Administrator Guide

Copy manager
After you create a virtual disk copy by using the Create Copy Wizard, you can monitor the virtual disk copy through the Copy Manager.
From the Copy Manager, a virtual disk copy may be re-copied, stopped, or removed. You can also modify the attributes, such as the copy
priority and the target virtual disk Read-Only attribute. You can view the status of a virtual disk copy in the Copy Manager. Also, if you
want to determine which virtual disks are involved in a virtual disk copy, you can use the Copy Manager or the storage array profile.
Copying the virtual disk
You can create a virtual disk copy by using the Create Copy Wizard. A virtual disk copy automatically makes the target virtual disk read-
only to hosts. You might want to keep this attribute enabled to preserve the data on the target virtual disk. To prevent write-protected
error messages from appearing, do not try to access a source virtual disk that is participating in a virtual disk copy while the virtual disk
copy has a status of In Progress. Also, make sure that the Read-Only attribute for the target virtual disk is disabled after the virtual disk
copy has completed to prevent error messages from appearing.
To prevent write-protected error messages from appearing, do not try to access a source virtual disk that is participating in a virtual disk
copy while the virtual disk copy has a status of In Progress. Also, make sure that the Read-Only attribute for the target virtual disk is
disabled after the virtual disk copy has completed to prevent error messages from appearing.
CAUTION: Possible loss of data access—A virtual disk copy overwrites data on the target virtual disk.
CAUTION: If you decide not to preserve the data on the target virtual disk after the virtual disk copy has completed,
disable the Read-Only attribute for the target virtual disk. See Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions for more
information about enabling and disabling the Read-Only attribute for the target virtual disk.
To copy the virtual disk:
1. Stop all I/O activity to the source virtual disk and the target virtual disk.
2. Unmount any file systems on the source virtual disk and the target virtual disk.
3. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab.
4. Under Virtual Disks area, select the source virtual disk that you want to use for the online copy.
5. Right click on the selected source virtual disk and select Create > Virtual Disk Copy in the pop-up menu.
The Select Copy Type wizard is displayed.
6. Select a copy type and click Next.
NOTE: If you select Offline, the source virtual disk is not available for any I/O when the copy operation is in progress.
The Select Target Virtual Disk window is displayed.
7. Select the appropriate target virtual disk and click Next.
The Confirmation window is displayed.
8. In the Copy Priority area, select the relevant copy priority and type yes to confirm.
9. Click Finish.
The Preview window displays the summary of your selections.
NOTE:
Operation in Progress icons appear on the source virtual disk and the target virtual disk while the virtual disk
copy has a status of In Progress or Pending.
Storage array performance during virtual disk copy
The following factors contribute to the overall performance of the storage array:
• I/O activity
• Virtual disk RAID level
• Virtual disk configuration — Number of physical disks in the virtual disk groups
• Virtual disk type — Snapshot virtual disks may take more time to copy than standard virtual disks
• Snapshots created using older RAID controller firmware versions (legacy snapshots) will take longer to complete
During a virtual disk copy, resources for the storage array are diverted from processing I/O activity to completing a virtual disk copy. This
affects the overall performance of the storage array. When you create a new virtual disk copy, you define the copy priority to determine
how much RAID processing time is diverted from I/O activity to a virtual disk copy operation.
Premium feature—virtual disk copy
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