User`s guide

Monitoring Status with Software
007-4834-001 31
Monitoring Status with Software
Use storage management software (TPSSM) to monitor enclosure status. You should run
the software constantly and check it frequently.
TPSSM provides the best method to diagnose and repair failures. This software helps
you do the following:
• Determine the nature of the failure.
• Locate the failed component.
• Provide recovery procedures to repair the failure.
Although the enclosure has fault indicators, these lights do not necessarily indicate
which component has failed or needs to be replaced, or which type of recovery
procedure you must perform. In some cases (such as loss of redundancy in various
components), the fault light does not even come on. Only TPSSM can detect the failure.
For example, the recovery procedure for an impending drive failure (a predictive failure
analysis, or PFA, flag on a drive) varies depending on the drive status (hot spare,
unassigned, RAID level, current volume status, and so on). Depending on the
circumstances, a PFA flag on a drive can indicate a high risk of data loss (if the drive is
in a RAID 0 volume) or a minimal risk (if the drive is unassigned). Only TPSSM can
identify the risk level and provide the necessary recovery procedures. Note also that in
the case of PFA flags, the global fault and drive fault indicators do not come on, so just
checking the indicators will not notify you of the failure, even if the risk of data loss is
high.
In addition, recovering from a failure may require you to perform procedures other than
replacing the component (such as backing up the volume or failing a drive before
removing it). TPSSM provides these procedures.
Caution: If the software recovery procedures are not followed, data loss can result.
Note: For more information on the storage management software (TPSSM), see the SGI
TPSSM Administration Guide (007-4306-00x), and the SGI InfiniteStorage TPSSM Software
Concepts Guide (007-4749-00x).
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