Server Administrator Storage Management 8.
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Contents 1 Overview.................................................................................................................................... 12 What Is New In This Release.............................................................................................................................................. 12 Before Installing Storage Management.............................................................................................................................
Storage Properties And Current Activity......................................................................................................................... 30 Alerts Or Events................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Monitoring Disk Reliability On RAID Controllers...............................................................................................................
Non-RAID SCSI Controllers..........................................................................................................................................50 Non-RAID SAS Controllers...........................................................................................................................................50 Firmware Or Driver Versions..............................................................................................................................................
Hot Spare Considerations — T10 Protection Information Capability......................................................................81 9 Enclosures And Backplanes......................................................................................................... 82 Backplanes............................................................................................................................................................................82 Enclosures............................................
Replacing A Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts......................................................................................................104 Disk Is Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk.................................................................................................................. 104 Disk Is Not Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk.......................................................................................................... 104 Other Disk Procedures.......................
Renaming A Virtual Disk.............................................................................................................................................. 126 Canceling A Rebuild..................................................................................................................................................... 126 Changing The Virtual Disk Policy................................................................................................................................
16 Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare............................................................................143 Understanding Hot Spares................................................................................................................................................143 Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy............................................................................................................................... 143 Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy........
A Corrupt Disk Or Drive Message Suggests Running Autocheck During A Reboot........................................... 156 Erroneous Status And Error Messages After A Windows Hibernation................................................................. 156 Storage Management May Delay Before Updating Temperature Probe Status................................................. 157 Storage Management May Delay Displaying Storage Devices After Reboot.......................................................
RAID Levels Supported By SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers.................................................................................. 181 Virtual Disk Specifications For SAS 6/iR And PERC H200 Controllers.................................................................181 Read, Write, And Cache Policy Supported By SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers................................................. 182 Enclosure Support On SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers............................................................
1 Overview Server Administrator Storage Management provides enhanced features for configuring the locally attached RAID and non-RAID disk storage on a system. Storage Management enables you to perform controller and enclosure functions for all supported RAID and nonRAID controllers and enclosures from a single graphical user interface (GUI) or command-line interface (CLI). The GUI is wizard-driven and includes features for novice and advanced users. The CLI is fully featured and scriptable.
NOTE: To download the latest storport driver, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB943545 at support.microsoft.com. If you install Storage Management without the minimum required firmware and drivers, Storage Management may not be able to display the controllers or perform other functions. Storage Management generates alerts 2131 and 2132 when it detects unsupported firmware or drivers on a controller. For information on alert messages, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide.
remaining four physical disks are listed under Connector 1. You will be able to view all the eight physical disks only if both bays are connected. If one bay is connected, only the physical disks associated with that bay are displayed. NOTE: For SAS 12 Gbps Adapter and HBA 330 controller, the Available Reports that can be viewed are View Slot Occupancy Report and View Physical Disk Firmware Version Report.
2 Getting Started Server Administrator Storage Management is designed for system administrators who implement hardware RAID solutions and understand corporate and small business storage environments. Storage Management enables you to configure the storage components attached to your system. These components include RAID and non-RAID controllers and the channels, ports, enclosures, and disks attached to them.
where is the IP address for the managed system and 1311 is the default port. NOTE: Type https:// (not http://) in the address field to receive a valid response in your browser. User Privileges Server Administrator provides security through the User, Power User, and Administrator user groups. Each user group is assigned a different level of access to the Server Administrator features. The Administrator privileges are required to access all Storage Management features.
• • Context-sensitive Help — Each Storage Management page has a icon. Click this icon to display the context-sensitive online Help that describes the contents of the displayed page. Table of Contents — The table of contents is available in the page that displays the information when you access the contextsensitive Help. Related concepts Storage Object Common Storage Tasks This section provides information on commonly performed storage tasks: • Create and configure virtual disks (RAID configuration).
3 Understanding RAID concepts Storage Management uses the Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology to provide Storage Management capability. Understanding Storage Management requires an understanding of RAID concepts, as well as some familiarity with how the RAID controllers and operating system view disk space on your system.
• • • • • • unaffected disk. Both sides of the mirror contain the same data always. Either side of the mirror can act as the operational side. A mirrored RAID disk group is comparable in performance to a RAID 5 disk group in read operations but faster in write operations. Striping — Disk striping writes data across all physical disks in a virtual disk.
• • • • • • • • • • • Concatenation RAID Level 0 (Striping) RAID Level 1 (Mirroring) RAID Level 5 (Striping With Distributed Parity) RAID Level 6 (Striping With Additional Distributed Parity) RAID Level 50 (Striping Over RAID 5 Sets) RAID Level 60 (Striping Over RAID 6 Sets) RAID Level 10 (Striping Over Mirror Sets) RAID Level 1-Concatenated (Concatenated Mirror) Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance No-RAID Related concepts Starting And Target RAID Levels For Virtual Disk Reconfiguration And
RAID level 0 (striping) RAID 0 uses data striping, which is writing data in equal-sized segments across the physical disks. RAID 0 does not provide data redundancy. RAID 0 characteristics: • • • • Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (smallest disk size) *n disks. Data is stored to the disks alternately. No redundant data is stored. When a disk fails, the large virtual disk fails with no means of rebuilding the data. Better read and write performance.
• • • • • Data is replicated on both the disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk still works. The data is read from the mirror of the failed disk. Better read performance, but slightly slower write performance. Redundancy for protection of data. RAID 1 is more expensive in terms of disk space since twice the number of disks are used than required to store the data without redundancy.
RAID 6 characteristics: • • • • • • Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n-2) disks. Redundant information (parity) is alternately stored on all disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk failures. The data is reconstructed from the surviving disks. Better read performance, but slower write performance. Increased redundancy for protection of data. Two disks per span are required for parity. RAID 6 is more expensive in terms of disk space.
RAID 50 characteristics: • • • • • Groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-1) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span. Redundant information (parity) is alternately stored on all disks of each RAID 5 span. Better read performance, but slower write performance. Requires as much parity information as standard RAID 5. Data is striped across all spans. RAID 50 is more expensive in terms of disk space.
RAID 60 characteristics: • • • • • • Groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-2) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span. Redundant information (parity) is alternately stored on all disks of each RAID 6 span. Better read performance, but slower write performance. Increased redundancy provides greater data protection than a RAID 50. Requires proportionally as much parity information as RAID 6. Two disks per span are required for parity.
RAID 10 characteristics: • • • • • Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n/2) disks, where n is an even integer. Mirror images of the data are striped across sets of physical disks. This level provides redundancy through mirroring. When a disk fails, the virtual disk still works. The data is read from the surviving mirrored disk. Improved read performance and write performance. Redundancy for protection of data.
Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance The following table compares the performance characteristics associated with the more common RAID levels. This table provides general guidelines for choosing a RAID level. Evaluate your specific environment requirements before choosing a RAID level. NOTE: The following table does not show all supported RAID levels in Storage Management. For information on all supported RAID levels in Storage Management, see Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation. Table 1.
RAID Level Data Availability Read Performance Write Performance Rebuild Performance Minimum Disks Required Suggested Uses RAID 6 Excellent Sequential reads: good. Transactional reads: Very good Fair, unless using writeback cache Poor N + 2 (N = at least two disks) Critical information. Databases and other read intensive transactional uses. RAID 60 Excellent Very Good Fair Poor X x (N + 2) (N = at least 2) Critical information. Medium sized transactional or data intensive uses.
4 Quick Access To Storage Status And Tasks This section describes various methods to determine the status or health of the storage components on your system and how to quickly launch the available controller tasks.
Hot Spare Protection Policy The Set Hot Spare Protection Policy task allows you to set or modify the number of hot spares to be assigned to the virtual disks. After you set the number of assigned hot spares, any deviation from the protection policy threshold triggers an alert based on the severity level you set.
Alerts Or Events Storage activity generates alerts or events that are displayed in the Alert Log. Some alerts indicate normal activity and are displayed for informational purposes only. Other alerts indicate abnormal activity which must be addressed immediately. For more information about alerts and their corrective actions, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide.
Time Delay In Displaying Configuration Changes When you change the storage configuration, Storage Management quickly generates SNMP traps in response to the configuration changes. The Storage Management, Management Information Base (MIB) is also updated to reflect storage configuration changes. However, it may take up to five minutes to update the MIB with the most recent storage configuration.
5 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support This section provides an overview of the Storage Management device management support for Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Solid-State Drive (SSD) and its associated devices like the backplane and extender card. In Storage Management, PCIe SSD appears under Storage in the tree view. Storage Management reports the PCIe SSD devices and its various properties.
Properties Description NOTE: In CLI commands, the PCIe SSD subsystem ID is displayed as the controller ID. Status These icons represent the severity or health of the PCIe SSD Subsystem. — Normal/OK — Warning/Non-critical — Critical/Failure/Error Name Displays the name of the subsystem. Slot ID Displays the slot to which the PCIe SSD subsystem is attached.
Properties Description State Displays the status of the extender card. Possible values are: Ready — The extender card is functioning normally. Degraded — The extender card has encountered a failure and is operating in a degraded state. Failed — The extender card has encountered a failure and is no longer functioning. Related concepts What Is PCIe SSD? Physical Device Properties You can view information about PCIe SSDs and perform PCIe SSD tasks on the Physical Device Properties page.
Properties Description the threshold for entering the read-only mode. But, the specified data retention period (amount of time that data can be read from the drive after TBW is reached) drops, if TBW specification is exceeded and the warranty for the drive expires. The warranty coverage for the drive expires if the value for percent lifetime used is equal to 100 percent and that for write protect progress is less than 100 percent.
• • • Preparing To Remove A PCIe SSD Exporting The Log Performing A Cryptographic Erase on An NVMe PCIe SSD To perform a physical device task: 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the System tree, expand the Storage tree object to display the storage component objects. 2. Expand the PCIe SSD Subsystem object 3. Expand the connector object. 4. Expand the Enclosure (Backplane) object. 5. Select the Physical Devices object. 6. Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 7. Click Execute.
Preparing To Remove A PCIe SSD PCIe SSDs support orderly hot swap allowing you to add or remove a device without halting or rebooting the system in which the devices are installed. CAUTION: The identify LED pattern (blink operation) is the same LED pattern as safe to remove. When you initiate a Prepare to Remove operation, ensure that the PCIe SSD is no longer accessible by the system before physically removing the PCIe SSD.
3. Expand a connector object. 4. Expand the enclosure or backplane object. 5. Select the Physical Devices object. 6. Select Cryptographic Erase from the Tasks drop-down menu of the physical device you want to clear. 7. Click Execute. Related reference Performing A Cryptographic Erase On An NVMe PCIe SSD PCIe SSD In Slot Card Properties The PCIe SSD in slot card is similar to a physical disk in Storage Management.
Properties Description NOTE: Storage Management displays Not Applicable for subsystem for which the driver version cannot be obtained. Remaining Rated Write Endurance Displays information on the SSD renewal/replacement based on the amount of write workloads. This field indicates the total remaining programs or erase-cycles available on the SSD, based on the cumulative specification of the total NAND (Negated AND or NOT AND) Flash chips in the SSD.
Related tasks To Locate Export Log In Storage Management For NVMe PCIe SSDs To Locate Export Log In Storage Management For NVMe PCIe SSDs To locate this task in storage management: NOTE: This operation is supported only on NVMe PCIe SSDs. 1. Expand the Storage tree object to view the controller objects. 2. Expand PCIe SSD Subsystems. 3. Select Physical Disks. 4. Select Export Log from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 5. Click Execute. The Export Log page is displayed. 6.
4. Select the PCIe SSD in Slot object. 5. Select Cryptographic Erase from the Tasks drop-down menu of the physical device you want to clear. 6. Click Execute. PCIe SSD Subsystem Health Indicates the roll-up health status of physical devices. The individual health status of the physical devices appears at the respective level. Related concepts Backplanes Backplane Firmware Version Backplanes PCIe SSDs are attached to the PCIe SSD backplane of the system.
6 Storage Information And Global Tasks Use the Storage information and Global Tasks window to view high-level information about the storage components or devices on your system. These windows also allow you to launch global tasks that affect all controllers attached to the system.
1. In the Server Administrator window, under the System tree, select the Storage tree object. The storage Properties window is displayed. 2. Click the Information/Configuration subtab to display more information. 3. Under Global Tasks, select Set Remaining Rated Write Endurance Threshold from the drop-down menu. NOTE: You can also click the Set Remaining Rated Writer Endurance Threshold link available on the Storage Dashboard to access this operation. 4. Click Execute.
Property Definition • • • Ready — The controller is functioning normally. Degraded — The controller has suffered a failure of a component and is operating in a degraded state. Failed — The controller has suffered a failure of one or more components and is no longer functioning. Firmware Version Displays the version of the firmware available on the controller. Minimum Required Firmware Version Displays the minimum firmware version that is required by Storage Management.
7 Controllers This chapter provides information about the supported controllers and controller features in Storage Management.
• • • • • • • PERC 6/I controller family SAS 6/iR controller family PERC S100, S110, S130, and S300 controllers PERC H200, H700, and H800 controllers PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, PERC H310 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini Monolithic, and PERC H810 Adapter controllers PERC H330 Adapter, PERC H330 Mini Monolithic, PERC H330 Mini Blades, PERC H330 Embedded, PERC H730 Adapter, PERC H73
Read Policy Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The read policies indicate whether the controller should read sequential sectors of the virtual disk when seeking data. • • • • Read Ahead — The controller reads sequential sectors of the virtual disk when seeking data. Read ahead policy may improve system performance if the data is written to the sequential sectors of the virtual disk.
it can be read directly from the controller cache. The Direct I/O setting does not override the cache policy settings. Direct I/O is the default setting. NOTE: Cache policy is not supported on controllers that do not have a battery. Disk Cache Policy Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. NOTE: The Disk Cache Policy feature is not supported on solid-state disks (SSDs) and on SAS 12 Gbps Adapter.
Setting Background Initialization Rate Non-RAID Controller Description The non-RAID SCSI and SAS controllers are non-RAID controllers that support SCSI and SAS devices. Because these controllers are nonRAID, they do not support virtual disks. You can manage these non-RAID controllers and their attached SCSI and SAS devices with Storage Management. NOTE: Supported features may vary from controller to controller.
Table 10. Firmware/Driver Properties Property Definition Firmware Version Displays the version of the firmware that is installed on the controller. NOTE: Storage Management displays Not Applicable on some controllers for which the firmware version cannot be obtained. Minimum Required Firmware Version Displays the minimum firmware version that is required by Storage Management. This property is displayed only if the controller firmware does not meet the minimum requirement.
Table 11. Controller Properties Property Definition ID Displays the ID assigned to the controller by Storage Management. Storage Management numbers the controllers attached to the system starting with zero. This number is the same as the controller ID number reported by the omreport CLI Command. For information on Command Line Interface, see the Server Administrator Command Line Interface User’s Guide. Status These icons represent the severity or health of the storage component.
Property Definition BGI Rate The background initialization (BGI) rate is the percentage of resources available on a system dedicated to perform the background initialization of a virtual disk after it is created. For more information on BGI rate, see Setting Background Initialization Rate. Check Consistency Rate The check consistency rate is the percentage of resources available on a system dedicated to perform check consistency on a redundant virtual disk.
Property Definition Patrol Read Rate Displays the percentage of system resources dedicated for running the Patrol Read operation. Patrol Read Rate changes the amount of system resources assigned for the patrol read task. The Patrol Read Rate can be configured between 0% and 100%, where: • • 0% — indicates the lowest priority for controllers and has the least impact on the system performance. 100% — indicates the highest priority for controllers and has a greater impact on the system performance.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Enabling The Controller Alarm Disabling The Controller Alarm Turning Off The Controller Alarm Testing The Controller Alarm Setting The Rebuild Rate Resetting Configuration Exporting The Controller Log File Foreign Configuration Operations Importing Foreign Configurations Importing Or Recovering Foreign Configurations Clearing Foreign Configuration Setting Background Initialization Rate Setting Check Consistency Rate Setting The Reconstruct Rate Setting The Pa
Related concepts Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard Enabling The Controller Alarm Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. To enable the alarm on the controller, select the Enable Alarm task. When enabled, the alarm sounds in the event of a device failure. Related concepts Using Alarms To Detect Failures Disabling The Controller Alarm Does my controller support this feature? Supported Features. Select the Disable Alarm task to disable the alarm on the controller.
To Change The Rebuild Rate To change the rebuild rate: 1. Type a numerical value in the Set New Rebuild Rate (0-100) field. The value must be within the 0–100 range. 2. Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Return to Previous Page. To locate Set Rebuild Rate In Storage Management 1. Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects. 2. Select a controller object. 3. Click Information/Configuration. 4. Select Set Rebuild Rate from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 5.
Exporting The Controller Log File Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The Export Log task exports the controller log to a text file. This log provides detailed information on the controller activities and can be useful for troubleshooting. On a system running Microsoft Windows, the log file is exported to the windows or winnt directory. On a system running Linux, the log file is exported to the /var/log directory. Depending on the controller, the log file name is afa_.
If any foreign configurations locked using Local Key manager (LKM) are detected, the associated Encryption Key Identifier is displayed prompting you to provide the corresponding passphrase to unlock the drives. To avoid unlocking foreign configurations and to proceed to preview, import, or clear a foreign configuration that has not been locked, click Skip or Continue.
Property Definition • Orphan drive — A physical disk in the foreign configuration has configuration information that matches another physical disk that is already a part of an array (either a foreign or a native array). NOTE: For other applicable physical disk tasks and properties, see Physical Disk Or Physical Device Properties and Physical Disk Or Physical Device Tasks. Layout Displays the RAID level of the foreign configuration. Remarks Provides information about the foreign virtual disk.
Related concepts Foreign Configuration Properties Importing Or Recovering Foreign Configurations The recover operation attempts to restore degraded, failed, or missing virtual disks to a healthy state. A virtual disk may be in a degraded, failed, or missing state after losing communication with the controller due to a power loss, faulty cable connection, or other failure. A rebuild or background initialization may automatically initiate after the recover operation completes.
1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects. 2. Select a controller object. 3. Click Information/Configuration on the controller Properties page. 4. Select Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller Tasks drop-down menu. 5. Click Execute. 6. In the Foreign Configuration Preview page, click Clear. For SAS controllers with firmware version 6.0 and earlier, select Clear Foreign Configuration from the Controller Tasks drop-down menu.
Property Definition • • 2110 2111 For information on alert messages, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide. Progress Displays the progress of an operation being performed on the physical disk. Bus Protocol Displays the technology that the physical disk is using. Possible values are: • • SAS — Serial Attached SCSI SATA — Serial Advanced Technology Attachment Device Protocol Displays the device protocol of the physical device, such as Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe).
Property Definition Encryption Capable Displays whether the physical disk is a Self Encryption Disk (SED). The possible values are Yes and No. Encrypted Displays whether the physical disk is encrypted to the controller. The possible values are Yes and No. For a non-SED the value is N/A. Part Number Displays the unique Bill Of Materials assignment number for a physical disk. The numbers four through eight represent the service provider part number for that model drive.
Related concepts Performing A Check Consistency To Change The Check Consistency Rate For A Controller 1. Type a numerical value in the Set New Check Consistency Rate (0-100) field. The value must be within the 0–100 range. 2. Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Return to Previous Page. To Locate Set Check Consistency Rate In Storage Management 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects. 2.
Setting The Redundant Path Configuration Does my Controller Support This Feature? See Supported Features. Redundant path is supported only on external PERC cards that use firmware version 6.1 and later. A redundant path internal to the system is not supported. MD1xxx enclosures are supported. For redundant paths, the enclosure must be in the Unified mode however specific port connections are not required.
Table 15. Path between Enclosure n and Enclosure n +1 Path between Enclosure n and Enclosure n +1 Health of Logical Connector Connector 0 (C0) Connector 1 (C1) Available Available Available Disconnected Disconnected Available In the above scenario, the enclosure status is displayed in warning mode. Clicking Information/Configuration in the Enclosures page displays all enclosure components (EMMs, Fans, Physical Disks, Power Supplies, and Temperature) in normal condition.
Related concepts Starting And Stopping Patrol Read To Set The Patrol Read Mode Select the desired Patrol Read Mode option. The options available are: • • • Auto — Initiates the Patrol Read task. After the task is complete, it automatically runs again within a specified period. For example, on some controllers the Patrol Read runs every four hours and on other controllers, the Patrol Read runs every seven days.
4. Select Start Patrol Read or Stop Patrol Read from the Available Tasks. 5. Click Execute. You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop-down menu. Related concepts Changing The Controller Properties Changing The Controller Properties NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode. Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
cards also support the Manage Physical Disk Power task with additional power-saving modes, Spin Down Configured Drives, and Automatic Disk Power Saving (Idle C) options. NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode. You can enable one of the following modes to manage the power consumed: • • • • No Power Savings Mode — This is the default mode for the controller. In this mode, all power-saving features are disabled.
Physical Disk Power On Unconfigured Drives And Hot Spares 1. Select Enabled for the Spin Down Unconfigured Drives and Spin Down Hot Spares options. 2. Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back to Previous Page. Related concepts Managing The Physical Disk Power Managing Physical Disk Power Using The Customized Power Savings Mode To manage physical disk power through the Customized Power Savings Mode: 1. Select the Customized Power Save Mode option. 2.
Managing The Preserved Cache The Managed Preserved Cache feature provides you the option to ignore or restore the controller cache data. In the write-back policy, data is written to the cache before being written to the physical disk. If the virtual disk goes offline or is deleted for any reason, the data in the cache is lost. Data in the cache may also be lost in case of unintended cable or power failure.
NOTE: Server Administrator Storage Management provides a suggested passphrase below the Passphrase text box. 4. If you want to save the Encryption Key credentials in a file on the system where Distributed Web Server is running, select the Escrow check box. The Path field is displayed. Provide the path where you want to save the file. The path should contain a filename with an .xml extension. The saved file contains the information: SAS address, Encryption Key Identifier, Passphrase, and modified date.
Manage Encryption Key Task In Storage Management To go to the Manage Encryption Key task in Storage Management: 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, select Storage. 2. Go to Storage Dashboard > Available Tasks drop-down menu > Manage Encryption Key.... 3. Click Execute. Manage Encryption Key Task In Storage Management — Method 2 Alternatively to go to Manage Encryption Key task in Storage Management 1. Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects. 2.
Related concepts Converting To Non-RAID Disks Changing The Controller Mode You can change the controller mode to Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) or Host Bus Adapter (HBA) mode. To change the controller mode, perform the following steps: NOTE: This option is supported only on PowerEdge RAID Controller 9 (PERC 9) and later family of hardware controllers. NOTE: When you change the controller mode from RAID to HBA or from HBA to RAID, certain features or functionality may vary. 1.
4. In the Controller Tasks drop-down menu, select Auto Configure RAID0, and then click Execute. The Auto Configure RAID0 window is displayed. Read the messages displayed on this window before you proceed. 5. Click Confirm to configure the physical disks. The auto configure operation may take time to complete, depending on the configuration and available physical disks in Ready state. The Auto Configure RAID0 operation is successful, only if the Alert Log is updated.
1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, click Storage. 2. Select View Check Consistency Report from the Select Report drop-down menu. 3. Click Execute. Viewing Slot Occupancy Report Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The View Slot Occupancy Report allows you to view empty and occupied slot details of all enclosures and back planes. It provides a diagram that represents the occupancy of physical drive slots.
Property Definition Two-digit mapping: 0:1 = Controller 0: Slot 1 Three-digit mapping: 1:0:4 = Controller 1: Connector 0: Slot 4 Model Number Displays the unique number associated with a specific OEM vendor's drives and drive capacity. Firmware Version Displays the current running version of the firmware on the specific drive in the system. Latest Available Firmware Version Displays the firmware version that is compared against the firmware version in the comparison file.
8 Support For PERC 9 Hardware Controllers The PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) family of enterprise-class controllers is designed for enhanced performance, increased reliability and fault tolerance, and simplified management — providing a powerful, easy-to-manage way to create a robust infrastructure and help maximize server uptime. The introduction of the PERC 9 family of hardware controllers also brings about improvements in storage solutions.
• • • • • • • • • The Advanced Wizard does not provide the option to select span length for RAID Level 10 virtual disk creation on PERC 9 hardware controllers. The span layout for RAID Level 10 virtual disk created from the Express Wizard on PERC 9 hardware controllers uses the span layout as recommended by the firmware of the PERC 9 hardware controller. NOTE: Storage Management uses the PERC 9 hardware controller-firmware suggested span layout for RAID Level 10 virtual disk creation.
• You can assign 4KB sector hard-disk drives as Global Hot Spare, if there are 4KB sector hard-disk drives and 512B sector hard-disk drives in the virtual disks created and vice versa. NOTE: If you perform this action a warning message is displayed. Related Tasks • Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard Reconfiguration Considerations — 4KB Sector Hard-Disk Drives You cannot reconfigure 4KB sector hard-disk drives with virtual disks that consist of 512B sector hard-disk drives and vice versa.
9 Enclosures And Backplanes Physical disks can be contained in an enclosure or attached to the backplane of a system. An enclosure is attached to the system externally while the backplane and its physical disks are internal.
Enclosures Storage Management enables management of various enclosures and their components. In addition to managing the physical disks contained in the enclosure, you can monitor the status of the fans, power supply, and temperature probes in an enclosure. You can view these components by expanding the controller, connector, and enclosure objects in the Storage Management tree view. Storage management allows hot plugging of enclosures.
Property Definition • • • • Part Number Degraded — The fan has encountered a failure and is operating in a degraded state. Offline — The fan or power supply has been removed from the enclosure. Failed — The fan has encountered a failure and is no longer functioning. Storage Management is unable to communicate with the enclosure using SES commands. The Failed state is displayed when the enclosure does not respond to a status query from Storage Management. For example, disconnecting the cable.
Enclosure Temperature Probes The enclosure temperature probes are displayed under the Temperatures object. You can select the Temperatures object to view the status information. The status information includes the current temperature in Celsius and the warning and failure thresholds for the temperature probe. The failure threshold has a default value that cannot be changed. However, you can set the warning threshold.
Property Definition • • • • • • • Ready—The temperature probe is functioning normally. Degraded—The temperature probe has encountered a failure and is operating in a degraded state. Failed—The temperature probe has encountered a failure and is no longer functioning. Storage Management is unable to communicate with the enclosure using SES commands. The Failed state is displayed when the enclosure does not respond to a status query from Storage Management for any reason.
The firmware for the EMM must be at the same level as that of the enclosure. The status of the EMMs is displayed as degraded if there is a mismatch between the EMM firmware. To verify the EMM firmware version: 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, click Storage dashboard. 2. Expand the tree view until the EMMs object is displayed. 3. Select the EMMs object. The firmware version for each EMM is displayed in the Firmware Version column in the right pane.
Enclosure And Backplane Health Displays the status of the enclosure or backplane and the components attached to the enclosure or backplane. Enclosure And Backplane Information For information on enclosures and backplanes, see: • • • Enclosures And Backplanes Enclosure And Backplane Properties Enclosure And Backplane Tasks Enclosure And Backplane Components For information on attached components, see Physical Disks Or Physical Devices.
Property Definition Enclosure ID Displays the enclosure ID assigned to the enclosure by Storage Management. Storage Management numbers the enclosures attached to the controller starting with zero. This number is the same as the enclosure ID number reported by the omreport command. For information on Command Line Interface, see the Server Administrator Command Line Interface User’s Guide.
5. Click Information/Configuration on the storage Properties screen. 6. Select a task from the Enclosure Tasks drop-down menu. 7. Click Execute. Enclosure — Available Tasks The drop-down menu enclosure tasks are: • • • • • Enabling The Enclosure Alarm Disabling The Enclosure Alarm Setting Asset Data Blinking The LED On The Enclosure Setting The Temperature Probe Values Enabling The Enclosure Alarm Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.
4. Select the Enclosure object. 5. Click Information/Configuration. 6. Select Set Asset Data from the Enclosure Tasks drop-down menu. 7. Click Execute. Blinking The LED On The Enclosure Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features. Select the Blink task to blink the LED on the enclosure. You may want to use this task to locate an enclosure. The LEDs on the enclosure may display different colors and blinking patterns.
To Locate Set Temperature Probe Values In Storage Management To locate this task in storage management: 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects. 2. Expand a controller object. 3. Expand a connector object. 4. Select the enclosure object. 5. Click Information/Configuration. 6. Select Set Temperature Probe Values from the Enclosure Tasks drop-down menu. 7. Click Execute.
• • Removing the wrong physical disk — You can avoid removing the wrong physical disk by blinking the LED display of the disk you intend to remove. See Blinking And Unblinking A Physical Disk.
10 Connectors A controller contains one or more connectors (channels or ports) to which you can attach disks. You can externally access a connector by attaching an enclosure (for external disks) to the system or internally access by attaching to the backplane (for internal disks) of a system. You can view the connectors on the controller by expanding the controller object in the tree view. NOTE: For PCIe SSD, connectors are referred as PCIe SSD extenders.
Creating A Physical Disk For Channel Redundant Virtual Disks On PERC Controllers The following sections describe creating a channel-redundant virtual disk using RAID 10 or RAID 50 on PERC controllers. Creating A Channel-Redundant Virtual Disk Using RAID 10 To create a channel-redundant virtual disk using RAID 10: 1. Select one physical disk on each of the two channels. 2. Select an additional disk on each of the two channels. You have now selected the minimum number of disks for a RAID 10.
Property Definition State Displays the status of the connector. Possible values are: • • • Ready — The connector is functioning normally. Degraded — The connector has encountered a failure and is operating in a degraded state. Failed — The connector has encountered a failure and is no longer functioning. Connector Type Displays whether the connector is operating in RAID or SCSI mode. Depending on the controller type, the connector can be either a SCSI connector or a SAS port.
Table 24. Logical Connector Properties Property Definition These icons represent the severity or health of the storage component. — Normal/OK — Warning/Non-critical — Critical/Failure/Error For more information, see Storage Component Severity. A Warning or Critical severity may indicate that the connector is unable to communicate with attached devices such as an enclosure. Check the status of attached devices. For more information, see Cables Attached Correctly and Isolate Hardware Problems.
Connector Components For information on attached components, see Enclosure And Backplane Properties And Tasks.
11 Tape Drive Tape drives contain several tape backup units (TBUs) on which data can be backed up. Storage Management enumerates the TBUs that are used for data back up. You can view the tape drives associated with a particular controller on the Tape Drives on Controller page. Topics: • Tape Drive Properties Tape Drive Properties Table 25. Tape Drive Properties Property Definition ID Displays the ID of the tape drive. Name Displays the name of the tape drive.
12 RAID Controller Batteries Some RAID controllers have batteries. If the controller has a battery, Storage Management displays the battery under the controller object in the tree view. If there is a power outage, the controller battery preserves data that is in the volatile cache memory (SRAM) but not yet written to disk. The battery is designed to provide a minimum backup of 24 hours. When a RAID controller is first installed in a server, the battery may need charging.
Property Definition Next Learn Time Displays the number of days and hours left before the controller firmware initiates the next learn cycle. Maximum Learn Delay Displays the maximum number of days and hours that you can delay the battery learn cycle. The controller firmware automatically initiates the battery learn cycle. You cannot stop or pause the learn cycle, but you can delay it. For more information, see Initiating The Battery Delay Learn Cycle and Starting A Learn Cycle.
Related concepts Initiating The Battery Delay Learn Cycle Battery Transparent Learn Cycle The PERC H710 and PERC H810 controllers support Transparent Learn Cycle (TLC), a periodic operation that calculates the charge that is remaining in the battery to ensure that there is sufficient energy. The operation runs automatically, and causes no impact to the system or controller performance. The controller automatically performs TLC on the battery to calibrate and gauge its charge capacity once every 90 days.
13 Physical Disks Or Physical Devices Physical disks or physical devices reside within an enclosure or are attached to the controller. On a RAID controller, physical disks or devices are used to create virtual disks.
The new disk is displayed in the tree view after the rescan. If the new disk is not displayed, restart the system. For SAS Controllers 1. Check the alert log for an alert verifying that the system has identified the new disk. You may receive alert 2052 or 2294. For information on alert messages, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide. 2. Refresh the display by clicking Refresh ( ) or by changing pages. NOTE: Clicking the Refresh button in the right pane refreshes only the right pane.
Other Disk Procedures • • • • Replacing A Failed Disk Recovering From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk Moving Physical And Virtual Disks From One System To Another Troubleshooting Physical Disk Or Physical Device Properties To view information about physical disks or physical device and perform physical disk or physical device tasks, use the Physical Disk Or Physical Device Properties page. NOTE: Physical devices are applicable only to PCIe SSD. Table 27.
Property Definition • • • • • • • • • Incompatible — The physical disk or device is not suitable for a rebuild. The physical disk or device may be too small or it may be using an incompatible technology. For example, you cannot rebuild a SAS disk with a SATA disk or a SATA disk with a SAS disk. Removed — The physical disk or device has been removed. This state applies only to physical disks that are part of a virtual disk. Clear — The Clear task is being performed on the physical disk or device.
Property Definition You may also want to review the alert log to see whether the physical disk or device has generated alerts pertaining to a SMART predictive failure. These alerts can assist you in identifying the cause of the SMART alert. The following alerts may be generated in response to a SMART alert: • • • • • • • 2094 2106 2107 2108 2109 2110 2111 For information on alert messages, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide.
Property Definition Product ID Displays the product ID of the device. Firmware Revision Displays the firmware version of the physical device. Serial No. Displays the serial number of the disk. Part Number Displays the Piece Part Identification (PPID) of the physical drive. T10 Protection Information Capability Indicates whether the physical disk supports data integrity. The possible values are Yes and No. Sector Size Displays the sector size of the physical disk.
Blinking And Unblinking A Physical Disk Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The Blink task allows you to find a disk within an enclosure by blinking one of the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the disk. You can use this task to locate a failed disk. On most controllers, the Blink task automatically cancels after a short duration such as 30–60 seconds. Select Unblink to cancel the Blink task or to stop the LED on the physical device that is blinking indefinitely.
Canceling A Rebuild Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. Select the Cancel Rebuild task to cancel a rebuild that is in progress. If you cancel a rebuild, the virtual disk remains in a Degraded state. The failure of an additional physical disk can cause the virtual disk to fail and may result in data loss. It is recommended that you rebuild the failed physical disk as soon as possible.
Related concepts Using The Physical Disk Online Command On Select Controllers Online Or Offline The Physical Disk To set the Online or Offline Task the physical disk: 1. Review the physical disk that must be made online or offline. There may be data loss when performing this task. Back up your data, if necessary. If you want to blink the physical disk, click Blink. 2. Click Online or Offline when ready or click Return to Previous Page.
Enabling Revertible Hot Spare Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. Select the Revertible Hot Spare task to copy data back from a hot spare to a physical disk. If the physical disk in a virtual disk fails, the data on the failed disk is copied to the assigned hot spare. If you replace the failed disk with a new physical disk and if you have enabled the Revertible Hot Spare task, the data is copied from the hot spare to the new disk.
Convert To RAID Capable Disk This task enables a disk for all RAID operations. NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode. Convert To Non-RAID Disk This task converts a disk to a Non-RAID disk. After converting a disk to non- RAID, the disk is exposed to the operating system unlike unconfigured good disks and it enables usage of disk in direct pass-through mode. NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode.
14 Virtual Disks A virtual disk refers to a storage created by a RAID controller from one or more physical disks. Although a virtual disk may be created from several physical disks, it is viewed by the operating system as a single disk. Depending on the RAID level used, the virtual disk may retain redundant data if there is a disk failure or have particular performance attributes. NOTE: Virtual disks can only be created on a RAID controller.
The following sections describe controller information that applies to virtual disks: • • • • • • Virtual Disk Considerations For Controllers Problems Associated With Using The Same Physical Disks For Both Redundant And Non-Redundant Virtual Disks Virtual Disk Considerations On Systems Running Linux Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk Number Of Virtual Disks Per Controller Calculation For Maximum Virtual Disk Size You may also want to review the following sections: • • • • • RAID Controller Read, W
• • Creating and deleting virtual disks on cluster-enabled controllers — There are particular considerations for creating or deleting a virtual disk from a cluster-enabled controller. Implementing channel redundancy — A virtual disk is channel-redundant when it maintains redundant data on more than one channel. If one of the channels fails, data is not lost because redundant data resides on another channel. NOTE: For more information about channel redundancy, see Channel Redundancy And Thermal Shutdown.
Virtual Disk Considerations On Systems Running Linux On some versions of the Linux operating system, the virtual disk size is limited to 1TB. Before creating a virtual disk that is larger than 1TB, you should make sure that your operating system supports this virtual disk size. The support provided by your operating system depends on the version of the operating system and any updates or modifications that you have implemented.
NOTE: Channel redundancy only applies to controllers that have more than one channel and that attach to an external disk enclosure. Related concepts Channel Redundancy Related tasks Creating A Channel-Redundant Virtual Disk Creating Virtual Disks Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. In order to implement RAID functions, you must create a virtual disk. A virtual disk refers to storage created by a RAID controller from one or more physical disks.
Starting And Target RAID Levels For Virtual Disk Reconfiguration And Capacity Expansion After you have created a virtual disk, the possibilities for reconfiguring the virtual disk depend on the controller, RAID level, and available physical disks. Table 28.
Related concepts Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation Maintaining The Integrity Of Redundant Virtual Disks Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The virtual disk Check Consistency task verifies the accuracy of the redundant (parity) information. This task only applies to redundant virtual disks. When necessary, the Check Consistency task rebuilds the redundant data. To verify redundant information of a virtual disk: 1.
RAID Level Virtual Disk State Scenario Result Addressing (LBA) to another physical location. The problem is resolved. RAID 5 Degraded One bad block on a physical disk. The controller cannot regenerate data from the peer disks because one drive is missing. This results in a virtual disk bad block. RAID 5 Ready One bad block on two physical disks at the same location. The controller cannot regenerate data from the peer disks. This results in a virtual disk bad block.
Refresh Partitions: Click to refresh the Virtual Disk Partitions data once the partition is created using the operating system commands for the available virtual disks. Go to the Create Virtual Disk Wizard: Launches the Create Virtual Disk Wizard. Related concepts Virtual Disk Properties Virtual Disk Tasks Virtual Disk — Available Tasks Virtual Disk Properties The virtual disk properties can vary depending on the model of the controller. Table 30.
Property Definition • Degraded Redundancy — This state is applicable to RAID 6 and RAID 60 in which a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk is not online, but the virtual disk is still accessible and functioning. Partitions This property displays whether the virtual disk has a partition. The possible values are Not Available and Link to the Partitions information page. Virtual Disk Bad Block Displays whether the virtual disk has bad blocks.
4. Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 5. Click Execute. NOTE: Different controllers support different features. The tasks displayed on the Available Tasks drop-down box can vary depending on which controller is selected in the tree view. If no tasks can be performed because of controller or system configuration limitations, then the Available Tasks drop-down box displays No Task Available.
The Cancel Background Initialization task enables you to cancel a background initialization on a virtual disk. On PERC controllers, background initialization of redundant virtual disks begins automatically after the virtual disk is created. Because the initialization is run in the background, other processes can continue while the initialization completes. The background initialization of a redundant virtual disk prepares the virtual disk for parity information and improves write performance.
The Resume Check Consistency task resumes a check consistency after it has been paused. Blinking And Unblinking A Virtual Disk Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The Blink and Unblink tasks blink or unblink the lights on the physical disks included in the virtual disk. Renaming A Virtual Disk Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The Rename task enables you to change name of the virtual disk.
H330 Embedded, PERC H730 Adapter, PERC H730 Mini Monolithic, PERC H730 Mini Blades, PERC H730P Adapter, PERC H730P Mini Monolithic, PERC H730P Mini Blades, PERC H730P Slim, PERC H830 Adapter, and PERC FD33xD/FD33xS. Encrypting A Virtual Disk Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features. The Encrypt Virtual Disk task encrypts an unencrypted virtual disk.
• Select RAID 60 to implement striping across more than one RAID 6 span. RAID 60 Groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-2) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span. RAID 60 provides increased data protection and better read performance, but slower write performance. 6. Click Continue.
The Virtual Disk(s) on Controller page is displayed. 4. Click Go to the Create Virtual Disk Wizard. The Create Virtual Disk Wizard (Step 1) page is displayed. 5. Select the Advanced Wizard option. 6. To make sure that only encrypted physical disks are used to create the virtual disk, select Yes from the Create Encrypted Virtual Disk drop-down list. The RAID levels are available for selection based on the number of encrypted physical disks.
• • Select RAID 50 to implement striping across more than one span of physical disks. RAID 50 groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-1) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span. Select RAID 60 to implement striping across more than one RAID 6 span. RAID 60 groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-2) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span.
NOTE: This option is available only if the Intelligent Mirroring on the Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 3) page. NOTE: On a SAS controller with firmware version 6.1 and later, RAID 10 supports only even number of disks per span and a maximum of 8 spans with 32 disks in each span. • Let us consider that the controller has three enclosures with six physical disks each (total number of available disks = 3 x 6 =18 disks).
5. Click Finish to complete the virtual disk creation. The virtual disk is displayed in the Virtual Disk(s) on Controller page. For PERC H700 and PERC H800 controllers, if any of the drives you selected is in the spun down state, the following message is displayed: The below listed physical drive(s) are in the spun down state. Executing this task on these drive(s) takes additional time, because the drive(s) need to spun up. The message displays the ID(s) of the spun down drive(s).
NOTE: You may want to review Virtual Disk Considerations For Controllers. This section contains considerations that also apply to reconfiguring a virtual disk on these controllers.
The virtual disk reconfigure Step 2 page enables you to select the RAID level and size for the reconfigured virtual disk. If you selected Expand Capacity in Step 1, this page allows you to expand the capacity of the virtual disk. The Expand Capacity option appears only for PERC H310, H330, H700, H710, H710P, PERC H800, H810, H730, H730P, H830, FD33xD/FD33xS controllers with firmware version 7.1 or later. To Reconfigure a Virtual Disk (Changing the RAID Level and Size): Step 2 of 3 1.
To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk Expand Virtual Disk Capacity: Step 2 of 3 NOTE: For RAID 10 partial virtual disks, there are only two methods to increase the disk size or capacity: • Expanding the capacity by increasing the percentage value. • Adding disks into the original RAID 10 virtual disk. 1. Enter the percentage of the free disk size available by which you want to expand the virtual disk capacity. The page displays the maximum free size available and the description of the selected RAID level. 2.
In comparison with the Fast Initialize task, you may want to use the Slow Initialize task if you have had trouble with a physical disk or suspect that it has bad disk blocks. The Slow Initialize task remaps bad blocks and writes zeroes to all disk blocks. The Slow Initialize task initializes one physical disk at a time. Each physical disk displays the Clear state while being initialized. While the physical disk is in the Clear state, the Cancel Clear physical disk task is available.
• • • There are particular considerations for deleting a virtual disk from a cluster-enabled controller. It is recommended that you reboot the system after deleting the virtual disk. Rebooting the system ensures that the operating system recognizes the disk configuration correctly. If you delete a virtual disk and immediately create a new virtual disk with all the same characteristics as the one that was deleted, the controller recognizes the data as if the first virtual disk were never deleted.
Changing The Read, Write, Or Disk Cache Policy Of A Virtual Disk 1. Select the new policy from the Read Policy, Write Policy, and Disk Cache Policy drop-down menus. 2. Click Apply Changes. To exit without changing the virtual disk policy, click Go Back To Virtual Disk Page. To Locate Change Policy In Storage Management 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects. 2. Expand a Controller object. 3. Select the Virtual Disks object. 4.
To Unmirror Click Unmirror. To exit without unmirroring, click Go Back To Virtual Disk Page. CAUTION: Your virtual disk is longer redundant. To Locate Unmirror In Storage Management 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects. 2. Expand a controller object. 3. Select the Virtual Disks object. 4. Select Unmirror from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 5. Click Execute.
To Locate Assign Or Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare In Storage Management 1. Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects. 2. Expand a Controller object. 3. Select the Virtual Disks object. 4. Select Assign Dedicated Hot Spare or Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 5. Click Execute. Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk (Step 1 of 2) NOTE: This feature is supported only on SAS and SATA controllers with firmware versions 6.1 and later.
To Locate Replace Member Disk In Storage Management 1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects. 2. Expand a controller object. 3. Select the Virtual Disks object. 4. Select Replace Member Disk from the Available Tasks drop-down menu. 5. Click Execute. Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk (Step 2 of 2) This page displays the summary of the attributes of the virtual disk in which you replaced the member disk.
15 Moving Physical And Virtual Disks From One System To Another This section describes how to move physical and virtual disks from one system to another. Related concepts Migrating SAS Virtual Disks To Another System Topics: • • Required Conditions Migrating SAS Virtual Disks To Another System Required Conditions SAS Controllers Virtual disks can only be migrated to a controller that is using the same technology. For example, virtual disks on a SAS controller must be migrated to a SAS controller.
16 Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare When you create a virtual disk using a RAID controller, it enables the system to continue functioning even during a disk failure. This feature can be enabled by assigning a hot spare to the virtual disk. When a disk fails, the redundant data is rebuilt onto the hot spare without interrupting system operations.
Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy Table 31. Hot Spare Properties Property Definition RAID Level Indicates the RAID level(s) for which you want to configure the hot spare protection policy. Minimum Number of Disks Indicates the minimum number of physical disks to be assigned as dedicated hot spares for the selected RAID level(s). Severity Level Displays the severity level you want to assign to the generated alert, if this policy is violated.
Enclosure affinity settings for a global/dedicated hot spare are not automatically set when you import a foreign virtual disk. Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC 6/E And PERC 6/I Controllers On the PERC 6/E and PERC 6/I controllers, assigning a hot spare is equivalent to assigning a physical disk to replace another physical disk if it fails. If more than one redundant virtual disk resides on the physical disk, then all redundant portions of the physical disk are rebuilt.
Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC S100 And PERC S300 Controllers For the PERC S100 and PERC S300 controllers, a hot spare is assigned to a virtual disk. When a physical disk fails, only the portion of the physical disk containing the virtual disk is rebuilt onto the hot spare. Data or space on the physical disk is not included in the virtual disk are not rebuilt. On the PERC S100 and PERC S300 controllers, individual physical disks may be included in more than one virtual disk.
17 CacheCade Using Solid-State Drives CacheCade is used to improve random read performance of the solid-state drive (SSD) based virtual disks. A solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data. SSDs significantly increase the I/O performance (IOPS) and/or write speed in Mbps from a storage device. With storage controllers, you can create a CacheCade using SSDs. The CacheCade is then used for better performance of the storage I/O operations.
CacheCade Properties The CacheCade(s) page displays a table of properties for each CacheCade. Table 33. CacheCade Properties Property Definition Status These icons represent the severity or health of the storage component. • — Normal/OK • — Warning/Non-critical • — Critical/Fatal For more information, see Storage Component Severity. Name Displays the name of the CacheCade. The link enables you to access the physical disks that constitute the CacheCade.
3. Click Finish. Renaming The CacheCade To rename the CacheCade: 1. In the CacheCade(s) page, navigate to the CacheCade that you want to rename and select Rename from the Tasks drop-down menu. 2. In the Rename page, type the new name for the CacheCade and click Finish. Blinking And Unblinking The CacheCade In the CacheCade(s) page, navigate to the CacheCade that you want to blink and select Blink ... from the available Tasks drop-down list box.
18 Troubleshooting This section contains troubleshooting procedures for common situations as well as for specific problems.
Drivers And Firmware Storage Management is tested with the supported controller firmware and drivers. In order to function properly, the controller must have the minimum required version of the firmware and drivers installed. The most current versions can be obtained from the support site. NOTE: You can verify which firmware and drivers are installed by selecting the Storage object in the tree view and clicking Information/Configuration.
A rebuild is automatically initiated because the virtual disk is redundant. Related concepts Virtual Disk Considerations For Controllers Assigning A Hot Spare If a hot spare was already assigned to the virtual disk, then the data from the failed disk may already be rebuilt onto the hot spare. In this case, you need to assign a new hot spare.
For information on rebuilding physical disks and assigning hot spares, see Understanding Hot Spares. You can avoid removing the wrong physical disk by blinking the LED display on the physical disk that you intend to remove. For information on blinking the LED display, see Blinking And Unblinking A Physical Disk. Resolving Microsoft Windows Upgrade Problems If you upgrade the Microsoft Windows operating system on a server, you may find that Storage Management no longer functions after the upgrade.
1. Back up the degraded virtual disk onto a fresh (unused) tape drive. • • If the backup is successful — If the backup completes successfully, then the user data on the virtual disk has not been damaged. In this case, you can continue with step 2. If the backup encounters errors — If the backup encounters errors then the user data has been damaged and cannot be recovered from the virtual disk. In this case, the only possibility for recovery is to restore from a previous backup of the virtual disk. 2.
Specific Problem Situations And Solutions This section contains additional troubleshooting information.
Alerts 2146 Through 2150 Received During A Rebuild Or While A Virtual Disk Is Degraded Perform the following steps: 1. Replace the damaged physical disk. 2. Create a new virtual disk and allow the virtual disk to completely resynchronize. While the resynchronization is in progress, the status of the virtual disk is Resynching. 3. Restore data to the virtual disk from the backup.
Storage Management May Delay Before Updating Temperature Probe Status In order to display the enclosure temperature and temperature probe status, Storage Management polls the enclosure firmware at regular intervals to obtain temperature and status information. On some enclosures, there is a short delay before the enclosure firmware reports the current temperature and temperature probe status. This may cause a delay in displaying the correct temperature and temperature probe status.
You can resolve this problem by restarting the Server Administrator service or by rebooting the system. For more information on restarting the Server Administrator service, see the Server Administrator User’s Guide. PCIe SSD Troubleshooting The following sections describe troubleshooting procedures for PCIe SSD.
19 Frequently Asked Questions This section provides frequently asked questions that address situations commonly experienced in a storage environment.
Setting The Physical Disk Online Or Offline Blinking And Unblinking A Physical Disk Replacing A Failed Disk Replacing A Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts How Do I Recover From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk For more information, see Recovering From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk. How Do I Identify The Firmware Version That Is Installed The properties information of the controller displays the firmware version that is installed on the controller.
20 Supported Features Different controllers support different features. The tasks displayed by the Storage Management menus and other features vary depending on whether the controller supports the feature. This chapter lists the features supported by the controllers. For more information on Controllers, see your hardware documentation. NOTE: The order of the controllers displayed on Storage Management may differ with the order of the controllers displayed in the Human Interface (HII) and PERC Option ROM.
Controller Task Name PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I Modular Quiet Alarm No NA NA Test Alarm No NA NA Reset Configuration Yes Yes Yes Set Rebuild Rate Yes Yes Yes Set Background Initialization Rate Yes Yes Yes Set Check Consistency Rate Yes Yes Yes Set Reconstruct Rate Yes Yes Yes Rescan Controller No No No Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Export Log File Yes Yes Yes Clear Foreign Configuration Yes Yes Yes Import Foreign Configuration Yes Yes Yes Import/Recover F
Battery Task Name PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I Modular Start Learn Cycle Yes Yes Yes Delay Learn Cycle Yes Yes Yes Connector Tasks Supported By PERC 6/ Controllers Table 36. Connector Tasks Supported by PERC 6/ Controllers Connector Task Name PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I Modular Connector Rescan No No No Physical Disk Tasks Supported By PERC 6/ Controllers Table 37.
Virtual Disk Task Name PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I Modular Reconfigure Yes Yes Yes Change Policy Yes Yes Yes Split Mirror No No No Unmirror No No No Delete Last Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Delete (any) Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Check Consistency Yes Yes Yes Cancel Check Consistency Yes Yes Yes Pause Check Consistency No No No Resume Check Consistency No No No Cancel Background Initialization (BGI) Yes Yes Yes Format Virtual Disk No No No Cancel Format Virtual D
Virtual Disk Specification PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I Modular Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 0 32 32 32 Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 1 2 2 2 Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 5 32 32 32 Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 10 256 with firmware version 6.
Read, Write, And Cache Policy Supported By PERC 6 Controllers Table 41.
The features include the following: • • • • • • • • • Controller Tasks Battery Tasks Connector Tasks Physical Disk Tasks Virtual Disk Tasks Virtual Disk Specifications Supported RAID Levels Read, Write, Cache And Disk Cache Policy Enclosure Support For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure And Backplane Features. Controller Tasks Supported On PERC Hardware Controllers Table 43.
Controller Task PER PER PERC Name C C H700 H800 H81 Adapter 0 / Ada Integrat pter ed PERC H700 Modul ar PERC H710 Adapte r/ Mini Monolit hic/ Mini Blade PERC H710P Adapte r PERC H310 Adapt er/ Mini Blade / Mini Mono lithic PERC H730P Adapte r/Mini Monoli thic/ Mini Blades /Slim PERC H730 Adapte r/Mini Monoli thic/ Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PERC H830 Adapte r PERC FD33xD / FD33xS Import Foreign Configuration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Controller Task PER PER PERC Name C C H700 H800 H81 Adapter 0 / Ada Integrat pter ed PERC H700 Modul ar PERC H710 Adapte r/ Mini Monolit hic/ Mini Blade PERC H710P Adapte r PERC H310 Adapt er/ Mini Blade / Mini Mono lithic PERC H730P Adapte r/Mini Monoli thic/ Mini Blades /Slim PERC H730 Adapte r/Mini Monoli thic/ Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PERC H830 Adapte r PERC FD33xD / FD33xS and Hot Spare Drives Manage Physical disk power for configured drives NA
Battery PER Task C Name H80 0 PERC PERC H700 H810 Adapter/ Adapte Integrated r PER C H700 Modu lar PERC H710 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blade PERC PERC H710P H310 Adapter Mini Monoli thic/ Mini Blade PERC H730P Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter /Mini Monolit hic/ Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PER C H830 Adap ter PER C FD33 xD/ FD33 xS Delay Learn Cycle No Yes No No No No NA No No Yes Yes NA Connector Tasks Suppor
Physica l Disk Task Name PER C H80 0 PER PERC H700 C Adapter/ H810 Integrated Adap ter PERC H700 Modul ar PERC H710 Adapter/ Mini Blade/ Mini Monolith ic PERC H710 P Adapt er PERC H310 Adapter /Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H730P Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter /Mini Monolit hic/ Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PERC H830 Adapte r PER C FD3 3xD/ FD3 3xS Initializ e No No No No No No No No No No No No Rebuild Ye
Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers Table 47.
Virtual Disk Task Name PER C H80 0 PER C H81 0 Ada pter PERC H700 Adapter/ Integrate d/ Modular PERC H710 Adapter /Mini Monolit hic/Mini Blade PERC H710P Adapter /Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H310 Adapter /Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H730P Adapter / Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PER C H83 0 Ada pter PERC FD33xD/ FD33xS Fast Initialize Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Y
Virtual Disk Specific ation PER PER PERC C C H700 H800 H81 Adapter/ 0 Integrated Ada /Modular pter PERC H710 Adapte r/Mini Monolit hic PER C H710 P Adap ter PERC H310 Adapte r/Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H730P Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PER PERC C FD33xD/ H83 FD33xS 0 Ada pter 32 32 32 8 32 32 8 32 32 Maximu 32 m Number of Physical Disks per Span 32 Minimu 8 K
Virtual Disk Specific ation PER PER PERC C C H700 H800 H81 Adapter/ 0 Integrated Ada /Modular pter PERC H710 Mini Blade PERC H710 Adapte r/Mini Monolit hic PER C H710 P Adap ter PERC H310 Adapte r/Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H730P Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PER PERC C FD33xD/ H83 FD33xS 0 Ada pter Maximu m Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 10 256 256 16 NA 16 16
Virtual Disk Specific ation PER PER PERC C C H700 H800 H81 Adapter/ 0 Integrated Ada /Modular pter PERC H710 Mini Blade PERC H710 Adapte r/Mini Monolit hic PER C H710 P Adap ter PERC H310 Adapte r/Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H730P Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blades/ Embedde d PER PERC C FD33xD/ H83 FD33xS 0 Ada pter 6 Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 10 Minimu m Number of Physical Disk
RAID Levels Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers Table 49.
Read, Write, and Cache Policy PE RC H8 00 PER C H81 0 Ada pter Force Write Back (Enabled Always) Yes Yes PERC H700 Adapter/ Integrated /Modular PERC H710 Adapter/ Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blade PER C H71 0P Ada pter PERC H310 Adapter /Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H730P Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades/ Slim PERC H730 Adapter/ Mini Monolith ic/Mini Blades PERC H330 Adapter/ Mini Monolithic/ Mini Blades/ Embedded PERC H830 Adapter PERC FD33xD / FD33xS Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
• Enclosure Support For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure And Backplane Features. Controller Tasks Supported On SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers Table 52.
Battery Task Name SAS 6/iR PERC H200 Delay Learn Cycle No No Connector Tasks Supported On SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers Table 54. Connector Tasks Supported on SAS 6/iR and H200 Controllers Connector Task Name SAS 6/iR PERC H200 Connector Rescan No No Physical Disk Tasks Supported On SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers Table 55.
Virtual Disk Task Name SAS 6/iR PERC H200 Rename No No Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Reconfigure No No Change Policy Yes Yes Split Mirror No No Unmirror No No Delete Last Virtual Disk Yes Yes Delete (any) Virtual Disk Yes Yes Check Consistency No No Cancel Check Consistency No No Pause Check Consistency No No Resume Check Consistency No No Cancel Background Initialization (BGI) No No Format Virtual Disk No No Cancel Format Virtual Disk No No Restore Dead Disk Segments
Virtual Disk Specification SAS 6/iR PERC H200 Minimum Stripe Size 64 K 64 K Maximum Stripe Size 64 K 64 K Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Disk Group 1 1 Maximum Number of Physical Disks that Can Be Concatenated NA NA Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 0 8 10 — Adapter 10 — Integrated 4 — Modular Maximum Physical Disks in a RAID 1 2 2 Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 5 NA NA Maximum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 10 NA 10 — Adapter 10 — Integrated 4 — Modula
Read, Write, and Cache Policy SAS 6/iR PERC H200 Write Back No No Write Through No No Force Write Back (Enabled Always) No No Write Cache Enabled Protected No No Cache Policy No No Disk Cache Policy Yes Yes Cache I/O No No Direct I/O No No Enclosure Support On SAS 6/iR And H200 Controllers Table 60.
Physical Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC S100, PERC S110, PERC S130, And S300 Controllers Table 62.
Virtual Disk Specifications For PERC S100, PERC S110, PERC S130, And S300 Controllers Table 64.
RAID Levels Supported By The PERC S100, PERC S110, PERC S130, And S300 Controllers Table 65.
Enclosure Support On The PERC S100, PERC S110, PERC S130, And S300 Controllers Table 67. Enclosure Support on the PERC S100, PERC S110, PERC S130, and S300 Controllers Enclosure Support PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S130 PERC S300 Can an enclosure be attached to this controller? No No No No Supported Features On The Non-RAID Controllers This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether an enclosure can be attached to the controller.
Battery Tasks Supported By Non-RAID Controllers Table 69. Battery Tasks supported by Non-RAID Controllers Battery Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS Recondition Battery No No Start Learn Cycle No No Delay Learn Cycle No No Connector Tasks Supported On The Non-RAID Controllers Table 70. Connector Tasks Supported on the Non-RAID Controllers Connector Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS Connector Rescan No No Physical Disk Tasks Supported On The Non-RAID Controllers Table 71.
Virtual Disk Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS Rename No No Blink/Unblink No No Reconfigure No No Change Policy No No Split Mirror No No Unmirror No No Delete Last Virtual Disk No No Delete (any) Virtual Disk No No Check Consistency No No Cancel Check Consistency No No Pause Check Consistency No No Resume Check Consistency No No Cancel Background Initialization (BGI) No No Format Virtual Disk No No Cancel Format Virtual Disk No No Restore Dead Disk Segments
Enclosure And Backplane Tasks Table 74.
21 Determining The Health Status For Storage Components The chapter describes how the status of lower-level storage components is “rolled up" into the combined status displayed for the controller or other higher-level component. The examples provided by these tables do not cover all scenarios, but they do indicate how status is rolled up when a particular component is in a healthy, degraded, or failed state.
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Failed Or Removed Table 77. Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Failed or Removed (Enclosures Not Included) Storage Subsystem Controller Battery Connector Physical Disk(s) Firmware/ Driver Virtual Disks Component Status Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Unsupported, Partially, Or Permanently Degraded Table 78.
Health Status Rollup: Some Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State Table 80. Health Status Rollup: Some Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are in Foreign State (Enclosures Not Included) Storage Subsystem Controller Battery Connector Physical Disk(s) Firmware/ Driver Virtual Disk(s) Component Status Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk Is Degraded; Physical Disks Are Failed Or Rebuilding Table 81.
Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply Failed Or Power Connection Removed Table 84. Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply Failed or Power Connection Removed Storage Subsystem Controller Connector Enclosure Enclosure Virtual Disks Power Supply Physical Disks N/A N/A Component Status Health Rollup N/A Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Fan Is Failed Table 85.
Storage Subsystem Controller Connector Enclosure Health Rollup Enclosure Temperature Probe Virtual Disks Physical Disks N/A Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections To The Enclosure Table 88.
