Dell Poweredge 2950 Perc 5/i RAID Controller RAM Fixes

Over the last few weeks you will have seen that I've been tinkering with my Dell Poweredge servers, I asked Morten over at "My Playhouse", his suggestion was that the RAID controllers should appear in the POST screens even if they had no RAM.

Mine were not appearing, however, whilst investigating Mortens suggestion I did try a different stick of RAM in one of the controllers, and it showed up!... The Dell Perc 5/i controller output light blue/cyan coloured text when it had an issue.

So, I did a lot of reading, and it's few and far between about exactly what RAM the controller should take... As I had HP marked RAM in a Dell RAID controller, it was clear somewhere in it's life this stick I have had been swapped out.

I read that I needed EEC DDR2 PC3200-R 333mhz RAM for the controller, and specifically they needed to be Rx8 or Rx16 types.

Luckily I recently had a donation directly to the blog, so I invested that kind gift into two second-hand sticks of RAM for the RAID controller... Here is the result:

My Man Lab

So, we're currently midway through the legals of exchange buying a second house, we're moving into this second one and looking at selling or renting out our current one - if anyone is interested in a perfect 2 bedroom mid-terrace great price for a first time buyer drop me a line I'll point you to our listing...

But the new house has a 17'11" x 6'11" out building, which is going to become my lair, and these are my plans for it...

1. Add a lip at the door end to stop water flowing in from the drive way

2. Ensure Damp proofing*

3. Fill & seal the roof gaps

4. Clean up the two windows

5. Line the inside with polythene*

6. Wall frame with 1/2" frame

7. Run power and network leads around frame.

8. Add insulation to frame

9. Clad with ply over the frame

10. Lay laminate floor**

11. Secure the doorway

12. Add spot lights & main floodlight strip

In the long run I'd also want to remove the old garage/wooden doors and add a PVC French Door.

I can't wait, I'll have to keep you posted with my ideas and progress pictures...

* Damp proofing and lining is all about our being backed against a Canal, so there's lots of water sloshing around.

** As an interim measure we're going to be laying a laminate floor in the house, so the man lab will get the carpet from the house moved into it as a stop gap measure.