3.6.0 Matrix Server Installation Guide (5697-7079, February 2008)

Chapter 3: Install PolyServe Matrix Server 16

11. Create LUNs for the Membership Partitions and

Modify Partition Tables

Matrix Server uses a set of membership partitions to control access to the

SAN. The membership partitions are also used to store the device naming

database, which includes the global device names that Matrix Server

assigns to the SAN disks placed under its control.

Matrix Server can use either one or three membership partitions. To

ensure that a membership partition is always available, we strongly

recommend that you use three membership partitions.

If your disk array software provides the capability to create LUNs, we

recommend that you create three LUNs for the membership partitions.

Each LUN should contain a minimum of 1 GB.

After creating the LUNs, use the Windows Logical Disk Management

(WLDM) utility to create a single partition on each LUN. (See “Disk

Partition Alignment,” below.)

NOTE: When using WLDM to manage your SAN disks, be sure to set the

disk type to “Basic.” If the disk type is currently set to “Dynamic,”

right-click on the disk and select “Convert to Basic disk.” Matrix

Server will not be able to access your SAN disks if the disk type is

set to “Dynamic.”

Matrix Server supports both MBR basic disks and GPT basic disks.

For MBR basic disks, you can use either primary partitions or

extended partitions with logical drives.

When you configure the matrix later in this procedure, you can create

Matrix Server membership partitions on the partitions that you just

created.

If you are unable to create LUNs on your disk array, you can place the

membership partitions on regular disk partitions. You can use the

Windows Logical Disk Management utility to create the appropriate

partitions.