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I recently purchased a used ibm x3550 server with two 2.5" SAS hard drives included. When I boot the server it doesn't recognise them. I get into the bios and I can't see them there. I try to install windows and it doesn't show any hard drive.

When I open it, everything seems to be correctly connected. I think the problem might be come from 3 different sources: 1. the disks are defective. 2. the disks are not properly connected to the motherboard. 3. I need to upgrade to bios. All 3 of them seem unlikely. Otherwise the machine can see an external drive connected to the usb or a DVD.

I'm stuck at this point, I don't know what would be the most cost effective solution to diagnose my issue.

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You most likely have to enter the RAID controller BIOS and create a logical disk and initialize it before an OS will see them. Consult your server's manual if you're unsure of how to do this.

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  • but it is not a raid, it's a simple hard drive (excuse my ignorance if I'm not understanding something). As for the manual, I didn't get one with it but I'll google for one and read through it.
    – DPM
    May 3, 2013 at 22:23
  • You're probably wrong. Have you checked the RAID BIOS to see if the RAID controller sees the two drives? You've opened up the case, what are the drives cabled into?
    – mfinni
    May 3, 2013 at 23:12
  • @mfinni one of them is an ST3300555SS. Is then something I have to do from the raid bios? I remember taking a quick look there (ctrl+A) but I didn't see anything. The drives plug into some card which is connected to the motherboard.
    – DPM
    May 4, 2013 at 0:10
  • If you're not sure what to check in the RAID BIOS, check the manual for this hardware.
    – mfinni
    May 6, 2013 at 18:57

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