How to Enable Drive

Write Cache on SATA

Hard Drives for HP
ProLiant ML and DL
Servers

June 2009

© 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice
DWC disabled by default
HP SAS and SATA hard drives used in ProLiant servers are
shipped with Drive Write Cache (DWC) disabled (by default) to
protect customer data. HP customers should evaluate their own
unique environments before determining that enabling DWC is
appropriate for them.

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Enable using ACU
Beginning with Smart Array Controller firmware version 4.06
(and later), DWC can be enabled on Smart Array P400/P400i,
Smart Array E500, and Smart Array P800 Controllers using the
Array Configuration Utility (ACU) or ACU Command Line
Interface (ACU CLI) version 7.85.18.0 (or later).
However, if power is lost, there is no battery backup to protect
data in the DWC.

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Protect your Data
Enabling DWC may result in loss of data if power is lost to the server and
there is no power protection configured for the server. Before enabling
DWC, HP recommends that the following best practices be considered:
− Install a redundant power supply in the server (if available).
− If redundant power supplies are used and one power supply fails, temporarily disable Drive
Write Cache until a replacement power supply has been installed.
− If redundant power supplies are used, add an additional layer of power protection by
connecting each power supply in the server to a separate Uninterruptible Power Supply
(UPS).
− If multiple UPSs are used, add an additional layer of power protection by connecting each
UPS to a different AC circuit.

Note: I/O performance levels can be optimized without DWC by increasing the number of SATA drives in the
array and setting the logical drive stripe size to the maximum (256 K) using the HP Array Configuration
Utility.

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Locating the correct firmware
Firmware version 4.06 (or later) can be located by
performing the following navigation:
− Go to www.hp.com
− Select Software and Driver Downloads .
− Enter a product name or number (for example, "P400").
− Select the specific model from the Product Search Results page (if this
screen appears).
− Select the appropriate operating system.
− Select Firmware - Storage Controller .
− Download the latest version of the firmware.

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Changing the Disk Write Cache (DWC) setting for
Embedded SATA RAID Controller
For the following servers: ML110 G3, ML310 G3, DL320 G4

To enable or disable the drive write cache for an array:

Go to: HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller User Guide
http://bizsupport.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00771065/c00771065.pdf

Or…
1. Press Ctrl+A or F8
2. From the main menu of the array configuration utility, select Manage Arrays,
and press the Enter key.
3. From the List of Arrays, select the array for which you want to modify the
write cache setting, and press the Ctrl+W keys. A dialog box appears asking
you to confirm that you want to modify the setting.
4. Press the Y key to change the current setting.

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How to enable write cache on Smart Array Controllers
for ProLiant ML and DL Servers
Smart Array Controllers
• E200 (F/W 1.72 and above)
• P400/P400i/E500/P800 (F/W 4.06 and above)
• P410/P411/P212 (All F/W versions) 

How to enable DWC

• Support Communication – Customer Notice for DWC
− http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID
=c01149818&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

• HP ROM-Based Setup Utility User Guide

− http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00191707/c00191707.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

• HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller User Guide

− http://bizsupport.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00771065/c00771065.pdf

• Configuring Arrays on HP Smart Array Controllers Reference Guide

− http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00729544/c00729544.pdf

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