 7
Running the Embedded System Diagnostics . . . . . . 168
Embedded System Diagnostics Testing Options . . . . 168
Using the Custom Test Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6 Jumpers and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . 171
System Board Jumpers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
System Board Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Disabling a Forgotten Password . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
7 Getting Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
book.book Page 7 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

8Contents
book.book Page 8 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

About Your System 9
About Your System
Accessing System Features During Startup
The following keystrokes provide access to system features during startup.
Keystroke Description
<F2> Enters the System Setup program. See "Using the System Setup
Program and UEFI Boot Manager" on page 57.
<F10> Enters System Services, which opens the Unified Server Configurator.
The Unified Server Configurator allows you to access utilities such as
embedded system diagnostics. For more information, see the Unified
Server Configurator documentation.
<F11> Enters the BIOS Boot Manager or the UEFI Boot Manager,
depending on the system’s boot configuration. See "Using the System
Setup Program and UEFI Boot Manager" on page 57.
<F12> Starts PXE boot.
<Ctrl><E> Enters the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) or iDRAC
Configuration Utility, which allows access to the system event log
(SEL) and configuration of remote access to the system. For more
information, see the BMC or iDRAC user documentation.
<Ctrl><C> Enters the SAS Configuration Utility. See your SAS adapter
documentation for more information.
<Ctrl><R> Enters the RAID Configuration Utility. For more information, see the
documentation for your SAS RAID card.
<Ctrl><S> Enters the utility to configure NIC settings for PXE boot. For more
information, see the documentation for your integrated NIC.
book.book Page 9 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

10 About Your System
Front-Panel Features and Indicators
Figure 1-1. Front-Panel Features and Indicators
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
Icon Description
1 Power-on indicator,
power button
The power-on indicator lights when the
system power is on.
The power button controls the
DC power supply output to the system.
When the optional system bezel is
installed, the power button is not
accessible.
NOTE: When powering on the system,
the video monitor can take from several
seconds to over 2 minutes to display an
image, depending on the amount of
memory installed in the system.
NOTE: On ACPI-compliant operating
systems, turning off the system using the
power button causes the system to
perform a graceful shutdown before
power to the system is turned off.
NOTE: To force an ungraceful shutdown,
press and hold the power button for
five seconds.
1 2 34
5789
610
book.book Page 10 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

About Your System 11
2 NMI button Used to troubleshoot software and
device driver errors when using certain
operating systems. This button can be
pressed using the end of a paper clip.
Use this button only if directed to do so
by qualified support personnel or by the
operating system's documentation.
3 Video connector Connects a monitor to the system.
4 LCD menu buttons Allows you to navigate the control panel
LCD menu.
5 LED or LCD panel NOTE: Depending on the configuration,
your system may have either LED
diagnostic indicators or an LCD panel.
LED panel: The four diagnostic
indicator lights display error codes
during system startup. See "Diagnostic
Lights (Optional)" on page 21.
LCD panel: Provides system ID, status
information, and system error messages.
The LCD lights during normal system
operation. Both the systems management
software and the identification buttons
located on the front and back of the
system can cause the LCD to flash blue
to identify a particular system.
The LCD lights amber when the system
needs attention, and the LCD panel
displays an error code followed by
descriptive text.
NOTE: If the system is connected to
AC power and an error has been
detected, the LCD lights amber
regardless of whether the system
has been powered on.
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
Icon Description
book.book Page 11 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

12 About Your System
LCD Panel Features (Optional)
The system's LCD panel provides system information and status and error
messages to signify when the system is operating correctly or when the system
needs attention. See "LCD Status Messages (Optional)" on page 23 for
information on specific status codes.
The LCD backlight lights blue during normal operating conditions and lights
amber to indicate an error condition. When the system is in standby mode,
the LCD backlight will switch off after five minutes of inactivity, and can be
turned on by pressing the Select button on the LCD panel. The LCD
backlight will remain off if LCD messaging is turned off through the BMC or
iDRAC utility, the LCD panel, or other tools.
6 System identification
button
The identification buttons on the front
and back panels can be used to locate
a particular system within a rack.
When one of these buttons is pushed,
the LCD panel on the front and the blue
system status indicator on the back blink
until one of the buttons is pushed again.
7 USB connectors (2) Connects USB devices to the system.
The ports are USB 2.0-compliant.
8 Hard drives (4) Up to four 2.5-inch in 3.5-inch HDD hot
swap carrier or up to four 3.5-inch
cabled/hot swap.
9 System identification
panel
A slide-out panel for system information
including the Express Service tag,
embedded NIC MAC address, and
iDRAC6 Enterprise card MAC address.
10 Optical drive
(optional)
One optional slim-line SATA
DVD-ROM drive or DVD+/-RW drive.
NOTE: DVD devices are data only.
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
Icon Description
book.book Page 12 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

About Your System 13
Figure 1-2. LCD Panel Features
Home Screen
The Home screen displays user-configurable information about the system.
This screen is displayed during normal system operation when there are no
status messages or errors present. When the system is in standby mode,
the LCD backlight will turn off after five minutes of inactivity if there are
no error messages. Press one of the three navigation buttons (Select, Left,
or Right) to view the Home screen.
Item Buttons Description
1 Left Moves the cursor back in one-step increments.
2 Select Selects the menu item highlighted by the
cursor.
3 Right Moves the cursor forward in one-step
increments.
During message scrolling:
• Press once to increase scrolling speed.
• Press again to stop.
• Press again to return to default scrolling.
• Press again to repeat the cycle.
4 System ID Turns the system ID mode on and off. (LCD
panel flashes blue) after "system ID mode on."
Press quickly to toggle the system ID on and
off. If the system hangs during POST, press and
hold the system ID button for more than
five seconds to enter BIOS Progress mode.
124
3
book.book Page 13 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

14 About Your System
To navigate to the Home screen from another menu, continue to select the
up arrow until the Home icon is displayed, and then select the
Home icon.
Setup Menu
Option Description
BMC or DRAC
NOTE: If an iDRAC6 Express
card is installed on the
system, the BMC option is
replaced by DRAC.
Select DHCP or Static IP to configure the network
mode. If Static IP is selected, the available fields are IP,
Subnet (Sub), and Gateway (Gtw). Select Setup DNS to
enable DNS and to view domain addresses. Two separate
DNS entries are available.
Set error Select SEL to display LCD error messages in a format
that matches the IPMI description in the SEL. This can
be useful when trying to match an LCD message with an
SEL entry.
Select Simple to display LCD error messages in a more
user-friendly description. See "LCD Status Messages
(Optional)" on page 23 for a list of messages in this
format.
Set home Select the default information to be displayed on the
LCD Home screen. See "View Menu" on page 15 to see
the options and option items that can be selected to
display by default on the Home screen.
book.book Page 14 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

About Your System 15
View Menu
Option Description
BMC IP or DRAC IP
NOTE: If an iDRAC6 Express
card is installed on the
system, the BMC IP option is
replaced by DRAC IP.
Displays the IPv4 or IPv6 addresses for the optional
iDRAC6. Addresses include DNS (Primary and Secondary),
Gateway, IP, and Subnet (IPv6 does not have Subnet).
NOTE: BMC IP supports only IPv4 addresses.
MAC Displays the MAC addresses for DRAC, iSCSIn, or NETn.
NOTE: If the iDRAC6 Express card is not installed on the
system, the MAC option displays the MAC addresses for
BMC, iSCSIn, or NETn.
Name Displays the name of the Host, Model, or User String for
the system.
Number Displays the Asset tag or the Service tag for the system.
Power Displays the power output of the system in BTU/hr or
Watts. The display format can be configured in the "Set
home" submenu of the Setup menu (see "Setup Menu"
on page 14).
Temperature Displays the temperature of the system in Celsius or
Fahrenheit. The display format can be configured in the
"Set home" submenu of the Setup menu (see "Setup
Menu" on page 14).
book.book Page 15 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

16 About Your System
Hard Drive Status Indicators
Figure 1-3. Hard Drive Indicators
1 drive-activity indicator (green) 2 drive-status indicator (green and amber)
Drive-Status Indicator Pattern (RAID Only) Condition
Blinks green two times per second Identify drive/preparing for removal
Off Drive ready for insertion or removal
NOTE: The drive status indicator remains
off until all hard drives are initialized after
system power is applied. Drives are not
ready for insertion or removal during this
time.
Blinks green, amber, and off Drive predicted failure
12
book.book Page 16 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

About Your System 17
Back-Panel Features and Indicators
Figure 1-4 shows the controls, indicators, and connectors located on the
system's back panel.
Figure 1-4. Back-Panel Features and Indicators
Blinks amber four times per second Drive failed
Blinks green slowly Drive rebuilding
Steady green Drive online
Blinks green three seconds, amber three
seconds, and off six seconds.
Rebuild aborted
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
Icon Description
1 serial connector Connects a serial device to the system.
2 video connector Connects a VGA display to the system.
3 VFlash media slot
(optional)
Connects an external SD memory card
for the optional iDRAC6 Enterprise
card.
4 iDRAC6 Enterprise
port (optional)
Dedicated management port for the
optional iDRAC6 Enterprise card.
5 USB connectors (2) Connects USB devices to the system.
The ports are USB 2.0-compliant.
6 Ethernet connectors
(2)
Embedded 10/100/1000 NIC
connectors.
Drive-Status Indicator Pattern (RAID Only) Condition
2
1346 910 11 12
8
7
5
book.book Page 17 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

18 About Your System
7 PCIe slot 1 PCI Express (generation 2) x16-wide
expansion slot (full-height,
half-length).
8 Active ID CMA
connector
Connector for attaching a system
indicator extension cable that is used
on a cable management arm.
9 System status
indicator light
Lights blue during normal
system operation.
Both the systems management software
and the identification buttons located
on the front and back of the system can
cause the indicator to flash blue to
identify a particular system.
Lights amber when the system needs
attention due to a problem.
10 system identification
button
Turns the system ID modes on and off.
The identification buttons on the front
and back panels can be used to locate a
particular system within a rack. When
one of these buttons is pushed, the
LCD panel on the front and the system
status indicator on the chassis back
panel light blue until one of the
buttons is pushed again.
11 power supply 1(PS1) 500-W power supply (redundant).
12 power supply 2(PS2) 500-W power supply (redundant) or
480-W power supply (non-redundant).
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
Icon Description
book.book Page 18 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

About Your System 19
Guidelines for Connecting Optional External
Devices
• Turn off power to the system and external devices before attaching a new
external device. Turn on any external devices before turning on the system
(unless the documentation for the device specifies otherwise).
• Ensure that the appropriate driver for the attached device has been
installed on the system.
• If necessary to enable ports on your system, use the System Setup program.
S
ee "Using the System Setup Program and UEFI Boot Manager " on
page 57
.
NIC Indicator Codes
Figure 1-5. NIC Indicators
1 link indicator 2 activity indicator
Indicator Indicator Code
Link and activity
indicators are off
The NIC is not connected to the network.
Link indicator is green The NIC is connected to a valid link partner on the
network.
Link indicator is amber The NIC is connected to a valid network link at 10/100
Mbps.
Activity indicator is
amber blinking
Network data is being sent or received.
12
book.book Page 19 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM

20 About Your System
Power Indicator Codes
An LED indicator on the power button indicates when power is supplied to
the system and the system is operational.
The power supplies have an indicator that shows whether power is present or
whether a power fault has occurred.
• Not lit — AC power is not connected.
• Green — In standby mode, indicates that a valid AC source is connected to
the power supply, and that the power supply is operational. When the system
is on, it also indicates that the power supply is providing DC power to the
system.
• Amber — Indicates a problem with the power supply.
• Alternating green and amber — When hot-adding a power supply, this
indicates that the power supply is mismatched with the other power supply
(a high output power supply and a Energy Smart power supply are installed in
the same system). Replace the power supply that has the flashing indicator with
a power supply that matches the capacity of the other installed power supply.
Figure 1-6. Power Supply Status Indicator
1 power supply status
1
book.book Page 20 Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:27 AM