Dell OpenManage Server Administrator

Storage Management
User’s Guide
Notes and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if
instructions are not followed.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

© 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, PowerEdge™, PowerVault™, and
OpenManage™ are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows Server® are either
trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries. Red Hat Enterprise Linux® and Enterprise Linux® are registered trademarks of Red Hat,
Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Novell® is a registered trademark and SUSE ™ is a
trademark of Novell Inc. VMware®is a registered trademarks or trademarks of VMWare, Inc. in the
United States or other countries.
Server Administrator includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation
(www.apache.org). Server Administrator utilizes the OverLIB JavaScript library. This library can be
obtained from www.bosrup.com.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming
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trade names other than its own.

2012 - 03
Contents

1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
What’s New in this Release? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Before Installing Storage Management . . . . . . . . . 24

Version Requirements for Controller Firmware
and Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Supported Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Supported Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Support for Disk and Volume Management . . . . . . . 27

2 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Launching Storage Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Microsoft Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Linux and any Remote System . . . . . . . . . . . 30

User Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Using the Graphical User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Storage Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Health Subtab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Information/Configuration Subtab . . . . . . . . . 31
Drop-down Menus and Wizards for Running
Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using the Storage Management Command Line

Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Displaying the Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Contents 3
 Common Storage Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

3 Understanding RAID Concepts . . . . . . . 35

What Is RAID? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Hardware and Software RAID . . . . . . . . . . . 35
RAID Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Organizing Data Storage for Availability and

Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation . . . . . . . 38

Concatenation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
RAID Level 0 (Striping) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
RAID Level 1 (Mirroring) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
RAID Level 5 (Striping with distributed parity) . . . 43
RAID Level 6 (Striping with additional distributed
parity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
RAID Level 50 (Striping over RAID 5 sets) . . . . . 46
RAID Level 60 (Striping over RAID 6 sets) . . . . . 48
RAID Level 10 (Striping over mirror sets) . . . . . . 50
RAID Level 1-Concatenated (Concatenated
mirror) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Considerations for RAID 10 and 50 on PERC 4/SC,
4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di . . . . . . . . . 53

Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation

Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

No-RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4 Contents
4 Quick Access to Storage Status and
Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Storage Dashboard and Storage Health. . . . . . . . . 57

Storage Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Hot Spare Protection Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Select Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Storage Component Severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Storage Properties and Current Activity . . . . . . . . 59

Alerts or Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID Controllers . . . . 60

Using Alarms to Detect Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using Enclosure Temperature Probes . . . . . . . . . . 61

Rescan to Update Storage Configuration Changes . . . 61

Time Delay in Displaying Configuration Changes . . . 62

I/O and Reboot Requirements for Detecting Physical

Disk Status Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

5 PCI Express Solid-State Device

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
What is PCIe SSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

PCIe SSD Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

PCIe Sub System Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

PCIe Extender Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Contents 5
 Physical Device Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Physical Device Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Blink and Unblink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Full Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Preparing to Remove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Export Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

PCIe SSD Sub System Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Backplanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Backplane Firmware Version . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

6 Storage Information and Global

Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Storage Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Global Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Global Rescan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Enable/Disable Smart Thermal Shutdown . . . . . 76

Storage Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Storage Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

7 Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
What is a Controller?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA,

and SAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

RAID Controller Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Controller-supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Controller-supported Stripe Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

6 Contents
RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk
Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Read Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Write Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Disk Cache Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Cluster-enabled RAID Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Updating the Display of Clustered Resources . . . 89
Downloading Firmware and Cluster
Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Creating and Deleting Virtual Disks on Cluster-enabled

Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Integrated Mirroring and the PERC 4/IM

Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Background Initialization on PERC Controllers . . . . . 91

Non-RAID Controller Description . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Firmware/Driver Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Firmware/Driver Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Controller Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Controller Severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Controller Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Controller Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Controller Properties and Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Controller Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Available Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Set Rebuild Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Reset Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Contents 7
 Export Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Foreign Configuration Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Foreign Configuration Properties . . . . . . . . . 110

Importing Foreign Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Importing/Recovering Foreign Configurations . . . . 114

Clear Foreign Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Physical Disks in Foreign Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . 116

Set Background Initialization Rate . . . . . . . . . . 121

Set Check Consistency Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Set Reconstruct Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Redundant Path Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Clearing the Redundant Path View . . . . . . . . 127
Related Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Set Patrol Read Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Start and Stop Patrol Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Change Controller Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Manage Physical Disk Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Manage Preserved Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Manage Preserved Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Manage Encryption Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Encryption Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Enabling LKM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Manage CacheCade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Creating a CacheCade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

8 Contents
 Resizing the CacheCade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Renaming the CacheCade . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Blinking and Unblinking the CacheCade . . . . . . 140
Deleting the CacheCade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
CacheCade Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Convert to Non-RAID Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Convert to RAID Capable Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Patrol Read Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Check Consistency Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Slot Occupancy Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

8 Enclosures and Backplanes . . . . . . . . . 145

Backplanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Enclosure Physical Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Enclosure Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Enclosure Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Enclosure Temperature Probes . . . . . . . . . . 146
Enclosure Management Modules (EMMs) . . . . . 147

SMART Thermal Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Changing the Mode on PowerVault 220S and

PowerVault 221S Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Enclosure Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Enclosure and Backplane Health . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Enclosure and Backplane Status . . . . . . . . . . 150
Enclosure and Backplane Information . . . . . . . 151

Contents 9
 Enclosure and Backplane Components . . . . . 151

Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks . . . 151

Enclosure and Backplane Properties. . . . . . . 151
Enclosure Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Available Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Set Asset Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Set Temperature Probe Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

View Slot Occupancy Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

EMM Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Fan Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Power Supply Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks . . . . . . . 167

Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks . . . . 167
Set Temperature Probe Properties and
Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

9 Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Channel Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown . . . . 171

Channel Redundancy on PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di,

and 4e/Di Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Creating a Channel-redundant Virtual Disk . . . . . . 172

Connector Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Connector Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Connector Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Connector Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

10 Contents
 Connector Properties and Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Connector Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Connector Tasks: Rescan Connector . . . . . . . . 177
Connector Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Logical Connector Properties and Tasks . . . . . . . . 177

Logical Connector Properties . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Path Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Clearing the Redundant Path View . . . . . . . . . 178
Related Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Logical Connector Components . . . . . . . . . . 179

10 RAID Controller Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Battery Properties and Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Battery Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

11 Physical Disks or Physical Devices . . . . 189

Guidelines to Replace a Physical Disk or Physical
Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Add a New Disk to Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

How to Avoid Removing the Wrong Disk . . . . . . . . 191

Replacing a Physical Disk Receiving SMART

Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Other Disk Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties and

Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties . . . . 193

Contents 11
 Physical Disk or Physical Device Tasks . . . . . . 199

Blink and Unblink (Physical Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Remove Dead Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Prepare to Remove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Initialize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Cancel Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Assign and Unassign Global Hot Spare . . . . . . . . 203

Online and Offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Clear Physical Disk and Cancel Clear . . . . . . . . . 205

Revertible Hot Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Instant Encrypt Erase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Full Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Convert to RAID Capable Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Convert to Non-RAID Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

12 Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks . . . . 211
Virtual Disk Considerations for Controllers . . . . 212
Virtual Disk Considerations for CERC SATA1.5/6ch,
and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers . . . . . . . . . 214
Virtual Disk Considerations for PERC S100, S110,
and S300 Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Virtual Disk Considerations on Linux . . . . . . . 215

12 Contents
 Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk . . . . . 216
Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per
Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Calculation for Maximum Virtual Disk Size and
the Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard . . . . . . 217
Channel Redundant Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . 217

Creating Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Reconfiguring/Migrating Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . 218

Starting and Target RAID Levels for Virtual Disk

Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion . . . . . . . . 219

Maintain Integrity of Redundant Virtual Disks . . . . . 223

Rebuilding Redundant Information . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Virtual Disk Bad Block Management . . . . . . . . . . 224

What is a Virtual Disk Bad Block? . . . . . . . . . 224
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Virtual Disk Properties and Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Virtual Disk Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2) . . . . 237

Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 2 of 2) . . . . 239

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4) . . . 241

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 4) . . . 244

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 3 of 4) . . . 246

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 4 of 4) . . . 248

Span Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Contents 13
 Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3) . . . . . . 249

Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 2 of 3) . . . . . . 251

Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 3 of 3) . . . . . . 253

Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize . . . . 254

Considerations for Format . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Considerations for Initialize . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Considerations for Fast Initialize . . . . . . . . . 255
Considerations for Slow Initialize . . . . . . . . . 255
Formatting or Initializing a Disk . . . . . . . . . . 256

Virtual Disk Task: Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Virtual Disk Task: Rename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Virtual Disk Task: Change Policy . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Split Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Unmirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare . . . . . . 262

Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk

(Step 1 of 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk

(Step 2 of 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

13 Moving Physical and Virtual Disks

from One System to Another . . . . . . . . . 265
Required Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Migrating SCSI Virtual Disks to Another System . . . 266

Migrating SAS Virtual Disks to Another System . . . 268

14 Contents
14 Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a
Hot Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Understanding Hot Spares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy . . . . . . . . . . 270

Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy . . . . . . 270
Resetting the Hot Spare Protection Policy . . . . . 270
Global Hot Spare Protection Policy . . . . . . . . 271
Considerations for Hot Spare Protection
Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Considerations for Enclosure Affinity . . . . . . . 271

Considerations for Hot Spares on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC,

4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di, PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i, PERC 6/E,
PERC 6/I, and CERC 6/I Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations . . . . . . . 273
Physical Disk State, Alert Messages and Hot
Spares on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si,
and 4e/Di Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Considerations for Hot Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch,

S100, and S300 Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Size Requirements for Global Hot Spares on CERC
SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 Controllers . . . . . . 275
Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations on CERC
SATA1.5/6ch Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Global Hot Spare Considerations on a SAS 6/iR . . . . 276

15 CacheCade Using Solid State Drives . . 277

16 BIOS Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

BIOS Terms and the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, and
4/Di Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Contents 15
 BIOS Terms and the CERC SATA1.5/6ch and CERC
SATA1.5/2s Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

17 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Common Troubleshooting Procedures. . . . . . . . . 281
Cables Attached Correctly . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Drivers and Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Isolate Hardware Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Rescan to Update Information on SCSI
Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Replacing a Failed Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Replacing a Failed Physical Disk that is Part of
a Non-Redundant Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . 284
Recovering from Removing the Wrong Physical
Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Resolving Microsoft Windows Upgrade
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Virtual Disk Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

A Rebuild Does Not Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
A Rebuild Completes with Errors . . . . . . . . . 288
Cannot Create a Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . . 289
A Virtual Disk of Minimum Size is Not Visible
to Windows Disk Management . . . . . . . . . . 289
Virtual Disk Errors on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Problems Associated With Using the Same
Physical Disks for Both Redundant and
Non-Redundant Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Specific Problem Situations and Solutions . . . . . . 291

Physical Disk is Offline or Displays an Error
Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
A Disk is Marked as Failed When Rebuilding
in a Cluster Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

16 Contents
 A Disk on a PERC 4/Di Controller Does not
Return Online after a Prepare to Remove . . . . . 292
Receive a “Bad Block” Alert with “Replacement,”
“Sense,” or “Medium” Error . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Read and Write Operations Experience
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
I/O Stops When a Redundant Channel Fails . . . . 294
A Task Menu Option is Not Displayed . . . . . . . 294
A Corrupt Disk or Drive Message Suggests
Running autocheck During a Reboot . . . . . . . . 295
Erroneous Status and Error Messages after
a Windows Hibernation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Storage Management May Delay Before Updating
Temperature Probe Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Storage Management May Delay Displaying
Storage Devices After Reboot . . . . . . . . . . . 295
You are Unable to Log into a Remote System . . . 295
Cannot Connect to Remote System Running
Windows Server 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Reconfiguring a Virtual Disk Displays Error in
Mozilla Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Physical Disks Display Under Connector Not
Enclosure Tree Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

PCIe SSD Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
(PCIe) Solid-State Drive (SSD) is not seen in the
operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
PCIe SSD is not seen in disk management in the
operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

18 Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . 299

Why is a Rebuild not Working? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

How Can I Safely Remove or Replace a Physical

Disk? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Contents 17
 How do I Recover from Removing the Wrong Physical
Disk? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

How do I Identify the Firmware Version that is

installed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Which Controllers do I Have? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

How do I Turn off an Alarm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Which RAID level is Best for me? . . . . . . . . . . . 301

A Supported Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Supported Features on the PERC 4/ Controllers . . . . 303
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Virtual Disk Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy . . . . . . . 313
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Supported Features on the CERC SATA

Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Virtual Disk Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy . . . . . . . 321
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

18 Contents
Supported Features on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and
CERC 6/I Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Virtual Disk Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy . . . . 330
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Supported Features on the PERC Hardware

Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Virtual Disk Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy . . . . 344
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Supported Features on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and

PERC H200 Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Virtual Disk Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy . . . . 352
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Contents 19
 Supported Features on the PERC S100, PERC S110,
and S300 Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Virtual Disk Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy. . . . 356
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Supported Features on the Non-RAID

Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Controller Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Battery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Physical Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Enclosure Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Enclosure and Backplane Features . . . . . . . . . . 361

Enclosure and Backplane Tasks . . . . . . . . . 362
Enclosure and Backplane Support for Smart
Thermal Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Maximum Supported Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 364

19 Determining the Health Status for

Storage Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Health Status Rollup: Battery is Charging or Dead . . 365

Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk

are Failed or Removed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

20 Contents
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual
Disk are Unsupported, Partially or Permanently
Degraded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Health Status Rollup: All Physical Disks in a Virtual

Disk are in Foreign State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Health Status Rollup: Some Physical Disks in a

Virtual Disk are in Foreign State . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Degraded;

Physical Disks are Failed or Rebuilding . . . . . . . . 368

Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Failed . . . . . . . 369

Health Status Rollup: Unsupported Firmware

Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply

Failed or Power Connection Removed . . . . . . . . . 370

Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Fan is Failed . . . 371

Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure EMM is

Failed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Temperature

Probe is Failed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections

to the Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Health Status Rollup: One or More Physical Disks

are Failed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Health Status Rollup: Physical Disk is Rebuilding . . . 374

Contents 21
22 Contents
 1
Overview
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management provides
enhanced features for configuring a system's locally-attached RAID and non-
RAID disk storage. Storage Management enables you to perform controller
and enclosure functions for all supported RAID and non-RAID controllers
and enclosures from a single graphical or command-line interface without
requiring use of the controller BIOS utilities. The graphical interface is
wizard-driven with features for novice and advanced users. The command-
line interface is fully-featured and scriptable. Using Storage Management,
you can protect your data by configuring data-redundancy, assigning hot
spares, or rebuilding failed physical disks. You can also perform data-
destructive tasks. All users of Storage Management should be familiar with
their storage environment and Storage Management.
Storage Management supports SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS but not fibre
channel.
For more information, see the following:
• Getting Started
• Understanding RAID Concepts
• Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks
For information on Storage Management alerts, see the Dell OpenManage
Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

What’s New in this Release?

This release of Storage Management provides the following new features:
• The Manage Physical Disk Power controller task provides additional
power saving modes that help you to customize the power saving settings.
• On Dell PowerEdge yx2x systems, multiple backplanes and multiple
internal controllers are supported. The Controller
Information/Configuration screen displays information from multiple

Overview 23
 backplanes. The backplane can be identified by the bay ID which is
displayed on the screen. This ID is also displayed on the bezel of the
system.
NOTE: Creating virtual disks spanning multiple backplanes configured with
different controllers is not supported.
NOTE: On selected Dell PowerEdge xx2x systems, PERC H710 mini and H710P
adapters can be used as secondary controllers for multiple internal controller
configurations.
• On Dell PERC H310 card, the new controllers tasks Convert to Non-RAID
Disks and Convert to RAID Capable Disks allow you to convert
unconfigured Ready RAID capable disks to Non-RAID disks and vice-
versa.
• The release supports the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x operating system
and the load balancing server, Citrix XenServer 5.6.
• The current release supports the Web browsers, Internet Explorer 9.0 and
Mozilla Firefox 4.0.
• The current release supports Internal Tape Adapter (ITA) for LSI PCI-e
U320 SCSI non-RAID controllers.
• This release provides device management support for PCI Express Solid-
State Drive (PCIe SSD).
• In this release, the Physical Disk Power Management for Configured
Drives feature is supported on the PERC H710, PERC H710P, and PERC
H810 controllers.
For information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide and for information on Command
Line Interface, see Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Command Line
Interface User’s Guide, at support.dell.com/manuals.

Before Installing Storage Management

The following sections describe considerations for installing Storage
Management.

24 Overview
Version Requirements for Controller Firmware and Drivers
In order for Storage Management to function properly, the controllers must
have the minimum required version of the firmware and drivers installed. The
firmware and drivers listed in the readme.txt file refer to the minimum
supported version for these controllers. Later versions of the firmware and
drivers are also supported. For the most recent driver and firmware
requirements, see support.dell.com.
NOTE: To download the latest storport driver, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base
article KB 943545 at support.microsoft.com.
If you install Storage Management without the minimum required firmware
and drivers, Storage Management may not be able to display any of 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 Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

Supported Controllers
This release of Storage Management supports the following controllers.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to the minimum
supported version for these controllers. Later versions of the firmware and
drivers are also supported. See support.dell.com for the most recent driver
and firmware requirements.

Supported RAID Controllers

Storage Management supports the following RAID controllers. For
information on the technology used by the supported RAID controllers, see
RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS.
• PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4/IM, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di
• CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s
• PERC 5/E
• PERC 5/i Integrated and PERC 5/i Adapter
• SAS 5/iR Integrated and SAS 5/iR Adapter
• PERC 6/E

Overview 25
 • PERC 6/I Integrated and PERC 6/I Adapter
• PERC 6/I Modular
• CERC 6/I controller
• SAS 6/iR controller
• PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300
• PERC H200 Adapter, PERC H200 Integrated, and PERC H200 Modular
• PERC H800 Adapter, PERC H700 Adapter, PERC H700 Integrated, and
PERC H700 Modular
• PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, PERC H310 Mini
Blades, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Monolithic, PERC H710 Mini
Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Monolithic, PERC
H710P Mini Monolithic, and PERC H810 Adapter
NOTE: Integrated mirroring on the PERC 4/IM controller enables you to mirror a
physical disk that resides internally in the server. You can implement the integrated
mirror using the PERC 4/IM BIOS. When implemented, Storage Management
recognizes the integrated mirror as a virtual disk. You cannot, however, use Storage
Management to create a virtual disk on the PERC 4/IM controller. Storage
Management supports other functions provided by the PERC 4/IM controller. For
more information, see Integrated Mirroring and the PERC 4/IM Controller.
NOTE: The PERC H200, PERC H7x0, and PERC H8x0 Controllers support 3 TB NL
SAS hard drives, 3 TB NL SATA hard drives, SATA SSDs, and SAS SSDs.

Supported Non-RAID Controllers

Storage Management supports the following non-RAID controllers.
• LSI PCI-e U320
• SAS 5/i Integrated
• SAS 5/E
• SAS 6Gbps Adapter

Supported Enclosures
This release of Storage Management supports the following enclosures:
• Dell PowerVault 20xS and 21xS storage systems
• PowerVault 220S and 221S storage systems

26 Overview
 • PowerVault MD1000 and MD1120 storage system
• PowerVault MD1200 and MD1220 storage system

Support for Disk and Volume Management

Storage Management does not provide disk and volume management. To
implement disk and volume management, you need to use the native disk
and volume management utilities provided by your operating system.

Overview 27
28 Overview
 2
Getting Started
Dell OpenManage 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.
Using Storage Management, you can configure and manage controller
functions without accessing the BIOS. These functions include configuring
virtual disks and applying RAID levels and hot spares for data protection. You
can initiate many other controller functions like rebuilds, troubleshooting,
setting thresholds, and so on. Most functions can be configured and managed
while the system remains online and continues to process requests.
Storage Management reports the status of storage components. When the
status for a component changes, Storage Management updates the display for
that component and sends an alert to the Alert Log.
In addition to status changes, Storage Management generates alerts for user
actions such as creating or deleting a virtual disk and for many other events.
Most alerts also generate SNMP traps.
Other than monitoring and reporting status, Storage Management does not
automatically initiate actions independent of user input. (Automatic
shutdown of enclosures that have exceeded a critical temperature is the only
exception. For more information, see SMART Thermal Shutdown.) Storage
Management actions are user-initiated using wizards and drop-down menus.
Storage Management does, however, report the actions taken by the
controllers, which include generating alerts, initiating tasks, such as a rebuild,
and making state changes.
NOTE: Storage Management reports the change in state of disks and other storage
components as viewed by the controller.

Getting Started 29
 Launching Storage Management
Storage Management is installed as a Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
service. All Storage Management features are accessible by selecting the
Storage object in the Server Administrator tree view. For more information
on starting Server Administrator, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator User’s Guide.

Microsoft Windows
To start a Server Administrator session on a local system running Microsoft
Windows operating system, click the Dell OpenManage icon on your
desktop and log in using an account with Administrator privileges.
NOTE: Administrative privileges are required for configuration purposes.

Linux and any Remote System

To start a Server Administrator session on a Linux or any remote system, click
the Dell OpenManage icon on your desktop and log in using an account with
Administrator privileges.
Or, open a Web browser and type one of the following in the address field
and press <Enter>:
https://<localhost>:1311
where <localhost> is the assigned name for the managed system and 1311 is
the default port
or
https://<IP address>:1311
where <IP address> is the IP address for the managed system and 1311 is the
default port.
NOTE: You must 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.

30 Getting Started
Administrator privileges are required to access all Storage Management
features. Administrator privilege allows you to execute the drop-down menu
tasks, launch wizards, and use the omconfig storage command line interface
commands. Without Administrator privileges, you cannot manage and
configure the storage component.
User and Power User privileges allow you to view storage status, but not
manage or configure storage. With User and Power User privileges, you can
use the omreport storage command and not the omconfig storage
command.
For more information on user groups and other Server Administrator security
features, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User’s Guide.

Using the Graphical User Interface

The following sections describe how to access the Storage Management
features using the Server Administrator graphical user interface (GUI).

Storage Object
The Server Administrator tree view displays a Storage object. The Storage
Management features are accessible by selecting the Storage object or
expanding the Storage object and selecting a lower-level object.

Health Subtab
The Health subtab displays status information for the storage components.
For more information, see Storage Health.

Information/Configuration Subtab
The Information/Configuration subtab displays the property information for
a storage object. The Information/Configuration subtabs also have drop
down menus and buttons for executing storage tasks or launching wizards.

Drop-down Menus and Wizards for Running Tasks

Many of the storage objects displayed in the tree view have tasks. Examples of
these tasks include creating virtual disks, assigning hot spares, reconditioning
a battery, and so on. To access a storage object’s task, select the component in

Getting Started 31
 the tree view and then select the Information/Configuration subtab. The
Information/Configuration subtabs have task drop-down menus or buttons
for launching a task.

Using the Storage Management Command Line

Interface
Storage Management has a fully-featured command line interface (CLI). For
more information, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Command
Line Interface User’s Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

Displaying the Online Help

Storage Management provides extensive online help. This help is available
from the Server Administrator graphical user interface when the Storage or
lower-level tree view object is selected. For more information, see Storage
Object.
The online help is available as:
• Context-sensitive Help. Each Storage Management screen has a Help
button. Clicking the Help button displays context-sensitive online help
that describes the contents of the displayed screen.
• Table of Contents. The help screens for the context-sensitive (Help
button) help contain links to the online help’s Table of Contents. To
access the Table of Contents, first click a Storage Management Help
button to display a help screen. Next, click the Go to Table of Contents
for Storage Management Online Help link to display the Table of
Contents. This link is displayed at the top and bottom of each help screen.
Use the Table of Contents to access all topics covered in the online help.

32 Getting Started
Common Storage Tasks
This section provides links to information describing commonly performed
storage tasks.
• Create and configure virtual disks (RAID configuration) For more
information, see:
– Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2)—This sub-section
describes using the Express Wizard to create a virtual disk. Using the
Express Wizard is the quickest method for creating a virtual disk. The
Express Wizard is appropriate for novice users.
– Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4)—This sub-section
describes using the Advanced Wizard to create a virtual disk. The
Advanced Wizard requires a good knowledge of RAID levels and
hardware and is appropriate for advanced users.
– Virtual Disks—This sub-section provides detailed information
regarding virtual disk management. This information includes
controller-specific considerations that affect virtual disk creation and
management.
• Assign a hot spare to the virtual disk—When a virtual disk uses a
redundant RAID level, then you can assign a hot spare (backup physical
disk) to rebuild data if a physical disk in the virtual disk fails. For more
information, see:
– Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare—This section describes
hot spares and includes controller-specific information.
• Perform a Check Consistency—The Maintain Integrity of Redundant
Virtual Disks task verifies the accuracy of a virtual disk’s redundant data.
• Reconfigure a Virtual Disk—You can add physical disks to a virtual disk to
expand the virtual disk’s capacity. You can also change RAID levels. For
more information, see Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3).

Getting Started 33
34 Getting Started
 3
Understanding RAID Concepts
Storage Management uses 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 your system’s RAID controllers and operating
system view disk space. This sub-section describes basic storage concepts
including What Is RAID?, Organizing Data Storage for Availability and
Performance, and Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation.

What Is RAID?
RAID is a technology for managing how data is stored on the physical disks
that reside in your system or are attached to it. A key aspect of RAID is the
ability to span physical disks so that the combined storage capacity of
multiple physical disks can be treated as single, extended disk space. Another
key aspect of RAID is the ability to maintain redundant data which can be
used to restore data in the event of a disk failure. RAID uses different
techniques, such as striping, mirroring, and parity, to store and reconstruct
data. There are different RAID levels that use different methods for storing
and reconstructing data. The RAID levels have different characteristics in
terms of read/write performance, data protection, and storage capacity. Not
all RAID levels maintain redundant data, which means for some RAID levels
lost data cannot be restored. The RAID level you choose depends on whether
your priority is performance, protection, or storage capacity.
NOTE: The RAID Advisory Board (RAB) defines the specifications used to
implement RAID. Although the RAB defines the RAID levels, commercial
implementation of RAID levels by different vendors may vary from the actual RAID
specifications. An implementation used by a particular vendor may affect the read
and write performance and the degree of data redundancy.

Hardware and Software RAID

RAID can be implemented with either hardware or software. A system using
hardware RAID has a RAID controller that implements the RAID levels and
processes data reads and writes to the physical disks. When using software
RAID provided by the operating system, the operating system implements

Understanding RAID Concepts 35

 the RAID levels. For this reason, using software RAID by itself can slow
system performance. You can, however, use software RAID on top of
hardware RAID volumes to provide better performance and variety in the
configuration of RAID volumes. For example, you can mirror a pair of
hardware RAID 5 volumes across two RAID controllers to provide RAID
controller redundancy.

RAID Concepts
RAID uses particular techniques for writing data to disks. These techniques
enable RAID to provide data redundancy or better performance. These
techniques include:
• Mirroring—Duplicating data from one physical disk to another physical
disk. Mirroring provides data redundancy by maintaining two copies of the
same data on different physical disks. If one of the disks in the mirror fails,
the system can continue to operate using the unaffected disk. Both sides of
the mirror contain the same data at all times. 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. Each stripe consists of consecutive virtual disk data addresses that are
mapped in fixed-size units to each physical disk in the virtual disk using a
sequential pattern. For example, if the virtual disk includes five physical
disks, the stripe writes data to physical disks one through five without
repeating any of the physical disks. The amount of space consumed by a
stripe is the same on each physical disk. The portion of a stripe that resides
on a physical disk is a stripe element. Striping by itself does not provide
data redundancy. Striping in combination with parity does provide data
redundancy.
• Stripe size—The total disk space consumed by a stripe not including a
parity disk. For example, consider a stripe that contains 64KB of disk space
and has 16KB of data residing on each disk in the stripe. In this case, the
stripe size is 64KB and the stripe element size is 16KB.
• Stripe element—A stripe element is the portion of a stripe that resides on
a single physical disk.

36 Understanding RAID Concepts

 • Stripe element size—The amount of disk space consumed by a stripe
element. For example, consider a stripe that contains 64KB of disk space
and has 16KB of data residing on each disk in the stripe. In this case, the
stripe element size is 16KB and the stripe size is 64KB.
• Parity—Parity refers to redundant data that is maintained using an
algorithm in combination with striping. When one of the striped disks
fails, the data can be reconstructed from the parity information using the
algorithm.
• Span—A span is a RAID technique used to combine storage space from
groups of physical disks into a RAID 10, 50, or 60 virtual disk.

RAID Levels
Each RAID level uses some combination of mirroring, striping, and parity to
provide data redundancy or improved read and write performance. For
specific information on each RAID level, see Choosing RAID Levels and
Concatenation.

Organizing Data Storage for Availability and

Performance
RAID provides different methods or RAID levels for organizing the disk
storage. Some RAID levels maintain redundant data so that you can restore
data after a disk failure. Different RAID levels may also entail an increase or
decrease in the system’s I/O (read and write) performance.
Maintaining redundant data requires the use of additional physical disks. As
more disks become involved, the likelihood of a disk failure increases. Because
of the differences in I/O performance and redundancy, one RAID level may
be more appropriate than another based on the applications in the operating
environment and the nature of the data being stored.
When choosing concatenation or a RAID level, the following performance
and cost considerations apply:
• Availability or fault-tolerance—Availability or fault-tolerance refers to a
system’s ability to maintain operations and provide access to data even
when one of its components has failed. In RAID volumes, availability or

Understanding RAID Concepts 37

 fault-tolerance is achieved by maintaining redundant data. Redundant
data includes mirrors (duplicate data) and parity information
(reconstructing data using an algorithm).
• Performance—Read and write performance can be increased or decreased
depending on the RAID level you choose. Some RAID levels may be more
appropriate for particular applications.
• Cost efficiency—Maintaining the redundant data or parity information
associated with RAID volumes requires additional disk space. In situations
where the data is temporary, easily reproduced, or non-essential, the
increased cost of data redundancy may not be justified.
• Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)—Using additional disks to
maintain data redundancy also increases the chance of disk failure at any
given moment. Although this cannot be avoided in situations where
redundant data is a requirement, it does have implications for the
workload of your organization’s system support staff.
• Volume—Volume refers to a single disk non-RAID virtual disk. You can
create volumes using external utilities like the O-ROM <Ctrl+R>.
Storage Management does not support the creation of volumes. However,
you can view volumes and use drives from these volumes for creation of
new virtual disks or Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) of existing virtual
disks, provided free space is available. Storage Management allows
Rename and Delete operations on such volumes.
For more information, see Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation.

Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation

You can use RAID or concatenation to control data storage on multiple disks.
Each RAID level or concatenation has different performance and data
protection characteristics.
The following sub-sections provide specific information on how each RAID
level or concatenation store data as well as their performance and protection
characteristics:
• Concatenation
• RAID Level 0 (Striping)
• RAID Level 1 (Mirroring)

38 Understanding RAID Concepts

 • 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

Concatenation
In Storage Management, concatenation refers to storing data on either one
physical disk or on disk space that spans multiple physical disks. When
spanning more than one disk, concatenation enables the operating system to
view multiple physical disks as a single disk.
Data stored on a single disk can be considered a simple volume. This disk
could also be defined as a virtual disk that comprises only a single physical
disk. Data that spans more than one physical disk can be considered a
spanned volume. Multiple concatenated disks can also be defined as a virtual
disk that comprises more than one physical disk.
A dynamic volume that spans to separate areas of the same disk is also
considered concatenated.
When a physical disk in a concatenated or spanned volume fails, the entire
volume becomes unavailable. Because the data is not redundant, it cannot be
restored by rebuilding from a mirrored disk or parity information. Restoring
from a backup is the only option.
Because concatenated volumes do not use disk space to maintain redundant
data, they are more cost-efficient than volumes that use mirrors or parity
information. A concatenated volume may be a good choice for data that is
temporary, easily reproduced, or that does not justify the cost of data
redundancy. In addition, a concatenated volume can easily be expanded by
adding an additional physical disk.

Understanding RAID Concepts 39

 Figure 3-1. Concatenating Disks

• Concatenates n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of n disks.

• Data fills up the first disk before it is written to the second disk.
• No redundancy data is kept. When a disk fails, the large virtual disk fails.
• No performance gain.
• No redundancy.

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

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.

40 Understanding RAID Concepts

Figure 3-2. Striping Disks

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 redundancy data is kept. When a disk fails, the large virtual disk fails
with no means of rebuilding the data.
• Better read and write performance.

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

Understanding RAID Concepts 41

 RAID Level 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 1 is the simplest form of maintaining redundant data. In RAID 1, data
is mirrored or duplicated on one or more physical disks. If a physical disk on
one side of the mirror fails, then the data can be rebuilt using the physical
disk on the other side of the mirror.

Figure 3-3. Mirroring Disks

RAID 1 Characteristics:
• Groups n + n disks as one virtual disk with the capacity of n disks. The
controllers currently supported by Storage Management allow the
selection of two disks when creating a RAID 1. Because these disks are
mirrored, the total storage capacity is equal to one disk.
• Data is replicated on the two disks.
• When a disk fails, the virtual disk still works. The data is read from the
failed disk’s mirror.
• 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.

42 Understanding RAID Concepts

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

RAID Level 5 (Striping with distributed parity)

RAID 5 provides data redundancy by using data striping in combination with
parity information. Rather than dedicating a physical disk to parity, however,
the parity information is striped across all physical disks in the disk group.

Figure 3-4. Striping Disks with Distributed Parity

RAID 5 Characteristics:
• Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n-1) disks.
• Redundant information (parity) is alternately stored on all disks.

Understanding RAID Concepts 43

 • When a disk fails, the virtual disk still works, but it is operating in a
degraded state. The data is reconstructed from the surviving disks.
• Better read performance, but slower write performance.
• Redundancy for protection of data.

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

RAID Level 6 (Striping with additional distributed parity)

RAID 6 provides data redundancy by using data striping in combination with
parity information. Similar to RAID 5, the parity is distributed within each
stripe. RAID 6, however, uses an additional physical disk to maintain parity,
such that each stripe in the disk group maintains two disk blocks with parity
information. The additional parity provides data protection in the event of
two disk failures. In Figure 3-5, the two sets of parity information are
identified as P and Q.

44 Understanding RAID Concepts

Figure 3-5. RAID 6

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.

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels

Understanding RAID Concepts 45

 • Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

RAID Level 50 (Striping over RAID 5 sets)

RAID 50 is striping over more than one span of physical disks. For example, a
RAID 5 disk group that is implemented with three physical disks and then
continues on with a disk group of three more physical disks would be a RAID
50.
It is possible to implement RAID 50 even when the hardware does not
directly support it. In this case, you can implement more than one RAID 5
virtual disks and then convert the RAID 5 disks to dynamic disks. You can
then create a dynamic volume that is spanned across all RAID 5 virtual disks.

46 Understanding RAID Concepts

Figure 3-6. RAID 50

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.

Understanding RAID Concepts 47

 NOTE: On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, there are
special considerations when implementing RAID 50 on a disk group that has disks
of different sizes. For more information, see Considerations for RAID 10 and 50 on
PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di.

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

RAID Level 60 (Striping over RAID 6 sets)

RAID 60 is striping over more than one span of physical disks that are
configured as a RAID 6. For example, a RAID 6 disk group that is
implemented with four physical disks and then continues on with a disk
group of four more physical disks would be a RAID 60.

48 Understanding RAID Concepts

Figure 3-7. RAID 60

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.

Understanding RAID Concepts 49

 • Two disks per span are required for parity. RAID 60 is more expensive in
terms of disk space.

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

RAID Level 10 (Striping over mirror sets)

The RAB considers RAID Level 10 to be an implementation of RAID level 1.
RAID 10 combines mirrored physical disks (RAID 1) with data striping
(RAID 0). With RAID 10, data is striped across multiple physical disks. The
striped disk group is then mirrored onto another set of physical disks. RAID
10 can be considered a mirror of stripes.

50 Understanding RAID Concepts

Figure 3-8. Striping Over Mirrored Disk Groups

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.
NOTE: On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, there are
special considerations when implementing RAID 10 on a disk group that has disks
of different sizes. For more information, see Considerations for RAID 10 and 50 on
PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di.

Understanding RAID Concepts 51

 Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance
• Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

RAID Level 1-Concatenated (Concatenated mirror)

RAID 1-concatenated is a RAID 1 disk group that spans across more than a
single pair of physical disks. This combines the advantages of concatenation
with the redundancy of RAID 1. No striping is involved in this RAID type.
NOTE: You cannot create a RAID 1-concatenated virtual disk or reconfigure to
RAID 1-concatenated with Storage Management. You can only monitor a RAID 1-
concatenated virtual disk with Storage Management.

Figure 3-9. RAID 1-Concatenated

Related Information:
• Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance
• Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance

52 Understanding RAID Concepts

 • Controller-supported RAID Levels
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

Considerations for RAID 10 and 50 on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si,
and 4e/Di
On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, there
are special considerations when implementing RAID 10 or RAID 50 on a disk
group that has disks of different sizes. When implementing RAID 10 or
RAID 50, disk space is spanned to create the stripes and mirrors. The span
size can vary to accommodate the different disk sizes. There is, however, the
possibility that a portion of the largest disk in the disk group becomes
unusable, resulting in wasted disk space. For example, consider a disk group
that has the following disks:
Disk A = 40 GB
Disk B = 40 GB
Disk C = 60 GB
Disk D = 80 GB
In this example, data is spanned across all four disks until Disk A and Disk B
and 40 GB on each of Disk C and D are completely full. Data is then spanned
across Disks C and D until Disk C is full. This leaves 20 GB of disk space
remaining on Disk D. Data cannot be written to this disk space, as there is no
corresponding disk space available in the disk group to create redundant 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 RAID levels supported by Storage
Management. For information on all RAID levels supported by Storage
Management, see Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation.

Understanding RAID Concepts 53

 Table 3-1. RAID Level and Concatenation Performance Comparison

RAID Data Read Write Rebuild Minimum Suggested

Level Availability Performance Performance Performance Disks Uses
Required
Concatenation No gain No gain No gain N/A 1 or 2 More cost
depending efficient
on the than
controller. redundant
RAID levels.
Use for
noncritical
data.
RAID 0 None Very Good Very Good N/A N Noncritical
data
RAID 1 Excellent Very Good Good Good 2N Small
(N = 1) databases,
database
logs, critical
information
RAID 5 Good Sequential Fair, unless Fair N+1 Databases
reads: good. using write- (N = at and other
Transaction back cache least two read-
al reads: disks) intensive
Very good transactional
uses
RAID 10 Excellent Very Good Fair Good 2N x X Data-
intensive
environment
s (large
records)
RAID 50 Good Very Good Fair Fair N+2 Medium-
(N = at sized
least 4) transactional
or data-
intensive
uses
N = Number of physical disks
X = Number of RAID sets

54 Understanding RAID Concepts

Table 3-1. RAID Level and Concatenation Performance Comparison (continued)

RAID Data Read Write Rebuild Minimum Suggested

Level Availability Performance Performance Performance Disks Uses
Required
RAID 6 Excellent Sequential Fair, unless Poor N+2 Critical
reads: good. using write- (N = at information.
Transaction back cache least two Databases
al reads: disks) and other
Very good read-
intensive
transactional
uses.
RAID 60 Excellent Very Good Fair Poor X x (N + Critical
2) information.
(N = at Medium-
least 2) sized
transactional
or data-
intensive
uses.
N = Number of physical disks
X = Number of RAID sets

No-RAID
In Storage Management, a virtual disk of unknown metadata is considered a
No- RAID volume. Storage Management does not support this type of virtual
disks. These must either be deleted or the physical disk must be removed.
Storage Management allows Delete and Rename operation on No-RAID
volumes.

Understanding RAID Concepts 55

56 Understanding RAID Concepts
 4
Quick Access to Storage Status and
Tasks
This section describes various methods to determine the status or health of
your system’s storage components and how to quickly launch available
controller tasks.

Storage Dashboard and Storage Health

For each controller, the Storage Health tab or Storage Dashboard displays a
summary of the controller severity (health or status) and a task menu for
launching the controller tasks. A link is provided to access virtual disk status
and tasks.

Storage Health
The Storage Dashboard displays the combined status for each controller and
lower-level storage components. For example, if the health of the storage
system has been compromised due to a degraded enclosure, both the
enclosure Health subtab and the controller severity on the Storage
Dashboard display a yellow exclamation mark to indicate a Warning severity.
If a controller on the Storage Dashboard displays a Warning or Critical
status, take the following actions to investigate the cause of the Warning or
Critical status:
• Click Check Alert Log displayed to the right of the controller. This link
displays the Alert Log. Examine the Alert Log for alerts relating to the
status of the controller and its lower-level components. The Check Alert
Log link is only displayed when the controller displays a Warning or
Critical status.
• Select the controller and investigate the status of the lower-level
components. For more information, see Storage Component Severity.

Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks 57

 • Click the virtual disk that is in degraded state to display the Physical Disk
Properties page.
NOTE: The virtual disk link is displayed only if the physical disks that are part
of the virtual disk, are in a Warning or Critical state.
For more information on how the status of lower-level components is rolled
up into the status displayed for the controller, see Determining the Health
Status for Storage Components.

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.
Once 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.
For more information, see Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy.

Select Report
The Select Report option provides the following reports: Patrol Read,
Consistency Check, and Slot Occupancy. For more information, see Patrol
Read Report, Check Consistency Report, Slot Occupancy Report.

Storage Component Severity

Component status is indicated by the severity. A component with a Warning
or Critical/Failure status requires immediate attention to avoid data loss, if
possible. A component’s status may indicate the combined status of the
component and its lower-level objects. For more information, see
Determining the Health Status for Storage Components.
It may be useful to review the Alert Log for events indicating why a
component has a Warning or Critical status. For additional troubleshooting
information, see Troubleshooting.

58 Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks

Table 4-1. Component Severity
Severity Component Status

Normal/OK—The component is working as expected.

Warning/Non-critical—A probe or other monitoring

device has detected a reading for the component that is
above or below the acceptable level. The component may
still be functioning, but it could fail. The component may
also be functioning in an impaired state. Data loss is
possible.
Critical/Failure/Error—The component has either failed
or failure is imminent. The component requires immediate
attention and may need to be replaced. Data loss may have
occurred.

Storage Properties and Current Activity

The Configuration/Information subtab displays information regarding a
storage component. These properties include details such as the number of
connectors (channels or ports) on a controller or the Enclosure Management
Modules (EMM) firmware version.
The State and Progress properties indicate a component’s current activity.
For example, an offline physical disk displays the Offline status while the
Progress property displays how close to completion an operation (such as a
rebuild) is.
The following sections describe the properties for each component:
• Storage Information and Global Tasks
• Controller Properties and Tasks
• Battery Properties and Tasks
• Connector Properties and Tasks
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks
• Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties and Tasks
• EMM Properties
• Fan Properties

Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks 59

 • Power Supply Properties
• Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks
• Virtual Disk Properties and Tasks

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 should be
addressed immediately. For more information about alerts and their
corrective actions, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Messages
Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID Controllers

Storage Management supports Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting
Technology (SMART) on physical disks that are SMART-enabled.
SMART performs predictive failure analysis on each disk and sends alerts if a
disk failure is predicted. The RAID controllers check physical disks for failure
predictions and, if found, pass this information to Storage Management.
Storage Management immediately displays an alert icon on the disk. Storage
Management also sends an alert to the Alert Log and the Microsoft Windows
application log.
NOTE: When a controller’s I/O is paused, you do not receive SMART alerts.
NOTE: The PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers do not report
SMART alerts for unassigned or hot spare disks.

Related Information:
• Replacing a Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts

Using Alarms to Detect Failures

Some storage components have alarms. When enabled, these alarms alert you
when a component fails. For more information, see the following sections:
• Enable Alarm (Controller)
• Enable Alarm (Enclosure)

60 Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks

Using Enclosure Temperature Probes
Physical disk enclosures have temperature probes that warn you when the
enclosure has exceeded an acceptable temperature range. For more
information on using temperature probes, see the following:
• SMART Thermal Shutdown
• Set Temperature Probe Values

Rescan to Update Storage Configuration Changes

The Rescan task scans the storage attached to the controller’s connectors
(channels or ports) to verify the currently connected devices or to recognize
devices that have been added to or removed from the connectors. When you
do a rescan on a controller object, all storage attached to the controller is
rescanned. Performing a rescan causes the controller to recognize changes in
the storage configuration, such as adding or removing physical disks from a
virtual disk or changing a RAID level.
You may want to rescan in the following situations:
• To see new disks attached to the controller.
• To make the operating system recognize a virtual disk.
• To make Storage Management display a new virtual disk.
• After expanding a virtual disk, you may need to rescan the controller so
that the virtual disk can use the additional disk space.
• To update the status of an offline disk.
• To display updated information in a clustered configuration after a failover
of cluster resources.
NOTE: For SCSI controller-based systems, if you want to rescan all controllers,
perform the procedure in Global Rescan. If you want to rescan only the components
attached to a particular controller, perform the procedure in Rescan Controller.
NOTE: Clicking the Refresh button in the right pane refreshes only the right pane.
To view the new physical disk in the left pane tree view, click the system name
displayed at the top of the left pane, or select ViewRefresh from the browser’s
menu bar.

Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks 61

 Related Information:
• I/O and Reboot Requirements for Detecting Physical Disk Status Changes
• Time Delay in Displaying Configuration Changes

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 MIB (Management Information Base) 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. For this reason,
there is a time delay of up to five minutes between the receipt of an SNMP
trap and the ability to identify the configuration changes by querying the
Storage Management MIB. This time delay is particularly notable when
creating a new virtual disk or performing an unmirror or split mirror on a
RAID 1-concatenated virtual disk. You can minimize this time delay by
performing a controller rescan. For more information, see Rescan Controller.

I/O and Reboot Requirements for Detecting

Physical Disk Status Changes
This section applies to PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers
Because of hardware restrictions, the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si,
and 4e/Di controllers do not detect a physical disk status change until I/O is
attempted or the system is rebooted.
If the controller has an open communication path to the disk, then
performing an I/O operation on the controller updates the disk status. For
example, when an unconfigured disk is removed, the controller may not
detect the change until a manual rescan is done or other I/O operations are
attempted. Likewise, displaying a status change of a virtual disk or one of its
member physical disks may require that you do an I/O operation on the
controller on which the virtual disk resides.
If, however, the controller has lost the communication path, then rebooting
the system is required to update the disk status. Communication loss is
evident if the operating system generates I/O errors when you attempt to
access data, even though Storage Management displays the disk status as

62 Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks

healthy. Once the communication path is restored, reboot the system to
update the disk status. If the communication path is not restored, then
Storage Management does not display the storage objects after the reboot.

Related Information:
• Rescan to Update Storage Configuration Changes

Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks 63

64 Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks
 5
PCI Express Solid-State Device
Support
This section gives an overview of the OpenManage Storage Management
(OMSM) device management support for Peripheral Component
Interconnect Express (PCIe) Solid-State Drive (SSD) and its associated
devices like the backplane and extender card.
In OMSS, PCIe SSD appears under the storage management. OMSM reports
the PCIe SSD devices and its various properties.
NOTE: OMSM does not support RAID management or configuration on PCIe SSD
sub systems.

What is PCIe SSD

Dell Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) solid state device
(SSD) is a high-performance storage device designed for solutions requiring
low latency, high Input Output Operations per Second (IOPS), and
enterprise class storage reliability and serviceability. The Dell PCIe SSD is
designed based on Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND flash technology with a
high-speed PCIe 2.0 compliant interface. The high-speed PCIe 2.0 compliant
interface helps improve performance for I/O bound solutions.

PCIe SSD Features

Following are the key features of PCIe SSD:
• Hot plug capability
• High-performance device
• Support for 2.5-inch HDD Form Factor

PCI Express Solid-State Device Support 65

 PCIe Sub System Properties
The PCIe SSD sub system comprises of the following components:
• Backplane
• Extender Card
• PCIe Solid State Device

Table 5-1 lists the PCIe Sub System Properties.

Table 5-1. PCIe Sub System Properties

Properties Description
ID This property displays the Sub System ID assigned to the PCIe
sub system by Storage Management. Storage Management
numbers the controllers and PCIe sub systems attached to the
system starting with zero. This number is the same as the PCIe
sub system ID number reported by the omreport Command. For
information on Command Line Interface, see the Dell
OpenManage Server Administrator Command Line Interface
User's Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
NOTE: In CLI commands, the PCIe sub system ID is displayed as the
controller ID.
Name This property displays the name of the sub system.
State This property displays the current status of the sub system.
Possible values are:
Ready—The sub system is functioning normally.
Degraded—The sub system has encountered a failure and is
operating in a degraded state.
Failed—The sub system has encountered a failure and is no
longer functioning.
Number of This property displays the number of Extender Cards the sub
Extender Cards system has. Each Extender Card can be attached to physical
disks or an enclosure. The Extender Card should be a PCIe SSD
port.

66 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support

Table 5-1. PCIe Sub System Properties

Properties Description
Available Reports Enables you to view the Slot Occupancy report. For more
information, see Available Reports.

PCIe Extender Cards

The PCIe Extender Card is attached to the backplane of the system and
provides PCIe connectivity for upto four PCIe SSD devices at the front of the
chassis.
NOTE: The PCIe Extender Card does not have any properties or tasks.

Table 5-2 lists the PCIe Extender Card Properties.

Table 5-2. PCIe Extender Card Properties

Properties Description
Name This property displays the name of the Extender Card.
State This property displays the current 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.

Physical Device Properties

You can view information about PCIe SSDs and run PCIe SSD tasks on the
Physical Device Properties screen. To view the complete PCIe SSD
properties, click the Full View link on the top of the screen.
Table 5-3 lists the physical device properties for PCIe SSD.

PCI Express Solid-State Device Support 67

 Table 5-3. Physical Device Properties

Properties Description
Name Displays the name of the PCIe SSD. The name is comprised
of the bay ID, and the slot in which the PCIe SSD is installed.
State Displays the health state of the PCIe SSD.
Bus Protocol Displays the technology that the PCIe SSD is using.
Media Displays the media type of the physical disk.

68 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support

Table 5-3. Physical Device Properties

Properties Description
Device Life Status Displays the life status of the PCIe SSD. The device life status
is determined by the following attributes:
Percent Lifetime Used — This attribute is determined by the
elapsed time since the start of use (up to three years) or
percentage of total bytes written (TBW).
Write Protect Progress — This attribute is determined by the
reduction in number of available spare sectors. If the available
spare sectors is less than 10 percent of the original pool, the
drive enters read-only mode.
Possible values for the device life status are:
Drive Health Good — The drive is used within the TBW
specification. The drive health is good as sufficient spare
blocks are available. The drive health status is good if the
values for percent lifetime used and write protect progress is
less than 100 percent.
Approaching Warranty Coverage Expiry — The drive is
reaching the specified TBW, indicating that it is close to the
end of warranty coverage. However, the drive will be
functional as the number of spare blocks available are still
above the threshold for entering the read-only mode. The
drive approaches the warranty coverage expiry if the value for
percent lifetime used is greater than or equal to 90 percent
and that for write protect progress is less than the threshold
value, which is 90 percent.
Warranty Coverage Expired — The drive has reached the
TBW threshold and met the life expectancy specification. The
drive will be functional as the number of spare blocks available
are still above 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) will
drop if TBW specification is exceeded and the warranty for the
drive will expire. 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.

PCI Express Solid-State Device Support 69

 Table 5-3. Physical Device Properties

Properties Description
Approaching Read Only — The drive is running out of spare
sectors and is reaching the read-only mode. However, the
health status of the drive is good and data retention is
unaffected. The drive is stated to be approaching the read-
only mode if the value for percent lifetime used is less than
100 percent and that for write protect progress is greater than
or equal to 90 percent.
Read Only — The drive is in read-only mode. Users must save
open files, if any, to another device and replace or remove the
device. If this scenario occurs within three years of the device
installation, this failure is covered under warranty. The drive is
in read-only mode if the value for percent lifetime used is less
than 100 percent and that for write protect progress is equal to
90 percent.
Driver Version Displays the version of the driver that is currently installed on
the sub system.
NOTE: On some sub systems, Storage Management may not be
able to obtain the driver version. In this case, Storage
Management displays Not Applicable.
Device Life Displays the wear out percentage of the PCIe SSD.
Remaining
Revision Displays the current running firmware version on the PCIe
SSD.
Model Number Displays the Piece Part Identification (PPID) of the PCIe
SSD.
Capacity Displays the full capacity of the device.
Vendor ID Displays the hardware vendor of the device.
Product ID Displays the product ID of the device.
Serial No. Displays the serial number of the device.
Negotiated Speed Displays the speed of data transfer that the device negotiated
during initial communication. The negated speed depends on
the speed of the device, the capable speed of the PCIe
extender card, and the current speed of the PCIe extender
card on that connector.

70 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support

Table 5-3. Physical Device Properties

Properties Description
Capable Speed Displays the highest possible speed at which the device can
transfer data

Physical Device Tasks

The physical device tasks for PCIe SSD are as follows:
• Blink
• Unblink
• Full Initialization
• Export Log
• Prepare to Remove
To run a physical device task:
1 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.

Blink and Unblink

The Blink task allows you to find a device within a system by blinking one of
the LEDs on the device. You can use this task to locate a failed device. If you
need to cancel the Blink task or if the physical device continues to blink
Indefinitely, use the Unblink task.

Full Initialization
CAUTION: Performing a full initialization on a PCIe SSD overwrites all blocks and
will result in permanent loss of all data on the PCIe SSD.
NOTE: During full initialization, the host is unable to access the PCIe SSD.

PCI Express Solid-State Device Support 71

 NOTE: If the system reboots or experiences a power loss during full intialization,
the operation aborts. You must reboot the system and restart the process.

Preparing to Remove
Dell 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.
NOTE: Orderly hot swap is only supported when PCIe SSDs are installed in a
supported Dell system running a supported operating system. To ensure that you
have the correct configuration for your PCIe SSD, see the system specific Owner's
Manual at support.dell.com/manuals.
WARNING: 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 your PCIe
SSD is no longer accessible by the system before you physically remove the PCIe
SSD.
CAUTION: To prevent data loss, it is mandatory that you use the Prepare to
Remove task before physically removing a device.
Use the Prepare to Remove task to safely remove a PCIe SSD from the
system. This task causes the status LEDs on the device to blink. You can
safely remove the device from the system under the following conditions after
you use the Prepare to Remove task:
• The PCIe SSD is blinking the safe to remove LED pattern.
• The PCIe SSD is no longer accessible by the system.

Export Log
The log contains debug information of the PCIe SSD and can be useful for
troubleshooting. You can export the reliability log through the Physical
Device Available Tasks drop-down list.

PCIe SSD Sub System Health

It indicates the roll-up health status of physical devices. The individual health
status of the physical devices appears at the respective level.

72 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support

Backplanes
PCIe SSDs are attached to the PCIe SSD backplane of the system. The
number of supported PCIe SSDs depend on the system.
NOTE: Dell PCIe SSDs must be used with PCIe SSD backplanes. Do not plug in
SAS/SATA devices to a PCIe SSD backplane or vice versa.

Backplane Firmware Version

The backplane firmware version is reported in the Information Configuration
page of the PCIe SSD sub system.
NOTE: The firmware version is the only Backplane property supported for PCIe
SSD.

PCI Express Solid-State Device Support 73

74 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support
 5
Storage Information and Global
Tasks
Use this window to view high-level information about your system’s storage.
This window also enables you to launch global tasks that affect all controllers
attached to the system.

Storage Properties
The Storage tree-view object has the following properties.

Table 6-1. Storage Properties

Property Definition
Status These icons represent the severity or health of the storage
component. For more information, see Storage Component
Severity.

Normal/OK

Warning/Non-critical

Critical/Fatal

Smart Thermal This property displays whether thermal shutdown is

Shutdown enabled or disabled. For more information, see
Enable/Disable Smart Thermal Shutdown.

Global Tasks
To execute a global task, select the task from the Global Tasks drop-down
menu and click Execute.

Storage Information and Global Tasks 75

 Global Tasks:
• Global Rescan
• Enable/Disable Smart Thermal Shutdown
• Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy

Global Rescan
A global rescan updates configuration changes (such as new or removed
devices) for all SCSI controllers and their attached components. For
information on when you may want to do a rescan, see Rescan to Update
Storage Configuration Changes.
NOTE: Global Rescan is not supported on non-RAID controllers. You must reboot
the system before Storage Management can see configuration changes on
non-RAID SCSI controllers. Otherwise, configuration changes are not reflected in
the Storage Management graphical user interface (GUI).
NOTE: The Global Rescan task updates the Information/Configuration subtab with
any configuration changes. To update the tree view, click the server name which is
displayed above the tree view.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, if you pause a check consistency that
is being performed on a virtual disk, then the virtual disk state changes to
Resynching Paused. Performing a Global Rescan while a virtual disk is in
Resynching Paused state may cause the check consistency to resume. In this case,
the virtual disk state changes to Resynching.
To do a global rescan:
1 Select the Storage tree view object.
2 Click the Information/Configuration subtab.
3 Select Global Rescan from the Global Tasks drop-down menu.
4 Click Execute.

Enable/Disable Smart Thermal Shutdown

By default, the operating system and server are turned off when the
PowerVault 220S and PowerVault 221S enclosures reach a critical temperature
of 0 or 50 degrees Celsius. Using the Enable Smart Thermal Shutdown task,
however, you can specify that only the enclosure, and not the operating
system and server be turned off when the enclosure reaches a critical
temperature.

76 Storage Information and Global Tasks

If the enclosure has virtual disks that are channel-redundant, then the
enclosure can be turned off while redundant data continues to be available on
another channel. For more information, see Channel Redundancy and
Thermal Shutdown.
NOTE: Only SCSI controllers support Smart Thermal Shutdown.
To enable or disable thermal shut down:
1 Select the Storage tree view object.
2 Click the Information/Configuration subtab.
3 From the Global Tasks drop-down menu, select Enable Smart Thermal
Shutdown or Disable Smart Thermal Shutdown. Depending on the
option that is currently selected, the Available Tasks drop-down menu
displays only one of these tasks at a time.
4 Click Execute.

Storage Controllers
The information displayed for each controller can vary depending on the
controller characteristics.

Storage Information and Global Tasks 77

 Table 6-2. Controller Properties
Property Definition
Status This property displays the controller status.
ID This property displays the controller ID as reported by the
omreport CLI command.
Name This property displays the name of the controller. For more
detailed information on a controller, click its name.
Slot ID This property displays the slot to which the controller is
attached. On some controllers, Storage Management is
unable to display the slot ID. In this case, this property
displays Slot Not Available. For embedded controllers, this
property displays Embedded.
NOTE: If Slot Not Available is displayed, you may be able to
identify the slot ID by selecting the SystemMain System
Chassis Slots object in the tree view and displaying the
Information tab. The Slot ID property on this tab may display
the correct information.
State This property displays the current status of the controller.
Possible values are:
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 This property displays the version of the controller’s
firmware.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to
the minimum supported version for these controllers. Later
versions of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For
the most recent driver and firmware requirements, see
support.dell.com.

78 Storage Information and Global Tasks

Property Definition
Minimum Required This property displays the minimum firmware version that
Firmware Version is required by Storage Management. This property is only
displayed if the controller firmware does not meet the
minimum requirement.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to
the minimum supported version for these controllers. Later
versions of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For
the most recent driver and firmware requirements, see
support.dell.com.
Driver Version This property displays the version of the controller’s driver.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to
the minimum supported version for these controllers. Later
versions of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For
the most recent driver and firmware requirements, see
support.dell.com.
Minimum Required This property displays the minimum driver version that is
Driver Version required by Storage Management. This property is only
displayed if the controller driver does not meet the
minimum requirement.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to
the minimum supported version for these controllers. Later
versions of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For
the most recent driver and firmware requirements, see
support.dell.com.
Number of This property displays the number of connectors the
Connector controller has. Each connector can be attached to physical
disks or an enclosure. Depending on the controller type, the
connector can be either a SCSI channel or a SAS port.
Rebuild Rate The rebuild rate is the percentage of the system’s resources
dedicated to rebuilding a failed disk when a rebuild is
necessary. For more information, see Set Rebuild Rate.
Alarm State This property displays whether the controller’s alarm is
enabled or disabled.
Cluster Mode This property indicates whether the controller is part of a
cluster configuration.

Storage Information and Global Tasks 79

 Property Definition
SCSI Initiator ID This property displays the SCSI ID of a SCSI controller.
The default value is usually 7. You can change the default
value in the BIOS. Controllers in a cluster configuration
should not have duplicate SCSI Initiator IDs. Refer to
SCSI documentation for a list of acceptable SCSI Initiator
ID values.
On some controllers, this property is not available. In this
case, this property displays as Not Applicable.

Storage Components
For information on attached controllers, see the following topics:
• Controller Properties and Tasks
• Controllers

80 Storage Information and Global Tasks

 7
Controllers
This section describes the controllers supported by Storage Management as
well as the different controller features.

What is a Controller?
Most operating systems do not read and write data directly from the disks, but
instead send read and write instructions to a controller. The controller is the
hardware in your system that interacts directly with the disks to write and
retrieve data. A controller has connectors (channels or ports) which are
attached to one or more physical disks or an enclosure containing physical
disks. RAID controllers can span the boundaries of the disks so as to create an
extended amount of storage space – or a virtual disk – using the capacity of
more than one disk.
Controllers also perform other tasks, such as initiating rebuilds, initializing
disks, and so on. To complete their tasks, controllers require special software
known as firmware and drivers. In order to function properly, the controller
must have the minimum required version of the firmware and drivers
installed.
Storage Management supports different types of controllers. If your system
has a supported controller, the controller is displayed by expanding the
Storage object in the tree view. You can select the controller to display tabs for
executing controller tasks and viewing controller properties.
Different controllers have different characteristics in the way they read and
write data and execute tasks. It is helpful to understand these features to
most efficiently manage your storage. The following sections describe the
supported controllers and their features.

Controllers 81
 RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA,
and SAS
Storage Management supports RAID controllers using SCSI, SATA, ATA, and
SAS technology. This section indicates which technology the supported RAID
controllers use. For more information on these controllers, see Supported
Features and the controller hardware documentation.

SCSI RAID Controllers

PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4/IM, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di RAID controllers use
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) technology.

CERC SATA RAID Controllers

The following Cost Effective RAID Controller (CERC) controllers use Serial
Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) technology.
• CERC SATA1.5/6ch
• CERC SATA1.5/2s

CERC ATA RAID Controllers

The following Cost Effective RAID Controller (CERC) 6/I family of
controllers uses Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) technology.

SAS RAID Controllers

The following RAID controllers use Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) technology.
• PERC 5/E
• PERC 5/i Integrated
• PERC 5/i Adapter
• SAS 5/iR Integrated
• SAS 5/iR Adapter
• PERC 6/E
• PERC 6/I controller family
• SAS 6/iR controller family
• PERC S100, S110, and S300 controllers

82 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

RAID Controller Features

Different controllers have different features. If you have more than one
controller attached to your system, you may notice that the tasks displayed on
the controller’s Information/Configuration subtab are different for each
controller.
Controllers may also have differences in their read, write, and cache policies
as well as how they handle hot spares. You should be aware of these
differences when creating virtual disks and assigning hot spares.
The following describes some of the RAID controller features and provides
links to a more detailed explanation. For information on which controllers
support which features, see Supported Features.
• Hot spares—On RAID controllers, a hot spare is a backup for a disk that
fails. See the Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare.
• Rebuilding data. You can rebuild data from a failed physical disk if the
disk is a member of a redundant virtual disk. See Rebuilding Redundant
Information.
• Virtual disk expansion—Virtual disk expansion enables you to expand the
capacity of a virtual disk while it remains online by adding additional disks
to the virtual disk. This feature is also known as online capacity expansion
(OLCE). See Virtual Disk Tasks.
• RAID migration—After creating a virtual disk, you can change the RAID
level. See Reconfiguring/Migrating Virtual Disks.
• Moving physical and virtual disks to another controller—This freature
enables you to move physical and virtual disks from one controller to
another. See Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to
Another.

Controllers 83
 • Read, write, and cache policies—The manner in which a controller reads
and writes data can vary. The read, write, and cache policies have
implications for data encryption and system performance. See RAID
Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
• Check consistency—A check consistency determines the integrity of a
virtual disk’s redundant data. When necessary, this feature rebuilds the
redundant information. See Maintain Integrity of Redundant Virtual
Disks.
• Cluster Support—Storage Management supports PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC
controllers that have Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) enabled. See
Cluster-enabled RAID Controllers.
• Patrol Read—Patrol Read identifies disk errors in order to avoid disk
failures and data loss or corruption. See Set Patrol Read Mode for more
information.
• Disk migration or foreign configurations—Some controllers enable you
to move physical disks that contain one or more virtual disks to another
controller. The receiving controller is able to recognize and import the
foreign configuration (virtual disks). See Foreign Configuration
Operations for more information.

Controller-supported RAID Levels

RAID controllers may support different RAID levels. For information on
which RAID levels a controller supports, see the supported RAID levels
section for the controller in Supported Features.

Controller-supported Stripe Sizes

When creating a virtual disk, you may need to specify the stripe size for the
virtual disk. Different controllers have different limitations on the stripe sizes
they can support. For information on the stripe sizes a controller supports, see
the virtual disk specifications section for the controller in Supported Features.

84 Controllers
RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk
Cache Policy
When creating a virtual disk, you specify the read, write, and cache policies
for the virtual disk. The following sub-section describes these policies.
NOTE: Read, write, and cache policies are not supported on the CERC SATA1.5/2s
controller.

Read Policy

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features

The read policies indicate whether or not the controller should read
sequential sectors of the virtual disk when seeking data.
• Read-Ahead—When using read-ahead policy, the controller reads
sequential sectors of the virtual disk when seeking data. Read-ahead policy
may improve system performance if the data is actually written to
sequential sectors of the virtual disk.
• No-Read-Ahead—Selecting no-read-ahead policy indicates that the
controller should not use read-ahead policy.
• Adaptive Read-Ahead—When using adaptive read-ahead policy, the
controller initiates read-ahead only if the two most recent read requests
accessed sequential sectors of the disk. If subsequent read requests access
random sectors of the disk, the controller reverts to no-read-ahead policy.
The controller continues to evaluate whether read requests are accessing
sequential sectors of the disk, and can initiate read-ahead if necessary.
• Read Cache Enabled—When the read cache is enabled, the controller
reads the cache information to see if the requested data is available in the
cache before retrieving the data from the disk. Reading the cache
information first can provide faster read performance because the data (if
available in the cache) can more quickly be retrieved from the cache than
from the disk.
• Read Cache Disabled—When the read cache is disabled, the controller
retrieves data directly from the disk and not from the cache.

Controllers 85
 Write Policy

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features

The write policies specify whether the controller sends a write-request
completion signal as soon as the data is in the cache or after it has been
written to disk.
• Write-Back—When using write-back caching, the controller sends a
write-request completion signal as soon as the data is in the controller
cache but has not yet been written to disk. Write-back caching may
provide improved performance since subsequent read requests can more
quickly retrieve data from the controller cache than they could from the
disk. Write-back caching also entails a data security risk, however, since a
system failure could prevent the data from being written to disk even
though the controller has sent a write-request completion signal. In this
case, data may be lost. Other applications may also experience problems
when taking actions that assume the data is available on the disk.
NOTE: Storage Management does not allow you to select the Write-Back
policy for controllers that do not have a battery. The only exception are PERC
S100 and S300. This restriction protects a controller without a battery from the
loss of data that may occur in the event of a power failure. On some
controllers, the Write-Back policy may be available in the controller BIOS
even though it is not available in Storage Management.
• Force Write Back—When using force write-back caching, the write cache
is enabled regardless of whether the controller has a battery. If the
controller does not have a battery and force write-back caching is used,
data loss may occur in the event of a power failure.
• Write Back Enabled—When using write-back enabled caching, the
controller firmware disables the write cache if it does not detect the
presence of a charged battery over a specified period of time. For example,
on some controllers, the write cache is disabled if the firmware cannot
detect a charged battery within 72 hours.

86 Controllers
 • Write-Through—When using write-through caching, the controller sends
a write-request completion signal only after the data is written to the disk.
Write-through caching provides better data security than write-back
caching, since the system assumes the data is available only after it has
been safely written to the disk.
NOTE: Write-through is the default write policy setting when cluster mode is
enabled. In cluster mode, the PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC controllers only allow
write-through caching.
• Write Cache Enabled Protected—When the write cache is enabled, the
controller writes data to the write cache before writing data to the physical
disk. Because it takes less time to write data to the write cache than it does
to a disk, enabling the write cache can improve system performance. After
data is written to the write cache, the system is free to continue with other
operations. The controller, in the meantime, completes the write operation
by writing the data from the write cache to the physical disk. The Write
Cache Enabled Protected option is only available if the controller has a
functional battery. The presence of a functional battery ensures that data
can be written from the write cache to the physical disk even in the case of
a power outage.
NOTE: Storage Management does not allow you to select the Write Cache
Enabled Protected policy for controllers that do not have a battery. This
restriction protects a controller without a battery from the data loss that may
occur in the event of a power failure. When using the Create Virtual Disk
Advanced Wizard on a controller without a battery, the wizard either displays
Write Cache Disabled as the only available option or the wizard does not
display any option for write policy.
• Write Cache Disabled—This is the only available option if the controller
does not have a functional battery.

Cache Policy

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The Direct I/O and Cache I/O cache policies apply to reads on a specific
virtual disk. These settings do not affect the read-ahead policy. The cache
policies are as follows:
• Cache I/O—Specifies that all reads are buffered in cache memory.

Controllers 87
 • Direct I/O—Specifies that reads are not buffered in cache memory. When
using direct I/O, data is transferred to the controller cache and the host
system simultaneously during a read request. If a subsequent read request
requires data from the same data block, 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 also the default setting.
NOTE: Cache policy is not supported on any controller that does not have a battery.

Disk Cache Policy

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Set the physical disk caching policy of all members of a Virtual Disk by
enabling the Disk Cache Policy. When this feature is enabled, the physical
disk writes data to the physical disk cache before writing it to the physical
disk. Because it is faster to write data to the cache than to a disk, enabling this
feature can improve system performance.
The cache policies are:
• Enabled—Specifies that the disk cache policy is enabled.
• Disabled—Specifies that the disk cache policy is disabled.
NOTE: For virtual disks based on SATA drives, the default Disk Cache Policy is
Enabled; and for virtual disks based on SAS drives, it is Disabled.
NOTE: For SAS 6i/R and PERC H200 family of controllers, disk cache policy setting
is available only after creating the virtual disk.

Cluster-enabled RAID Controllers

NOTE: This section applies to PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC cards.
Storage Management supports PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC controllers that have
Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) enabled.
A cluster refers to two or more servers that are connected so that their
resources can be shared and accessed as if the clustered servers were a single
machine. Clusters provide increased availability because when one server in
the cluster experiences downtime, another server can take over the processing
and workload requests of the failed server.

88 Controllers
 NOTE: Storage Management does not configure resource ownership in an
Microsoft Windows cluster configuration.

Updating the Display of Clustered Resources

This section applies to PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC controllers

After a failover of cluster resources, it is necessary to perform a rescan
operation in order for Storage Management to display the most up-to-date
information about shared resources.

Downloading Firmware and Cluster Controllers

This section applies to PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC controllers

When downloading firmware to a clustered controller, it is recommended
that you turn off the other systems in the cluster first. When restarted, the
other systems in the cluster should be able to see the firmware updates that
you have applied.
If, however, you have downloaded firmware to a controller without first
shutting down the other systems in the cluster, you may find that the other
systems cannot see the firmware update until you restart the disk
management service on those systems. For example, if you download
firmware onto system A, and system B cannot see the firmware update, then
restart the disk management service on system B.

Creating and Deleting Virtual Disks on

Cluster-enabled Controllers
This section applies to PERC 4/DC and 4e/DC controllers
If you are using a PERC 4/DC or 4e/DC controller in a cluster configuration,
you must turn off the other systems in the cluster before creating or deleting
the virtual disk. The following procedure describes the sequence of actions
required to create or delete a virtual disk from a cluster-enabled controller. For
the purposes of this procedure, the system on which you are creating or
deleting the virtual disk is identified as system A and the other system in the
cluster is identified as system B.

Controllers 89
 NOTE: When creating a virtual disk on a controller that is in a cluster configuration,
you must specify the maximum virtual disk size.
1 Stop the clustering services on system B.
2 Turn off system B.
3 Create or delete the virtual disk on system A. For more information on
creating and deleting virtual disks, see:
– Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks
– Creating Virtual Disks
– Virtual Disk Task: Delete
4 Reboot system A.
5 Restart system B.

Integrated Mirroring and the PERC 4/IM

Controller
The PERC 4/IM controller enables you to mirror a physical disk that resides
internally in the server. This feature can be used to mirror the system’s boot
drive from one physical disk to another, ensuring that the system remains
running in the event that one of the physical disks fails. The PERC 4/IM
controller firmware maintains the mirrored data on both physical disks so that
the system’s CPU is not burdened with the extra processing required to
maintain the mirrored data.
When implementing mirroring on a PERC 4/IM controller, you use the
controller BIOS to create a virtual disk from the physical disks. Unlike
creating a virtual disk on other controllers, the PERC 4/IM controller is able
to implement a mirror for a physical disk that already contains data. The data
is then copied to the mirror. Any data previously residing on the mirror is
overwritten.
After you have created the integrated mirror using the controller BIOS, the
operating system sees the mirror as a virtual disk and a virtual disk object for
the mirror is displayed in the Storage Management tree view. Expanding the
Virtual Disks object displays the disks included in the mirror. These physical
disks are no longer individually visible to the operating system.

90 Controllers
 NOTE: On replacing a SMART error drive with a good drive on PERC4/IM
controllers, it is necessary to perform a rescan operation on the controller, for
Storage Management to display the correct status of the newly inserted drive.

Background Initialization on PERC Controllers

On PERC controllers, background initialization of a redundant virtual disk
begins automatically within 0 to 5 minutes after the virtual disk is created.
The background initialization of a redundant virtual disk prepares the virtual
disk to maintain redundant data and improves write performance. For
example, after the background initialization of a RAID 5 virtual disk
completes, the parity information has been initialized. After the background
initialization of a RAID 1 virtual disk completes, the physical disks are
mirrored.
The background initialization process helps the controller identify and
correct problems that may occur with the redundant data at a later time. In
this regard, the background initialization process is similar to a check
consistency.
The background initialization should be allowed to run to completion. If
cancelled, the background initialization automatically restarts within 0 to 5
minutes. Some processes such as read and write operations are possible while
the background initialization is running. Other processes, such as creating a
virtual disk, cannot be run concurrently with a background initialization.
These processes cause the background initialization to cancel.

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 non-RAID, 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.

Non-RAID SCSI Controllers

The LSI PCI-e U320 non-RAID controllers use Small Computer System
Interface (SCSI) technology. The ITA for LSI PCI-e U320 SCSI non-RAID
controllers is supported in this release.

Controllers 91
 Non-RAID SAS Controllers
The following non-RAID controllers use Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
technology.
• SAS 5/i Integrated
• SAS 5/E
• SAS 6Gbps Adapter

Firmware/Driver Versions
Use this window to view information about the controller firmware and
drivers. For more information on firmware and drivers, see Before Installing
Storage Management.

Firmware/Driver Properties
The firmware and driver properties can vary depending on the model of the
controller. On some controllers, Storage Management may not be able to
obtain the driver or firmware version. In this case, Storage Management
displays Not Applicable. Firmware and driver properties may include:

92 Controllers
Table 7-1. Firmware and Driver Properties
Property Definition
Firmware Version This property displays the version of the firmware that is
currently installed on the controller.
NOTE: On some controllers, Storage Management may not be
able to obtain the firmware version. In this case, Storage
Management displays Not Applicable.
Minimum This property displays the minimum firmware version that is
Required required by Storage Management. This property is only
Firmware Version displayed if the controller firmware does not meet the minimum
requirement.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to the
minimum supported version for these controllers. Later versions
of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For the most
recent driver and firmware requirements., see support.dell.com
Driver Version This property displays the version of the driver that is currently
installed on the controller.
NOTE: On some controllers, Storage Management may not be
able to obtain the driver version. In this case, Storage
Management displays Not Applicable.
Minimum This property displays the minimum driver version that is
Required Driver required by Storage Management. This property is only
Version displayed if the controller driver does not meet the minimum
requirement.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to the
minimum supported version for these controllers. Later versions
of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For the most
recent driver and firmware requirements, see support.dell.com.
Storport Driver This property displays the version of the storport driver that is
Version installed on the system.
Minimum This property displays the minimum storport driver version
Required Storport required by Storage Management. This property is displayed if
Driver Version the operating system storport driver does not meet the
minimum requirement. This is applicable for Windows
operating system only.
NOTE: To download the latest storport driver, see the Microsoft
Knowledge Base article 943545 at support.microsoft.com.

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 Controller Health
This screen displays the status of the controller and the components attached
to the controller.

Controller Severity
Component status is indicated by the severity. A component with a Warning
or Critical/Failure status requires immediate attention to avoid data loss if
possible. A component’s status may indicate the combined status of the
component and its lower-level objects. See Determining the Health Status for
Storage Components for more information.
It may be useful to review the Alert Log for events indicating why a
component has a Warning or Critical status. For additional troubleshooting
information, see Troubleshooting.

Table 7-2. Component Severity

Severity Component Status
Normal/OK. The component is working as expected.

Warning/Non-critical. A probe or other monitoring device

has detected a reading for the component that is above or
below the acceptable level. The component may still be
functioning, but it could fail. The component may also be
functioning in an impaired state. Data loss is possible.
Critical/Failure/Error. The component has either failed or
failure is imminent. The component requires immediate
attention and may need to be replaced. Data loss may have
occurred.

Controller Information
For information on the controller, see the following topics:
• Controllers
• Controller Properties and Tasks

94 Controllers
Controller Components
For information on attached components, see the following topics:
• RAID Controller Batteries
• Firmware/Driver Versions
• Connectors
NOTE: If you have connected the enclosure in Redundant path mode, the
connectors are represented as Logical Connector.
• Virtual Disks

Controller Properties and Tasks

Use this window to view information about the controller and execute
controller tasks.

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 Controller Properties
The controller properties can vary depending on the model of the controller.
Controller properties may include:

Table 7-3. Controller Properties

Property Definition
Status These icons represent the severity or health of the storage
component.
For more information, see Storage Component Severity.

Normal/OK

Warning/Non-critical

Critical/Fatal

ID This property displays the controller 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 Command. For information on
Command Line Interface, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Command Line Interface User’s Guide at
support.dell.com/manuals.
Name This property displays the name of the controller.
State This property displays the current status of the controller.
Possible values are:
Ready—The controller is functioning normally.
Degraded—The controller has encountered a failure and is
operating in a degraded state.
Failed—The controller has encountered a failure and is no
longer functioning.

96 Controllers
Property Definition
Firmware Version This property displays the version of the firmware that is
currently installed on the controller.
NOTE: On some controllers, Storage Management may not be
able to obtain the firmware version. In this case, Storage
Management displays Not Applicable.
Minimum Required This property displays the minimum firmware version that is
Firmware Version required by Storage Management. This property is only
displayed if the controller firmware does not meet the
minimum requirement.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to the
minimum supported version for these controllers. Later
versions of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For
the most recent driver and firmware requirements, see
support.dell.com.
Driver Version This property displays the version of the driver that is
currently installed on the controller.
NOTE: On some controllers, Storage Management may not be
able to obtain the driver version. In this case, Storage
Management displays Not Applicable.
Minimum Required This property displays the minimum driver version that is
Driver Version required by Storage Management. This property is only
displayed if the controller driver does not meet the minimum
requirement.
The firmware and drivers listed in the Readme file refer to the
minimum supported version for these controllers. Later
versions of the firmware and drivers are also supported. For
the most recent driver and firmware requirements, see
support.dell.com.
Number of This property displays the number of connectors the
Connectors controller has. Each connector can be attached to physical
disks or an enclosure. Depending on the controller type, the
connector can be either a SCSI channel or a SAS port.

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 Property Definition
Rebuild Rate The rebuild rate is the percentage of the system’s resources
dedicated to rebuilding a failed disk when a rebuild is
necessary. For more information, see Set Rebuild Rate.
NOTE: Revertible Hot Spare operation has the same rebuild
rate that you set here.
BGI Rate The background initialization (BGI) rate is the percentage of
the system’s resources dedicated to performing the
background initialization of a virtual disk after it is created.
For more information, see Set Background Initialization Rate.
Check Consistency The check consistency rate is the percentage of the system’s
Rate resources dedicated to performing a check consistency on a
redundant virtual disk. For more information, see Check
Consistency.
Reconstruct Rate The reconstruct rate is the percentage of the system’s
resources dedicated to reconstructing a disk group after
adding a physical disk or changing the RAID level of a virtual
disk residing on the disk group. For more information, see Set
Reconstruct Rate.
Alarm State This property displays whether the controller’s alarm is
enabled or disabled.
NOTE: This property is displayed only for SCSI storage
controllers.
Abort check This property enables you to stop the Check Consistency
consistency on error operation on error rather than continuing. This property is
available only on controllers that have controller firmware
version 6.1 and later.
Allow Revertible Hot This property enables the automatic copying of data from a
Spare and Replace physical disk to a hot spare (in case of predictive failure) or
Member from a hot spare to a physical disk (in case of replacement of a
degraded disk). For more information, see Revertible Hot
Spare.
Loadbalance This property provides the ability to automatically use both
controller ports or connectors connected to the same
enclosure to route I/O requests. This property is available only
on SAS controllers that have controller firmware version 6.1
and later. For more information, see Redundant path view.

98 Controllers
Property Definition
Auto replace member In case of predictive failure, this property enables the
on predictive failure automatic copying of data from a physical disk to a hot spare.
Use this property in conjunction with the Allow Revertible
Hot Spare and Replace Member property.
Redundant path view Indicates whether Storage Management has detected a
redundant path configuration. Storage Management detects a
redundant path configuration when both controller ports are
connected to the same enclosure that is in a unified mode.
For more information, see Redundant Path Configuration.
Encryption Capable Indicates whether the controller has the capability to support
encryption. Possible values are Yes and No.
Encryption Key Indicates whether the controller has an Encryption Key
Present established. Possible values are Yes and No.
Encryption Mode Indicates whether the controller is using Local Key
Management (LKM) or None. For more information, see
Manage Encryption Key.
Cache Memory Size This property displays the size of the controller’s cache
memory.
Patrol Read Mode This property displays the Patrol Read mode setting for the
controller. Possible values are:
Auto—When set to Auto, a Patrol Read runs continuously on
the system. When one iteration of the Patrol Read is
complete, the next Patrol Read is scheduled to start within a
period of time specified by the controller. You do not have the
option of manually starting or stopping the Patrol Read in
Auto mode.
Manual—When set to Manual, you can start or stop the
Patrol Read process.
Disabled—This property indicates that the Patrol Read
process is disabled.
For more information about Patrol Read, see Set Patrol Read
Mode and Start and Stop Patrol Read.

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 Property Definition
Patrol Read State This property displays the current state of the Patrol Read
process. Possible values are:
Ready—The Patrol Read process is enabled and runs when
next scheduled or when manually initiated.
Active—The Patrol Read process is currently running.
Stopped—The Patrol Read has been stopped.
For more information about Patrol Read, see Set Patrol Read
Mode.
Patrol Read Rate This property represents the percentage of the system
resources dedicated for running the patrol read operation. It
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.
Patrol Read This property displays the number of Patrol Read iterations.
Iterations For more information about Patrol Read, see Set Patrol Read
Mode.
Cluster Mode This property indicates whether the controller is part of a
cluster configuration.
SCSI Initiator ID This property displays the SCSI ID of a SCSI controller. The
default value is usually 7. You can change the default value in
the BIOS. In cluster mode, the value is 6 or 7.
The SCSI ID is not displayed on the PERC 4/IM controllers.
Use the BIOS on these controllers to identify the SCSI ID.

100 Controllers
Property Definition
Persistent Hot Spare The possible values are:
Enabled: The slot corresponding to the hot spare drive is
persistent. Any drive in the slot functions as a hot spare if the
drive is qualified to be a hot spare.
NOTE: Any drive in the slot functions as a hot spare. If the drive
contains foreign data, it is overwritten.
Disabled: The slot corresponding to the hot spare drive is not
persistent. If the drive is removed from the slot and any drive
is inserted, the slot stops function as a hot spare. You need to
manually assign the drive as a hot spare again.
Controller Tasks Enables you to configure and manage the controller. For more
information, see Controller Tasks:.
Available Reports Enables you to view Patrol Read report, Check Consistency
report, and Slot Occupancy report. For more information, see
Available Reports.

Controller Tasks
To execute a controller task:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
NOTE: Different controllers support different features. For this reason, the tasks
displayed on the Tasks drop-down menu 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 Tasks drop-down menu displays No Task
Available.

Controller Tasks:
• Rescan Controller
• Create Virtual Disk
• Enable Alarm (Controller)

Controllers 101
 • Disable Alarm (Controller)
• Quiet Alarm (Controller)
• Test Alarm (Controller)
• Set Rebuild Rate
• Reset Configuration
• Export Log
• Foreign Configuration Operations
• Importing Foreign Configurations
• Importing/Recovering Foreign Configurations
• Clear Foreign Configuration
• Set Background Initialization Rate
• Set Check Consistency Rate
• Set Reconstruct Rate
• Set Patrol Read Mode
• Start and Stop Patrol Read
• Manage Preserved Cache
• Change Controller Properties
• Manage Physical Disk Power
• Manage Encryption Key
• Convert to RAID Capable Disks
• Convert to Non-RAID Disks

Available Reports
To view a report:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select a report from the Select Report drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

102 Controllers
Available Reports
• Patrol Read Report
• Check Consistency Report
• Slot Occupancy Report

Rescan Controller

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

On SCSI controllers, a rescan updates configuration changes (such as new or
removed devices) for all components attached to the controller. For
information on when you may want to do a rescan, see Rescan to Update
Storage Configuration Changes.
NOTE: Rescan Controller is not supported on non-RAID SCSI controllers. You must
reboot the system before Storage Management can see configuration changes on
non-RAID SCSI controllers. Otherwise, configuration changes are not reflected in
the Storage Management graphical user interface (GUI).

To rescan a controller:
1 Expand the tree view to display the controller object.
2 Select the Controller object.
3 Click the Configuration/Information subtab.
4 Select Rescan from the Controller Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Create Virtual Disk

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Create Virtual Disk task to launch the Create Virtual Disk Express
Wizard. See Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2) for more
information.

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 Enable Alarm (Controller)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Enable Alarm task to enable the controller’s alarm. When enabled,
the alarm sounds in the event of a device failure.

Disable Alarm (Controller)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Disable Alarm task to disable the controller’s alarm. When disabled,
the alarm does not sound in the event of a device failure.

Quiet Alarm (Controller)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Quiet Alarm task to quiet the controller’s alarm when it is sounding.
After it is quieted, the alarm is still enabled in the event of a future device
failure.

Test Alarm (Controller)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Test Alarm task to test whether the controller alarm is functional.
The alarm sounds for about 2 seconds.
NOTE: The Test Alarm task is only available on the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controller.

Set Rebuild Rate

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Set Rebuild Rate task to change the rebuild rate. See Set Rebuild
Rate for more information.

Export Log File

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use this task to export the controller log to a text file. See Export Log for
more information.

104 Controllers
Controller Components
For information on attached components, see the following topics:
• Battery Properties and Tasks
• Connector Properties and Tasks
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks
• Firmware/Driver Properties
• Virtual Disk Properties and Tasks

Foreign Configuration Operations

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The Foreign Configuration Operations task provides a preview of the foreign
configurations that you can import. This task is available on PERC 6
controllers with firmware version 6.1 and later. For more information, see
Foreign Configuration Operations.

Manage Physical Disk Power

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The Manage Physical Disk Power task allows to manage the power consumed
by the physical disks by spinning down the hotspares and unconfigured drives
if there is no I/O activity for a specified amount of time. This option is
supported with PERC H700, H800, and H310 cards. Additionally, Dell PERC
H810, H710, and H710P cards support power saving configurations on
unconfigured, Hot Spare, and configured disks.

Set Rebuild Rate

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Set Rebuild Rate task changes the controller’s rebuild rate.
During a rebuild, the complete contents of a physical disk are reconstructed.
The rebuild rate, configurable between 0% and 100%, represents the
percentage of the system resources dedicated to rebuilding failed physical
disks. At 0%, the rebuild has the lowest priority for the controller, takes the

Controllers 105
 most time to complete, and is the setting with the least impact to system
performance. A rebuild rate of 0% does not mean that the rebuild is stopped
or paused.
At 100%, the rebuild is the highest priority for the controller, minimizes the
rebuild time, and is the setting with the most impact to system performance.
On the PERC controllers, the controller firmware also uses the rebuild rate
setting to control the system resource allocation for the following tasks. For
these controllers, the rebuild rate setting applies to these tasks in the same
manner that it applies to the Rebuild task.
• Check Consistency
• Background Initialization (see Cancel Background Initialization)
• Full Initialization (A BIOS setting determines whether a full or fast
initialization occurs. See Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize.)
• Reconfigure (see Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3))

To change the controller’s rebuild rate:

1 Type a numerical value in the New Rebuild Rate text box. The value must
be within the 0 – 100 range.
2 Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back to
Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Set Rebuild Rate from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

106 Controllers
Reset Configuration
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Reset Configuration task to erase all information on the controller so
that you can perform a fresh configuration. This operation destroys all data
and virtual disks on the controller and unassigns any hot spares.
You must completely reconfigure your storage after performing this operation.
CAUTION: Resetting a configuration permanently destroys all data on all virtual
disks attached to the controller. If the system or boot partition resides on these
virtual disks, it is destroyed.
NOTE: Resetting the controller configuration does not remove a foreign
configuration. To remove a foreign configuration, use the Clear Foreign
Configuration task.

To reset the controller configuration:

1 Review the virtual disks that is destroyed by resetting the controller
configuration. Make backups as necessary. Click Blink at the bottom of
the screen to blink the physical disks included in the virtual disks.
2 Click Reset Configuration when you are ready to erase all information on
the controller. To exit without resetting the controller configuration, click
Go Back to Previous Page.

Controllers 107
 To locate this task in Storage Management:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Reset Configuration from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Export Log
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Export Log task exports the controller log to a text file. The log gives
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 operating systems,
the log file is exported to the /var/log directory.
Depending on the controller, the log file name is either afa_<mmdd>.log or
lsi_<mmdd>.log where <mmdd> is the month and date.
NOTE: In the VMware ESXi environment, only one log file is created (lsiexport.log).
If the file already exists, exporting the log file overwrites the existing log file.
NOTE: Controllers without cache cannot store logs and export log files.

To export the controller log file:

Click Export Log File when ready. To exit without exporting the controller
log file, click Go Back to Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Export Log from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.

108 Controllers
 5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Foreign Configuration Operations

NOTE: Foreign Configuration Operations is available only on SAS controllers with
firmware versions 6.1 and later.
A foreign configuration is data residing on physical disks that has been moved
from one controller to another. Virtual disks residing on physical disks that
have been moved are considered to be a foreign configuration.
NOTE: It is not recommend to remove an external enclosure cable while the
operating system is running on the system. Removing the cable could result in a
foreign configuration when the connection is re-established.
The Foreign Configuration Operations option is displayed only when a
controller detects a foreign configuration. Select this option and click
Execute to display the Foreign Configuration Preview page.
The Foreign Configuration Preview screen provides a preview of the foreign
disks and enables you to perform operations such as, importing, recovering, or
clearing the foreign disks. You can also import or clear a locked foreign
configuration.
• If any foreign configurations locked using Local Key manager (LKM) are
detected, the associated Encryption Key Identifier is displayed prompting
you to enter the corresponding Passphrase to unlock the drives.
To avoid unlocking foreign configurations and to proceed to
preview/import/clear a foreign configuration that has not been locked, click
Skip or Continue.
If you do not want to import/clear the foreign configurations, or in case of loss
of the associated Passphrase of the corresponding Encryption Key Identifier,
execute the Instant Encrypt Erase task for the physical disks.
CAUTION: Executing the Instant Encrypt Erase task erases all data on the
physical disk.
Some conditions, such as an unsupported RAID level or an incomplete disk
group, can prevent the import or recovery of foreign virtual disks.

Controllers 109
 Foreign Configuration Properties
The following table describes the properties that are displayed for the Foreign
Disks and Global Hot Spares.

Table 7-4. Foreign Configuration 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 This property displays the name of the foreign configuration and is
available as a link. The link enables you to access the physical disks
that constitute the foreign disk.

110 Controllers
Property Definition
State This property displays the current state of the foreign configuration.
Ready—The foreign disk can be imported and functions normally
after import.
Degraded—The foreign disk is in degraded state and rebuilds after
import.
Failed—The foreign disk has encountered a failure and is no longer
functioning. You cannot import the foreign configuration.
The foreign configuration may be in degraded or failed state due to
any of the following reasons:
• Missing physical disk—One of the physical disks in the potential
virtual disk is missing or not available.
• Missing Span—One or more span of a hybrid virtual disk is missing
• Stale physical disks—One or more physical disk in the
configuration may contain out-of-date data with respect to other
disks of that virtual disk. Hence, the data integrity of the imported
virtual disk is not intact.
• Unsupported configuration of the virtual disk—The virtual disk has
an unsupported RAID level.
• The virtual disks available for import exceed the number of virtual
disk available for export.
• Incompatible physical disks—Configuration on the physical disks is
not recognized by the RAID firmware.
• 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 Tasks.
Layout This property displays the RAID level of the foreign configuration.

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 Property Definition
Remarks This property gives more information about the foreign virtual disk.
If the virtual disk cannot be imported, the reason for failure is
displayed.
• Exceeded Maximum—The number of virtual disks selected for
import has exceeded the maximum number of supported disks.
• Missing physical disk or missing span—One or more physical disks
or spans in the virtual disk to be imported is missing.
• Unsupported—The selected RAID level is not supported on this
controller.
• Orphan Drive—The physical disk was once part of a RAID volume
but was replaced. The configuration should be cleared.
• Stale Physical Disk—The physical disk in the virtual disk to be
imported has outdated data.
• Partially Foreign—The virtual disk is part of an already existing
configuration. Some physical disks in this virtual disk are foreign.
Dedicated Hot This property displays whether the foreign disk is a dedicated hot
Spare spare.

Based on this information, you can decide whether you want to import,
recover, or clear the foreign configuration.

To preview the import of foreign configuration

Click Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller Tasks drop
down menu. Click Execute to display the Foreign Configuration Preview
screen.

To locate this task in Storage Management

For SAS controllers with firmware version 6.1:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller Available
Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

112 Controllers
Importing Foreign Configurations
Some controllers enable you to import a foreign configuration so that virtual
disks are not lost after moving the physical disks.
You can import a foreign configuration only if it contains a virtual disk that is
in either Ready or Degraded state. In other words, all of the virtual disk data
must be present, but if the virtual disk is using a redundant RAID level, the
additional redundant data is not required.
For example, if the foreign configuration contains only one side of a mirror in
a RAID 1 virtual disk, then the virtual disk is in Degraded state and can be
imported. On the other hand, if the foreign configuration contains only one
physical disk that was originally configured as a RAID 5 using three physical
disks, then the RAID 5 virtual disk is failed and cannot be imported.
In addition to virtual disks, a foreign configuration may consist of a physical
disk that was assigned as a hot spare on one controller and then moved to
another controller. The Import Foreign Configuration task imports the new
physical disk as a hot spare. If the physical disk was a dedicated hot spare on
the previous controller, but the virtual disk to which the hot spare was
assigned is no longer present in the foreign configuration, then the physical
disk is imported as a global hot spare.
The Import Foreign Configuration task is only displayed when the controller
has detected a foreign configuration. You can also identify whether or not a
physical disk contains a foreign configuration (virtual disk or hot spare) by
checking the physical disk state. If the physical disk state is Foreign, then the
physical disk contains all or some portion of a virtual disk or has a hot spare
assignment.
If you have an incomplete foreign configuration which cannot be imported,
you can use the Clear Foreign Configuration option to erase the foreign data
on the physical disks.
NOTE: The task of importing foreign configuration imports all virtual disks residing
on physical disks that have been added to the controller. If more than one foreign
virtual disk is present, you cannot choose which one to import. All foreign
configurations are imported.

Controllers 113
 Importing/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.
The virtual disk data may be inconsistent after recovery. You should always
verify the virtual disk data after the Import/Recover Foreign Configuration
task completes.
In some cases, the virtual disk data is incomplete and it is not possible to
successfully recover the virtual disk.

To import or recover a foreign configuration:

Click Import/Recover when you are ready to import or recover all virtual disks
residing on physical disks attached to the controller. To exit without
importing or recovering the foreign configuration, click Cancel.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

For SAS controllers with firmware versions 6.1 and later:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller Available
Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
6 On the Foreign Configuration Preview page, click Import/Recover.
For controllers with firmware version 6.0 and earlier:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Import/Recover Foreign Configuration from the Controller tasks.

114 Controllers
Clear Foreign Configuration
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
After moving a physical disk from one controller to another, you may find that
the physical disk contains all or some portion of a virtual disk (foreign
configuration). You can identify whether or not a previously used physical disk
contains a foreign configuration (virtual disk) by checking the physical disk
state. If the physical disk state is Foreign, then the physical disk contains all or
some portion of a virtual disk. Use the clear foreign configuration task to clear
or erase the virtual disk information from the newly attached physical disks.
NOTE: The clear foreign configuration task permanently destroys all data residing
on the physical disks that have been added to the controller. If more than one
foreign virtual disk is present, you cannot choose which one to clear. All are cleared
or erased. You may prefer to import the virtual disk rather than destroy the data. For
more information, see Importing Foreign Configurations and Importing/Recovering
Foreign Configurations.

To clear a foreign configuration:

Click Clear Foreign Configuration when you are ready to clear or erase all
virtual disks residing on physical disks that have been added to the controller.
To exit without clearing the foreign configuration, click Cancel.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

For SAS controllers with firmware versions 6.1 and later:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller Available
Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
6 On the Foreign Configuration Preview page, click Clear.
For controllers with firmware version 6.0 and earlier:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.

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 3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Clear Foreign Configuration from the Controller tasks.

Physical Disks in Foreign Virtual Disks

The Physical Disks in Foreign Virtual Disks page displays the physical disks
and the dedicated hot spare, if any, included in the foreign configuration.

116 Controllers
The following table describes properties for physical disks in the foreign
configuration.

Table 7-5. Physical Disk 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 This property displays the name of the physical disk. The
name is comprised of the connector number followed by the
disk number.
State This property displays the current state of the physical disk.
After Import State This property displays the after-import state of the physical
disk. The physical disk can be imported in any of the following
states.
Online—The physical disk is part of the imported virtual disk
and functions normally.
Offline—The physical disk is offline after import to the
virtual disk.
Foreign—The virtual disk containing the physical disk cannot
be imported and the physical disk remains in foreign state.
Rebuild—After import of virtual disk, the physical disk
rebuilds.
Replacing—A Replace Member Disk task is performed on the
physical disk. For more information, see Replace Member
Disk and Revertible Hot Spare.
Capacity This property displays the full capacity of the disk.

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 Property Definition
Failure Predicted This property displays whether or not the physical disk has
received a Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology
(SMART) alert and is therefore predicted to fail. For more
information on SMART predictive failure analysis, see
Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID Controllers. For
information on replacing the physical disk, see Replacing a
Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts.
You may also want to review the Alert Log to see whether the
physical disk 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 Dell OpenManage
Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide at
support.dell.com/manuals.
NOTE: On replacing a SMART error drive with a good drive on
PERC4/IM controllers, it is necessary to perform a rescan
operation on the controller, for Storage Management to display
the correct status of the newly inserted drive.
Progress This property displays the progress of an operation being
performed on the physical disk.
This property is only displayed when an operation is being
performed on the physical disk.

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Property Definition
Bus Protocol This property displays the technology that the physical disk is
using. Possible values are:
SCSI—Small Computer System Interface
SAS—Serial Attached SCSI
SATA—Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
Dell Certified This property indicates that the drive has Dell firmware which
has been tested and fully qualified by Dell. Drives that are not
Dell certified may work but, are not supported and
recommended for use in Dell servers.
Media This property displays the media type of the physical disk. The
possible values are:
HDD—Hard Disk Drive. A HDD is a non-volatile storage
device which stores digitally-encoded data on rapidly rotating
platters with magnetic surfaces.
SSD—Solid State Drive. An SSD is a data storage device that
uses solid-state memory to store persistent data.
Unknown—Storage Management is unable to determine the
media type of the physical disk.
Used RAID Disk This property displays how much of the physical disk space is
Space being used by the virtual disks on the controller. This property
is not applicable for physical disks attached to non-RAID
controllers.
In certain circumstances, the Used RAID Disk Space displays
a value of zero (0) even though a portion of the physical disk is
actually being used. This occurs when the used space is 0.005
GB or less. The algorithm for calculating the used disk space
rounds off a figure of 0.005 GB or less to 0. Used disk space
that is between 0.006 GB and 0.009 GB is rounded off to 0.01
GB.
Available RAID This property displays the amount of available space on the
Disk Space disk. This property is not applicable for physical disks attached
to non-RAID controllers.
Hot Spare This property indicates whether the disk has been assigned as
a hot spare. This property is not applicable for physical disks
attached to non-RAID controllers.

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 Property Definition
Vendor ID This property displays the disk’s hardware vendor.
Product ID This property displays the disk’s product ID.
Revision This property displays the drive’s firmware version.
Serial No. This property displays the disk's serial number.
Negotiated Speed This property displays the speed of data transfer that the disk
negotiated while spinning up and upon initial communication
with the controller. This speed is dependent on the speed of
the disk, the capable speed of the controller, the current speed
of the controller on that connector, and the speed of the
Enclosure Management Module (EMM) on the enclosure.
Capable Speed This property displays the highest possible speed with which
the device can transfer data.
Manufacture Day This property displays the day of the month on which the
physical disk was manufactured.
Manufacture This property displays the week of the year during which the
Week physical disk was manufactured.
Manufacture Year This property displays the year in which the physical disk was
manufactured.
SAS Address This property displays the SAS address of the physical disk.
The SAS address is unique to each SAS disk.
After Import This property displays what the status of the physical disk
Status would be after the foreign configuration has been imported.
Possible values are:
• Foreign
• Online
• Offline
• Replaced
• Rebuild
Product ID It is the serial number of the drive and can be used as a unique
number to identify the disk.
Encryption This property displays whether the physical disk is a Self
Capable Encryption Disk (SED.) The possible values are Yes and No.

120 Controllers
Property Definition
Encrypted This property 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 The part number is the unique Bill Of Materials assignment
number for a physical disk. The characters 4 through 8
represent the Dell part number for that model drive.

Set Background Initialization Rate

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Set Background Initialization Rate task changes the amount of system
resources dedicated to the background initialization task. See Background
Initialization on PERC Controllers for more information on the background
initialization task.
The background initialization rate, configurable between 0% and 100%,
represents the percentage of the system resources dedicated to running the
background initialization task. At 0%, the background initialization has the
lowest priority for the controller, takes the most time to complete, and is the
setting with the least impact to system performance. A background
initialization rate of 0% does not mean that the background initialization is
stopped or paused.
At 100%, the background initialization is the highest priority for the
controller. The background initialization time is minimized and is the setting
with the most impact to system performance.

To change the controller’s background initialization rate:

1 Type a numerical value in the New Background Initialization Rate text
box. The value must be within the 0 – 100 range.
2 Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back to
Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.

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 3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Set Background Initialization Rate from the Available Tasks
drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Set Check Consistency Rate

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Set Check Consistency Rate task changes the amount of system
resources dedicated to the check consistency task. See Check Consistency for
more information about the check consistency task.
The check consistency rate, configurable between 0% and 100%, represents
the percentage of the system resources dedicated to running the check
consistency task. At 0%, the check consistency has the lowest priority for the
controller, takes the most time to complete, and is the setting with the least
impact to system performance. A check consistency rate of 0% does not mean
that the check consistency is stopped or paused.
At 100%, the check consistency is the highest priority for the controller. The
check consistency time is minimized and is the setting with the most impact
to system performance.

To change the controller’s check consistency rate:

1 Type a numerical value in the New Check Consistency Rate text box.
The value must be within the 0 – 100 range.
2 Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back to
Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.

122 Controllers
 4 Select Set Check Consistency Rate from the Available Tasks drop-down
menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Related Information:
• Check Consistency
• Cancel Check Consistency

Set Reconstruct Rate

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Set Reconstruct Rate task changes the amount of system resources
dedicated to the reconstruct task.
The reconstruct task remakes the virtual disk after you have changed the
RAID level or otherwise reconfigured the virtual disk. The reconstruct rate,
configurable between 0% and 100%, represents the percentage of the system
resources dedicated to running the reconstruct task. At 0%, the reconstruct
has the lowest priority for the controller, takes the most time to complete, and
is the setting with the least impact to system performance. A reconstruct rate
of 0% does not mean that the reconstruct is stopped or paused.
At 100%, the reconstruct is the highest priority for the controller, the
reconstruct time is minimized, and is the setting with the most impact to
system performance.

To change the controller’s reconstruct rate:

1 Type a numerical value in the New Reconstruct Rate text box. The value
must be within the 0 – 100 range.
2 Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back to
Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.

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 2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Set Reconstruct Rate from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Related Information:
• Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3)

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. Dell PowerVault MD1xxx enclosures are supported.
For redundant paths, the enclosure must be in the Unified mode but specific
port connections are not required. A connection from either controller ports
to either EMM In ports creates the redundant path as long as two cables are
used. But, Redundant Path continues to appear in the field even as the
redundant path is removed. The redundant path ceases to appear only when
it is cleared in the storage management.
In a daisy-chain scenario, more than one enclosure can be connected to a
controller in a redundant path mode. You can connect up to three PowerVault
MD1000 and MD1120 to a PERC 6/E controller in a daisy-chained enclosure.
And, you can connect up to four PowerVault MD1200 and MD1220 to a
PERC H800 and PERC H810 controller in a daisy-chained enclosure. For an
example of a daisy chain configuration (for PERC 6/E controller.), see
Figure 7-1.

124 Controllers
Figure 7-1. Daisy Chain Configuration

SAS Controller

C0 C1

C0 C1

E1

C0 C1

C0 C1

E2

C0 C1

C0 C1

E3

If the communication channel between the connector and the first enclosure
is lost, the redundant path configuration itself is lost. In this case, the health
of the logical connector is displayed as critical. Navigate to the
Information/Configuration subtab of the logical connector to view details of
the Path Health. For a brief outline of this scenario, see Table 7-6

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 Table 7-6. Component Health
Health of Logical Path between Controller and Enclosure 1
Connector
Connector 0 (C0) Connector 1 (C1)

Available Available

Available Disconnected

Disconnected Available

However, if the communication channel between any two enclosures is lost,

the redundant path configuration is degraded and the health of the logical
connector is displayed as degraded. For a brief outline of this scenario, see
Table 7-7.

Table 7-7. Component Health

Health of Logical Path between Enclosure n and Enclosure n+1
Connector
Connector 0 (C0) Connector 1 (C1)

Available Available

Available Disconnected

Disconnected Available

In this case, the enclosure status is displayed in warning mode. The

Enclosures page displays all enclosure components (EMMs, Fans, Physical
Disks, Power Supplies, and Temperature) to be in normal condition. Select
the Information/Configuration subtab of the enclosure. This page displays
the Path Failure message to indicate that the enclosure has lost a
communication path to the controller, thereby indicating that the enclosure
is no longer in redundant path mode. For more information, see Path Health.

126 Controllers
Clearing the Redundant Path View
Consider a case where you reboot your system and Storage Management,
displays the Logical Connector with a path failure message. It is possible that
you may have intentionally unplugged the second connector. In this case, the
path failure message is not relevant. Else, there could be a fault in the
connected cable or the cable may not be connected properly to the controller.
In both cases, Storage Management displays that the system was in
redundant path configuration before reboot and is no longer in this
configuration. If you are sure you do not want the redundant path mode, clear
the existing redundant path view using Clear Redundant Path View provided
in the Change Controller Properties controller task. Selecting this option
clears the redundant path view and the connectors are represented on the
user interface as Connector 0 and Connector 1.

Related Topics
• Logical Connector Properties and Tasks
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks

Set Patrol Read Mode

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Patrol Read is a feature for identifying disk errors in order to avoid disk
failures and data loss or corruption. The Patrol Read only runs on disks that
are being used in a virtual disk or that are hot spares.
When possible, the Patrol Read corrects disk errors and restores the integrity
of the data. The Patrol Read task runs in the background. When the Patrol
Read mode is set to Auto, the Patrol Read is initiated when the controller has
been idle for a period of time and when no other background tasks are active.
In this circumstance, the Patrol Read feature also enhances system
performance as disk errors can be identified and corrected while the disk is
not the subject of I/O activity.
The controller adjusts the amount of system resources dedicated to the Patrol
Read based on the amount of controller activity that is competing with the
Patrol Read task. During heavy controller activity, fewer system resources are
dedicated to the Patrol Read task.

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 The Patrol Read does not run on a physical disk in the following
circumstances:
• The physical disk is not included in a virtual disk or assigned as a hot spare.
• The physical disk is included in a virtual disk that is currently undergoing
one of the following:
– A rebuild
– A reconfiguration or reconstruction
– A background initialization
– A check consistency
In addition, the Patrol Read suspends during heavy I/O activity and resumes
when the I/O is finished.

To set the Patrol Read mode:

Click the radio button for the Patrol Read mode setting that you want to
select: The possible settings are:
• Auto—Setting the mode to Auto initiates the Patrol Read task. When the
task is complete, it automatically runs again within a specified period of
time. For example, on some controllers the Patrol Read runs every four
hours and on other controllers, the Patrol Read runs every seven days. The
Patrol Read task runs continuously on the system starting again within the
specified period of time after each iteration of the task completes. If the
system reboots while the Patrol Read task is running in Auto mode, the
Patrol Read restarts at zero percent (0%). When the Patrol Read task is set
to Auto mode, you cannot start or stop the task. Auto mode is the default
setting.
NOTE: Refer to your controller documentation for more information on how often
the Patrol Read task runs when in Auto mode.
• Manual—Setting the mode to Manual enables you to start and stop the
Patrol Read when you want using the Start and Stop Patrol Read tasks.
Setting the mode to Manual does not initiate the Patrol Read task. If you
have started the Patrol Read and the system reboots while the Patrol Read
is running in Manual mode, the Patrol Read does not restart.
• Disabled—Setting the mode to Disabled prevents the Patrol Read task
from running on the system.

128 Controllers
To locate this task in Storage Management:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Set Patrol Read Mode from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

Related Information:
• Start and Stop Patrol Read

Start and Stop Patrol Read

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
When the Patrol Read mode is set to manual, you can start the Patrol Read
task or stop the task when it is running.
There are certain conditions under which the Patrol Read task cannot be run.
See Set Patrol Read Mode for more information.

To start or stop the Patrol Read task:

Click Start Patrol Read or Stop Patrol Read when ready. To exit without
starting or stopping the Patrol Read, click Go Back to Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Start Patrol Read or Stop Patrol Read from the Available Tasks
drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
You can also locate this task from the Change Controller Properties drop
down menu. For more information, see Change Controller Properties.

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 Related Information:
• Set Patrol Read Mode

Change Controller Properties

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Change Controller Properties task provides you the option to change
multiple controller properties simultaneously. This task is available only on
SAS controllers with firmware version 6.1 and later.
You can change any or all of the following properties using the Change
Controller Properties task:
• Rebuild Rate
• BGI Rate
• Check Consistency Rate
• Reconstruct Rate
• Abort check consistency on error
• Revertible Hot Spare
• Loadbalance
• Auto replace member on predictive failure
• Redundant path view
• Persistent hot spare
NOTE: You can set these properties through the command line interface also.
See the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Command Line Interface
User’s Guide at support.dell.com/manuals, for more information.

To locate this task in Storage Management, do one of the following:

1 Select Storage in the Storage tree.
2 On the Storage Dashboard page, select Change Controller Properties...
from the Available Tasks drop down menu.
3 Click Execute.
Or:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.

130 Controllers
 2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Change Controller Properties... from the Controller Tasks drop
down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Related Information:
• Set Rebuild Rate
• Set Background Initialization Rate
• Set Check Consistency Rate
• Set Reconstruct Rate
• Abort check consistency on error
• Revertible Hot Spare
• Loadbalance
• Redundant Path Configuration

Manage Physical Disk Power

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Manage Physical Disk Power task allows you to manage the power
consumed by the physical disks.
NOTE: The Manage Physical Disk Power task is provided with PERC H700, H800,
and H310 cards by spinning down the hot spares and unconfigured disks. PERC
H710, H710P, and H810 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.
You can enable one of the following modes to manage power consumed:
• No Power Savings Mode—This is the default mode for the controller. In
this mode, all power saving features are disabled.
• Balanced Power Savings Mode—provides good power savings while
limiting I/O latency.
• Maximum Power Savings Mode—provides maximum power savings for all
drives.

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 • Customized Power Savings Mode—provides the option for you to
customize the power savings settings. The default values are populated
when you select this power mode. You can select or deselect the features
you want to enable. To enable the Quality of Service (QoS) feature, select
the Customized Power Savings Mode select Enable for the Spin Down
Configured Drives option. You can use the Quality of Service (QoS) to
customize power saving on configured drives by setting the Start Time and
Time interval to spin up.
The following table displays the properties in the Manage Physical Disk
Power option:

132 Controllers
Table 7-8. Manage Physical Disk Power Properties
Property Definition
Spin Down The Enabled option spins down the unconfigured disks if
Unconfigured Drives they are unattended for a specified interval of time.
Spin Down Hot The Enabled option spins down the hot spares if no
Spares read-write operation takes place on the hot spare in a
specified interval of time.
Spin Down The Enabled option spins down the configured disks if they
Configured Drives are unattended for a specified interval of time.
Automatic Disk This property enables or disables the Dell Auto Idle C feature
Power Saving (Idle C) for additional power saving. When enabled, it will not affect
legacy drives but, will enable new generation drives to
perform partial RPM (Idle C) during idle period for
additional power savings.
Time Interval for This property sets the time interval after which the hot spares
Spin Down and unconfigured drives spins down.
Quality Of Service (QOS)
Enable Quality Of Select this check box to set the start time and the time
Service Settings interval for spin up.activity at the virtual disk level.
NOTE: This option is available only if the Spin Down Configured
Drives option is selected.
Start Time The start time of the battery learn cycle. This option is
(HH:MM) enabled only if the Enable Quality Of Service Settings check
box is selected.
Time Interval for The spin up time interval for the battery learn cycle. The time
Spin Up(in Hours) interval can range from 1-24 hours.

To manage 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.
To manage physical disk power through the Customized Power Savings
Mode:
1 Select the Customized Power Save Mode option.

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 2 You can now edit the remaining parameters on the Manage Physical Disk
Power screen. You can also configure the options in the QOS section as
described below.
To manage physical disk power through the QOS option:
1 Select the Customized Power Save Mode option.
2 In the Spin Down Configured Drives drop-down menu, select Enabled.
3 The Quality of Service (QOS) option is enabled. Enter the Start Time
and Time Interval to spin up.
4 Click Apply.
To manage the time interval for the QOS option at the virtual disk level:
1 In the Quality Of Service (QOS) pane, select the Enable Quality of
Service Settings check box.
2 Set the start time. The start time can range between 1-24 hours.
3 Click Apply Changes.
NOTE: The Enable Quality of Service Settings option is enabled only if the
Spin Down Configured Drives option is Enabled.
To locate this task in Storage Management:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object.
3 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
4 Select Manage Physical Disk Power from the Available Tasks drop-down
menu.
5 Click Execute.

Manage 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.

134 Controllers
Data in the cache may also be lost in case of unintended cable or power
failure. In the event of such a failure, Storage Management preserves the data
written on the preserved or dirty cache until you recover the virtual disk or
clear the cache.
This feature is available only on SAS controllers with firmware version 6.1 and
later.
The status of the controller is affected by the preserved cache. The controller
status is displayed as degraded if the controller has preserved cache.
CAUTION: You may not be able to use Storage Management to manage the
preserved cache in some cases. As an example, consider you have a RAID 1 level
with two disks—D1 and D2. If you now remove D2, the virtual disk is degraded and
the data in the controller cache is written to D1. At this point, D1 has the latest
data. Now, if you re-insert D2 and pull out D1, the virtual disk is still degraded and
does not have the latest data.

Manage Preserved Cache

You can discard the preserved cache only if all of the following conditions are
met:
• The controller does not have any foreign configuration. Select Click for
Preview to view details of the foreign configuration. See Foreign
Configuration Operations.
• The controller does not have any offline or missing virtual disks. If there
are offline or missing virtual disks, ensure you have a backup of these
virtual disks.
• Cables to any virtual disk are not disconnected.

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 Manage Encryption Key
NOTE: To configure encryption, you do not require an SED. However, to create a
secure virtual disk, you require an SED. The encryption settings are then used to
configure the virtual disk and the SED.
NOTE: The Encryption must be manually enabled for any virtual disk that was
created using SED drives on a controller for which the Encryption was not enabled
earlier. If the virtual disk is created after a controller has had encryption enabled, it
will automatically be configured as an encrypted virtual disk unless the enabled
encryption option is disabled during the advance config virtual disk creation.
On an encryption-capable controller, the Manage Encryption Key task allows
you to enable encryption in LKM mode. If you enable LKM, you can create
an Encryption Key on an encryption-capable controller and save it locally. You
can also change or delete the Encryption Key.
NOTE: This task is available only on PERC H7x0 and H8x0 controllers.
To go to the Manage Encryption Key task in Storage Management:
1 Select Storage in the Storage tree.
2 Go to Storage Dashboard Available Tasks drop-down menu Manage
Encryption Key....
3 Click Execute.
OR
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select an encryption-capable controller object.
3 Go to Information/Configuration subtabController Tasks drop-down
menu Manage Encryption Key....
4 Click Execute.
If the controller is encryption-capable and an Encryption Key is not present,
then the Create Encryption Key page is displayed. Else, the Change or
Delete Encryption Key page is displayed.

Encryption Key
The controller uses the Encryption Key to lock or unlock access to Self
Encryption Disks (SEDs). You can create only one Encryption Key for each
encryption-capable controller.

136 Controllers
If you are using Local Key Management (LKM) you must create the
Encryption Key by providing the Encryption Key Identifier and the
Passphrase.

Encryption Key Identifier

An Encryption Key Identifier is a user-supplied text label for the Passphrase.
The identifier helps you determine which Passphrase to enter during
authentication for import of foreign encrypted SED drives.

Passphrase
A Passphrase is a user supplied string that the controller uses to create the
Encryption Key.
For more information on creating an Encryption Key, see Manage Encryption
Key.
NOTE: For more Encryption Key and Passphrase guidelines, click the i icon on the
Manage Encryption Key screen.

Enabling LKM

Creating an Encryption Key

To create an Encryption Key on the selected controller:
1 Select the Enable Local Key Management (LKM) option.
2 Enter an Encryption Key Identifier.
An Encryption Key Identifier can contain numerals, lowercase alphabets,
uppercase alphabets, non-alphanumeric characters, or a combination of
any of these.
NOTE: For the Encryption Key Identifier and Passphrase guidelines, click the i
icon on the screen.
3 Enter a Passphrase.
A Passphrase must contain at least one numeral, one lowercase alphabet,
one uppercase alphabet, and one non-alphanumeric character (except
space.)
NOTE: Server Administrator Storage Management provides a suggested
Passphrase below the Passphrase text box.

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 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.
You can use this file for future reference.
The Path field is displayed. Enter the path where you want to save the file.
The path should contain a file name with an .xml extension. The saved file
contains this information: SAS address, Encryption Key Identifier,
Passphrase, and modified date.
CAUTION: It is important to understand that if you lose the Passphrase, you
cannot recover it. If you move the physical disks associated with the lost
Passphrase to another controller or if the controller fails or is replaced, you
cannot access data from that disk.
NOTE: If Encryption Key Identifier or Passphrase contains special characters
such as &, ", <, and >, in the file, they are written as &amp;, &quot;, &lt; and
&gt; respectively.
NOTE: If the system crashes while saving the file, the backup file is saved in
the specified location.
5 Select the check-box indicating that you understand the implications of
using a Passphrase and click Apply Changes.
In the controller Information/Configuration sub-tab, the Encryption Key
Present is set to Yes and the Encryption mode is set to LKM.

Changing or Deleting the Encryption Key

You can change an Encryption Key of a controller if the controller already has
a configured Encryption Key. You can delete an Encryption Key for encrypted
controllers only if there are no encrypted virtual disks.
To change the Encryption Key, enter the New Encryption Key Identifier and
Passphrase. You are prompted to authenticate with the current Passphrase.
Ensure you read the note on the importance of Passphrase and consequences
of not saving the same, before applying the changes.
When you change the Encryption Key, the existing configuration on this
controller is updated to use the new Encryption Key. If you have removed any
of the encrypted drives previously, you must authenticate with the old
Passphrase to import the encrypted drives.
When changing the Encryption Key, you can also save or update the new
Encryption Key credentials to a file in the system where Distributed Web
Service is running. Select the Escrow check box. If you have already saved the

138 Controllers
Encryption Key credentials for a controller, providing the path of the file
updates credentials for that controller. If the credentials are for a new
controller, the details are appended in the same file.
If you have not saved the credentials to a file, you can enter the path on which
the file must be saved. The path must contain a file name with an .xml
extension. On applying changes, this file is created with the credentials.
If you delete the Encryption Key, you cannot create encrypted virtual disks
and all encrypted unconfigured self-encrypting drives are erased. However,
deleting an Encryption Key does not affect encryption or data in foreign disks.
If you have saved the Encryption Key credentials to a file, deleting the
Encryption Key does not delete the file. Managing the file is the responsibility
of the administrator.

Manage CacheCade
Ensure that SSDs are available in the storage enclosure before performing any
CacheCade operations. For more information, see CacheCade Using Solid
State Drives.
To create, resize, blink, or delete the CacheCade, go to the CacheCade(s)
screen:
1 In the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator window, under the System
tree, expand Storage.
2 Click on a storage controller. For example: PERC H710P Adapter.
3 Click on a Storage Controller component.
4 Under Available Tasks, select Manage CacheCade.
5 Click Execute.
The CacheCade(s) screen is displayed.

Creating a CacheCade
To create a CacheCade:
1 In the CacheCade(s) screen, click Create CacheCade. The Create
CacheCade screen is displayed.
2 In the CacheCade Group section, select SATA SSD or SAS SSD if your
system contains both SAS and SATA SSDs.

Controllers 139
 3 Enter a name for the CacheCade. The size is calculated as follows:
CacheCade size = capacity of the smallest SSD * the number of SSDs
4 From the available free disks that are displayed, select the SSDs that you
would like to include in the CacheCade. The selected disks are displayed
in the Physical Disks Selected section.
5 Click Finish.
NOTE: The procedure of selecting physical disks while creating a CacheCade is
similar to the selection of disks while creating a virtual disk. For more information,
see Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 4).

Resizing the CacheCade

To resize the CacheCade:
1 In the CacheCade(s) screen, go to the CacheCade that you want to resize
and select Resize ... from the Tasks drop-down menu.
The Resize CacheCade(s) screen is displayed.
2 From the available CacheCade(s), add or remove additional
CacheCade(s) as required. The disks that you select are displayed in the
Selected Physical Disks section.
NOTE: While selecting and deselecting the SSDs that must participate in the
CacheCade, you must retain at least one of the original SSDs.
3 Click Finish.

Renaming the CacheCade

1 In the CacheCade(s) screen, go to the CacheCade that you want to
rename and select Rename ... from the available Tasks.
2 In the Rename screen, enter the new name for the CacheCade and click
Finish.

Blinking and Unblinking the CacheCade

In the CacheCade(s) screen, go to the CacheCade that you want to blink and
select Blink... from the available Tasks.
The LED of the physical disk(s) participating in the CacheCade glows.

140 Controllers
To unblink the physical disk in the CacheCade(s) screen, go to the CacheCade
Disk that you want to unblink and select Unblink... from the available Tasks.

Deleting the CacheCade

To delete the CacheCade:
1 In the CacheCade(s) screen, go to the CacheCade that you want to delete
and select Delete... from the available Tasks.
The following warning is displayed: Warning! CacheCade pool size will be
reduced. Do you want to continue with the delete operation?
2 Click Delete.

CacheCade Properties
The CacheCade(s) screen displays a table of properties for each CacheCade.
The following table provides a description for each property.
Table 7-9. 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 This property displays the name of the CacheCade. The link enables
you to access the physical disks that constitute the CacheCade.
Tasks This drop-down list provides the available tasks for the CacheCade.
Size This property provides the size of the CacheCade.
Bus Protocol This property displays the technology that the physical disk is using.
Possible values are SAS and SATA.

Controllers 141
 Table 7-9. CacheCade Properties

Property Definition
Disk Cache This property displays whether the disk cache policy of the physical
Policy disks that are part of the CacheCade is Enabled or Disabled.
See RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.

Convert to Non-RAID Disks

On Dell PERC H310 adapters, drop-down the controller tasks drop-down
menu and select the task Convert to Non-RAID disks:
1 The disks in Ready state are displayed. Select the drives that you want to
convert.
2 Click Apply.
The acknowledgement that the disks have been converted is displayed.

142 Controllers
Convert to RAID Capable Disks
On Dell PERC H310 adapters, drop-down the controller tasks drop-down
menu and select the task Convert to RAID Capable disks:
1 The non-RAID disks are displayed. Select the drives that you want to
convert.
2 Click Apply.
The acknowledgement that the disks have been converted is displayed.

Patrol Read Report

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This report provides information on all the Patrol Reads done on the
controller in the chronological order. It provides information such as last run
time and result. If the Patrol Read fails, it provides the reason for the failure.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Click Storage to view the dash board.
2 Select View Patrol Read Report from the Select Report drop-down
menu.
3 Click Execute.

Check Consistency Report

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This report provides information on all the Consistency Checks done on the
controller in a chronological order. It provides information such as last run
time and result. If the Consistency Check fails, it provides the reason for the
failure.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Click Storage to view the dash board.
2 Select View Check Consistency Report from the Select Report drop-
down menu.
3 Click Execute.

Controllers 143
 Slot Occupancy Report
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The View Slot Occupancy Report task 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. Move the mouse over each
slot to view details, such as physical disk ID, state, and size.

144 Controllers
 8
Enclosures and Backplanes
Physical disks can be contained in an enclosure or attached to the system’s
backplane. An enclosure is attached to the system externally while the
backplane and its physical disks are internal.

Backplanes
You can view the Backplane object by expanding the controller and
Connector object in the Storage Management tree view. Storage
Management displays the status of the backplane and attached physical disks.
Although a backplane is similar to an enclosure in that it is attached to a
controller connector and has physical disks, it does not have the management
features (temperature probes, alarms, and so on) associated with external
enclosures.

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 enclosure’s fans, power supply,
and temperature probes. 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. Hot plugging is
defined as the adding of a component to a system while the operating system
is still running.
NOTE: This feature requires that the physical devices connected to the controller
have the latest firmware. For the latest supported firmware, see support.dell.com.
After you hot plug or hot reconfigure an enclosure, refresh the left tree to
display changes in status and configuration; a system reboot is not required.
NOTE: Storage Management does not allow hot removal of enclosures. You must
reboot the system to effect this change in Storage Management.

Enclosures and Backplanes 145

 Storage Management displays the properties of the enclosure’s fans, power
supply, and temperature probes. Storage Management also notifies you of
enclosure status changes through alerts that are displayed in the Alert Log.
The following sections provide more information on the enclosure
components and management features provided by Storage Management:
• SMART Thermal Shutdown
• Enclosure Physical Disks
• Enclosure Fans
• Enclosure Power Supplies
• Enclosure Temperature Probes
• Enclosure Management Modules (EMMs)
• Enclosure and Backplane Health
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks

Enclosure Physical Disks

The enclosure’s physical disks are displayed under the enclosure object in the
tree view. Selecting a disk in the tree view displays the disk’s status
information.

Enclosure Fans
The fans are a component of the enclosure’s cooling module. The fans are
displayed by expanding the enclosure object in the tree view. You can select
the Fans object to display their status information.

Enclosure Power Supplies

The enclosure’s power supplies are displayed under the Power Supplies
object in the tree view. You can select the Power Supplies object to display
their status information.

Enclosure Temperature Probes

The enclosure’s temperature probes are displayed under the Temperatures
object. You can select the Temperatures object to display their status
information. The status information includes the current temperature in
Celsius and the Warning and Failure thresholds for the temperature probe.

146 Enclosures and Backplanes

The Failure threshold has a default value that cannot be changed. You can set
the Warning threshold, however. For information on setting the warning
threshold, see Set Temperature Probe Values.
For information related to the enclosure’s temperature, see the following:
• Checking the Enclosure’s Temperature
• Set Temperature Probe Values
• Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks
• SMART Thermal Shutdown

Enclosure Management Modules (EMMs)

The Enclosure Management Modules (EMMs) that are installed in the
enclosure are displayed under the EMMs object in the tree view. You can
select the EMMs object to display the individual EMM modules and their
status information.
The enclosure may contain one or more EMMs. The EMM modules monitor
components of the enclosure. These components include:
• Fans
• Power supplies
• Temperature probes
• The insertion or removal of a physical disk
• The LEDs on the enclosure
When the enclosure’s alarm is enabled, the EMM activates the alarm when
certain conditions occur. For more information on enabling the alarm and
the conditions that activate the alarm, see Enable Alarm (Enclosure). For
more information on EMMs, see the enclosure hardware documentation.
All EMM modules in the enclosure should have the same version of firmware.
You can view the properties of each individual EMM module to verify the
firmware version.

Enclosures and Backplanes 147

 SMART Thermal Shutdown
Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.
Enclosure management provides a feature which automatically shuts down
the operating system, the server, and the enclosure when the enclosure’s
temperature reaches dangerous extremes. The temperature, when shutdown
occurs, is determined by the enclosure temperature probe’s Minimum Failure
Threshold and the Maximum Failure Threshold. These thresholds are default
settings that cannot be changed.
NOTE: Thermal shutdown does not apply to the LSI PCI-e U320 controllers, and any
SAS or SATA internal or external storage.

Thermal Shutdown for the PowerVault 20xS and PowerVault 21xS Enclosures
For the PowerVault 20xS and PowerVault 21xS enclosures, the operating
system shuts down and the server powers off when the enclosure reaches 0
degrees Celsius or 50 degrees Celsius. After the server powers off, the
enclosure also powers off.

Thermal Shutdown for the PowerVault 220S and PowerVault 221S Enclosures
For the PowerVault 220S and PowerVault 221S, the operating system and
server turn off at 0 degrees Celsius or 50 degrees Celsius if you have not
implemented Channel Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown. If you have
implemented channel redundancy enabled smart thermal shutdown using
the command line interface (CLI), then only the enclosure shuts down at 0
degrees Celsius or 50 degrees Celsius. This does not result in data loss
because redundant data resides on the enclosure attached to the other
channel.
The PowerVault 220S and PowerVault 221S enclosures automatically turn off
when their temperature reaches 55 degrees Celsius. This shutdown occurs
whether or not you have implemented channel redundancy or have Storage
Management installed.
You can enable smart thermal shutdown using the command line interface.
For more information, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
Command Line Interface User’s Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

148 Enclosures and Backplanes

Changing the Mode on PowerVault 220S and
PowerVault 221S Enclosures
When toggling the bus configuration switch on a PowerVault 220S or
PowerVault 221S enclosure, the enclosure should be powered off. The bus
configuration switch is used to change the enclosure to split bus, joined bus,
or clustered mode. If you change the PowerVault 220S or PowerVault 221S
enclosure mode with the enclosure powered on, the enclosure may no longer
be displayed by Storage Management and you may notice other erratic
behaviors. In addition, the bus configuration switch on these enclosures is not
rated for frequent toggling.

Enclosure Management
In addition to the drop-down menu Enclosure Tasks, the following activities
may be required for enclosure management.
• Identifying the service tag of the enclosure—To identify the enclosure’s
service tag, select the enclosure in the tree view and click the
Information/Configuration tab. The Information/Configuration tab
displays the service tag and other enclosure properties.
• Identifying the Express Service Code of the enclosure—The Express
Service Code is a numeric function of your service tag. You can key in the
numeric Express Service Code for automated call-routing while calling
Dell technical support. To identify the Express Service Code of the
enclosure, select the enclosure in the tree view and click the
Information/Configuration tab. The Information/Configuration tab
displays the Express Service Code and other enclosure properties.
• Preparing a physical disk for removal—The task that enables you to
prepare a physical disk for removal is a physical disk command. See Prepare
to Remove.
• Troubleshooting—For general information on troubleshooting
procedures, see Troubleshooting.
• 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 Blink and Unblink (Physical Disk).

Enclosures and Backplanes 149

 • If you have already removed the wrong physical disk, see Recovering from
Removing the Wrong Physical Disk.
• Identifying an Open Connector for the Enclosure
• Checking the Enclosure’s Temperature
• Verifying the Enclosure’s EMM Firmware Version

Enclosure and Backplane Health

This screen displays the status of the enclosure or backplane and the
components attached to the enclosure or backplane.

Enclosure and Backplane Status

Component status is indicated by the severity. A component with a Warning
or Critical/Failure status requires immediate attention to avoid data loss if
possible. A component’s status may indicate the combined status of the
component and its lower-level objects. For more information, see
Determining the Health Status for Storage Components.
It may be useful to review the Alert Log for events indicating why a
component has a Warning or Critical status. For additional troubleshooting
information, see Troubleshooting.

150 Enclosures and Backplanes

Table 8-1. Component Severity
Severity Component Status
Normal/OK. The component is working as expected.

Warning/Non-critical. A probe or other monitoring device

has detected a reading for the component that is above or
below the acceptable level. The component may still be
functioning, but it could fail. The component may also be
functioning in an impaired state. Data loss is possible.
Critical/Failure/Error. The component has either failed or
failure is imminent. The component requires immediate
attention and may need to be replaced. Data loss may have
occurred.

Enclosure and Backplane Information

For information on enclosures and backplanes, see the following topics:
• Enclosures and Backplanes
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks

Enclosure and Backplane Components

For information on attached components, see the following topics:
• Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks

Use this window to view information about the enclosure or backplane and
execute enclosure tasks.

Enclosure and Backplane Properties

The enclosure or backplane properties can vary depending on the model of
the controller. Enclosure or backplane properties may include:

Enclosures and Backplanes 151

 Table 8-2. Enclosure and Backplane Properties
Property Definition
These icons represent the severity or health of the storage
component. For more information, see Storage Component
Severity.
NOTE: If the enclosure is connected to the controller in
redundant path mode (see Redundant Path Configuration for
more information), the loss of connection to any one EMM may
cause the enclosure status to be displayed as degraded.

Name This property displays the name of the enclosure or

backplane.
State This property displays the current status of the enclosure or
backplane. Possible values are:
Ready—The enclosure or backplane is functioning normally.
Degraded—The enclosure has encountered a failure and is
operating in a degraded state. The Degraded state does not
apply to backplanes.
Failed—The enclosure or backplane has encountered a failure
and is no longer functioning.
Connector This property displays the number of the connector to which
the enclosure or backplane is attached. This number matches
the connector number on the controller hardware.
Depending on the controller type, the connector can be
either a SCSI channel or a SAS port.
Enclosure ID This property 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 Dell
OpenManage Server Administrator Command Line Interface
User’s Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
Target ID This property displays the SCSI ID of the backplane (internal
to the server) or the enclosure to which the controller
connector is attached. The value is usually 6.

152 Enclosures and Backplanes

Property Definition
Configuration This property displays the mode in which the enclosure is
operating. Possible values are:
Joined—Indicates that the enclosure is operating in joined-
bus mode.
Split—Indicates that the enclosure is operating in split-bus
mode.
Unified—Indicates that enclosure is operating in unified
mode.
Clustered—Indicates that the enclosure is operating in
cluster mode. Clustered mode is only available on cluster-
enabled RAID controllers. For more information, see Cluster-
enabled RAID Controllers.
For more information on joined, split, and cluster modes, see
the enclosure hardware documentation. For information on
how to cable the enclosure to accommodate these different
modes, see the enclosure hardware documentation.
When toggling the bus configuration switch on a PowerVault
220S or PowerVault 221S enclosure, the enclosure should be
powered off. For more information, see Changing the Mode
on PowerVault 220S and PowerVault 221S Enclosures.
Older PowerVault 200S enclosures with a version 1.8 kernel
that only have one EMM may display Split Bus mode and not
Joined Bus mode. Joined Bus or Clustered when applicable
are the only possible modes in these circumstances.
Firmware Version This property displays the version of the enclosure firmware.
NOTE: For systems supporting multiple backplanes, the
firmware version appears as upstream and downstream
versions.
Service Tag This property displays the enclosure’s service tag number.
This number is required when talking to Dell support. You
can use this number to identify a specific enclosure in your
environment by matching this number with the number on
the service tag affixed to the enclosure. For example, if you
have multiple enclosures and one of them experiences a
failure, you can use the service tag number to identify which
enclosure has failed.

Enclosures and Backplanes 153

 Property Definition
Express Service Code The Express Service Code is a numeric function of your
service tag. You can key in the numeric Express Service Code
for automated call-routing while calling Dell technical
support. You can use this number to identify a specific
enclosure in your environment by matching this number with
the number on the Express Service Code affixed to the
enclosure.
Asset Tag This property displays the asset tag information for the
enclosure. You can change this property using the Set Asset
Data task.
Asset Name This property displays the name assigned to the enclosure.
You can change this property using the Set Asset Data task.
Backplane Part This property displays the part number of the enclosure’s
Number backplane.
SAS Address This property displays the SAS address of the SAS backplane.
Split Bus Part This property displays the part number of the enclosure’s split
Number bus module. A split bus is indicated by a single triangle
symbol on the back of the enclosure.
Enclosure Part This property displays the part number of the enclosure.
Number
Enclosure Alarm This property displays whether the enclosure’s alarm is
enabled or disabled.

Enclosure Tasks
To execute a drop-down menu enclosure task:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Select the enclosure object.
5 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
6 Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
7 Click Execute.

154 Enclosures and Backplanes

Drop-down Menu Enclosure Tasks:
• Enable Alarm (Enclosure)
• Disable Alarm (Enclosure)
• Set Asset Data
• Blink
• Set Temperature Probe Values

Available Reports
To view a report:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Select the enclosure object.
5 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
6 Select a report from the Select Report drop-down menu.
7 Click Execute.

Available Reports
• View Slot Occupancy Report

Enable Alarm (Enclosure)

Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Enable Alarm task to enable the enclosure alarm. When enabled, the
audible alarm sounds whenever the fault LED lights. This may occur to signal
events such as:
• The enclosure temperature has exceeded the warning threshold.
• A power supply, fan, or enclosure management module (EMM) has failed.
• The split bus is not installed. (A split bus is indicated by a single triangle
symbol on the back of the enclosure.)

Enclosures and Backplanes 155

 Disable Alarm (Enclosure)

Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Disable Alarm task to disable the enclosure alarm. When disabled,
the alarm does not sound when the enclosure exceeds a warning threshold for
temperature or experiences other error conditions such as a failed fan, power
supply, or controller. If the alarm is already sounding, you can turn it off with
this task.

Set Asset Data

Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Set Asset Data task to specify the enclosure’s asset tag and asset
name. See Set Asset Data for more information.

Blink

Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Blink task to blink the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 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. Refer to the
enclosure hardware documentation for more information on what the blink
colors and patterns indicate.

Set Temperature Probe Value

Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Set Temperature Probe Values task to specify the Warning and
Failure thresholds for the enclosure’s temperature probes. See Set
Temperature Probe Values for more information.

156 Enclosures and Backplanes

View Slot Occupancy Report

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The View Occupancy Slot Report task allows you to view empty and occupied
slot details of the selected enclosure. It provides a diagram that represents the
occupancy of physical drive slots. Move the mouse over each slot to view
details, such as physical disk ID, state, and size.

Identifying an Open Connector for the Enclosure

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

If you have not yet attached the enclosure to an open connector, you may
need to identify a connector on the controller that can be used for this
purpose. To identify an open connector:
1 Expand the Storage Management tree view until the controller object is
expanded. When the controller object is expanded, the tree view displays
the controller’s connectors. These connectors are numbered starting from
zero.
2 Identify a connector that is not attached to storage. If the connector is
already attached to storage, then the Connector object can be expanded
to display an enclosure or backplane and the attached physical disks. A
Connector object that cannot be expanded in the tree view is an open
connector not currently attached to storage. Storage Management displays
a number for each connector. These numbers correspond to the connector
numbers on the controller hardware. You can use these numbers to
identify which open connector displayed in the tree view is the open
connector on the controller hardware.

Checking the Enclosure’s Temperature

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

To check the enclosure’s temperature:
1 Expand the tree view until the Temperatures object is displayed.
2 Select the Temperatures object. The temperature reported by the
temperature probe is displayed in Celsius in the Reading column in the
right pane.

Enclosures and Backplanes 157

 For information related to the enclosure’s temperature, see the following:
• Enclosure Temperature Probes
• Set Temperature Probe Values
• Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks
• SMART Thermal Shutdown (does not apply to the LSI PCI-e U320
controllers)

Verifying the Enclosure’s EMM Firmware Version

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The firmware for the Enclosure Management Modules (EMMs) must be at
the same level. 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 Expand the tree view until the EMMs object is displayed.
2 Select the EMMs object. The firmware version for each EMM is displayed
in the Firmware Version column in the right pane.
For information related to the enclosure’s EMMs, see Enclosure Management
Modules (EMMs).

Enclosure Components
For information on attached components, see the following topics:
• Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties and Tasks
• EMM Properties
• Fan Properties
• Power Supply Properties
• Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks

158 Enclosures and Backplanes

Set Asset Data
Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.
You can change the enclosure’s asset tag and asset name. The new asset tag
and asset name that you specify are displayed on the enclosure’s
Information/Configuration subtab.

To change the enclosure’s asset tag and asset name:

1 Type the new asset tag name in the New asset tag text box. You can
specify an inventory number or other useful information for your
environment. The asset tag typically refers to the enclosure hardware.
2 Type the new asset name in the New asset name text box. You can specify
a name useful to you for organizing your storage environment. For
example, the asset name could refer to the type of data stored on the
enclosure or to the enclosure’s location.
3 Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back To
Enclosure Information Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Select the enclosure object.
5 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
6 Select Set Asset Data from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
7 Click Execute.

Set Temperature Probe Values

Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.
The temperature probes monitor the enclosure’s temperature. Each
temperature probe has a Warning and a Failure threshold. The Warning
threshold indicates that the enclosure is approaching an unacceptably warm
or cool temperature. You can modify the Warning threshold.

Enclosures and Backplanes 159

 The Failure threshold indicates that the enclosure has reached a dangerous
temperature that may cause damage and data loss. You cannot change the
default values for the Failure threshold.

To change the temperature probe’s Warning threshold:

1 The enclosure’s temperature probes are listed in the Temperature Probes
section of the screen. Select the probes that you want to change.
2 Select Set new values in the Set New Temperature Probe Values section
of the screen.
3 Type the lowest acceptable temperature in Celsius for the enclosure in the
Minimum Warning Threshold text box. The text box label indicates the
range that you can specify.
4 Type the highest acceptable temperature in Celsius for the enclosure in
the Maximum Warning Threshold text box. The text box label indicates
the range that you can specify.
5 Click Apply Changes.
If you want to return the temperature probe’s Warning threshold to the
default values, select the Reset to default values button and click Apply
Changes. The default values are displayed in the Minimum Warning
Threshold and Maximum Warning Threshold text boxes.
NOTE: On some enclosures, Storage Management may experience a short delay
before displaying the current enclosure temperature and temperature probe status.
For more information, see Storage Management May Delay Before Updating
Temperature Probe Status.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Select the enclosure object.
5 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
6 Select Set Temperature Probe Values from the Available Tasks drop-
down menu.
7 Click Execute.

160 Enclosures and Backplanes

View Slot Occupancy Report
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The View Occupancy Slot Report task allows you to view empty and occupied
slot details of the selected enclosure. It provides a diagram that represents the
occupancy of physical drive slots. Move the mouse over each slot to view
details, such as physical disk ID, state, and size.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Select the enclosure object.
5 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
6 Select View Slot Occupancy Report from the Available Tasks drop-down
menu.
7 Click Execute.

EMM Properties
Use this window to view information about the Enclosure Management
Modules (EMMs).

Enclosures and Backplanes 161

 Table 8-3. EMM 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 This property displays the name of the EMM.
State This property displays the current state of the EMMs.
• Ready—The EMM is functioning normally.
• Degraded—The EMM has encountered a failure and is
operating in a degraded state.
• Failed—The EMM has encountered a failure and is no
longer functioning. Storage Management may also be
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. For example, disconnecting
the cable would cause this state to be displayed.
• Missing—The EMM is not present in the enclosure.
• Not Installed—The EMM is not present in the enclosure.
Part Number This property displays the part number of the EMM
module.

162 Enclosures and Backplanes

Property Definition
Type This property indicates whether the EMM is a SCSI SES
Module or a SCSI Terminator.
SCSI SES Module—A SCSI SES Module provides SES
and SAFTE reporting to the host server, control of all
system LED indicators, and monitoring of all
environmental elements, such as temperature sensors,
cooling modules, and power supplies.
SCSI Terminator—The SCSI Terminator card is only used
if the PowerVault 220S or PowerVault 221S enclosure
is not configured with a redundant SCSI SES Module type
of EMM. In systems equipped with two SCSI SES
Modules, the SCSI termination is done through the
EMMs.
Firmware Version This property indicates the version of the firmware loaded
on the EMM. All EMM modules in the enclosure should
have the same level of firmware.
NOTE: For multiple backplanes, the firmware version
appears as upstream and downstream versions.
SCSI Rate This property displays the maximum SCSI speed that the
EMM in a SCSI enclosure supports.

Fan Properties
Use this window to view information about the enclosure’s fans.
The fans are a component of the enclosure’s cooling module. The following
table describes the fan properties.

Enclosures and Backplanes 163

 Table 8-4. Fan 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 This property displays the name of the fan.
State This property displays the current status of the fan.
Ready—The fan is functioning normally.
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 may also be 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. For example, disconnecting the cable would
cause this state to be displayed.
Missing—The fan is not present in the enclosure.
Part Number This property displays the part number of the fan.
This property is not displayed for the PowerVault 22xS
enclosures that have E.17 firmware or later.
Speed This property indicates the fan speed. Possible values are
Fast, Medium, Slow, and Stopped. If the fan is in Offline
state, the value for the Speed property is Unknown.
For information on events that cause the fan speed to
change, refer to the hardware documentation.

164 Enclosures and Backplanes

Power Supply Properties
Use this window to view information about the enclosure’s power supplies.

Table 8-5. Power Supply 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 This property displays the name of the power supply.
State This property displays the current status of the power
supply.
Ready—The power supply is functioning normally.
Degraded—The power supply has encountered a failure
and is operating in a degraded state.
Failed—The power supply has encountered a failure and is
no longer functioning. Storage Management may also be
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. For example, disconnecting
the cable would cause this state to be displayed.
Missing—The power supply is not present in the enclosure.
Part Number This property displays the part number of the power
supply.
This property is not displayed for the PowerVault 22xS
enclosures that have E.17 firmware or later.

Enclosures and Backplanes 165

 Property Definition
Firmware Version This property displays the firmware version number of the
power supply. The firmware version of power supply is
available only in MD12XX boxes with enclosure firmware
version 1.04 and later.

166 Enclosures and Backplanes

Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks
Does my enclosure support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use this window to view information about the enclosure’s temperature
probes.

Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks

Table 8-6. Temperature Probe Properties
Property Definition
Status These icons represent the severity or health of the storage
component. For more information, see Storage Component
Severity.
NOTE: On some enclosures, Storage Management may
experience a short delay before displaying the current enclosure
temperature and temperature probe status. For more
information, see Storage Management May Delay Before
Updating Temperature Probe Status.

Name This property displays the name of the temperature probe.

Enclosures and Backplanes 167

 Property Definition
State This property displays the current status of the temperature
probe.
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 may also be
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. For example, disconnecting the cable would
cause this state to be displayed.
Minimum Warning Threshold Exceeded—The enclosure’s
temperature has dropped below the minimum warning
threshold. For more information, see Set Temperature Probe
Values.
Maximum Warning Threshold Exceeded—The enclosure’s
temperature has risen above the maximum warning threshold.
For more information, see Set Temperature Probe Values.
Missing—The temperature probe is not present in the
enclosure.
Inactive—The temperature probe is present in the enclosure,
but the EMM that it monitors is not installed.
Reading This property displays the current temperature of the
enclosure as reported by the temperature probe.
Warning The Minimum and Maximum properties indicate the
Threshold temperatures currently set for the Warning threshold. For
more information, see Set Temperature Probe Values.
Failure Threshold The Minimum and Maximum properties indicate the
temperatures currently set for the Failure threshold. For more
information, see Set Temperature Probe Values.

168 Enclosures and Backplanes

Set Temperature Probe Properties and Tasks
Click the Set Temperature Probe button to launch the wizard for changing
the temperature probe’s Warning threshold. You can change the Warning
threshold for each of the temperature probes included in the enclosure. For
more information, see Set Temperature Probe Values.
To launch the Set Temperature Probe wizard:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Expand the enclosure object.
5 Select the Temperatures object.
6 Click Set Temperature Probe.

Enclosures and Backplanes 169

170 Enclosures and Backplanes
 9
Connectors
A controller contains one or more connectors (channels or ports) to which
you can attach disks. A connector is externally accessible for attaching an
enclosure (with external disks) to the system. A connector may also be
attached to the system’s backplane (for internal disks). The controller’s
connectors are displayed by expanding the controller object in the tree view.
NOTE: For PCIe SSD, connectors are referred to as PCIe SSD extenders.

Channel Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown

It is possible to create a virtual disk that uses physical disks that are attached
to different controller channels. The physical disks may reside in an external
enclosure or the backplane (internal enclosure). If the virtual disk is
maintaining redundant data on different channels, then the virtual disk is
channel redundant. Channel redundancy means that if one of the channels
fails, data is not lost because redundant data resides on another channel.
Channel redundancy might also be used for disks that reside in enclosures
subject to thermal shutdown. Should the enclosure attached to one of the
channels turn off, redundant data is maintained on the other channel.
Channel redundancy is implemented by selecting physical disks on different
channels when using the Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard.
NOTE: Channel redundancy only applies to controllers that have more than one
channel and that attach to an external disk enclosure.

Related Information:
• SMART Thermal Shutdown
• Channel Redundancy on PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, and 4e/Di Controllers
• Creating a Channel-redundant Virtual Disk

Connectors 171
 Channel Redundancy on PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di,
and 4e/Di Controllers
The following considerations apply when creating a channel-redundant
virtual disk on these controllers:
• It is recommended that you use a RAID 10 or RAID 50 when
implementing channel redundancy on the PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, and
4e/Di controllers.
• If one of the channels (or enclosure) fails, you can no longer maintain I/O
operations on any of the channels included in the channel redundant
configuration even though data has not been lost. To restore I/O, do one of
the following:
– Fix the failed channel and reboot the system.
– Reboot the system. This restores I/O on the channels that have not
encountered a failure. The virtual disks on these channels are in a
degraded state.

Creating a Channel-redundant Virtual Disk

The following instructions describe creating a virtual disk that uses channel
redundancy.
NOTE: Channel redundancy only applies to controllers that have more than one
channel and that attach to an external disk enclosure.
1 Launch the Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard by doing the
following:
a Locate the controller on which you are creating a channel-redundant
virtual disk Expand the controller object until the Virtual Disks
object is displayed.
b Select the Virtual Disks object and click Go To Create Virtual Disk
Wizard.
c Click Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard.
2 Complete Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4). This
portion of the Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard asks you to select a
RAID level. When creating a channel-redundant virtual disk, it is
recommended that you select the following RAID levels.

172 Connectors
 Recommended RAID Levels:
– PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, and 4e/Di Controllers—It is
recommended that you only use RAID 10 or RAID 50.
3 Complete Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 4). In this step,
you select the channels and the disks to be used by the virtual disk. The
selections you make determine whether or not the virtual disk is channel-
redundant.
There are specific RAID level and configuration requirements for
implementing channel redundancy. You must select the same number of
physical disks on each channel that you use. For information on the
number of physical disks that can be used for different RAID levels, see
Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk. For information on controller-
specific implementations of the RAID levels, see Controller-supported
RAID Levels.
To complete Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 4), see
Physical disk Selection for Channel-redundant Virtual Disks on PERC
4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, and 4e/Di Controllers depending on the type of the
controller.

Physical disk Selection for Channel-redundant Virtual Disks on PERC 4/DC,

4e/DC, 4/Di, and 4e/Di Controllers
The following sections describe creating a channel-redundant virtual disk
using RAID 10 or RAID 50 on a PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, or 4e/Di,
controllers.
RAID 10
a Select one physical disk on each of two channels. (In other words, each
of the two channels select a single disk.)
b Select an additional disk on each of the two channels. You have now
selected the minimum number of disks for a RAID 10.
c Repeat step b until you have the desired number of disks.
d Click Continue.
RAID 50
a Select one physical disk on each of three channels. (In other words,
each of the three channels select a single disk.)

Connectors 173
 b Select an additional disk on each of the three channels. You have now
selected the minimum number of disks for a RAID 50. Continue
selecting a disk on each channel until you have selected the desired
number of disks.
c Repeat step b until you have the desired number of disks.
d Click Continue.

Connector Health
This screen displays the status of the connector and the components attached
to the connector.

Connector Status
Component status is indicated by the severity. A component with a Warning
or Critical/Failure status requires immediate attention to avoid data loss if
possible. A component’s status may indicate the combined status of the
component and its lower-level objects. For more information, see
Determining the Health Status for Storage Components.
It may be useful to review the Alert Log for events indicating why a
component has a Warning or Critical status. For additional troubleshooting
information, see Troubleshooting.

174 Connectors
Table 9-1. Component Severity
Severity Component Status
Normal/OK. The component is working as expected.

Warning/Non-critical. A probe or other monitoring device

has detected a reading for the component that is above or
below the acceptable level. The component may still be
functioning, but it could fail. The component may also be
functioning in an impaired state. Data loss is possible.
Critical/Failure/Error. The component has either failed or
failure is imminent. The component requires immediate
attention and may need to be replaced. Data loss may have
occurred.

Connector Information
For information on the connector, see the following topics:
• Connectors
• Connector Properties and Tasks

Connector Components
For information on attached components, see the following topic:
• Enclosures and Backplanes

Connector Properties and Tasks

Use this window to view information about the connector and execute
connector tasks.

Connector Properties
The connector properties can vary depending on the model of the controller.
Connector properties may include:

Connectors 175
 Table 9-2. Connector Properties
Property Definition
These icons represent the severity or health of the storage
component. 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.

Name This property displays the connector number.

State This property displays the current 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 This property 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.
Termination This property indicates the termination type of the
connector.
Narrow—Indicates an 8 bit data bus.
Wide—Indicates a 16 bit data bus.
Unknown—Indicates that the termination type is
unknown.
Not Terminated—On a SCSI controller, this property
indicates that the data bus is not terminated. This property
is also displayed when the termination type is unknown.
SCSI Rate This property displays the SCSI speed for a SCSI device.

176 Connectors
Connector Tasks: Rescan Connector

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

On a SCSI controller, this task rescans the controller connectors to verify the
currently connected devices or to recognize new devices that have been added
to the connectors. Performing a rescan on a connector is similar to performing
a rescan on the controller. For information on scheduling a rescan, see Rescan
to Update Storage Configuration Changes.
NOTE: Rescan is not supported on non-RAID SCSI controllers. You must reboot the
system before Storage Management can see configuration changes on non-RAID
SCSI controllers. Otherwise, configuration changes are not reflected in the Storage
Management graphical user interface (GUI).
To rescan a controller connector:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Select a Connector object.
4 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
5 Select Rescan from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
6 Click Execute.

Connector Components
For information on attached components, see the following topic:
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks

Logical Connector Properties and Tasks

Use this window to view information about the logical connector (connector
in redundant path mode) and to execute connector tasks.

Logical Connector Properties

The connector properties can vary depending on the model of the controller.
Connector properties may include:

Connectors 177
 Table 9-3. Logical Connector Properties
Property Definition
These icons represent the severity or health of the storage
component. 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.
Name This property displays the connector number, usually 0.
State This property displays the current 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 This property displays whether the connector is operating
in RAID mode. The connector is always a SAS connector

Path Health
The path health of the connectors is represented as normal, warning, or
critical. The possible values are displayed as Available, Degraded, or Failed.
If the enclosure health is displayed as degraded and further investigation
shows all enclosure components (EMMs, Fans, Physical Disks, Power
Supplies, and Temperature) to be in normal condition, select the
Information/Configuration subtab of the enclosure to view details of the
Path Failure.

Clearing the Redundant Path View

If you do not want the redundant path view, physically disconnect the
connector port from the enclosure and reboot the system. After the system
reboots, the user interface still displays the Logical Connector, but in a
critical state. If you are certain you do not want the redundant path mode,
select Clear Redundant Path view from the Controller Tasks.

178 Connectors
Selecting this option clears the redundant path view and the connectors are
represented on the user interface as Connector 0 and Connector 1.

Related Tasks
• Redundant Path Configuration

Logical Connector Components

For information on attached components, see the following topic:
• Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks

Connectors 179
180 Connectors
 10
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.
In the event of a power outage, the controller battery preserves data that is in
the nonvolatile cache memory (NVRAM) but not yet written to disk. The
battery is designed to provide a minimum of 72 hours protection for DIMMs
up to 64 MB and 48 hours protection for 128-MB DIMMs. The actual period
of protection (or holdover time) depends on the battery’s charge level.
When a RAID controller is first installed in a server, the battery is fully
discharged. When the server is powered, the battery begins a full charge cycle.
On most controllers, it takes three hours to fully charge the battery. The
controller can be used during this time; however, the battery is unable to
meet the specified holdover time until it is fully charged. The battery is still
able to handle brief power losses during the initial charge cycle.
There are two types of controller batteries:
• NiMHi batteries
• Li-Ion batteries
The NiMHi batteries need to be reconditioned approximately every six
months to maintain reliability. (See Recondition Battery) A battery
recondition fully discharges and then recharges the battery. When the battery
needs reconditioning, the controller reports its state as Degraded. In addition,
the controller may generate event 2145 to indicate that the battery needs
reconditioning.
For information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
The Li-Ion or lithium ion batteries are automatically reconditioned by the
controller. These batteries do not require that you run the battery recondition
task. To see which type of battery the RAID controller has, refer to the
documentation that came with the controller.

RAID Controller Batteries 181

 All RAID controller batteries should be replaced every three years. You must
also monitor the Recharge Count and Max Recharge Count properties for the
battery. (See Battery Properties) These properties indicate when the battery is
approaching the maximum number of times that it can be recharged. When
the battery approaches this limit, it should be replaced.
NOTE: Some controllers do not have batteries. Other controllers have lithium ion
batteries which are automatically reconditioned and therefore do not have a
Recondition task in Storage Management.

Related Information:
• Battery Properties and Tasks
• Recondition Battery
• Start Learn Cycle
• Battery Delay Learn Cycle

Battery Properties and Tasks

Use this window to view information about the battery and execute battery
tasks.

Battery Properties
The battery tree-view object has the following properties.

182 RAID Controller Batteries

Table 10-1. Battery 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 This property displays the name of the battery.
State This property displays the current status of the battery.
Possible values are:
Ready—The battery is functioning normally.
Degraded—The battery needs to be reconditioned.
Reconditioning—The battery is being reconditioned. For
more information, see Recondition Battery.
Charging—The battery is undergoing the recharge phase
of the battery learn cycle. For more information, see Start
Learn Cycle.
Learning—The battery is undergoing the discharge phase
of the battery learn cycle. For more information, see Start
Learn Cycle.
Missing—The controller is missing a battery.
Power Low—The battery charge is low and the battery
needs to be reconditioned.
Failed—The battery has failed and needs to be replaced.
Unknown—The battery state is not available.

RAID Controller Batteries 183

 Property Definition
Predicted Capacity This property displays the charge capacity of the battery.
Status Possible values are:
Ready—The battery can be charged to full capacity.
Failed—The battery cannot be charged and needs to be
replaced.
Unknown—The battery is completing a Learn cycle. The
charge capacity of the battery cannot be determined until
the Learn cycle is complete.
Learn State This property displays the current status of the battery
learn cycle. Possible values are:
Active—The Learn cycle is currently in progress.
Failed—The Learn cycle initiated but then terminated
without completing successfully.
Timed out—The Learn cycle is timed out.
Requested—The Learn State displays Requested when
either the controller firmware or a user attempts to initiate
a Learn cycle while the battery is charging. The battery
must be fully charged before the Learn cycle begins. The
Learn State displays Requested until the battery is fully
charged. When the battery is fully charged, the Learn cycle
begins.
Idle—The Learn cycle is currently not active.
Due—The Learn cycle is due.
Learn Mode Auto—Storage Management performs an automatic learn
cycle based on the time you set.
Warn—The Learn cycle is past the default 90 days.
NOTE: Warn is available only on SAS controllers with
firmware version 6.1 and later.
When the battery is in Warn mode, the status of the
controller is displayed as degraded.
Next Learn Time This property displays the number of days and hours left
before the controller firmware initiates the next Learn
cycle.

184 RAID Controller Batteries

Property Definition
Maximum Learn This property displays the maximum number of days and
Delay 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 Battery Delay Learn
Cycle and Start Learn Cycle.
Recharge Count This property displays the number of times the controller's
battery has been recharged.
Max Recharge Count This property displays the maximum number of times the
controller’s battery can be recharged.

Battery Tasks
To execute a drop-down menu battery task:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Select the Battery object.
4 Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Drop-down Menu Battery Tasks:

• Recondition Battery
• Start Learn Cycle
• Battery Delay Learn Cycle

Recondition Battery

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Some controllers have NiMHi batteries which need to be reconditioned
approximately every six months to maintain reliability. This reconditioning
cycle requires a full discharge and recharge of the battery. It ensures that the
battery’s capacity is being measured correctly and that the battery’s full
holdover time is maintained. For more information, see RAID Controller
Batteries.

RAID Controller Batteries 185

 The controller battery should be reconditioned when either of the following
occurs:
• The controller reports the battery state as Degraded. For more information
on the battery state, see Battery Properties.
• The controller generates event 2145 indicating that the battery needs
reconditioning.
For information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
The battery recondition takes approximately 8 to 10 hours. During this time,
the battery is fully discharged and recharged. The battery holdover time is
reduced to zero (during discharge) and then restored as the battery is fully
charged. The write cache is disabled during the battery recondition resulting
in performance degradation.
To recondition the controller battery:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand the controller object.
3 Select the Battery object.
4 Select Recondition Battery from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
NOTE: The Recondition Battery task is only available on controllers with NiMHi
batteries that are in Degraded state or that have generated alert 2145. For
information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals. Some controllers do not
have batteries. Other controllers have lithium ion batteries which are automatically
reconditioned and therefore do not have a recondition task in Storage
Management.

Related information:
• Battery Properties

Start Learn Cycle

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Start Learn Cycle task to initiate the battery learn cycle.

186 RAID Controller Batteries

The battery learn cycle discharges and then fully charges the controller
battery.
The Learn cycle recalibrates the battery integrated circuit so that the
controller can determine whether the battery can maintain the controller
cache for the prescribed period of time in the event of a power loss. For
example, some controller batteries are required to maintain the controller
cache for 72 hours.
While the Learn cycle is in progress, the battery may not be able to maintain
the cache during a power loss. If the controller is using write-back cache
policy, then the controller changes to write-through cache policy until the
Learn cycle completes. The write-through cache policy writes the data
directly to the disk and reduces the risk that data can be lost in the cache if
there is a power loss.
NOTE: If you have set the controller to write-back force cache policy, then the
cache policy is not changed during the Learn cycle. When using write-back force
cache policy, it is possible for data loss to occur if there is a power loss while the
Learn cycle is in progress.
The controller firmware automatically initiates the Learn cycle every 90 days.
You can, however, delay the start time of the Learn cycle for a further seven
days, after which the firmware automatically initiates the Learn cycle. For
more information, see Battery Delay Learn Cycle.
NOTE: The Learn cycle cannot be performed while the battery is charging. If either
a user or the controller firmware initiate the Learn cycle while the battery is
charging, then the battery Learn State displays Requested. When the battery is fully
charged, the Learn cycle begins.
NOTE: The battery learn cycle is initiated automatically for the PERC H710, PERC
H710P, PERC H810, and PERC H310 controllers, irrespective of the learn cycle
duration.

Battery Delay Learn Cycle

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The controller firmware automatically initiates the battery learn cycle every
90 days. Although you cannot stop the firmware from running the Learn
cycle, you can delay the start time of the learn cycle for up to seven days. For
more information on the battery learn cycle, see Start Learn Cycle.

RAID Controller Batteries 187

 To delay the battery learn cycle:
1 Type a numerical value in the Days text box. The value must be within the
0 – 7 range. The value you enter indicates the number of days for which
you want to delay the battery learn cycle. The Learn cycle can be delayed
for a maximum of seven days.
2 Type a numerical value in the Hours text box. The value must be within
the 0 – 23 range. The value you enter indicates the number of hours for
which you want to delay the battery learn cycle.
3 Click Apply Changes. To exit and cancel your changes, click Go Back To
Battery Information Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand the controller object.
3 Select the Battery object.
4 Select Delay Learn Cycle from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Related Information:
• Battery Properties and Tasks
• Start Learn Cycle

188 RAID Controller Batteries

 11
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.

Guidelines to Replace a Physical Disk or

Physical Device
A replacement disk may not always be the same model as the physical disks or
devices in the storage enclosure. Use the following guidelines when replacing
a disk:
• A drive within an array may be replaced with a drive of equal or greater
capacity.
• Consider the bus speed while replacing a drive. Dell supports replacing
drives with equal or greater bus speeds within the same array. You can use
both 3-GB and 6-GB drives in the same array. It is not recommended to
replace a 6-GB drive with a 3-GB drive. Although it is fully functional, the
performance could be impacted. Dell supports replacing 3-GB drives with
6-GB drives. This occurs more frequently as legacy parts are depleted and
warranty service is required.
• Also consider the RPM while replacing a drive. Dell supports replacing
drives with equal or greater spindle speeds within the same array. You can
use both 10000 RPM and 15000 RPM drives in the same enclosure. It is
not recommended to replace a 15000 RPM drive with a 10000 RPM drive.
Although it is fully functional, the performance could be impacted. Dell
supports replacing 10000 RPM drives with 15000 RPM drives. This
scenario occurs while replacing parts from service inventory due to part
unavailability.
• Dell supports SAS and SATA drives on the same backplane but not within
the same Virtual Disk.
• Dell supports Solid State Disks and Hard Disk Drives on the same
backplane but not within the same Virtual Disk.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 189

 NOTE: With the exception of combining SAS,SATA,SCSI, and SSD drives, Dell
supports upgrades and not downgrades.

Add a New Disk to Your System

1 Install or attach the new physical disk (or disks) or physical devices. For
more information, see the documentation that came with the disk.
2 Do one of the following depending on the controller technology. For more
information, see RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and
SAS.

For SCSI, SATA, and ATA Controllers

a Select the controller to which the disk is attached and click the
Information/Configuration tab.
b Execute the Rescan task.
The new disk should be displayed in the tree view after the rescan. If the
new disk is not displayed, restart the computer.

For SAS Controllers

a 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 Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
b Refresh the display by clicking Refresh or by changing screens.
NOTE: Clicking the Refresh button in the right pane refreshes only the right pane.
To view the new physical disk in the left pane tree view, click the system name
displayed at the top of the left pane, or select View --> Refresh from the browser’s
menu bar.
The new physical disk or physical device should be displayed in the tree
view after refreshing the display. If the new disk is not displayed, restart
the computer.

Related Information
• If you are replacing a disk that is part of a virtual disk, see Replacing a
Failed Disk.

190 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

 • If you want to include the new disk in a virtual disk, see Virtual Disk
Considerations for Controllers or Virtual Disk Considerations for CERC
SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers.

How to Avoid Removing the Wrong Disk

You can avoid removing the wrong disk by blinking the LED display on the
disk that you want to remove. For information on blinking the LED display:
• See Blink and Unblink (Physical Disk) to blink the LED display on a
physical disk.
• See Blink and Unblink (Virtual Disk) to blink the LED display on all
physical disks included in a particular virtual disk.
If you have already removed the wrong disk, see Recovering from Removing
the Wrong Physical Disk.

Replacing a Physical Disk Receiving SMART

Alerts
SMART alerts are messages predicting that a disk may fail in the near future.
If a physical disk is receiving SMART alerts, you should replace the disk. Use
the following procedures to replace a disk receiving SMART alerts.

If the disk is part of a redundant virtual disk:

1 Select the redundant virtual disk that includes the physical disk that is
receiving SMART alerts and perform the Check Consistency task. For
more information, see Check Consistency.
CAUTION: To avoid potential data loss, you should perform a check consistency
before removing a physical disk that is receiving SMART alerts. The check
consistency verifies that all data is accessible within the redundant virtual disk
and uses the redundancy to repair any bad blocks that may be present. In some
circumstances, failure to perform a check consistency can result in data loss. This
may occur, for example, if the physical disk receiving SMART alerts has bad disk
blocks and you do not perform a check consistency before removing the disk.
2 Select the disk that is receiving SMART alerts and execute the Offline
task.
3 Manually remove the disk.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 191

 4 Insert a new disk. Make sure that the new disk is the same size or larger as
the disk you are replacing. On some controllers, you may not be able to use
the additional disk space if you insert a larger disk. For more information,
see Virtual Disk Considerations for Controllers. After you complete this
procedure, a rebuild is automatically initiated because the virtual disk is
redundant.

If the disk is not part of a redundant virtual disk:

1 Back up data from the virtual disk.
2 Delete the virtual disk.
3 Replace the disk that is receiving SMART alerts.
4 Create a new virtual disk. Make sure that the new virtual disk is the same
size or larger than the original virtual disk. For controller-specific
information on creating virtual disks, see Virtual Disk Considerations for
Controllers and Virtual Disk Considerations for CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and
CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers.
5 Restore the backed up data from the original virtual disk onto the newly
created virtual disk.

Related Information:
• Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID Controllers

Other Disk Procedures

• Replacing a Failed Disk
• Recovering from Removing the Wrong Physical Disk or Physical Device
• Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to Another
• Troubleshooting

Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties and

Tasks
Use this window to view information about physical disks or physical device
and execute physical disk or physical device tasks.
NOTE: Physical devices are applicable only to PCIe SSD.

192 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties
The following table describes properties that may be displayed for physical
disks or devices depending on the controller.

Table 11-1. Physical Disk 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.
Power Status The following status of the physical drives. These statuses are
present only for H700 and H800 controllers. These icons are
not present in the Physical Disk for Virtual Disk page.
Spun Down The physical drive is in the spun down state. Only hot spare
and unconfigured disk can be in spun down state if no activity
happens on the drives for a specified interval of time.

The physical drive is changing from the spun down state to

Transition spun up state.

Spun Up The physical drive is in the spun up state.

Name This property displays the name of the physical disk or device.
The name is comprised of the connector number followed by
the disk number.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 193

 Property Definition
State This property displays the current state of the physical disk or
device.
Ready—The physical disk or device is functioning normally. If
the disk is attached to a RAID controller, Ready state
indicates that the disk is available to be used by a virtual disk.
When the physical disk or device is used in a virtual disk, the
state changes to Online.
Online—The physical disk is part of a virtual disk and is
functioning normally. See Online and Offline for more
information.
Degraded—The physical disk or device has encountered a
failure and is operating in a degraded state.
Failed—The physical disk or device has encountered a failure
and is no longer functioning. This state is also displayed when
a physical disk or device that is part of a redundant virtual disk
has been taken offline or deactivated. See Online and Offline
for more information.
Offline—The physical disk or device has failed or contains
dead segments. Check to see whether the Remove Dead
Segments task appears on the physical disk drop-down menu.
If it does, perform a Rescan Controller and then do a Remove
Dead Segments for the physical disk. If the Remove Dead
Segments task is not displayed, then the physical disk or
device cannot be recovered. See Considerations for CERC
SATA1.5/6ch and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers When
Physical Disks are Shared by Redundant and Non-Redundant
Virtual Disks for related information.
On the PERC 5/E controller, the Offline state indicates that
the disk is included in a virtual disk, but it is not receiving I/O.
This may occur when a user has set the disk to Offline. See
Online and Offline for more information.

194 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Property Definition
Rebuilding—Data from a redundant virtual disk is currently
being rebuilt onto the physical disk or device.
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 only applies to physical disks that are part of a
virtual disk.
Clear—The Clear task is being performed on the physical disk
or device. A physical disk or device may also display the Clear
state if the physical disk or device is a member of a virtual disk
that is being slow initialized. For more information, see Clear
Physical Disk and Cancel Clear and Format and Initialize;
Slow and Fast Initialize.
SMART Alert Detected—A SMART alert (predictive failure)
has been detected on the physical disk or device. The physical
disk or device may fail and should be replaced. This state
applies to physical disks or devices attached to non-RAID
controllers.
Unknown—The physical disk or device has failed or is in an
unusable state. In some cases the physical disk or device can
be returned to a usable state by performing an Initialize task.
If the Initialize task does not appear on the physical disk or
device drop-down menu, then this disk or device cannot be
recovered.
Foreign—The physical disk has been moved from another
controller and contains all or some portion of a virtual disk
(foreign configuration). A physical disk or device that has lost
communication with the controller due to a power loss, faulty
cable or other failure event may also display the Foreign state.
See Foreign Configuration Operations for more information.
Unsupported—The physical disk or device is using an
unsupported technology or it may not be certified by Dell.
The physical disk cannot be managed by Storage
Management.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 195

 Property Definition
Replacing—A Replace Member Disk task is being performed
on the physical disk or device. For more information, see
Replace Member Disk and Revertible Hot Spare.
NOTE: You can cancel the copying of data at any time during the
execution of this task.
Non-RAID—Non-RAID disks are exposed to the operating
system unlike unconfigured good disks and this enables usage
of disk in direct pass-through mode. Maximum number of
non-RAID disks that can be supported on H310 controller are
64.
You can do the following on this disk:
• Identified as locate option.
• Execute blink or unblink operation.
• Select as a bootable device.

You cannot do the following on the disk:

• Force disk offline or online.
• Select as part of a virtual disk.
• Assign a hot spare.
• Choose as source or target for rebuild, copyback, replace
member, or reconstruct.
• Spun down to save power.
• Select as a bootable device.
Capacity This property displays the full capacity of the disk.
Certified This property displays whether or not the physical disk or
device is certified by Dell.

196 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Property Definition
Failure Predicted This property displays whether or not the physical disk or
device has received a SMART alert and is therefore predicted
to fail. For more information on SMART predictive failure
analysis, see Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID Controllers.
For information on replacing the physical disk, see Replacing a
Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts.
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 Dell OpenManage
Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide at
support.dell.com/manuals.
Progress This property displays how close to completion an operation is
that is being performed on the physical disk or device.
This property is only displayed when an operation is being
performed on the physical disk or device.
Encryption This property displays whether the physical disk or device is a
Capable Self Encryption Disk (SED.) The possible values are Yes and
No.
Encrypted This property displays whether the physical disk or device is
encrypted to the controller. The possible values are Yes and
No. For a non-SED the value is N/A.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 197

 Property Definition
Bus Protocol This property displays the technology that the physical disk or
device is using. Possible values are:
SCSI—Small Computer System Interface
SAS—Serial Attached SCSI
SATA—Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
Media This property displays the media type of the physical disk or
device. The possible values are:
HDD—Hard Disk Drive. A HDD is a non-volatile storage
device which stores digitally-encoded data on rapidly rotating
platters with magnetic surfaces.
SSD—Solid State Drive. An SSD is a data storage device that
uses solid-state memory to store persistent data.
Unknown—Storage Management is unable to determine the
media type of the physical disk or device.
Used RAID Disk This property displays how much of the physical disk or device
Space space is being used by the virtual disks on the controller. This
property is Not Applicable for physical disks or devices
attached to non-RAID controllers.
In certain circumstances, the Used RAID Disk Space displays
a value of zero (0) even though a portion of the physical disk
or device is being used. This occurs when the used space is
0.005 GB or less. The algorithm for calculating the used disk
space rounds a figure of 0.005 GB or less to 0. Used disk space
that is between 0.006 GB and 0.009 GB is rounded up to 0.01
GB.
Available RAID This property displays the amount of available space on the
Disk Space disk. This property is Not Applicable for physical disks
attached to non-RAID controllers.
Hot Spare This property indicates whether the disk has been assigned as
a hot spare. This property is Not Applicable for physical disks
attached to non-RAID controllers.
Vendor ID This property displays the disk’s hardware vendor.
Product ID This property displays the disk’s product ID.
Revision This property displays the disk’s revision number.

198 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Property Definition
Serial No. This property displays the disk's serial number.
Part Number This property displays the Piece Part Identification (PPID) of
the physical drive.
Negotiated Speed This property displays the speed of data transfer that the disk
negotiated while spinning up and upon initial communication
with the controller. This speed is dependent on the speed of
the disk, the capable speed of the controller, the current speed
of the controller on that connector, and the speed of the
EMM (Enclosure Management Module) on the enclosure.
Capable Speed This property displays the highest possible speed that the
device can transfer data.
Manufacture Day This property displays the day of the month during which the
physical disk was manufactured.
Manufacture This property displays the week of the year during which the
Week physical disk was manufactured.
Manufacture Year This property displays the year that the physical disk was
manufactured.
SAS Address This property displays the SAS address of the physical disk.
The SAS address is unique to each SAS disk.

Physical Disk or Physical Device Tasks

To execute a physical disk or physical device task:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Expand the enclosure or Backplane object.
5 Select the Physical Disks or Physical Devices object.
6 Select the Information/Configuration subtab.
7 Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
8 Click Execute.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 199

 NOTE: Different controllers support different features. For this reason, the tasks
displayed on the Tasks drop-down menu 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 Tasks drop-down menu displays No Task
Available.

Physical Disk Drop-down Menu Tasks:

• Blink and Unblink (Physical Disk)
• Remove Dead Segments
• Assign and Unassign Global Hot Spare
• Prepare to Remove
• Online and Offline
• Initialize
• Rebuild
• Cancel Rebuild
• Clear Physical Disk and Cancel Clear
• Revertible Hot Spare
• Instant Encrypt Erase
• Convert to RAID Capable Disk
• Convert to Non-RAID Disk

Blink and Unblink (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 may want to use this task
to locate a failed disk.
On most controllers, the Blink task automatically cancels after a short
duration such as 30 or 60 seconds. If you need to cancel the Blink task or if
the physical disk continues to blink indefinitely, use the Unblink task.
NOTE: The Blink and Unblink tasks are only supported for hotswap physical disks
(disks that reside in a carrier). When using an LSI PCI-e U320 controller, the Blink
and Unblink tasks apply to physical disks contained in carriers that can be inserted

200 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

 into a server or an enclosure. If the physical disk is not contained in a carrier but is
instead designed to be connected with a SCSI cable (typically a ribbon cable), then
the Blink and Unblink tasks are disabled.

Remove Dead Segments

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Remove Dead Segments task recovers disk space that is currently
unusable. A dead or orphaned disk segment refers to an area of a physical disk
or physical device that is unusable for any of the following reasons:
• The dead segment is an area of the physical disk or physical device that is
damaged.
• The dead segment is included in a virtual disk, but the virtual disk is no
longer using this area of the physical disk or physical device.
• The physical disk or physical device contains more than one virtual disk. In
this case, disk space that is not included in one of the virtual disks may be
unusable.
• The dead segment resides on a physical disk or physical device that has
been disconnected from and then reconnected to the controller.

Prepare to Remove
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Prepare to Remove task to spin down a physical disk or physical
device so that it can safely be removed from an enclosure or backplane. It is
recommended that you perform this task before removing a disk or device to
prevent data loss.
This task causes the lights on the disk to blink. You can safely remove the disk
or device under the following conditions:
• Wait for about 30 seconds to allow the disk to spin down.
• Wait until you notice the initial blink pattern has changed into a different
pattern or the lights have stopped blinking.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 201

 A physical disk or physical device is no longer in Ready state after doing a
Prepare to Remove. Removing the physical disk or device from the enclosure
or backplane and replacing it causes the physical disk or device to spin up and
return to Ready state.
In some cases, a rescan is required for the controller to recognize
configuration changes such as the removal of a disk or device. See Rescan to
Update Storage Configuration Changes for more information.
NOTE: This procedure is not available for physical disks or devices that have been
assigned as a hot spare or physical disks or devices that are part of a virtual disk. In
addition, this procedure is only supported for hotswap physical disks or devices
(disks that reside in a carrier).
NOTE: This procedure is not supported on the CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC
SATA1.5/2s controllers. For the PERC 4/IM controller, this procedure is only
supported on a PowerEdge™ 1855 system.

Initialize
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Initialize task prepares a physical disk for use as a member of a virtual
disk.
Physical disks attached to CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers must be initialized
before they can be used. On these controllers, the Initialize task can only be
performed once on a physical disk. In some cases a physical disk that is in an
Unknown state can be returned to a usable state by performing the Initialize
task. The Initialize task is not displayed for physical disks that have already
been initialized using Storage Management or the BIOS.
CAUTION: This is a data-destructive task. Any virtual disks residing on this
physical disk is removed.

Rebuild
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Rebuild task to reconstruct data when a physical disk in a redundant
virtual disk fails. See Replacing a Failed Disk that is Part of a Redundant
Virtual Disk for more information.

202 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Rebuilding a disk may take several hours.

Cancel Rebuild
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use 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.
NOTE: If you cancel the rebuild of a physical disk that is assigned as a hot spare,
you must reinitiate the rebuild on the same physical disk in order to restore the data.
Canceling the rebuild of a physical disk and then assigning another physical disk as
a hot spare does not cause the newly assigned hot spare to rebuild the data. You
must reinitiate the rebuild on the physical disk that was the original hot spare.

Assign and Unassign Global Hot Spare

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
A global hot spare is an unused backup disk that is part of the disk group. Hot
spares remain in standby mode. When a physical disk that is used in a virtual
disk fails, the assigned hot spare is activated to replace the failed physical disk
without interrupting the system or requiring your intervention. When a hot
spare is activated, it rebuilds the data for all redundant virtual disks that were
using the failed physical disk.
You can change the hot spare assignment by unassigning a disk and choosing
another disk as needed. You can also assign more than one physical disk as a
global hot spare.
NOTE: On SAS 6/iR controllers, you cannot assign physical disks that have boot
partitions, as hot spares.
NOTE: On PERC S100 and S300 controllers, if there is free space available on the
global hot spare, it continues to function as a spare even after replacing a failed
physical disk. See Considerations for Hot Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and
S300 Controllers.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 203

 Global hot spares must be assigned and unassigned manually. They are not
assigned to specific virtual disks. If you want to assign a hot spare to a virtual
disk (it replaces any physical disk that fails in the virtual disk) then use the
Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare.
NOTE: When deleting virtual disks, all assigned global hot spares may be
automatically unassigned when the last virtual disk associated with the controller is
deleted. When the last virtual disk of a disk group is deleted, all assigned dedicated
hot spares automatically become global hotspares.
NOTE: For PERC H310, H700, H710, H710P, H800, and H810 controllers, if any of the
drives you selected is in the spun down state, the following message is displayed:
The current physical drive is in the spun down state. Executing this task on this
drive takes additional time, because the drive needs to spun up.
CAUTION: The SAS 6/iR controller enables you to assign two physical disks as
global hot spare. Assigning a physical disk as a global hot spare on a SAS 6/iR
controller is likely to cause data loss from the physical disk. If the system or boot
partition resides on the physical disks, it may be destroyed. You should only
assign physical disks that do not contain critical data. For more information about
global hot spares and the SAS 6/iR, see Global Hot Spare Considerations on a SAS
6/iR.
You should be familiar with the size requirements and other considerations
associated with hot spares. For more information, see the following:
• Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare
• Considerations for Hot Spares on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si,
4e/Di, PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i, PERC 6/E, PERC 6/I, and CERC 6/I
Controllers
• Considerations for Hot Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300
Controllers
• Global Hot Spare Considerations on a SAS 6/iR

Online and Offline

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Online and Offline tasks only apply to physical disks that are included in
a redundant virtual disk and attached to a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/Si, 4e/Di,
4e/DC, or 4/Di controller.

204 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Use the Offline task to deactivate a disk before removing it. Use the Online
task to reactivate an offline disk. In some cases, you may want to use the
Online task on a failed disk in an attempt to recover data from the disk. For
more information, see Using the Physical Disk Online Command on Select
Controllers.
NOTE: The Online and Offline tasks are not supported on the PERC 4/IM controller
or the CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s controllers.

To online or offline the physical disk:

1 Review the physical disk that must be made online or offline. When
making a physical disk offline, be aware that there can be data loss. Back
up your data, if necessary. If you want to blink the physical disk, click the
Blink button.
2 Click Online or Offline when ready or click Go Back to Previous Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Expand the enclosure or Backplane object.
5 Select the Physical Disks object.
6 Select Online or Offline from the Available Tasks drop-down menu of
the physical disk you want to make online or offline.
7 Click Execute.

Clear Physical Disk and Cancel Clear

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the clear physical disk task to erase data residing on a physical disk. The
Clear task applies to physical disks that are in Ready state and that contain
data or that are in Clear state.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 205

 NOTE: A physical disk may display the Clear state if it is a member of a virtual disk
that is being slow initialized. Performing a Cancel Clear task on the physical disk
causes the Slow Initialize task to be cancelled for the entire virtual disk. For more
information, see Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize and Considerations
for Slow Initialize.

To clear the physical disk:

1 Review the physical disk to be erased by the Clear task. Be sure that it does
not contain necessary data and make a backup if necessary. If you want to
blink the physical disk, click the Blink button.
2 Click Clear when you are ready to erase all information on the physical
disk. To exit without clearing the physical disk, click Go Back to Previous
Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Expand the enclosure or Backplane object.
5 Select the Physical Disks object.
6 Select Clear from the Available Tasks drop-down menu of the physical
disk you want to clear.
7 Click Execute.

Revertible Hot Spare

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use 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 erstwhile hot spare to the new disk.
You can also use the Revertible Hot Spare task to copy data from a physical
disk to the hot spare on a predictive failure event.

206 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

If Revertible Hot Spare is enabled and the physical disk is SMART-enabled,
the controller firmware automatically starts copying data from the SMART-
enabled disk in the virtual disk to the hot spare.
NOTE: To use the Revertible Hot Spare task, you should have assigned a hot spare
to the virtual disk.
NOTE: If the disk is not SMART-enabled or if the Auto Replace on Predictive
Failure option is disabled, the failed disk is not replaced automatically.

To enable Revertible Hot Spare:

1 On the Change Controller Properties page, enable Revertible Hot Spare
and Auto replace on predictive failure.
2 Click Apply Changes.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Select a controller object on which you want to enable the revertible hot
spare task and select the Information/Configuration tab.
3 From the Controller Task drop down menu, select Change Controller
Properties and click Execute.
NOTE: The Rebuild rate for Revertible Hot Spare is the same as defined for the
controller.

Instant Encrypt Erase

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Instant Encrypt Erase task to erase an encrypted physical disk. This
task is available for:
• Unconfigured SED drive
• Foreign configured encrypted drives
• Unconfigured and foreign SED drive even when an Encryption Key is not
present in the controller
CAUTION: Instant Encrypt Erase permanently erases all data present on the disk.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 207

 To locate this task in Storage Management:
1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Expand the enclosure or Backplane object.
5 Select the Physical Disks object.
6 Select Instant Encrypt Erase from the Available Tasks drop-down menu
of the physical disk you want to clear.
7 Click Execute.

Full Initialization
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Full Initialization task to erase an encrypted physical device. This
task is available for:
• Unconfigured SED drive
• Foreign configured encrypted drives
• Unconfigured and foreign SED drive even when an Encryption Key is not
present in the controller
CAUTION: Full Initialization permanently erases all data present on the disk.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Expand a Connector object.
4 Expand the enclosure or Backplane object.
5 Select the Physical Devices object.
6 Select Full Initialization from the Available Tasks drop-down menu of
the physical device you want to clear.
7 Click Execute.

208 Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Convert to RAID Capable Disk
This task enables a disk for all RAID operations.
This task is supported on H310 controllers.

Convert to Non-RAID Disk

This task converts a disk to Non-RAID disk. After converting a disk to non-
RAID, the disk is exposed to the operating system unlike unconfigured good
disks and this enables usage of disk in direct pass-through mode.
This task is supported on H310 controllers.

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 209

210 Physical Disks or Physical Devices
 12
Virtual Disks
In order to implement RAID functions, RAID controllers must create a
virtual disk. A virtual disk refers to 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 seen by the operating system as a single disk.
Depending on the RAID level used, the virtual disk may retain redundant
data in case of a disk failure or have particular performance attributes. For
more information, see Understanding RAID Concepts.
NOTE: Virtual disks can only be created on a RAID controller.

Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks

Different controllers have particular characteristics in the way they
implement virtual disks. These characteristics may include use of disk space,
limitations on the number of virtual disks per controller, and so on. It can be
helpful to understand these characteristics before creating virtual disks on the
controller.
The following sections describe controller information that applies to virtual
disks:
• Virtual Disk Considerations for Controllers
• Virtual Disk Considerations for CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC
SATA1.5/2s Controllers
• Problems Associated With Using the Same Physical Disks for Both
Redundant and Non-Redundant Virtual Disks
• Virtual Disk Considerations on Linux
• Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk
• Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller
• Calculation for Maximum Virtual Disk Size and the Create Virtual Disk
Express Wizard
You may also want to review the following sections:
• RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy

Virtual Disks 211

 • Understanding Hot Spares
• Controller-supported Stripe Sizes
• Rescan to Update Storage Configuration Changes
• Time Delay in Displaying Configuration Changes
NOTE: In addition to this document, review the hardware documentation that is
provided with the controllers. Reviewing the hardware documentation along with
this document may provide a better understanding of the controller limitations.

Virtual Disk Considerations for Controllers

In addition to the considerations described in this section, you should also be
aware of the controller limitations described in Number of Physical Disks per
Virtual Disk for the following controllers:
• PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di,
• PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i,
• PERC 6/E, and PERC 6/I
• PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, and PERC H310
Mini Blades
• PERC H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710
Mini Monolithic
• PERC H800, PERC H810 Adapter
Be aware that the following considerations apply when creating virtual disks:
• Creating virtual disks on controllers—When you create a virtual disk,
you specify which physical disks are to be included in the virtual disk. The
virtual disk you create spans the specified physical disks. Depending on the
size of the virtual disk, the virtual disk may not consume all of the space on
the physical disks. Any leftover space on the physical disks cannot be used
for a second virtual disk unless the physical disks are of equal size. In
addition, when the physical disks are of equal size and you can use the
leftover space for a second virtual disk, this new virtual disk cannot expand
to include any physical disks not included in the original virtual disk.
• Space allocation when deleting and creating virtual disks on
controllers—When you delete a virtual disk, you free up or make available
space on the physical disks that were being used by the deleted virtual disk.
If you have created several virtual disks on a disk group, then deleting

212 Virtual Disks

 virtual disks can result in pockets of free space residing in various locations
on the physical disks. When you create a new virtual disk, the controller
must decide which free space on the physical disks to allocate to the new
virtual disk. The PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di
controllers look for the largest area of free space and allocate this space to
the new virtual disk.
• SCSI limitation of 2TB—Virtual disks created on a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC,
4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di, and SAS 5/iR controller cannot be created from
physical disks with an aggregate size greater than 2TB. This is a limitation
of the controller implementation. For example, you cannot select more
than 30 physical disks that are 73GB in size, regardless of the size of the
resulting virtual disk. When attempting to select more than 30 disks of
this size, a pop-up message is displayed that indicates that the 2TB limit
has been reached, and that you should select a smaller number of physical
disks. The 2TB limit is an industry-wide SCSI limitation.
• Expanding virtual disks—You can only use the Reconfigure task to
expand a virtual disk that uses the full capacity of its member physical
disks. For more information, see Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of
3).
• Reconfiguring virtual disks—The Reconfigure task is not available when
you have more than one virtual disk using the same set of physical disks.
You can, however, reconfigure a virtual disk that is the only virtual disk
residing on a set of physical disks. For more information, see Virtual Disk
Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3).
• Virtual disk names not stored on controller—The names of the virtual
disks that you create are not stored on the controller. This means that if
you reboot using a different operating system, the new operating system
may rename the virtual disk using its own naming conventions.
• 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. Review Creating and Deleting Virtual
Disks on Cluster-enabled Controllers before attempting to create the
virtual disk.

Virtual Disks 213

 • 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. For more information, see Channel Redundancy and Thermal
Shutdown.
• Rebuilding data—An failed physical disk that is used by both redundant
and non-redundant virtual disks cannot be rebuilt. Rebuilding a failed
physical disk in this situation requires deleting the non-redundant virtual
disk.
• Disk Group Concept Consideration for S110—Disk grouping is a logical
grouping of disks attached to a RAID controller on which one or more
virtual disks are created, such that all virtual disks in the disk group use all
of the physical disks in the disk group. The current implementation
supports the blocking of mixed disk groups during the creation of logical
devices.
Physical disks are bound to disk groups, therefore, there is no RAID level
mixing on one disk group.
Storage Management Server implements disk group concept during virtual
disk creation. Functionally, after a group of physical disks are used to
create their first virtual disk, unused space in the disk is used only to
expand virtual disk, or create new virtual disks in the unused space; The
virtual disks have identical RAID level.
Also, existing mixed configuration are not affected. However, you cannot
create mixed configurations.
You can read or write to the virtual disks, rebuild, and delete the disks.
You cannot create virtual disks on a set of disks migrated from earlier
Software RAID versions and configured with multiple RAID levels.

Virtual Disk Considerations for CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s

Controllers
When creating a virtual disk on a CERC SATA1.5/6ch or CERC SATA1.5/2s
controller, the physical disk selection has implications for how effectively a
hot spare can rebuild the virtual disk. For more information, see
Understanding Hot Spares and Considerations for Hot Spares on CERC
SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 Controllers.

214 Virtual Disks

For related information, see Considerations for CERC SATA1.5/6ch and
CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers When Physical Disks are Shared by
Redundant and Non-Redundant Virtual Disks.

Virtual Disk Considerations for PERC S100, S110, and S300 Controllers
The following considerations apply when creating virtual disks:
• Space allocation—When you create a new virtual disk, the PERC S100,
PERC S110, and S300 controllers allocate the largest area of free space on
the physical disks to the new virtual disk.
• Rebuilding data—If a failed physical disk is used by both redundant and
non-redundant virtual disks, only the redundant virtual disks are rebuilt.
For information on controller limitations, see Number of Physical Disks per
Virtual Disk.

Exceptions to One Physical Disk Limitation for Concatenated Virtual Disks on CERC
SATA1.5/6ch and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers
When using the Storage Management Create Virtual Disk wizard, you can
only use one physical disk to create a concatenated virtual disk. The Create
Virtual Disk wizard imposes this limitation in order to protect the
concatenated virtual disk against potential data loss in the event that you
reconfigure the virtual disk to a RAID 1 mirror. For possible reconfiguration
scenarios, see Starting and Target RAID Levels for Virtual Disk
Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion.
There are other situations, however, where you can create a concatenated
virtual disk using more than one physical disk. For example, if you perform a
Split Mirror or an Unmirror on a RAID 1-concatenated virtual disk that has
four or more physical disks, then the resulting concatenated virtual disks have
two or more physical disks. For information about splitting and unmirroring
RAID 1-concatenated virtual disks, see Split Mirror and Unmirror.
When using the controller BIOS, you can create a concatenated virtual disk
using more than one physical disk.

Virtual Disk Considerations on 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.

Virtual Disks 215

 The support provided by your operating system depends on the version of the
operating system and any updates or modifications that you have
implemented. In addition, you should investigate the capacity of your
peripheral devices to support a virtual disk that is larger than 1TB. For more
information, see your operating system and device documentation.

Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk

There are limitations on the number of physical disks that can be included in
the virtual disk. These limitations depend on the controller. When creating a
virtual disk, controllers support a certain number of stripes and spans
(methods for combining the storage on physical disks). Because the number
of total stripes and spans is limited, the number of physical disks that can be
used is also limited. The limitations on stripes and spans affect the
possibilities for concatenation and RAID levels as follows:
• Maximum number of spans affects concatenation, RAID 10, RAID 50, and
RAID 60.
• Maximum number of stripes affects RAID 0, RAID 5, RAID 50, RAID 6,
and RAID 60.
• Number of physical disks in a mirror is always 2. This affects RAID 1 and
RAID 10.
In the case of RAID 50 and RAID 60, you can use a greater number of
physical disks than is possible for the other RAID levels. RAID 10 on a SAS
controller with firmware version 6.1 can use a maximum of 256 physical disks.
However, the number of connectors on the controller imposes limitations on
how many physical disks can be included in a virtual disk when using RAID
10, RAID 50, or RAID 60. This is because only a limited number of physical
disks can be physically attached to the controller.
For information on how many physical disks a controller supports per virtual
disk, see the virtual disk specifications for the controller in Supported
Features.

Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller

Controllers have limitations on how many virtual disks can be created on the
controller. For information on how many virtual disks the controller supports,
see the virtual disk specifications for the controller in Supported Features.

216 Virtual Disks

Calculation for Maximum Virtual Disk Size and the Create Virtual Disk
Express Wizard
The Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard displays the minimum and
maximum values for the virtual disk size. This section describes how the
maximum possible size for the virtual disk is calculated based on the
controller type. To identify the controller type, see RAID Controller
Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS.

SCSI, CERC SATA, and CERC ATA RAID Controllers

When using a SCSI, CERC SATA, or CERC ATA RAID controller, the
controller calculates a maximum virtual disk size based on your RAID level
selection and the available physical disk space provided by all suitable
physical disks attached to the controller. For example, if the controller
contains 12 physical disks with available space and you have specified a RAID
5, then the controller calculates the maximum virtual disk size based on the
disk space provided by all 12 physical disks, because all 12 physical disks can
be included in a RAID 5.

SAS RAID Controllers

When using a SAS controller, the controller calculates the maximum virtual
disk size based on the available disk space provided by the minimum number
of physical disks required to create the RAID level you selected. For example,
if you specified a RAID 5, then the controller calculates the maximum virtual
disk size based on three physical disks, because only three physical disks are
required to create a RAID 5.

Channel Redundant Virtual Disks

When creating a virtual disk, it is possible to use disks attached to different
channels to implement channel redundancy. This configuration might be
used for disks that reside in enclosures subject to thermal shutdown. For
more information, see the following:
• SMART Thermal Shutdown
• Channel Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown
NOTE: Channel redundancy only applies to controllers that have more than one
channel and that attach to an external disk enclosure.

Virtual Disks 217

 Creating Virtual Disks
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
In order to implement RAID functions, you need to create a virtual disk. A
virtual disk refers to 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 seen by the operating system as a single disk. For more information,
see What Is RAID?
Before creating a virtual disk, you should be familiar with the information in
Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks.
Storage Management provides wizards to help you create a virtual disk:
• The Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard calculates an appropriate
virtual disk layout based on the available space and controller
considerations. Using the Express Wizard, you can quickly create a virtual
disk using recommended selections. For more information, see Create
Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2).
• The Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard allows you to specify the
read, write, and cache policy for the virtual disk. You can also select the
physical disks and the controller connector to be used. You need a good
knowledge of RAID levels and hardware to use the Advanced Wizard. For
more information, see Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4).
Related sections:
• What Is RAID?
• For information on creating a channel-redundant virtual disk, see Channel
Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown
• Virtual Disk Task: Delete
• Reconfiguring/Migrating Virtual Disks
• Physical Disk or Physical Device Properties and Tasks

Reconfiguring/Migrating Virtual Disks

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
You can reconfigure or migrate a virtual disk in order to increase the disks
capacity or change its RAID level.

218 Virtual Disks

To reconfigure a virtual disk:
1 Review the information in Starting and Target RAID Levels for Virtual
Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion.
2 Locate the controller on which the virtual disk resides in the tree view.
Expand the controller object until the Virtual Disks object is displayed.
3 Select the Reconfigure task from the virtual disk’s drop-down menu and
click Execute.
4 Complete the Reconfigure task using the Reconfigure wizard. For more
information, see Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 2 of 3).

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.
The following table describes the possible scenarios for reconfiguring a virtual
disk. For more information on the RAID levels, see Choosing RAID Levels
and Concatenation.

Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion

Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments

PERC 4/SC, PERC RAID 0 RAID 0 Add at least one
4/DC, PERC additional disk
4e/DC, 4/Di,
4e/Si, PERC
4e/Di, PERC 5/E,
and PERC 5/i
PERC 4/SC, PERC RAID 0 (on a single RAID 1 Add a single disk
4/DC, PERC disk)
4e/DC, 4/Di,
4e/Si, PERC
4e/Di, PERC 5/E,
and PERC 5/i

Virtual Disks 219

 Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued)

Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments

PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, RAID 0 RAID 5 Add at least one
4e/DC, 4/Di, additional disk
4e/Si, PERC
4e/Di, PERC 5/E,
and PERC 5/i
PERC 4/SC, PERC RAID 1 RAID 0 With or without
4/DC, PERC adding additional
4e/DC, 4/Di, disks
4e/Si, PERC
RAID 1 RAID 5 Add additional
4e/Di, PERC 5/E, disks
and PERC 5/i
RAID 5 RAID 0 With or without
adding additional
disks
RAID 5 RAID 5 Add additional
disks
PERC 4/IM N/A N/A N/A
CERC Concatenation RAID 1 Minimum number
SATA1.5/6ch of physical disks
For more information, see Exceptions
required for the
for Reconfiguring a Concatenated
target RAID level
Virtual Disk on CERC SATA1.5/6ch and
must be available
CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers.
RAID 0 RAID 0, RAID 5,
RAID 10
RAID 1 RAID 0, RAID 1,
RAID 5, RAID 10
RAID 5 RAID 0, RAID 5,
RAID 10
RAID 10 RAID 0, RAID 5,
RAID 10
CERC SATA1.5/2s N/A N/A N/A

220 Virtual Disks

Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued)

Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments

PERC 6/E, PERC RAID 0 RAID 1 Add a single disk
6/I, CERC 6/I,
RAID 0 RAID 0, RAID 5 Add at least one
PERC H800
additional disk.
Adapter, PERC
H700 Adapter,
PERC H700
Integrated, and
PERC H700
Modular, 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, PERC
H810 Adapter

Virtual Disks 221

 Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued)

Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments

RAID 0 RAID 6 RAID 6 requires a
minimum of 4
disks.
Reconfiguration
from RAID 0 to
RAID 6 requires at
least 2 additional
disks even when
this exceeds the 4-
disk minimum
required by RAID
6.
RAID 1 RAID 0 With or without
adding additional
disks
RAID 1 RAID 5, RAID 6 Add at least one
additional disk.
RAID 6 requires a
minimum of 4
disks.
RAID 5 RAID 0 With or without
adding additional
disks
RAID 5 RAID 5, RAID 6 Add at least one
additional disk.
RAID 6 requires a
minimum of 4
disks.
RAID 6 RAID 0, RAID 5 With or without
adding additional
disks
RAID 6 RAID 6 Add at least one
additional disk
SAS 6/iR N/A N/A N/A

222 Virtual Disks

Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued)

Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments

PERC S100, S110, RAID 0 RAID 0 With or without
and S300 additional disks
RAID 1 RAID 1 Without additional
disks
RAID 5 RAID 5 With or without
additional disks
RAID 10 RAID 10 Without additional
disks

Exceptions for Reconfiguring a Concatenated Virtual Disk on CERC SATA1.5/6ch

and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers
You can create a concatenated virtual disk by performing a Split Mirror or an
Unmirror on a RAID 1-concatenated virtual disk. After you have done so,
however, the resulting concatenated virtual disks cannot be subjected to any
further modification. You cannot reconfigure or add disks to the resulting
concatenated virtual disks.

Maintain 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 a virtual disk’s redundant information:
1 Locate the controller on which the virtual disk resides in the tree view.
Expand the controller object until the Virtual Disks object is displayed.
2 Select the Check Consistency task from the virtual disk’s drop-down
menu and click Execute.

Virtual Disks 223

 Rebuilding Redundant Information
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
If you have a redundant virtual disk, you can reconstruct the contents of a
failed physical disk onto a new disk or a hot spare. A rebuild can take place
during normal operation, but it degrades performance. The following sections
provide additional information on rebuilding disks.
• Replacing a Failed Disk describes how to replace a failed physical disk and
initiate a rebuild.
• Set Rebuild Rate describes how to set the rebuild rate on selected
controllers.
• A Rebuild Does Not Work describes situations in which a rebuild does not
work.

Virtual Disk Bad Block Management

What is a Virtual Disk Bad Block?
Virtual disk bad blocks are due to bad blocks on one or more member physical
disks. Read operation on the virtual disks having bad blocks may fail.
Storage Management generates a critical alert (2387) to notify you of the bad
blocks on the virtual disk.
Virtual disk bad blocks are discovered when the controller performs any
operation that requires scanning the disk. Examples of operations that may
result in this alert are:
• Consistency check
• Rebuild
• Virtual disk format
• I/O
• Patrol Read
Recovering a physical disk bad block depends on the RAID level and state of
the virtual disk. If a virtual disk is redundant, the controller can recover a bad
block on a physical disk. If a virtual disk is not redundant, then the physical
disk bad block results in a virtual disk bad block.

224 Virtual Disks

The following table describes some of the possible scenarios that may/may
not result in virtual disk bad blocks:

Table 12-2. Sample Scenarios For Virtual Disk Bad Blocks

RAID Level State Scenario Result

Virtual Disk
RAID 0 Degraded One bad block on a The controller cannot regenerate
physical disk. data from peer disks as there is no
redundancy. This results in a
virtual disk bad block.
RAID 5 Ready One bad block on a The controller regenerates data
physical disk. from peer disks and sends a Write
to the bad block. The disk then
re-maps the Logical Block
Addressing (LBA) to another
physical location. The problem is
resolved.
RAID 5 Degraded One bad block on a The controller cannot regenerate
physical disk. data from peer disks because one
drive is missing. This results in a
virtual disk bad block.
RAID 5 Ready One bad block on The controller cannot regenerate
two physical disks at data from peer disks. This results
the same location. in a virtual disk bad block.
RAID 6 Partially One bad block on a The controller regenerates data
degraded (one physical disk. from peer disks and sends a Write
failed/missing to the bad block. The disk then
physical disk) re-maps the LBA to another
physical location. The problem is
resolved.
RAID 6 Degraded (two One bad block on a The controller cannot regenerate
failed/missing physical disk. data from peer disks. This results
physical disk) in a virtual disk bad block

Virtual Disks 225

 Table 12-2. Sample Scenarios For Virtual Disk Bad Blocks

RAID Level State Scenario Result

Virtual Disk
RAID 6 Ready One bad block on a The controller regenerates data
physical disk. from peer disks and sends a Write
to the bad block. The disk then
re-maps the Logical Block
Addressing (LBA) to another
physical location. The problem is
resolved.

Recommendations
Storage Management provides the ability to clear the bad block warnings. To
clear bad blocks, the following procedure is recommended:
1 Perform a backup of the virtual disk with the Verify option selected.
One of the two following scenarios can occur:
– Backup operation fails on one or more files. In this case, restore the
file from a previous backup. After restoring the file, proceed to step 2.
– Backup operation completes without error. This indicates that there
are no bad blocks on the written portion of your virtual disk.
If you still receive bad block warnings, the bad blocks are in a non-data
area. Proceed to Step 2.
2 Run Patrol Read and check the system event log to ensure that no new
bad blocks are found.
If bad blocks still exist, proceed to step 3. If not, the condition is cleared
without the need for step 3.
3 To clear these bad blocks, execute the Clear Virtual Disk Bad Blocks task.
This Clear Virtual Disk Bad Block feature is applicable to PERC H310
Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, PERC H310 Mini Blades, PERC
H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini
Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P
Mini Monolithic, PERC H800, and PERC H810 Adapter family of
controllers.

226 Virtual Disks

Virtual Disk Properties and Tasks
Use this window to view information about the virtual disks and execute
virtual disk tasks.

Virtual Disk Properties

The virtual disk properties can vary depending on the model of the controller.
Virtual disk properties may include:

Table 12-3. Virtual Disk 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 This property displays the virtual disk name.

Virtual Disks 227

 Property Definition
State This property displays the current status of the virtual disk.
Possible values are:
Ready—The virtual disk is functioning normally.
Degraded—A physical disk in a redundant virtual disk is not
online.
Resynching—A consistency check is being performed on the
virtual disk.
On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, reconfiguring a
concatenated virtual disk to a RAID 1 may cause the virtual
disk to be in Resynching state. Performing a Cancel Check
Consistency on a virtual disk while it is in Resynching state
causes the virtual disk to be in a Failed Redundancy state. For
more information, see Considerations for Concatenated to
RAID 1 Reconfiguration on CERC SATA1.5/6ch Controllers.
Resynching Paused—A consistency check has been paused on
the virtual disk.
Regenerating—A physical disk in the virtual disk is rebuilding.
Reconstructing—The virtual disk configuration has changed.
The physical disks included in the virtual disk are being
modified to support the new configuration.
Failed—The virtual disk has encountered a failure of one or
more components and is no longer functioning.
Failed Redundancy—This state is displayed when the initial
consistency check for the virtual disk is cancelled or is not
successful. This state may also be displayed when a RAID 1,
RAID 10 or RAID 1-concatenated virtual disk suffers a
physical disk failure. In addition, there are other conditions
related to disk failures and the firmware that can cause a
virtual disk to display a Failed Redundancy state. When a
virtual disk is in Failed Redundancy state, performing a Check
Consistency may return the virtual disk to a Ready state. This
state only applies to virtual disks on a CERC SATA1.5/6ch,
and CERC SATA1.5/2s controller.

228 Virtual Disks

Property Definition
Background Initialization—A background initialization is
being performed on the virtual disk.
Formatting—The virtual disk is being formatted. Formatting
applies to the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers. For more
information, see Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast
Initialize.
Initializing—The virtual disk is being initialized.
Initialization applies to the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di,
4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers. For more information, see Format
and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize.
On some controllers, the virtual disk state is not updated until
the controller performs an I/O operation. For more
information, see I/O and Reboot Requirements for Detecting
Physical Disk Status Changes.
Degraded Redundancy—This state is applicable to RAID 6
only in which a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk is not
online, but the virtual disk is still accessible and functioning.
Virtual Disk Bad This property displays whether the virtual disk has bad blocks.
Block
Encrypted This property displays whether the virtual disk is encrypted.
The possible values are Yes and No.
Hot Spare Policy This property displays whether the Hot Spare Protection
Violated Policy has been violated.
NOTE: This property is displayed only if you set any Hot Spare
Protection Policy. For more information, see Setting Hot Spare
Protection Policy.
Layout This property displays the RAID level.
Size This property displays the total capacity of the virtual disk.
The algorithm for calculating the virtual disk size rounds a
value of 0.005 or less down to 0.00 and a value between 0.006
and 0.009 up to 0.01. For example, a virtual disk size of
819.725 is rounded down to 819.72. A virtual disk size of
819.726 is rounded up to 819.73.
Device Name This property displays the operating system device name for
this object.

Virtual Disks 229

 Property Definition
Bus Protocol This property displays the technology that the physical disks
included in the virtual disk are using. Possible values are:
SCSI—Small Computer System Interface
SAS—Serial Attached SCSI
SATA—Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
Media This property displays the media type of the physical disks
present in the virtual disk. The possible values are:
HDD—Hard Disk Drive. A HDD is a non-volatile storage
device which stores digitally-encoded data on rapidly rotating
platters with magnetic surfaces.
SSD—Solid State Drive. An SSD is a data storage device that
uses solid-state memory to store persistent data.
Unknown—Storage Management is unable to determine the
media type of the physical disk.
NOTE: You cannot have a mix of HDD and SSD media on a
virtual disk. Also, you cannot have a mix of SAS and SATA drives
on the virtual disk.
Read Policy This property displays the read policy that the controller is
using for this virtual disk. See RAID Controller Read, Write,
Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
Write Policy This property displays the write policy that the controller is
using for this virtual disk. See RAID Controller Read, Write,
Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
Cache Policy This property displays the cache policy that the controller is
using for this virtual disk. See RAID Controller Read, Write,
Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
Stripe Size This property displays the stripe size of the virtual disk.
Disk Cache Policy This property displays whether the disk cache policy of the
physical disks that are part of the virtual disk is enabled or
disabled. See RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk
Cache Policy.

Virtual Disk Tasks

To execute a virtual disk drop-down menu task:

230 Virtual Disks

 1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.
3 Select the Virtual Disks object.
4 Select a task from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.
NOTE: Different controllers support different features. For this reason, the tasks
displayed on the Tasks drop-down menu 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 Tasks drop-down menu displays No Task
Available.

Virtual Disk Drop-down Menu Tasks:

• Reconfigure
• Format, Initialize, Slow and Fast Initialize
• Cancel Format or Initialize
• Cancel Background Initialization
• Restore Dead Segments
• Delete
• Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare
• Check Consistency
• Cancel Check Consistency
• Pause Check Consistency
• Resume Check Consistency
• Blink and Unblink (Virtual Disk)
• Rename
• Split Mirror
• Unmirror
• Cancel Rebuild
• Change Policy
• Replace Member Disk
• Clear Virtual Disk Bad Blocks

Virtual Disks 231

 • Encrypt Virtual Disk

Reconfigure

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Reconfigure task to change the virtual disks properties. For example,
you can use this task to add physical disks or change the RAID level. For more
information, see Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3).

Format, Initialize, Slow and Fast Initialize

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Format, Initialize, Slow Initialize, or Fast Initialize task to erase the
files and remove the file systems on a virtual disk. Some controllers require
that you initialize a virtual disk before it can be used. For more information,
see Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize.

Cancel Format or Initialize

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Cancel Format or Cancel Initialize task to cancel the virtual disk
format or initialize while it is in progress. For more information on virtual
disk format or initialize, see Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize.
NOTE: The Cancel Initialize task only applies to the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di,
4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers.

Cancel Background Initialization

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

On PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di 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. It is important
that the background initialization be allowed to run to completion. You can,

232 Virtual Disks

however, cancel the background initialization. When you do so, the controller
restarts the background initialization at a later time. For more information,
see Background Initialization on PERC Controllers.
Use the Cancel Background Initialization task to cancel a background
initialization on a virtual disk.
NOTE: On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, the
controller firmware uses the rebuild rate setting to control the system resource
allocation for the Background Initialization task. For more information, see Set
Rebuild Rate.

Restore Dead Segments

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Restore Dead Segments task to recover data from a RAID-5 virtual
disk that has been corrupted. The Restore Dead Segments task attempts to
reconstruct data from a corrupt portion of a physical disk included in a RAID-
5 virtual disk. The Restore Dead Segments task uses the parity or redundant
information to reconstruct the lost data. This task is not always able to
recover lost data.

Delete

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Delete task to destroy all data on the virtual disk. For more
information, see Virtual Disk Task: Delete.

Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Assign Dedicated Hot Spare task to assign a disk as a backup for a
single virtual disk. For more information, see Assign and Unassign Dedicated
Hot Spare.

Virtual Disks 233

 Check Consistency

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Check Consistency task to verify 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. If the
virtual disk is in a Failed Redundancy state, running a check consistency may
be able to return the virtual disk to a Ready state.
NOTE: On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, the
controller firmware uses the rebuild rate setting to control the system resource
allocation for the Check Consistency task. For more information, see Set Rebuild
Rate.

Cancel Check Consistency

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Cancel Check Consistency task to stop a check consistency
operation that is in progress.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, reconfiguring a concatenated virtual
disk to a RAID 1 may cause the virtual disk to be in Resynching state. Performing a
Pause Check Consistency or a Cancel Check Consistency on a virtual disk while it is
in Resynching state causes the virtual disk to be in a Failed Redundancy state. For
more information, see Considerations for Concatenated to RAID 1 Reconfiguration
on CERC SATA1.5/6ch Controllers.

Pause Check Consistency

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Pause Check Consistency task to pause a check consistency while it
is in progress.
NOTE: The Pause Check Consistency task updates the virtual disk State property to
Resynching Paused immediately. The Progress property may continue to increment
for up to three seconds. This time delay occurs because the polling task may take
up to three seconds to query the task information and update the display.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, reconfiguring a concatenated virtual
disk to a RAID 1 may cause the virtual disk to be in Resynching state. Performing a
Pause Check Consistency or a Cancel Check Consistency on a virtual disk while it is

234 Virtual Disks

 in Resynching state causes the virtual disk to be in a Failed Redundancy state. For
more information, see Considerations for Concatenated to RAID 1 Reconfiguration
on CERC SATA1.5/6ch Controllers.

Resume Check Consistency

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Resume Check Consistency task to resume a check consistency after
it has been paused.

Blink and Unblink (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. For more information, see Blink and Unblink
(Virtual Disk).

Rename

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Rename task to change the virtual disk’s name. For more
information, see Virtual Disk Task: Rename.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller, you cannot change the default name of
a concatenated virtual disk.
NOTE: Renaming a virtual disk generates alert 2159. On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch and
CERC SATA1.5/2s controllers, alert 2159 displays the new virtual disk name. On the
PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4/IM, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, alert 2159 displays
the original virtual disk name.

Cancel Rebuild

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Cancel Rebuild task to cancel a rebuild while it is in progress.

Virtual Disks 235

 Change Policy

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Change Policy task to change a virtual disk’s read, write, or cache
policy. Changes to the read, write, and cache policy only apply to the virtual
disk that you have selected. This task does not change the policy for all virtual
disks on the controller. For more information, see RAID Controller Read,
Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
You can also modify the physical disk cache policy using this command.

Replace Member Disk

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

Use the Replace Member Disk task to copy data from a physical disk, which
is a member of a virtual disk, to another physical disk by providing the
Replace Member Configuration option. You can initiate multiple copies of
data from different array groups. For more information, see Virtual Disk Task:
Replace Member Disk (Step 1 of 2).

Clear Virtual Disk Bad Blocks

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Clear Virtual Disk Bad Blocks task to clear bad blocks on your virtual
disk. This feature is applicable to PERC H700, H710 Adapter, PERC H710
Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC
H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini Monolithic, PERC H800, and PERC
H810 Adapter family of controllers.

Encrypt Virtual Disk

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Encrypt Virtual Disk task to encrypt an unencrypted virtual disk.
This feature is only applicable to controllers that:
• are encryption capable (PERC H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710
Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC
H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini Monolithic, PERC H800, and
PERC H810 Adapter family of controllers)
• have an Encryption Key

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 • have Self Encryption Drives (SEDs) virtual disks

Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard calculates an appropriate virtual
disk configuration based on the available space and controller considerations.
When using the Express Wizard, you select the RAID level and size for the
virtual disk. The wizard selects a recommended disk configuration for you
that matches your RAID and size selection.
Before creating a virtual disk, you should be familiar with the information in
Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks. You may also want to review
Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation.
If you want to make your own selections for the virtual disk configuration,
click Go To Advanced Wizard.

To Create a Virtual Disk Express Wizard: Step 1 of 2

1 Click the radio button to select the correct RAID level.
– Depending on the controller, Concatenated enables you to combine
the storage capacity of several disks or to create a virtual disk using
only a single physical disk. For information on whether the controller
supports a single physical disk or two or more when using
Concatenated, see Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk. Using
Concatenated does not provide data redundancy nor does it affect
the read and write performance.
– Select RAID 0 for striping. This selection groups n disks together as
one large virtual disk with a total capacity of n disks. Data is stored to
the disks alternately so that they are evenly distributed. Data
redundancy is not available in this mode. Read and write performance
is enhanced.
– Select RAID 1 for mirroring disks. This selection groups two disks
together as one virtual disk with a capacity of one single disk. The data
is replicated on both disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk
continues to function. This feature provides data redundancy and
good read performance, but slightly slower write performance. Your
system must have at least two disks to use RAID 1.

Virtual Disks 237

 – Select RAID 5 for striping with distributed parity. This selection
groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of
(n-1) disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function.
This feature provides better data redundancy and read performance,
but slower write performance. Your system must have at least three
disks to use RAID 5.
– Select RAID 6 for striping with additional distributed parity. This
selection groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n-
2) disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk
failures. RAID 6 provides better read performance, but slower write
performance. Your system must have at least four disks to use RAID 6.
– Select RAID 10 for striping over mirror sets. This selection groups n
disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of (n/2)
disks. Data is striped across the replicated mirrored pair disks. When a
disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. The data is read from
the surviving mirrored pair disk. This feature provides the best failure
protection, read and write performance. Your system must have at
least four disks to use RAID 10.
– 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. RAID 60 provides increased data
protection and better read performance, but slower write
performance.
2 Type a name for the virtual disk in the Name text box.
The virtual disk name can contain only alphanumeric characters as well as
spaces, dashes and underscores. The maximum name length depends on
the controller. In most cases, the maximum length is 15 characters. The
name cannot start with a space or end with a space.
It is recommended that you specify a unique name for each virtual disk. If
you have virtual disks with the same name, it is hard to differentiate the
alerts generated for these virtual disks.

238 Virtual Disks

 NOTE: The CERC SATA1.5/2s controller does not allow you to specify a name for
concatenated virtual disks. The concatenated virtual disk is created with a default
name.
3 Type the size for the virtual disk in the Size text box. The virtual disk size
must be within the minimum and maximum values displayed near the
Size text box. For information on how the maximum virtual disk size is
calculated, see Calculation for Maximum Virtual Disk Size and the Create
Virtual Disk Express Wizard.
In some cases, the virtual is slightly larger than the size you specify. The
Create Virtual Disk wizard may round up the size of the virtual disk to
avoid rendering a portion of the physical disk space unusable.
NOTE: When creating a virtual disk on the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller or on a
controller that is in a cluster configuration, you must specify the maximum virtual
disk size.
4 Click Continue to go to the next screen or Exit Wizard if you want to
cancel.

To locate this task 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 Click Go To Create Virtual Disk Wizard.

Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 2 of 2)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This screen displays the virtual disk attributes and enables you to assign a
dedicated hot spare to the virtual disk.
Do the following:
1 Review the virtual disk attributes displayed in the Summary of Virtual
Disk Attributes and the Selected Physical Disks sections of the screen.
These sections display the selections you made using Create Virtual Disk
Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2) and the physical disks that the Express
Wizard selected.

Virtual Disks 239

 If you need to change a selection, click Go Back To Previous Page to
return to Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2).
NOTE: If a physical disk is receiving a SMART alert, it cannot be used in a virtual
disk. For more information on SMART alerts, see Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID
Controllers.
2 Review the Assign Dedicated Hot Spare section. A hot spare is an
unused backup physical disk that can be used to rebuild data from a
redundant virtual disk. For more information, see Protecting Your Virtual
Disk with a Hot Spare.
Select the Physical Disk check box if you want to assign a dedicated hot
spare.
The Physical Disk check box is not available if the controller does not
have a physical disk that is a suitable hot spare for the virtual disk you are
creating. For example, the available physical disks may be too small to
protect the virtual disk. If the Physical Disk check box is not available,
you may need to specify a smaller virtual disk, use a different RAID level,
or change the disk selection using the Create Virtual Disk Advanced
wizard.
NOTE: By default an encrypted virtual disk is created if the controller is
encryption-enabled and has sufficient number of encrypted physical disks to create
a virtual disk of the selected RAID level. In this case, the Summary of Virtual Disk
Attributes displays a Encrypt Virtual Disk attribute with a value Yes, and only
encrypted physical disks are listed as candidates for hot spare.
3 Do one of the following:
• Click Finish to create the virtual disk with the attributes shown on
this screen.
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).

• Click Go Back To Previous Page to return to Create Virtual Disk

Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2) if you want to change your selections.
• Click Exit Wizard to cancel the virtual disk.

240 Virtual Disks

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4)
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard allows you to specify the read,
write, and cache policy for the virtual disk. You can also select the physical
disks and the controller connector to be used. You need a good knowledge of
RAID levels and hardware to use the Advanced Wizard.
Before creating a virtual disk, you should be familiar with the information in
Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks. You may also want to review
Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation.
If you want to have the wizard choose a recommended virtual disk
configuration for you, click Go To Express Wizard.

To Create a Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard: Step 1 of 4

1 Click the radio button to select the correct RAID level.
– Depending on the controller, Concatenated enables you to combine
the storage capacity of several disks or to create a virtual disk using
only a single physical disk. For information on the number of disks
supported by Concatenated, see Number of Physical Disks per Virtual
Disk. Using Concatenated does not provide data redundancy nor
does it affect the read and write performance.
– Select RAID 0 for striping. This selection groups n disks together as
one large virtual disk with a total capacity of n disks. Data is stored to
the disks alternately so that they are evenly distributed. Data
redundancy is not available in this mode. Read and write performance
is enhanced.
– Select RAID 1 for mirroring disks. This selection groups two disks
together as one virtual disk with a capacity of one single disk. The data
is replicated on both disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk
continues to function. This feature provides data redundancy and
good read performance, but slightly slower write performance. Your
system must have at least two disks to use RAID 1.
– Select RAID 5 for striping with distributed parity. This selection
groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of
(n-1) disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function.

Virtual Disks 241

 This feature provides better data redundancy and read performance,
but slower write performance. Your system must have at least three
disks to use RAID 5.
– Select RAID 6 for striping with additional distributed parity. This
selection groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n-
2) disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk
failures. RAID 6 provides better read performance, but slower write
performance. Your system must have at least four disks to use RAID 6.
– Select RAID 10 for striping over mirror sets. This selection groups n
disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of (n/2)
disks. Data is striped across the replicated mirrored pair disks. When a
disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. The data is read from
the surviving mirrored pair disk. This feature provides the best failure
protection, read and write performance. Your system must have at
least four disks to use RAID 10. For PERC controllers with firmware
version 6 and above, RAID 10 also allows to create a single span virtual
disk with 22 or 26 physical drives.
– Intelligent Mirroring—Automatically calculates the span
composition based on the physical disks you select.
Spans are not displayed on this screen. Select Continue to view the
span grouping on the Summary screen (Create Virtual Disk Advanced
Wizard (Step 4 of 4).)
Storage Management calculates the optimum span composition in the
following manner:
• Determining span calculation:
- Calculating the number of disks that can be utilized from the
selected disks.
- Maximizing the number of spans in order to increase the I/O
performance
• Determining the mirror for the physical disks:
The mirror is determined in a way that ensures maximum possible
redundancy. The algorithm also tries to match a physical disk for its
mirror to a disk that is closest to it in size. However, Intelligent
Mirroring gives priority to size over redundancy.

242 Virtual Disks

 The algorithm determines the candidate mirror in the following order:
• Across connectors at the same level of enclosure and of same size
• Across connectors in the enclosure that are not at the same level
but of same size
• Across enclosures connected to same connector and to a disk of
same size
• Within the enclosure with a physical disk of acceptable size
difference
• Across connectors at the same level of enclosure and of acceptable
size difference
• Across connectors in the enclosure that are not at the same level
of the enclosure but with a physical disk of acceptable size
difference
If the size difference is not acceptable, the disk is not mirrored and
hence dropped from the span, and number of span and disk in the
span is recalculated.
NOTE: It is recommended that you use Intelligent Mirroring to create RAID 10
across enclosures for simple and optimum configuration.
NOTE: To view the redundancy across enclosures achieved through
Intelligent Mirroring, click the virtual disk and view the physical disk IDs in
each span, which are from alternate enclosures.
– 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. RAID 60 provides increased data
protection and better read performance, but slower write
performance.
2 Select the Create Encrypted Virtual Disk check box to ensure only
encrypted physical disks are used to create the virtual disk.

Virtual Disks 243

 3 Click Continue to go to the next screen or Exit Wizard if you want to
cancel.

To locate this task 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 Click Go To Create Virtual Disk Wizard.
5 Click Go To Advanced Wizard.

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 4)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This screen enables you to select which disks is used to create the virtual disk.
The items displayed on this screen depend on the selections you made in
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4).
NOTE: If a physical disk is receiving a SMART alert, it cannot be used in a virtual
disk. For more information on SMART alerts, see Monitoring Disk Reliability on RAID
Controllers.
NOTE: For a controller that has more than one channel, it may be possible to
configure a virtual disk that is channel-redundant. For more information, see
Channel Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown.
Depending on the RAID level you selected and the virtual disk size, this
screen displays the disks and connectors (channels or ports) available for
configuring the virtual disk.
NOTE: If you have selected the Create Encrypted Virtual Disk check box in Create
Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4), then only encrypted physical disks are
displayed. Else, both encrypted as well as unencrypted physical disks are
displayed.
The following is an example of what might be displayed:

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Connector 0
The Connector section of the screen displays the controller's connectors and
the disks attached to each connector. Select the disks to be included in the
virtual disk. In this example, the controller has a single connector with five
disks.
• Physical disk 0:0
• Physical disk 0:1
• Physical disk 0:2
• Physical disk 0:3
• Physical disk 0:4

Physical Disks Selected

The Physical Disks Selected section of the screen displays the disks you have
chosen. In this example, two disks are selected.
• Physical disk 0:0
• Physical disk 0:1
Each RAID level has specific requirements for the number of disks that must
be selected. RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60 also have requirements for how
many disks must be included in each stripe or span.
If the controller is a SAS controller with firmware versions 6.1 and later and
you selected RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60, the user interface displays the
following:
• Select All Disks check box—Enables you to select all the physical disks in
all the enclosures.
• Enclosure check box—Enables you to select all physical disks in the
enclosure.
NOTE: The Select All and Enclosure check boxes enable you to edit spans
after selecting the physical disks that comprise them. You can remove a span
and re-specify a span with different physical disks before proceeding.
• Select Number of Disks per Span—Enables you to select the number of
disks in each span (default =2). This option is available only on SAS
controllers with firmware version 6.1 and later.

Virtual Disks 245

 NOTE: This option is available only if you did not select Intelligent Mirroring
on the Create Virtual Disk (Step 1 of 4) 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). If you select
four disks per span, the controller creates four spans (18 disks/4 disks per
span = 4 spans). The last two disks of the last enclosure is not part of
RAID 10.
Select the number of disks to create a single spanned virtual disk drop
down menu—Enables you to create a single span virtual disk with 22 or 26
physical drives for PERC controllers. This drop down menu appears only if
you have selected RAID 10 in step 1 and the system has 22 or more than
22 physical drives.
Click Continue when you have completed the disk selection. If you want to
cancel the virtual disk, click Exit Wizard. If you want to return to the
previous screen and change your selections, click Go Back To Previous Page.
For PERC H700 and PERC H800 controllers, if any of the drives you selected
to include as a hot spare 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).

Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 3 of 4)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This screen enables you to select attributes for the virtual disk. These
attributes include the name, size and read, write, and cache policy.
Depending on the controller and your previous virtual disk selections, the
items displayed on this screen can vary.
Do the following:
1 Type the name of the virtual disk in the Name text box.
The virtual disk name can contain only alphanumeric characters as well as
spaces, dashes and underscores. The maximum name length depends on

246 Virtual Disks

 the controller. In most cases, the maximum length is 15 characters. The
name cannot start with a space or end with a space.
It is recommended that you specify a unique name for each virtual disk. If
you have virtual disks with the same name, it is hard to differentiate the
alerts generated for these virtual disks.
NOTE: The CERC SATA1.5/2s controller does not allow you to specify a name for
concatenated virtual disks. The concatenated virtual disk is created with a default
name.
2 The Size text box displays the default size of the virtual disk, depending
upon the RAID configuration you selected. You can specify a different
size. The virtual disk size must be within the minimum and maximum
values displayed near the Size text box. In some cases, the virtual is
slightly larger than the size you specify. The Create Virtual Disk wizard
may round up the size of the virtual disk to avoid rendering a portion of
the physical disk space unusable.
NOTE: When creating a virtual disk on the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller or on a
controller that is in a cluster configuration, you must specify the maximum virtual
disk size.
3 Select a stripe size from the Stripe Size drop-down menu. The stripe size
refers to the amount of space that each stripe consumes on a single disk.
For more information, see What Is RAID?.
4 Select the read, write, and disk cache policy. These selections can vary
depending on the controller. For more information, see RAID Controller
Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
NOTE: Read, write, and cache policies are not supported on the CERC SATA1.5/2s
controller. There is limited support for write policy on controllers that do not have a
battery. For more information, see Write Policy. The cache policy is not supported
on any controller that does not have a battery. For more information, see RAID
Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy.
5 Click Continue to go to the next screen if you want to cancel the virtual
disk, click Exit Wizard. If you want to return to the previous screen and
change your selections, click Go Back To Previous Page.

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 Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 4 of 4)
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This screen displays the virtual disk attributes and enables you to assign a
dedicated hot spare to the virtual disk.
Do the following:
1 Review the virtual disk attributes displayed in the Summary of Virtual
Disk Attributes and the Selected Physical Disks sections of the screen.
These sections display the selections you made using Create Virtual Disk
Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2) and the physical disks that the Express
Wizard selected.
If you need to change a selection, click Go Back To Previous Page to
return to Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 3 of 4).
NOTE: If you have selected the Create Encrypted Virtual Disk check box in
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4), then in the Summary of Virtual
Disk Attributes, an Encrypted Virtual Disk attribute is displayed with a value Yes.
2 Review the Assign Dedicated Hot Spare section. A hot spare is an
unused backup physical disk that can be used to rebuild data from a
redundant virtual disk. For more information, see Protecting Your Virtual
Disk with a Hot Spare.
The Create Virtual Disk Advanced wizard displays a check box next to
each physical disk that is suitable as a dedicated hot spare. Select a
Physical Disk check box if you want to assign a dedicated hot spare.
NOTE: If you have selected the Create Encrypted Virtual Disk check box in
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4), then only encrypted physical
disks are listed as candidates for hot spare.
The Physical Disk check box is not available if the controller does not
have a physical disk that is a suitable hot spare for the virtual disk you are
creating. For example, the available physical disks may be too small to
protect the virtual disk. If the Physical Disk check box is not available,
you may need to specify a smaller virtual disk, use a different RAID level,
or change the disk selection.
3 Do one of the following:
• Click Span Edit to edit the spans created in Create Virtual Disk
Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of 4).

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 This option is available only if the controller is a SAS controller with
firmware 6.1 and later and you selected RAID 10.
NOTE: If you click Span Edit, Intelligent Mirroring that is already been applied
becomes invalid.
• Click Finish to create the virtual disk with the attributes shown on
this screen.
• Click Go Back To Previous Page to return to Create Virtual Disk
Advanced Wizard (Step 3 of 4) if you want to change your selections.
NOTE: If you clicked Span Edit and navigated back to this screen, do
not click Go Back To Previous Page.
• Click Exit Wizard to cancel the virtual disk.

Span Edit
In the edit mode, you cannot alter the number of physical disks per span. If
there are enough available physical disks, you can reduce or increase the
number of spans. You can also alter the contents of a span by removing that
span and selecting a new physical disk to comprise that span.
To successfully create a virtual disk, a minimum of two spans must exist at all
times.
NOTE: If you click Span Edit, Intelligent Mirroring that is already been applied
becomes invalid.
Click Continue to return to Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 4 of
4).

Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Reconfigure task enables you to change the virtual disk configuration.
Using this task, you can change the RAID level and increase the virtual disk
size by adding physical disks. On some controllers, you can also remove
physical disks.

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 Before continuing with the virtual disk reconfiguration, you should be
familiar with the information in Starting and Target RAID Levels for Virtual
Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion and Choosing RAID Levels
and Concatenation.
NOTE: You cannot reconfigure a virtual disk on a controller that is operating in
cluster mode.
NOTE: You can create no more than 64 virtual disks on a controller. After you have
reached this limit, you can no longer reconfigure any of the virtual disks on the
controller. But, for IR and PERC H200 controllers, you can create only two virtual
disks.
NOTE: On Linux, if you do a reconfigure on the same controller on which the
operating system resides, you may experience extremely slow system performance
until the reconfigure is complete.
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.

To Reconfigure a Virtual Disk: Step 1 of 3

1 Select the physical disks that you want to include in the virtual disk. You
can expand the virtual disk’s capacity by adding additional physical disks.
On some controllers, you can also remove physical disks.
The changes you make to the physical disk selection are displayed in the
Selected Physical Disks table.
NOTE: For a controller that has more than one channel, it may be possible to
configure a virtual disk that is channel-redundant. For more information, see
Channel Redundancy and Thermal Shutdown.
NOTE: For PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, PERC H310 Mini
Blades, PERC H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini
Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini
Monolithic, PERC H800, and PERC H810 Adapter controllers, if any of the selected
physical drives is in the spun down state, the system displays a message that
indicates the IDs of the spun down drives and the delay in executing tasks on them.
NOTE: For PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, PERC H310 Mini
Blades, PERC H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini
Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini

250 Virtual Disks

 Monolithic, PERC H800, and PERC H810 Adapter controllers, if the disk group has
free space available, you can expand the virtual disk capacity. To expand virtual
disk capacity, click Expand Capacity.
2 Click Continue to go to the next screen or Exit Wizard if you want to
cancel.

To locate this task 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 Reconfigure from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 2 of 3)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This screen enables you to select the RAID level and size for the reconfigured
virtual disk.
If you clicked Expand Capacity in the previous step, this screen allows you to
expand the capacity of the virtual disk. The Expand Capacity option appears
only for PERC H310, H700, H710, H710P, PERC H800, and H810 controllers
with firmware 7.1 or above.

To Reconfigure a Virtual Disk (Changing the RAID Level and Size): Step 2 of 3
1 Select the new RAID level for the virtual disk—The available RAID levels
depend on the number or physical disks selected and the controller. The
following describes possible RAID levels:
– Depending on the controller, Concatenated enables you to combine
the storage capacity of several disks or to create a virtual disk using
only a single physical disk. For information on whether the controller
supports a single physical disk or two or more when using
Concatenated, see Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk. Using
Concatenated does not provide data redundancy nor does it affect
the read and write performance.

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 – Select RAID 0 for striping—This selection groups n disks together as
one large virtual disk with a total capacity of n disks. Data is stored to
the disks alternately so that they are evenly distributed. Data
redundancy is not available in this mode. Read and write performance
is enhanced.
– Select RAID 1 for mirroring disks—This selection groups two disks
together as one virtual disk with a capacity of one single disk. The data
is replicated on both disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk
continues to function. This feature provides data redundancy and
good read performance, but slightly slower write performance. Your
system must have at least two disks to use RAID 1.
– Select RAID 5 for striping with distributed parity—This selection
groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of
(n-1) disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function.
This feature provides better data redundancy and read performance,
but slower write performance. Your system must have at least three
disks to use RAID 5.
– Select RAID 6 for striping with additional parity information—This
selection groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of
(n-2) disks. Two sets of parity information is alternately stored on all
disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk failures.
– Select RAID 10 for striping over mirror sets—This selection groups n
disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of (n/2)
disks. Data is striped across the replicated mirrored pair disks. When a
disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. The data is read from
the surviving mirrored pair disk. This feature provides the best failure
protection, read and write performance. Your system must have at
least four disks to use RAID 10.
2 Type the size for the reconfigured virtual disk in the Size text box. The
minimum and maximum allowable size is displayed under the Size text
box. These values reflect the new capacity of the virtual disk after any
addition or deletion of physical disks which you may have chosen in Virtual
Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3).
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller, you must specify the maximum virtual
disk size.

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 NOTE: The PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers do not allow
you to change or reconfigure the virtual disk size.
NOTE: The PERC S100 and S300 controllers do not allow you to change the RAID
level.
3 Click Continue to go to the next screen or Exit Wizard if you want to
cancel.
To Reconfigure a Virtual Disk (Expand Virtual Disk Capacity): Step 2 of 3
1 Enter the percentage of the free disk size available by which you want to
expand the virtual disk capacity. The screen displays the maximum free
size available and the description of the selected RAID level.
2 Click Continue to go to the next screen or click Exit Wizard if you want
to cancel.

Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 3 of 3)

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
This screen enables you to review your changes before completing the virtual
disk reconfiguration.

To Reconfigure a Virtual Disk: Step 3 of 3

1 Review your changes. The New Virtual Disk Configuration table displays
the changes you have made to the virtual disk. The Previous Virtual Disk
Configuration displays the original virtual disk prior to reconfiguration.
2 Click Finish to complete the virtual disk reconfiguration. To exit without
changing the original virtual disk, click Exit Wizard.
NOTE: On some controllers, performing a Rescan while a reconfiguration is in
progress causes the virtual disk configuration and the physical disk state to display
incorrectly. For example, changes to the virtual disk’s RAID level may not be
displayed and the state of physical disks that were added to the virtual disk may
display as Ready instead of Online.

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 Considerations for Concatenated to RAID 1 Reconfiguration on CERC SATA1.5/6ch
Controllers
When reconfiguring a concatenated virtual disk to a RAID 1 on a CERC
SATA1.5/6ch controller, the reconfigured virtual disk may display the
Resynching state. When reconfiguring from a concatenated virtual disk to a
RAID 1, data is copied from the single concatenated disk to the RAID 1
mirror. The controller perceives this operation as similar to resynching a
mirror, and therefore may display the Resynching state.
Performing a controller rescan during the virtual disk reconfiguration may
also cause the virtual disk to display a Resynching state.
While the virtual disk displays a Resynching state, the Pause Check
Consistency and Cancel Check Consistency tasks is available. Executing
either of these tasks on the virtual disk while it is in Resynching state causes
the virtual disk to be in a Failed Redundancy state.

Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast Initialize

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Format or Initialize task erases the files and removes the file systems on
virtual disks while keeping the virtual disk configuration intact. Formatting or
initializing a virtual disk destroys all data on the virtual disk. If the boot
partition resides on the virtual disk, it is destroyed by the format operation.
Some controllers have BIOS settings for a fast initialize or a slow initialize. In
this case, the Initialize task performs the type of initialization (fast or slow)
that is specified in the BIOS.
Other controllers have a Fast Initialize and Slow Initialize task available on
the controller task drop-down menu. For more information, see
Considerations for Fast Initialize and Considerations for Slow Initialize.
NOTE: On a system running Linux operating systems, you cannot format a virtual
disk that contains a mounted volume.

Considerations for Format

The format task applies to the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers. After the
format is initiated, it cannot be cancelled.

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Considerations for Initialize
The initialize task applies to the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and
4e/Di controllers.
These controllers also have a Cancel Initialize and Background Initialization
feature. For more information, see Format and Initialize; Slow and Fast
Initialize and Background Initialization on PERC Controllers.
NOTE: A fast initialization on the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di
controllers may occur so quickly that the virtual disk’s State does not display
Initializing. Use the controller BIOS to change the initialization settings.

Considerations for Fast Initialize

Use the Fast Initialize task to initialize all physical disks included in the
virtual disk. The Fast Initialize task updates the metadata on the physical
disks so that all disk space is available for future write operations. The
initialize can be completed quickly because existing information on the
physical disks is not erased, although future write operations overwrite any
information that remains on the physical disks.
NOTE: Doing a Fast Initialize causes existing data to be inaccessible. This task
should be considered data destructive.
In comparison with the Slow Initialize task, the Fast Initialize task has the
following advantages:
• The Fast Initialize task takes less time to complete.
• The Fast Initialize task does not write zeroes to the disk blocks on the
physical disks. Because the Fast Initialize task does not perform a write
operation, it causes less degradation to the disk than does the Slow
Initialize task.
If you have had trouble with a physical disk or suspect that it has bad disk
blocks, you may want to perform a Slow Initialize task, as this task remaps
bad blocks and writes zeroes to all disk blocks.

Considerations for Slow Initialize

Use the Slow Initialize task to initialize all physical disks included in the
virtual disk. The Slow Initialize task updates the metadata on the physical
disks and erases all existing data and file systems.

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 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. During the time that the
physical disk is in the Clear state, the Cancel Clear physical disk task is
available. Performing a Cancel Clear task on the physical disk causes the
Slow Initialize task to be cancelled for the entire virtual disk and all member
physical disks. For more information, see Clear Physical Disk and Cancel
Clear.

Formatting or Initializing a Disk

To format or initialize a disk:
1 Review the virtual disk that is destroyed by the Format or Initialize and
make sure that vital data is not lost. Click Blink at the bottom of the
screen to blink the physical disks included in the virtual disk.
2 Depending on the task you are initiating, click the following button when
ready:
– Format
– Initialize
– Slow Initialize
– Fast Initialize
To exit without formatting or initializing the virtual disk, click Go Back
To Virtual Disk Page.

To locate this task 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 Depending on the task you want to initiate, select one of the following
from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
– Format
– Initialize

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 – Slow Initialize
– Fast Initialize
5 Click Execute.

Virtual Disk Task: Delete

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Deleting a virtual disk destroys all information including file systems and
volumes residing on the virtual disk.
NOTE: When deleting virtual disks, all assigned global hot spares may be
automatically unassigned when the last virtual disk associated with the controller is
deleted. When deleting the last virtual disk of a disk group, all assigned dedicated
hot spares automatically become global hotspares.

To delete a virtual disk:

To identify which physical disks are included in the virtual disk, click Blink.
The LED lights on the physical disks blink for 30 to 60 seconds.
When deleting a virtual disk, the following considerations apply:
• There are particular considerations for deleting a virtual disk from a
cluster-enabled controller. Review the Creating and Deleting Virtual Disks
on Cluster-enabled Controllers before attempting to delete the virtual
disk.
• 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. In this
situation, if you don't want the old data after recreating a new virtual disk,
reinitialize the virtual disk.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.

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 3 Select the Virtual Disks object.
4 Select Delete from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Virtual Disk Task: Rename

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Renaming a virtual disk enables you to change the virtual disk’s name. The
numbering format for the virtual disk remains unchanged.
Depending on the controller you have, there are different considerations
regarding the controller BIOS:
• On PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4/IM, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers,
changing the virtual disk name with Storage Management does not change
the name in the BIOS.
• On CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s controllers, changing the
virtual disk name with Storage Management also changes the name in the
BIOS. If you do not specify a name for a virtual disk (either when you
create the virtual disk or by using the Rename task) then the name for the
virtual disk in the BIOS is “Virtual Disk”.
• The virtual disk name can contain only alphanumeric characters as well as
spaces, dashes and underscores. The maximum name length depends on
the controller. In most cases, the maximum length is 15 characters. The
name cannot start with a space, end with a space, or be left blank.
NOTE: The Rename task is not available for concatenated virtual disks on a CERC
SATA1.5/2s controller.

To rename a virtual disk:

1 Type the new name in the text box.
2 Click Rename. To exit without renaming the virtual disk, click Go Back
To Virtual Disk Page.

To locate this task in Storage Management:

1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2 Expand a controller object.

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 3 Select the Virtual Disks object.
4 Select Rename from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Virtual Disk Task: Change Policy

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Change Policy task to change a virtual disk’s read, write, or cache
policy. For more information, see RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and
Disk Cache Policy.

To change a virtual disk’s read, write, or disk cache policy:

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 this task 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 Change Policy from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Split Mirror
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Split Mirror task to separate mirrored data originally configured as a
RAID 1, RAID 1-concatenated, or RAID 10 virtual disk. Splitting a RAID 1 or
RAID 1-concatenated mirror creates two concatenated non-redundant virtual
disks. Splitting a RAID 10 mirror creates two RAID 0 (striped) non-
redundant virtual disks. Data is not lost during this operation.
NOTE: The Split Mirror task is not supported on the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller.

Virtual Disks 259

 NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, doing a Split Mirror on a RAID 1-
concatenated virtual disk results in concatenated virtual disks that cannot be
subjected to any further modification. You cannot reconfigure or add disks to the
resulting concatenated virtual disks. If you do a Split Mirror on a RAID 1 virtual disk,
the resulting concatenated virtual disks can be reconfigured back to a RAID 1
virtual disk. After you have reconfigured to a RAID 1 virtual disk, further
reconfiguration may be possible. For information on restrictions associated with
concatenated virtual disks on these controllers, see Number of Physical Disks per
Virtual Disk and Exceptions to One Physical Disk Limitation for Concatenated Virtual
Disks on CERC SATA1.5/6ch and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, this operation is not supported when
using a dynamic virtual disk or for a RAID 1 virtual disk that is in a Failed
Redundancy state.
NOTE: On Linux, a Split Mirror cannot be performed on a mounted virtual disk. For
this reason, a Split Mirror cannot be performed on the boot drive.

To Split a Mirror:
Click Split Mirror. To exit without splitting the mirror, click Go Back To
Virtual Disk Page.
CAUTION: Your virtual disk is longer redundant after performing a Split Mirror
operation.

To locate this task 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 Split Mirror from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Related Information:
• Rescan to Update Storage Configuration Changes
• Time Delay in Displaying Configuration Changes

260 Virtual Disks

Unmirror
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
Use the Unmirror task to separate mirrored data and restore one half of the
mirror to free space. Unmirroring a RAID 1 or RAID 1-concatenated virtual
disk results in a single, non-redundant concatenated virtual disk. Unmirroring
a RAID 10 virtual disk results in a single, non-redundant RAID 0 (striped)
virtual disk. Data is not lost during this operation.
NOTE: The Unmirror task is not supported on the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, doing an Unmirror on a RAID 1-
concatenated virtual disk results in a concatenated virtual disk that cannot be
subjected to any further modification. You cannot reconfigure or add disks to the
resulting concatenated virtual disk. If you do an Unmirror on a RAID 1 virtual disk,
the resulting concatenated virtual disk can be reconfigured back to a RAID 1 virtual
disk. After you have reconfigured to a RAID 1 virtual disk, further reconfiguration
may be possible.
NOTE: This operation is not supported when using a dynamic virtual disk with a
CERC SATA1.5/6ch controller.
NOTE: On Linux, an Unmirror cannot be performed on a mounted virtual disk.

To Unmirror:
Click Unmirror. To exit without unmirroring, click Go Back To Virtual Disk
Page.
CAUTION: Your virtual disk is longer redundant.

To locate this task 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 Unmirror from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Related Information:
• Rescan to Update Storage Configuration Changes

Virtual Disks 261

 • Time Delay in Displaying Configuration Changes

Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
A dedicated hot spare is an unused backup disk that is assigned to a single
virtual disk. When a physical disk in the virtual disk fails, the hot spare is
activated to replace the failed physical disk without interrupting the system or
requiring your intervention.
For more information on hot spares including size requirements, see
Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare. For considerations regarding
RAID 10 and RAID 50 virtual disks created using the controller BIOS, see
Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations.
NOTE: The CERC SATA1.5/2s controller does not support dedicated hot spares.

To assign a dedicated hot spare:

1 Select the disk in the Connector (channel or port) table that you want to
use as the dedicated hot spare. On some controllers, more than one disk
can be selected. The disks you have selected as dedicated hot spares are
displayed in the Disks currently configured as dedicated hot spare table.
2 Click Apply Changes when ready.
NOTE: For PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, PERC H310 Mini
Blades, PERC H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini
Monolithic, PERC H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini
Monolithic, PERC H800, and PERC H810 Adapter controllers, if any of the selected
physical drives is in the spun down state, a message appears indicating the IDs of
the spun down state and the delay in executing tasks on them.

To unassign a dedicated hot spare:

1 Click the disk in the Disks currently configured as dedicated hot spare
table to unassign it. On some controllers, more than one disk can be
selected. Clicking the disk removes the disk from the Disks currently
configured as dedicated hot spare table and returns it to the Connector
(channel or port) table.
2 Click Apply Changes when ready.

262 Virtual Disks

To locate this task 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.

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

You can copy data from a physical disk, which is a member of a virtual disk, to
another physical disk by providing a Replace Member Configuration option.
You can initiate multiple copies of data from different array groups.
The source physical disk should be part of a virtual disk and in the Online
state. Also, the virtual disk should not be fully degraded.
NOTE: You must also enable the Revertible Hot Spare option to use Replace
Member Disk task.
The destination physical disk should be in the Ready state, available to be
written to, and of appropriate size and type.
NOTE: The destination physical disk can also be an available hot spare.

To Replace a Member Disk: (Step 1 of 2)

1 Select the physical disk in the Connector table that you want to replace.
2 Select the destination disk in the Disks available for replace member
operation table.
CAUTION: If you choose a hot spare as the destination physical disk, your
virtual disk does not have a hot spare, unless you assign one.
NOTE: You can select only one source/destination physical disk at a time.

Virtual Disks 263

 3 Click Apply Changes. To exit without replacing the member disk, click
Go Back To Virtual Disk Page.
NOTE: For PERC H310, H700, H710, H710P, H800, and H810 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).
You can view the progress of the Replace Member Disk task on the
Physical Disk Details page. For more information, see Physical Disk or
Physical Device Properties and Tasks.

To locate this task 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 Replace Member Disk from the Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5 Click Execute.

Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk (Step 2

of 2)
This screen displays the summary of the attributes of the virtual disk in which
you replaced the member disk. Use this screen to review your changes before
completing the virtual disk replace member task.

To Replace a Member Disk: Step 2 of 2

1 Review your changes. The source Physical Disk table displays details of
the source physical disk. The destination Physical Disk table displays
details of the destination physical disk.
2 Click Finish to complete the replace member task. If you want to change
the replace member, click Go Back to Previous Page. To exit without
making changes, click Cancel.

264 Virtual Disks

 13
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.

Required Conditions
This section applies to PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, PERC 5/E and PERC 5/i, and
SAS 5/iR Controllers
After some planning and preparation, it is possible to migrate physical and
virtual disks from one controller, enclosure or server to another. You can
perform physical and virtual disk migration on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC,
4/Di, PERC 5/E and PERC 5/i, and SAS 5/iR controllers as long as the
following conditions are met.

General Conditions for SCSI and SAS Controllers

• Virtual disks can only be migrated to a controller that is using the same
technology. For example, virtual disks on a SCSI controller must be
migrated to a SCSI controller and virtual disks on a SAS controller must be
migrated to a SAS controller. For more information, see RAID Controller
Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS.
• When moving an enclosure, both SCSI and SAS controllers require that
you power down the enclosure and the server before moving the enclosure.

SCSI Controller Conditions

• PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di virtual disks cannot be
migrated to a PERC 2/SC or PERC 2/DC controller. PERC 2/SC and
PERC 2/DC virtual disks can be migrated to a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC,
4/Di, 4e/Si, or 4e/Di controller.
NOTE: The current version of Storage Management does not support the PERC 2,
2/Si, 2/SC, or 2/DC controllers.

Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to

 • A virtual disk cannot be migrated between the CERC SATA1.5/6ch and
CERC SATA1.5/2s controller family and the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC,
4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controller family.
• On SCSI controllers, a virtual disk cannot be migrated from one controller
to another unless the receiving controller’s configuration has been cleared.
• When moving the physical disks on a SCSI controller from one enclosure
to another, the SCSI ID for each disk must remain the same. For more
information, see RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and
SAS.
• When moving the physical disks from one enclosure to another or when
moving an external enclosure from one server to another, the enclosure
must be connected to the same connector number on the controller as in
the original condition.
• In the case where a virtual disk consists of physical disks on multiple
connectors, each physical disk must be migrated to an enclosure that is
connected to the same connector number that the physical disk or
enclosure was originally connected to.

SAS Controller Conditions

• On SAS controllers, you can migrate a virtual disk by moving the physical
disks from one controller to another and then importing the foreign
configuration on the receiving controller. For more information, see
Foreign Configuration Operations.
• When moving an enclosure on a SAS controller, you can move the
enclosure to any connector number and then import the foreign
configuration on the receiving controller. For more information, see
Foreign Configuration Operations.

Migrating SCSI Virtual Disks to Another System

This section applies to the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers
The following describes how to migrate virtual disks and volumes from one
system to another. Completing the migration requires the following
activities:
• Moving the Disks

266 Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to Another
 • Saving the New Controller Configuration

Moving the Disks

1 Turn off the system that the physical disks are being moved from.
2 If the receiving controller has a preexisting virtual disk configuration on
attached physical disks, use the following procedure for clearing the
configuration:
– Turn off the receiving server.
– Remove all the physical disks from the controller.
– Start up the receiving server and clear the configuration from the
controller BIOS. After making the changes, power down the server
when it indicates to reboot the system.
3 If the receiving controller does not have a preexisting virtual disk
configuration, then turn off its server.
4 Place the physical disks into the new enclosure.
5 Start up the system connected to the receiving controller. When the
system connected to the new enclosure comes up, use the BIOS access
<Ctrl+M> to update the controller configuration with the information
saved on the physical disks. Exiting the BIOS access requires one more
reboot of the system.
6 The migration is complete. The virtual disk is now manageable through
Storage Management.
7 Continue with Saving the New Controller Configuration.

Saving the New Controller Configuration

Use the following procedure to enter the controller BIOS configuration
screens to save the new configuration.
1 Reboot the PowerEdge server.
2 Enter the PowerEdge RAID Controller BIOS by pressing <Ctrl+M>
when prompted during the power on self test (POST) of the controller
during the bootup sequence.
3 Select the Configure menu option and press <Enter>.
4 Select View/Add Configuration and press <Enter>.

Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to Another 267
 5 This reads the data on the physical disks to restore the RAID controller’s
proprietary configuration information. Press Esc and save the new
configuration when prompted.
6 Press the Esc key and save the new configuration when prompted.
7 Reboot the system.

Migrating SAS Virtual Disks to Another System

The following describes how to migrate virtual disks and volumes from one
system to another.
1 Turn off the system that the physical disks are being moved from.
2 If the receiving controller does not have a preexisting virtual disk
configuration, then turn off its server.
3 Place the physical disks into the new enclosure.
4 Start up the system connected to the receiving controller.
5 Use the Foreign Configuration Operations task to import the migrated
virtual disks on the receiving controller.
NOTE: The Foreign Configuration Operations are not supported on PERC
S100, S110, and S300 controllers.
The migration is complete. The virtual disk is now manageable through
Storage Management.

268 Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to Another
 14
Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a
Hot Spare
When you create a redundant virtual disk using a RAID controller, you have
the opportunity to maintain system operations even when a disk fails. To do
so, you would assign a hot spare to the virtual disk. When a disk fails, the
redundant data is rebuilt onto the hot spare without interrupting system
operations.

Understanding Hot Spares

A hot spare is an unused backup physical disk that can be used to rebuild data
from a redundant virtual disk. Hot spares remain in standby mode. When a
physical disk that is used in a redundant virtual disk fails, the assigned hot
spare is activated to replace the failed physical disk without interrupting the
system or requiring your intervention. If a virtual disk using the failed physical
disk is not redundant, then the data is permanently lost without any method
(unless you have a backup) to restore the data.
Hot spare implementation is different for different controllers. For more
information.
• Considerations for Hot Spares on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si,
4e/Di, PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i, PERC 6/E, PERC 6/I, and CERC 6/I
Controllers
• Considerations for Hot Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300
Controllers
• Global Hot Spare Considerations on a SAS 6/iR
The following sections describe procedures for assigning a hot spare:
• Assign and Unassign Global Hot Spare
• Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare

Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare 269

 Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy
The Hot Spare Protection Policy is supported only on Serial Attached SCSI
(SAS) controllers.
The Hot Spare Protection Policy provides you with a higher protection level
for the virtual disks by enabling you to specify the number of dedicated/global
hot spares to be assigned to the virtual disks/controller. You can also specify
the severity levels for the protection policy. Dell OpenManage Storage
Management sends alerts when the hot spare protection policy is violated.
Storage Management does not provide a default policy; however, you can
determine the hot spare protection policy best suited for your environment.

Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy

Table 14-1. Hot Spare Properties
Property Definition
RAID Layout The RAID level(s) for which you want to configure the hot
spare protection policy.
Minimum The minimum number of physical disks to be assigned as
Number of Disks dedicated hot spares for the selected RAID level(s).
Severity Level The severity level you want to assign to the generated alert, if
this policy is violated.
NOTE: The status of the virtual disk is determined by the severity
level you specify for this policy.

Resetting the Hot Spare Protection Policy

Deselect the RAID Layout to reset the dedicated hot spare protection policy.

270 Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare

Global Hot Spare Protection Policy
Table 14-2. Global Hot Spare Properties
Property Definition
Enable Global Enables the Global Hot Spare Protection Policy.
Hot Spare
Minimum Displays the minimum number of physical disks to be
Number of Disks assigned as global hot spares for the controller.
Severity Level Displays the severity level that you must assign to the
generated alert, if the Global Hot Spare policy is violated.
Consider Global Storage Management considers the Global Hot Spare policy to
Hot Spare Policy determine the status of the virtual disk.
when determining The status of the virtual disk is determined by the severity
Virtual Disk level you specify for this policy.
status

NOTE: When assigning a global hot spare, consider a physical disk that has higher
capacity, which can replace any failed disk in the controller.

Considerations for Hot Spare Protection Policy

• The dedicated hot spare protection policy is not applicable to SCSI,
SAS/iR, PERC H200, and CERC SATA 6ch/2s controllers.
• RAID 0 does not support assigning hot spares. Also, the protection policy
is not applicable for RAID 0.
• For SAS/iR and PERC H200 family of controllers, you can assign only two
global hot spares.
• If the status of the virtual disk is displayed as Degraded or Failed because
of the hot spare protection policy violation, you must assign the required
number of hot spares (as defined in the protection policies) for the status
to be displayed as normal.
• Hot Spare Protection Policy is not applicable to PERC S100, S110, and
S300 controllers.

Considerations for Enclosure Affinity

• Enclosure affinity settings for dedicated hot spare are applicable only on
PERC 5 and PERC 6 family of controllers.

Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare 271

 • Enclosure affinity settings for a global/dedicated hot spare are not
automatically set when you upgrade to Dell OpenManage version 6.1.
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 4/SC,

4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di, PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i,
PERC 6/E, PERC 6/I, and CERC 6/I Controllers
On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di, PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i,
PERC 6/E, PERC 6/I, and CERC 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.
NOTE: When rebuilding a physical disk, you need to delete any non-redundant
virtual disks (such as RAID 0) that reside on the physical disk before rebuilding the
physical disk.
When creating a virtual disk, the physical disks included in the virtual disk
can be different sizes. When assigning a hot spare to a RAID 1 or 5 virtual
disk, the hot spare only needs to be the same size (or larger) as the smallest
physical disk included in the virtual disk.
This is because when using a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di,
PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i, PERC 6/E, PERC 6/I, and CERC 6/I controller, you can
assign physical disks of different sizes to a virtual disk. When you have fully
consumed a smaller physical disk with a virtual disk, however, any portion of
larger physical disks that are not consumed by the virtual disk become
unusable. Therefore, there is no data on the unused portion of a larger disk
that needs to be rebuilt. A redundant virtual disk is also either striped or
mirrored in equal portions across its member physical disks. The amount of
data requiring a rebuild is therefore not larger than the smallest physical disk.
A RAID 10 or 50 virtual disk may include spans that have physical disks of
different sizes. In this case, you should identify the span that has the largest
“small” physical disk. The hot spare should be large enough to rebuild this
physical disk. For example, if one span has three physical disks that are 60
MB, 60 MB and 40 MB and another span has physical disks that are 60 MB,
60 MB, and 50 MB, then the hot spare must be 50 MB or larger.

272 Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare

A dedicated hot spare can only be assigned to the set of virtual disks that
share the same physical disks. A global hot spare is assigned to all redundant
virtual disks on the controller. A global hot spare must be the same size (or
larger) as the smallest physical disk included in any virtual disk on the
controller.
After you have assigned a global hot spare, any new virtual disks created on
the controller is not protected by the hot spare in either of the following
circumstances:
• The controller is a SCSI controller and the partition size of the disk is
larger than the global hot spare.
• The controller is a SAS controller and the disk size is larger than the global
hot spare.
In this case, you can unassign the global hot spare after creating a new virtual
disk and then assign a new and larger hot spare to cover all redundant virtual
disks on the controller. To determine whether the controller is using SCSI or
SAS technology, see RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and
SAS.
On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers, the
virtual disk state is not updated until the controller performs an I/O
operation. This means that when a redundant virtual disk is degraded on one
of these controllers, the hot spare is not activated until the controller
performs an I/O operation. For more information, see I/O and Reboot
Requirements for Detecting Physical Disk Status Changes.

Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations

The following considerations apply to dedicated hot spares:
• Considerations for RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60—If you have
created a RAID 10 or RAID 50 virtual disk that does not fully consume its
member physical disks, then you cannot assign a dedicated hot spare to
the RAID 10 or RAID 50 virtual disk. Storage Management does not allow
you to create RAID 10 and RAID 50 virtual disks from partial physical
disks. You therefore do not encounter this situation if you use Storage
Management to create your virtual disks. If, however, the RAID 10 or 50
virtual disk was created using another application and if it does contain
partial physical disks, then you cannot assign a dedicated hot spare to the
virtual disk.

Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare 273

 NOTE: For H700 and H800 controllers, you can assign a dedicated hot spare
to RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60.
• Considerations for Multiple Dedicated Hot Spares—From Storage
Management version 3.1 onwards, Storage Management enables you to
assign more than one dedicated hot spare to a virtual disk.
NOTE: This feature is applicable only on PERC 5 and PERC 6 family of
controllers.

Physical Disk State, Alert Messages and Hot Spares on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC,
4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di Controllers
If you have a hot spare assigned to a virtual disk and a physical disk in the
virtual disk fails, the failed physical disk may change from Online state to
Ready state without displaying a Failed state. This occurs when the hot spare
is activated before the physical disk is able to report the Failed state. Because
the Failed state is not reported, the “Device failed: physical disk” event 2048
is not generated.
When the hot spare is activated, the hot spare displays the Rebuilding state.
If you review the event log and identify a “rebuilding” event such as 2064 or
2065, you can assume that a physical disk has failed.
For information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

Considerations for Hot Spares on CERC

SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 Controllers
For the CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and 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 not included in the virtual disk are not rebuilt.
On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 controllers, individual physical
disks may be included in more than one virtual disk. (Assigning a portion of a
physical disk to a virtual disk does not preclude the remaining portion of the
physical disk from being used by other virtual disks.) Only the virtual disks to
which the hot spare is assigned are rebuilt. When using Storage Management,
a disk that is assigned as a hot spare on a CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and
S300 controller cannot be used as a member of a virtual disk.

274 Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare

 NOTE: When using the BIOS on a CERC SATA1.5/6ch controller, it may be possible
to create a hot spare from a physical disk that is also used in a virtual disk. To avoid
confusion and maximize data protection, Storage Management does not allow a
physical disk to be both a hot spare and a member of a virtual disk. When assigning
a hot spare, Storage Management displays the physical disks that are not being
used by a virtual disk.

Size Requirements for Global Hot Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100,

and S300 Controllers
When assigning a physical disk as a global hot spare on a CERC
SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 controllers, the physical disk should be as large
or larger than the largest physical disk on the controller.

Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations on CERC SATA1.5/6ch Controllers

You can assign the same dedicated hot spare to more than one virtual disk. In
this case, the hot spare attempts to rebuild all portions of redundant virtual
disks that reside on a failed physical disk. To increase the likelihood that the
hot spare is able to rebuild all virtual disks, you should do the following:
1 Create virtual disks that share the same set of physical disks.
2 Only assign dedicated hot spares to those virtual disks that share the same
set of physical disks.
3 Assign a hot spare that is big enough to rebuild the largest physical disk in
the virtual disk. For example, if the virtual disk is using physical disks that
are 20 MB, 30 MB, and 50 MB, then the hot spare needs to be 50 MB or
larger.
After the hot spare is activated to rebuild a particular virtual disk, it is no
longer available for rebuilding other virtual disks should an additional
physical disk fail. For this reason, when a hot spare is activated it is
automatically unassigned from the remaining virtual disks. To maintain data
protection, you must add a new hot spare and assign it to the other virtual
disks.
NOTE: The Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare command is not available on
the CERC SATA1.5/2s controller.

Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare 275

 Global Hot Spare Considerations on a SAS 6/iR
The SAS 6/iR controller enables you to assign two global hot spares. The
controller firmware remembers the hot spare assignment even after the
physical disks that you assigned as hot spares have been removed. In other
words, in the case of a disk removal, the firmware may assume that a hot spare
is present when it is not. In this case, the firmware may prevent you from
assigning a new global hot spare as the firmware assumes that a global hot
spare is already assigned.
When a physical disk fails in a redundant virtual disk, the failed disk is rebuilt
onto the hot spare. In this case, the controller firmware reassigns the slot
containing the failed disk as the hot spare. In this circumstance, a disk not
previously assigned as a global hot spare becomes a hot spare through failure
or removal.
To ensure that the controller firmware always has a healthy physical disk as a
global hot spare, do the following:
• When removing a physical disk that is assigned as a global hot spare,
unassign the hot spare before removal and reassign another physical disk as
the global hot spare.
• Immediately replace any physical disk that has failed or been removed.
This ensures that a healthy disk resides in a slot that the controller
firmware assumes is a hot spare.

276 Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare

 15
CacheCade Using Solid State
Drives
CacheCade is used to improve random read performance of the Hard Disk
Drive (HDD) 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 Dell Storage Controllers, you can create a
CacheCade using SSDs. The CacheCade is then used for better performance
of the storage I/O operations. Use either Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) SSDs or
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) SSDs to create a CacheCade.
Create a CacheCade with SSDs in the following scenarios:
• Maximum application performance—Create a CacheCade using SSDs to
achieve higher performance without wasted capacity.
• Maximum application performance and higher capacity—Create a
CacheCade using SSDs to balance the capacity of the CacheCade with
high performance SSDs.
• Higher capacity—If you do not have empty slots for additional HDDs, use
SSDs and create a CacheCade. This reduces the number of HDDs
required and increases application performance.
The CacheCade feature has the following restrictions:
• Only SSDs with the proper Dell identifiers can be used to create a
CacheCade.
• If you create a CacheCade using SSDs, the SSD properties are still
retained. At a later point of time, you can use the SSD to create virtual
disks.
• A CacheCade can contain either SAS drives or SATA drives but not both.
• Each SSD in the CacheCade does not have to be of the same size. The
CacheCade size is automatically calculated as follows:
CacheCade size =capacity of the smallest SSD * the number of SSDs
The unused portion of SSD is wasted and can not be used as an additional
CacheCade or an SSD-based virtual disk.

CacheCade Using Solid State Drives 277

 • The total amount of cache pool with a CacheCade is 512 GB. If you create
a CacheCade which is larger than 512 GB, the storage controller still uses
only 512 GB.
• The CacheCade is supported only on Dell H710P, H800, and H810
controllers with 1 GB NVRAM.
• In a storage enclosure, the total number of logical devices including virtual
disks and CacheCade(s) cannot exceed 64.
NOTE: In order to use CacheCade for the virtual disk, the Write and Read policy of
the HDD based virtual disk must be set to Write Back or Force Write Back and read
policy must be set to Read Ahead or Adaptive Read Ahead.
For more information about creating a CacheCade, see "Manage CacheCade"
on page 139.

278 CacheCade Using Solid State Drives

 16
BIOS Terminology
The terminology used by Storage Management can be different from the
terminology used in the controller BIOS. The following sections show some
of these differences.

BIOS Terms and the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, and

4/Di Controllers
Table 16-1. Naming convention differences between Storage Management and PERC
BIOS Configuration Utility

Storage Management PERC BIOS Configuration Utility for the 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC,
and 4/Di Controllers
Controller Adapter
Virtual Disk Logical Drive
Physical disk Physical Drive
Reconfigure Virtual Disk Reconstruct

BIOS Terms and the CERC SATA1.5/6ch and CERC

SATA1.5/2s Controllers
Table 16-2. Naming convention differences between Storage Management and PERC
BIOS Container Configuration Utility (CCU)

Storage Management CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers

Virtual Disk Container
Physical disk Drive
Check Consistency Scrub
Stripe Size Chunk Size
Concatenation Volume

BIOS Terminology 279

 Table 16-2. Naming convention differences between Storage Management and PERC
BIOS Container Configuration Utility (CCU) (continued)

Storage Management CERC SATA1.5/6ch, and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers

Concatenation of RAID 1 Volume
RAID 0 RAID-0 (Stripe)
RAID 1 RAID-1 (Mirror)
Diagnostics Verify

280 BIOS Terminology

 17
Troubleshooting
This section contains troubleshooting procedures for common situations as
well as for specific problems.

Common Troubleshooting Procedures

This section describes commands and procedures that can be used in
troubleshooting. Topics covered include:
• Cables Attached Correctly
• System Requirements
• Drivers and Firmware
• Isolate Hardware Problems
• Rescan to Update Information on SCSI Controllers
• Replacing a Failed Disk
• Recovering from Removing the Wrong Physical Disk
• Resolving Microsoft Windows Upgrade Problems

Cables Attached Correctly

Verify that the power-supply cord and adapter cables are attached correctly. If
the system is having trouble with read and write operations to a particular
virtual disk or non-RAID physical disk (if the system hangs, for example),
then make sure that the cables attached to the corresponding enclosure or
backplane are secure. If the connection is secure but the problem persists, you
may need to replace a cable. Also see Isolate Hardware Problems.
On SAS controllers, you should verify that the cable configuration is valid.
Refer to the SAS hardware documentation for valid cable configurations. If
the cable configuration is invalid, you may receive alerts 2182 or 2356.
For information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.

Troubleshooting 281
 System Requirements
Make sure that the system meets all system requirements. In particular, verify
that the correct levels of firmware and drivers are installed on the system. For
more information on drivers and firmware, see Drivers and Firmware.

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 support.dell.com.
NOTE: You can verify which firmware and drivers are installed by selecting the
Storage object in the tree view and clicking the Information/Configuration tab. You
can also check the Alert Log for alerts relating to unsupported firmware and driver
versions.
It is also recommended to obtain and apply the latest Dell PowerEdge Server
System BIOS on a periodic basis to benefit from the most recent
improvements. For more information, see the Dell PowerEdge system
documentation.

Isolate Hardware Problems

If you receive a “timeout” alert related to a hardware device or if you
otherwise suspect that a device attached to the system is experiencing a
failure, then to confirm the problem:
• Verify that the cables are correctly attached.
• If the cables are correctly attached and you are still experiencing the
problem, then disconnect the device cables and reboot the system. If the
system reboots successfully, then one of the devices may be defective.
Refer to the hardware device documentation for more information.

Rescan to Update Information on SCSI Controllers

On SCSI controllers, use the Rescan controller task to update information for
the controller and attached devices. This operation may take a few minutes if
there are a number of devices attached to the controller.
If the Rescan does not properly update the disk information, you may need to
reboot your system.

282 Troubleshooting
Replacing a Failed Disk
You may need to replace a failed disk in the following situations:
• Replacing a Failed Disk that is Part of a Redundant Virtual Disk
• Replacing a Failed Physical Disk that is Part of a Non-Redundant Virtual
Disk
• Replacing a Failed Physical Disk in a RAID 1 on a CERC SATA1.5/2s

Replacing a Failed Disk that is Part of a Redundant Virtual Disk

If the failed disk is part of a redundant virtual disk, then the disk failure
should not result in data loss. You should replace the failed disk immediately,
however, as additional disk failures can cause data loss.
If the redundant virtual disk has a hot spare assigned to it, then the data from
the failed disk is rebuilt onto the hot spare. After the rebuild, the former hot
spare functions as a regular physical disk and the virtual disk is left without a
hot spare. In this case, you should replace the failed disk and make the
replacement disk a hot spare.
NOTE: If the redundant virtual disk does not have a hot spare assigned to it,
then replace the failed disk using the procedure described in Replacing a
Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts

Replacing the Disk:

1 Remove the failed disk.
2 Insert a new disk. Make sure that the new disk is the same size or larger as
the disk you are replacing. On some controllers, you may not be able to use
the additional disk space if you insert a larger disk. For more information,
see Virtual Disk Considerations for Controllers.
A rebuild is automatically initiated because the virtual disk is redundant.

Assigning a Hot Spare:

If a hot spare was already assigned to the virtual disk, then 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 more information, see Assign and Unassign
Dedicated Hot Spare and Assign and Unassign Global Hot Spare.

Troubleshooting 283
 Replacing a Failed Physical Disk that is Part of a Non-Redundant Virtual
Disk
If the failed physical disk is part of a non-redundant virtual disk (such as
RAID 0), then the failure of a single physical disk causes the entire virtual
disk to fail. To proceed, you need to verify when your last backup was, and if
there is any new data that has been written to the virtual disk since that time.
If you have backed up recently and there is no new data on the disks that
would be missed, you can restore from backup.
NOTE: If the failed disk is attached to a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, or 4/Di controller,
you can attempt to recover data from the disk by using the procedure described in
Using the Physical Disk Online Command on Select Controllers before continuing
with the following procedure.
Do the following:
1 Delete the virtual disk which is currently in a failed state.
2 Remove the failed physical disk.
3 Insert a new physical disk.
4 Create a new virtual disk.
5 Restore from backup.

Using the Physical Disk Online Command on Select Controllers

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features

If you do not have a suitable backup available, and if the failed disk is part of
a virtual disk on a controller that supports the Online physical disk task, then
you can attempt to retrieve data by selecting Online from the failed disk’s
drop-down task menu.
The Online command attempts to force the failed disk back into a Online
state. If you are able to force the disk into a Online state, you may be able to
recover individual files. How much data you can recover depends on the
extent of disk damage. File recovery is only possible if a limited portion of the
disk is damaged.
There is no guarantee you is able to recover any data using this method. A
forced Online does not fix a failed disk. You should not attempt to write new
data to the virtual disk.

284 Troubleshooting
After retrieving any viable data from the disk, replace the failed disk as
described previously in Replacing a Failed Disk that is Part of a Redundant
Virtual Disk or Replacing a Failed Physical Disk that is Part of a Non-
Redundant Virtual Disk.

Replacing a Failed Physical Disk in a RAID 1 on a CERC SATA1.5/2s

On a CERC SATA1.5/2s controller, a rebuild may not start automatically
when you replace a failed physical disk that is part of a RAID 1 virtual disk. In
this circumstance, use the following procedure to replace the failed physical
disk and rebuild the redundant data.
1 Turn off the system.
2 Disconnect the SATA cable on the failed physical disk in the RAID 1
virtual disk.
3 Replace the failed physical disk with a formatted physical disk. You can
format the physical disk using the Disk Utilities in the controller BIOS.
(You may not need to format the entire physical disk. Formatting 1% of
the disk may be sufficient.)
4 Reboot the system. When rebooted, the RAID 1 virtual disk should display
a Failed Redundancy state.
5 Expand the controller object in the tree view and select the Physical Disks
object.
6 Execute the Rebuild task for the physical disk you added.

Recovering from Removing the Wrong Physical Disk

If the physical disk that you mistakenly removed is part of a redundant virtual
disk that also has a hot spare, then the virtual disk rebuilds automatically
either immediately or when a write request is made. After the rebuild has
completed, the virtual disk no longer has a hot spare since data has been
rebuilt onto the disk previously assigned as a hot spare. In this case, you
should assign a new hot spare.
If the physical disk that you removed is part of a redundant virtual disk that
does not have a hot spare, then replace the physical disk and do a rebuild.
For information on rebuilding physical disks and assigning hot spares, see the
following sections:
• Understanding Hot Spares for RAID controllers

Troubleshooting 285
 • Rebuild for PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, PERC 5/E and PERC 5/i
controllers
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 Blink and Unblink (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. The
installation process installs files and makes registry entries on the server that
are specific to the operating system. For this reason, changing the operating
system can disable Storage Management.
To avoid this problem, you should uninstall Storage Management before
upgrading. If you have already upgraded without uninstalling Storage
Management, however, you should uninstall Storage Management after the
upgrade.
After you have uninstalled Storage Management and completed the upgrade,
reinstall Storage Management using the Storage Management install media.
You can download Storage Management from support.dell.com.

Virtual Disk Troubleshooting

The following sections describe troubleshooting procedures for virtual disks.
• Replacing a Failed Disk that is Part of a Redundant Virtual Disk
• Replacing a Failed Physical Disk in a RAID 1 on a CERC SATA1.5/2s
• A Rebuild Does Not Work
• A Rebuild Completes with Errors
• Cannot Create a Virtual Disk
• Virtual Disk Errors on Linux
• Problems Associated With Using the Same Physical Disks for Both
Redundant and Non-Redundant Virtual Disks

A Rebuild Does Not Work

A rebuild does not work in the following situations:

286 Troubleshooting
• The virtual disk is non-redundant—For example, a RAID 0 virtual disk
cannot be rebuilt because RAID 0 does not provide data redundancy.
• There is no hot spare assigned to the virtual disk—As long as the virtual
disk is redundant, to rebuild it:
– Pull out the failed physical disk and replace it. A rebuild automatically
starts on the new disk.
– Assign a hot spare to the virtual disk and then perform a rebuild.
• You are attempting to rebuild onto a hot spare that is too small—
Different controllers have different size requirements for hot spares. For
more information on disk size requirements, see Considerations for Hot
Spares on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di, PERC 5/E, PERC
5/i, PERC 6/E, PERC 6/I, and CERC 6/I Controllers and Considerations
for Hot Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 Controllers.
• The hot spare has been unassigned from the virtual disk—This could
happen on some controllers if the hot spare was assigned to more than one
virtual disk and has already been used to rebuild a failed physical disk for
another virtual disk. For more information, see Considerations for Hot
Spares on CERC SATA1.5/6ch, S100, and S300 Controllers.
• On SCSI controllers, both redundant and non-redundant virtual disks
reside on the same set of physical disks—On the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC,
4e/DC, and 4/Di controllers, a rebuild is not performed for a physical disk
that is used by both redundant and non-redundant virtual disks. In order
to rebuild the redundant virtual disk, you need to delete the non-
redundant virtual disk. Before deleting this disk, however, you can attempt
to recover data from the failed physical disk by forcing it back online. For
more information, see Using the Physical Disk Online Command on
Select Controllers.
• A physical disk has been removed, and the system has not yet
attempted to write data to the removed disk—In this case, the system
does not recognize the removal of a physical disk until it attempts a write
operation to the disk. If the physical disk is part of a redundant virtual disk,
then the system rebuilds the disk after attempting a write operation. This
situation applies to PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, and 4/Di controllers.

Troubleshooting 287
 • The virtual disk includes failed or corrupt physical disks—This
situation may generate alert 2083. For information on Alert Messages, see
the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide at
support.dell.com/manuals.
• The rebuild rate setting is too low—If the rebuild rate setting is quite low
and the system is processing a number of operations, then the rebuild may
take an unusual amount of time to complete. For more information, see
Set Rebuild Rate.
• The rebuild was cancelled—Another user can cancel a rebuild that you
have initiated.

A Rebuild Completes with Errors

This section applies to PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers
In some situations, a rebuild may complete successfully while also reporting
errors. This may occur when a portion of the disk containing redundant
(parity) information is damaged. The rebuild process can restore data from
the healthy portions of the disk but not from the damaged portion.
When a rebuild is able to restore all data except data from damaged portions
of the disk, it indicates successful completion while also generating alert
2163.
For information on Alert Messages, see the Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator Messages Reference Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
The rebuild may also report sense key errors. In this situation, take the
following actions to restore the maximum data possible:
1 Back up the degraded virtual disk onto a fresh (unused) tape.
- 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 Perform a Check Consistency on the virtual disk that you have backed up
onto tape.

288 Troubleshooting
 3 Restore the virtual disk from the tape onto healthy physical disks.

Cannot Create a Virtual Disk

You might be attempting a RAID configuration that is not supported by the
controller. Check the following:
• How many virtual disks already exist on the controller? Each controller
supports a maximum number of virtual disks. See Maximum Number of
Virtual Disks per Controller for more information.
• Is there adequate available space on the disk? The physical disks that you
have selected for creating the virtual disk must have an adequate amount
of free space available.
• The controller may be performing other tasks, such rebuilding a physical
disk, that must run to completion before the controller can create the new
virtual disk.

A Virtual Disk of Minimum Size is Not Visible to Windows Disk

Management
If you create a virtual disk using the minimum allowable size in Storage
Management, the virtual disk may not be visible to Windows Disk
Management even after initialization. This occurs because Windows Disk
Management is only able to recognize extremely small virtual disks if they are
dynamic. It is generally advisable to create virtual disks of larger size when
using Storage Management.

Virtual Disk Errors on Linux

On some versions of the Linux operating system, the virtual disk size is
limited to 1TB. If you create a virtual disk that exceeds the 1TB limitation,
your system may experience the following behavior:
• I/O errors to the virtual disk or logical drive
• Inaccessible virtual disk or logical drive
• Virtual disk or logical drive size is smaller than expected
If you have created a virtual disk that exceeds the 1TB limitation, you should
do the following:
1 Back up your data.

Troubleshooting 289
 2 Delete the virtual disk.
3 Create one or more virtual disks that are smaller than 1TB.
4 Restore your data from backup.
Irrespective of whether your Linux operating system limits the virtual disk
size to 1TB, the virtual disk size depends on the version of the operating
system and any updates or modifications that you have implemented. For
more information, see your operating system documentation.

Problems Associated With Using the Same Physical Disks for Both
Redundant and Non-Redundant Virtual Disks
When creating virtual disks, you should avoid using the same physical disks
for both redundant and non-redundant virtual disks. This recommendation
applies to all controllers. Using the same physical disks for both redundant
and non-redundant virtual disks can result in unexpected behavior including
data loss.
NOTE: SAS controllers do not allow you to create redundant and non-redundant
virtual disks on the same set of physical disks.

Considerations for CERC SATA1.5/6ch and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers When

Physical Disks are Shared by Redundant and Non-Redundant Virtual Disks
This section describes behavior that may occur on the CERC SATA1.5/6ch
and CERC SATA1.5/2s controllers if you use the same physical disks for both
redundant and non-redundant virtual disks. In this type of configuration, the
failure or removal of a physical disk can cause the following behavior:
• The non-redundant virtual disk displays a Failed state.
Resolution: This behavior is expected because the virtual disk is non-
redundant. In this case, the failure or removal of a single physical disk
causes the entire virtual disk to fail with no possibility of recovering the
data unless a backup is available.
• The redundant virtual disks display a Degraded state.
Resolution: This behavior is also expected. Data can be recovered if a hot
spare is available to rebuild the failed or removed disk.
• Various disks display an Offline state. The Offline state may apply to all
physical disks used by the redundant and non-redundant virtual disks.

290 Troubleshooting
 Resolution: Perform a Rescan Controller. When the rescan is complete,
select each physical disk that is Offline and perform a Remove Dead
Segments task. You must remove the dead segments before the physical
disk can be brought back online. The dead segments are caused by the
failure or removal of the shared physical disk.
NOTE: It is recommended that you avoid using the same physical disks for both
redundant and non-redundant virtual disks.

Specific Problem Situations and Solutions

This section contains additional trouble-shooting problem areas. Topics
include:
• Physical Disk is Offline or Displays an Error Status
• A Disk is Marked as Failed When Rebuilding in a Cluster Configuration
• A Disk on a PERC 4/Di Controller Does not Return Online after a Prepare
to Remove
• Receive a “Bad Block” Alert with “Replacement,” “Sense,” or “Medium”
Error
• Read and Write Operations Experience Problems
• I/O Stops When a Redundant Channel Fails
• A Task Menu Option is Not Displayed
• A Corrupt Disk or Drive Message Suggests Running autocheck During a
Reboot
• Erroneous Status and Error Messages after a Windows Hibernation
• Storage Management May Delay Before Updating Temperature Probe
Status
• Storage Management May Delay Displaying Storage Devices After Reboot
• You are Unable to Log into a Remote System
• Cannot Connect to Remote System Running Windows Server 2003
• Reconfiguring a Virtual Disk Displays Error in Mozilla Browser
• Physical Disks Display Under Connector Not Enclosure Tree Object

Troubleshooting 291
 Physical Disk is Offline or Displays an Error Status
A physical disk may display an error status if it has been damaged, taken
offline, or was a member of a virtual disk that has been deleted or initialized.
The following actions may resolve the error condition:
• If a user has taken the disk offline, then return the disk to Online status by
executing the Online disk task.
• Rescan the controller. This action updates the status of storage objects
attached to the controller. If the error status was caused by deleting or
initializing a virtual disk, rescanning the controller should resolve this
problem.
• Investigate whether there are any cable, enclosure, or controller problems
preventing the disk from communicating with the controller. If you find a
problem and resolve it, you may need to rescan the controller to return the
disk to Online or Ready status. If the disk does not return to Online or
Ready status, reboot the system.
• If the disk is damaged, replace it. For more information, see Replacing a
Failed Disk.

A Disk is Marked as Failed When Rebuilding in a Cluster Configuration

When a system in a cluster attempts to rebuild a failed disk but the rebuild
fails, then another system takes over the rebuild. In this situation, you may
notice that the rebuilt disk continues to be marked as failed on both systems
even after the second system has rebuilt successfully. To resolve this problem,
perform a rescan on both systems after the rebuild completes successfully.

A Disk on a PERC 4/Di Controller Does not Return Online after a Prepare
to Remove
When you do a Prepare to Remove command on a physical disk attached to a
PERC 4/Di controller, you may find that the disk does not display in the
Storage Management tree view even after doing a rescan or a reboot.
In this case, to redisplay the disk in the Storage Management tree view:
1 Manually remove and then replace the physical disk.
2 Rescan the controller or reboot the system.

292 Troubleshooting
Receive a “Bad Block” Alert with “Replacement,” “Sense,” or
“Medium” Error
The following alerts or events are generated when a portion of a physical disk
is damaged:
• 2146
• 2147
• 2148
• 2149
• 2150
This damage is discovered when the controller performs an operation that
requires scanning the disk. Examples of operations that may result in these
alerts are as follows:
• Consistency check
• Rebuild
• Virtual disk format
• I/O
If you receive an alerts 2146 through 2150 as the result of doing a rebuild or
while the virtual disk is in a degraded state, then data cannot be recovered
from the damaged disk without restoring from backup. If you receive alerts
2146 through 2150 under circumstances other than a rebuild, then data
recovery may be possible. The following describes each of these situations.

Alerts 2146 through 2150 Received during a Rebuild or while a Virtual Disk is
Degraded
Do the following if you receive alerts 2146 through 2150 during a rebuild or
while the virtual disk is in a degraded state:
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 backup.

Troubleshooting 293
 Alerts 2146 through 2150 Received while Performing I/O, Consistency Check,
Format, or Other Operation
If you receive alerts 2146 through 2150 while performing an operation other
than a rebuild, you should replace the damaged disk immediately to avoid
data loss.
Do the following:
1 Back up the degraded virtual disk to a fresh (unused) tape.
2 Replace the damaged disk.
3 Do a rebuild.

Read and Write Operations Experience Problems

If the system is hanging, timing out, or experiencing other problems with read
and write operations, then there may be a problem with the controller cables
or a device. For more information, see Cables Attached Correctly and Isolate
Hardware Problems.

I/O Stops When a Redundant Channel Fails

If you have implemented channel redundancy on a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC,
4e/DC, or 4/Di controller, a failure of one channel causes I/O to stop on the
other channels included in the channel-redundant configuration. To resolve
this issue, see Channel Redundancy on PERC 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, and 4e/Di
Controllers.

A Task Menu Option is Not Displayed

You may notice that the task menus do not always display the same task
options. This is because Storage Management only displays those tasks that
are valid at the time the menu is displayed. Some tasks are only valid for
certain types of objects or at certain times. For example, a Check Consistency
task can only be performed on a redundant virtual disk. Similarly, if a disk is
already offline, the Offline task option is not displayed.
There may be other reasons why a task cannot be run at a certain time. For
example, there may already be a task running on the object that must
complete before additional tasks can be run.

294 Troubleshooting
A Corrupt Disk or Drive Message Suggests Running autocheck During a
Reboot
Let autocheck run, but do not worry about the message. The reboot
completes after autocheck is finished. Depending on the size of your system,
this may take about ten minutes.

Erroneous Status and Error Messages after a Windows Hibernation

Activating the Windows hibernation feature may cause Storage Management
to display erroneous status information and error messages. This problem
resolves itself when the Windows operating system recovers from
hibernation.

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. Because of this delay, Storage Management
may require one or two minutes before displaying the correct temperature
and temperature probe status.

Storage Management May Delay Displaying Storage Devices After

Reboot
Storage Management requires time after a reboot to find and inventory all
attached storage devices. You may experience a delay in storage controllers
being displayed until this operation has completed.

You are Unable to Log into a Remote System

Access can be denied here if you do not enter a user name and password that
match an administrator account on the remote computer or if you mistype
the login information. The remote system may also not be powered on or
there may be network problems.

Troubleshooting 295
 Cannot Connect to Remote System Running Windows Server 2003
When connecting to a remote system running Windows Server 2003, log into
the remote system using an account that has administrator privileges. By
default, Windows Server 2003 does not allow anonymous (null) connections
to access the SAM user accounts. Therefore, if you are attempting to connect
using an account that has a blank or null password, the connection may fail.

Reconfiguring a Virtual Disk Displays Error in Mozilla Browser

When reconfiguring a virtual disk using the Mozilla browser, the following
error message may display:
Although this page is encrypted, the information you
have entered is to be sent over an unencrypted
connection and could easily be read by a third party.
You can disable this error message by changing a Mozilla browser setting. To
disable this error message:
1 Select Edit and then Preferences.
2 Click Privacy and Security.
3 Click SSL.
4 Uncheck the “Sending form data from an unencrypted page to an
unencrypted page” option.

Physical Disks Display Under Connector Not Enclosure Tree Object

Storage Management polls the status of physical disks at frequent intervals.
When the physical disk is located in an enclosure, Storage Management uses
the data reported by the SCSI Enclosure Processor (SEP) to ascertain the
status of the physical disk. In the event that the SEP is not functioning,
Storage Management is still able to poll the status of the physical disk, but
Storage Management is not able to identify the physical disk as being located
in the enclosure. In this case, Storage Management displays the physical disk
directly below the Connector object in the tree view and not under the
enclosure object.
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 Dell OpenManage™ Server Administrator User’s
Guide.

296 Troubleshooting
PCIe SSD Troubleshooting
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Solid-State Drive
(SSD) is not seen in the operating system
Probable Cause:
Hardware is not installed correctly
Solution:
Check the following components to ensure they are plugged:
• Devices: Ensure that the PCIe SSDs are installed in a PCIe SSD
backplane.
• Backplane: Ensure that the cables for the PCIe SSD backplane are
connected.
• Cables: PCIe cables are unique for the configuration. Ensure that the
backplane cable connectors mate with the backplane and the extender
card cable connectors mate with the extender card.
• Extender card: Ensure that the PCIe extender card is plugged into the
correct supported slot.

PCIe SSD is not seen in disk management in the operating system

Probable Cause:
Device driver is not installed
Solution:
1 Download the latest PCIe SSD driver from support.dell.com.
2 Open Device Manager and double-click on Other Devices where the PCIe
device is seen with a yellow mark.
3 Right-click and install the driver on the instance.

For more information on possible error conditions with your PCIe SSD, see
the system specific Owner's Manual at support.dell.com/manuals.

Troubleshooting 297
298 Troubleshooting
 18
Frequently Asked Questions
This section provides frequently asked questions that address situations
commonly experienced in a storage environment.

Why is a Rebuild not Working?

For more information, see A Rebuild Does Not Work.

How Can I Safely Remove or Replace a Physical

Disk?
The following sections provide information related to safely removing a
healthy physical disk:
• For disks that reside in an enclosure, use the Prepare to Remove task to
locate the disk within the enclosure and deactivate it prior to removal.
• For physical disks included in a virtual disk, use the Offline task to
deactivate the disk prior to removal. For more information, see Online and
Offline. If you need help locating the disk within the enclosure, you can
blink the disk’s light-emitting diode (LED) displays. For more
information, see Blink and Unblink (Physical Disk).
The following sections describe how to replace a disk that has failed or is
receiving SMART alerts:
• Replacing a Failed Disk
• Replacing a Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts
The following sections have related information:
• Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to Another
• Recovering from Removing the Wrong Physical Disk
• Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare

Frequently Asked Questions 299

 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 controller’s properties information displays the firmware version that is
installed on the controller. From the Storage tree view object, you can display
the firmware version for all controllers attached to the system. (A controller’s
Information/Configuration subtab also displays the firmware installed on
that controller.)
To display the firmware version of all controllers:
1 Select the Storage object in the tree view.
2 Click the Information/Configuration subtab. The Firmware Version
column on the Information/Configuration subtab displays the firmware
version for all controllers attached to the system.

Related Information:
• Downloading Firmware and Cluster Controllers
• Controller Properties and Tasks

Which Controllers do I Have?

Each controller attached to the system is displayed under the Storage object
in the tree view.
In addition, the Storage object’s Health and Information/Configuration
subtabs display information for each controller.
To identify which controllers are attached to the system:
1 Select the Storage tree view object. The Health subtab displays the name
and status for each controller attached to the system.
2 Click the Information/Configuration subtab to display additional
information for each controller.

300 Frequently Asked Questions

 3 To display more information about a particular controller including its
tasks, click the controller’s name in the Name column on the
Information/Configuration subtab. This action displays the controller’s
Information/Configuration subtab. The Information/Configuration
subtab displays information about the controller’s components and
enables you to execute the controller tasks.

Related information:
• Controllers
• Controller Health
• Controller Properties and Tasks

How do I Turn off an Alarm?

Some storage components have alarms to indicate error conditions. The
following describes how to turn off an alarm after it is sounding:
• Quiet Alarm (Controller)
• Disable Alarm (Controller)
• Disable Alarm (Enclosure)

Which RAID level is Best for me?

For more information, see Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation and
Comparing RAID Level and Concatenation Performance.

Frequently Asked Questions 301

302 Frequently Asked Questions
 A
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 appendix identifies the features that
each controller supports. For more information, see your hardware
documentation.

Supported Features on the PERC 4/ Controllers

This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, 4e/Di,
4e/DC, and 4/IM controllers.
The features comprise the following:
• Controller Tasks
• Battery Tasks
• Connector Tasks
• Physical Disk Tasks
• Virtual Disk Tasks
• Virtual Disk Specifications
• Supported RAID Levels
• Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy
• Enclosure Support
For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure and Backplane Features.

Controller Tasks

Table A-1. Controller Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Enable Alarm Yes Yes No No No Yes No

Supported Features 303

 Table A-1. Controller Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Disable Alarm Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Quiet Alarm Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Test Alarm No No No No No No No
Reset Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
configuration
Set Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Rate
Set Background No No No No No No No
Initialization
Rate
Set Check No No No No No No No
Consistency
Rate
Set Reconstruct No No No No No No No
Rate
Rescan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Controller
Create Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Disk
Export Log File Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Clear Foreign No No No No No No No
Configuration
Import Foreign No No No No No No No
Configuration
Import/Recover No No No No No No No
Foreign
Configuration

304 Supported Features

Table A-1. Controller Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Set Patrol Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Mode
NOTE: For
PERC 4
controllers,
(Manual mode is
not available).
Start Patrol No No No No No No No
Read
Stop Patrol No No No No No No No
Read

Battery Tasks

Table A-2. Battery Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

Battery Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Recondition No No No No No No No
Battery
Start Learn No No No No No No No
Cycle
Delay Learn No No No No No No No
Cycle

Connector Tasks

Table A-3. Connector Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

Connector Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Connector Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rescan

Supported Features 305

 Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-4. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

Physical Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/IM
Task Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Task only
available
when an
enclosure
or
backplane
and LEDs
on the
physical
disks are
present.
Assign and Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Unassign Global
Hot Spare
Prepare to Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Remove
Offline Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Online Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Initialize No No No No No No No
Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cancel Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Remove Dead No No No No No No No
Disk Segments
Format Disk No No No No No No No
Clear No No No No No No No
Cancel Clear No No No No No No No

306 Supported Features

Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-5. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

Virtual Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Task Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/D 4/IM
C
Assign and Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Unassign
Dedicated Hot
Spare
Create Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Disk
Create Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Disk Advanced
Wizard
Create Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Disk Express
Wizard
Rename Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Reconfigure Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Change Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Split Mirror No No No No No No No
Unmirror No No No No No No No
Delete Last Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Virtual Disk
Delete (any) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Virtual Disk
Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Consistency
Cancel Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Consistency
Pause Check No No No No No No No
Consistency

Supported Features 307

 Table A-5. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Task Name 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/D 4/IM
C
Resume Check No No No No No No No
Consistency
Cancel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Background
Initialization
(BGI)
Format Virtual No No No No No No No
Disk
Cancel Format No No No No No No No
Virtual Disk
Restore Dead No No No No No No No
Disk Segments
Initialize Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Virtual Disk
Fast Initialize No No No No No No No
Virtual Disk
Slow Initialize No No No No No No No
Virtual Disk
Cancel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Initialize
Virtual Disk

308 Supported Features

Virtual Disk Specifications

Table A-6. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 4/ Controllers

Virtual Disk PERC 4/SC PERC 4/DC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/IM
Specification 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC
Maximum 40 40 40 40 40 40 1
Number of
Virtual Disks
per
Controller
Minimum 100 100 100 100 100 100 Max
Virtual Disk MB MB MB MB MB MB
Size
Maximum 2TB 2TB 2TB 2TB 2TB 2TB 2TB
Virtual Disk
Size
Maximum 8 8 8 8 8 8 1
Number of
Spans per
Virtual Disk
Maximum 32 32 32 32 32 32 2
Number of
Physical
Disks per
Span
Minimum 2k 2k 2k 2k 2k 2k NA
Stripe Size
Maximum 128k 128k 128k 128k 128k 128k NA
Stripe Size
Maximum 16 16 16 16 16 16 1
Number of
Virtual Disks
per Disk
Group

Supported Features 309

 Table A-6. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC 4/SC PERC 4/DC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/IM
Specification 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC
Maximum 8 8 8 8 8 8 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks that
Can Be
Concatenate
d
Maximum 32 32 32 32 32 32 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 0
Maximum 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 1
Maximum 32 32 32 32 32 32 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 5
Maximum 16 16 16 16 16 16 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 10
Maximum 256 256 256 256 256 256 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 50

310 Supported Features

Table A-6. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC 4/SC PERC 4/DC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/IM
Specification 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC
Minimum 2 2 2 2 2 2 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks that
Can Be
Concatenate
d
Minimum 1 1 1 1 1 1 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 0
Minimum 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 1
Minimum 3 3 3 3 3 3 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 5
Minimum 4 4 4 4 4 4 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 10
Minimum 6 6 6 6 6 6 NA
Number of
Physical
Disks in a
RAID 50

Supported Features 311

 Table A-6. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC 4/SC PERC 4/DC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/IM
Specification 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC
Maximum NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
number of
physical disks
in a RAID 6
Maximum NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
number of
physical disks
in a RAID 60
Minimum NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
number of
physical disks
in a RAID 6
Minimum NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
number of
physical disks
in a RAID 60

Supported RAID Levels

Table A-7. RAID Levels Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

RAID Level PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Concatenation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
RAID 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
RAID 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
RAID 10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
RAID 50 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
RAID 6 No No No No No No No
RAID 60 No No No No No No No

312 Supported Features

Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy

Table A-8. Read, Write and Disk Cache Policy Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers

Read, Write, and PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC
Disk Cache 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Policy
Cache settings Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Read Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Read Ahead Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Enabled)
Adaptive Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Ahead
No Read Ahead Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Disabled)
Write Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Write Back Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Enabled)
Write Through Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Disabled)
Force Write No No No No No No No
Back (Enabled
Always)
Write Cache No No No No No No No
Enabled
Protected
Disk Cache Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Policy
Cache I/O Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Direct I/O Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Supported Features 313

 Enclosure Support

Table A-9. Enclosure Support on the PERC 4/ Controllers

Enclosure PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC

Support 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM
Can an Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
enclosure be
attached to this
controller?

Supported Features on the CERC SATA

Controllers
This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the CERC SATA 1.5/2s and CERC
SATA1.5/6ch controllers.
• Controller Tasks
• Battery Tasks
• Connector Tasks
• Physical Disk Tasks
• Virtual Disk Tasks
• Virtual Disk Specifications
• Supported RAID Levels
• Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy
• Enclosure Support
For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure and Backplane Features.

314 Supported Features

Controller Tasks

Table A-10. Controller Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

Controller Task Name CERC SATA CERC SATA

1.5/2s 1.5/6ch
Enable Alarm No Yes
Disable Alarm No Yes
Quiet Alarm No Yes
Test Alarm No Yes
Reset configuration Yes Yes
Set Rebuild Rate No No
Set Background No No
Initialization Rate
Set Check Consistency No No
Rate
Set Reconstruct Rate No No
Rescan Controller Yes Yes
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes
Export Log File No Yes
Clear Foreign No No
Configuration
Import Foreign No No
Configuration
Import/Recover Foreign No No
Configuration
Set Patrol Read Mode No No
Start Patrol Read No No
Stop Patrol Read No No

Supported Features 315

 Battery Tasks

Table A-11. Battery Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

Battery Task Name CERC SATA CERC SATA

1.5/2s 1.5/6ch
Recondition Battery No No
Start Learn Cycle No No
Delay Learn Cycle No No

Connector Tasks

Table A-12. Connector Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

Connector Task Name CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch

Connector Rescan Yes Yes

Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-13. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

Physical Disk Task Name CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch

Blink/Unblink No No
Assign and Unassign No Yes
Global Hot Spare
Prepare to Remove No No
Offline No No
Online No No
Initialize Yes Yes
Rebuild Yes No
Cancel Rebuild No No
Remove Dead Disk No Yes
Segments

316 Supported Features

Table A-13. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers (continued)

Physical Disk Task Name CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch

Format Disk No No
Clear No No
Cancel Clear No No

Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-14. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name CERC SATA CERC SATA

2S 6ch
Assign and Unassign No Yes
Dedicated Hot Spare
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes
Advanced Wizard
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes
Express Wizard
Rename Yes Yes
Blink/Unblink No No
Reconfigure No Yes
Change Policy No Yes
Split Mirror No Yes
Unmirror No Yes
Delete Last Virtual Disk Yes Yes
Delete (any) Virtual Disk No Yes
Check Consistency Yes Yes
Cancel Check Yes Yes
Consistency
Pause Check Consistency No Yes

Supported Features 317

 Table A-14. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Task Name CERC SATA CERC SATA

2S 6ch
Resume Check No Yes
Consistency
Cancel Background No No
Initialization (BGI)
Format Virtual Disk No Yes
Cancel Format Virtual No No
Disk
Restore Dead Disk No Yes
Segments
Initialize Virtual Disk No No
Fast Initialize Virtual Disk No No
Slow Initialize Virtual No No
Disk
Cancel Initialize Virtual No No
Disk

Virtual Disk Specifications

Table A-15. Virtual Disk Specifications for the CERC SATA Controllers

Virtual Disk Specification CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA

6ch
Maximum Number of 1 10
Virtual Disks per
Controller
Minimum Virtual Disk 100MB 100MB
Size
Maximum Virtual Disk 2TB 2TB
Size
Maximum Number of 1 16
Spans per Virtual Disk

318 Supported Features

Table A-15. Virtual Disk Specifications for the CERC SATA Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Specification CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA

6ch
Maximum Number of 2 2
Physical Disks per Span
Minimum Stripe Size 16k 8k
Maximum Stripe Size 64k 64k
Maximum Number of 1 9
Virtual Disks per Disk
Group
Maximum Number of 1 1
Physical Disks that Can Be
Concatenated
Maximum Number of 2 48
Physical Disks in a RAID 0
Maximum Physical Disks 2 2
in a RAID 1
Maximum Number of NA 16
Physical Disks in a RAID 5
Maximum Number of NA 32
Physical Disks in a RAID
10
Maximum Number of NA NA
Physical Disks in a RAID
50
Minimum Number of 1 1
Physical Disks that Can Be
Concatenated
Minimum Number of 1 1
Physical Disks in a RAID 0
Minimum Number of 2 2
Physical Disks in a RAID 1
Minimum Number of NA 3
Physical Disks in a RAID 5

Supported Features 319

 Table A-15. Virtual Disk Specifications for the CERC SATA Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Specification CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA

6ch
Minimum Number of NA 4
Physical Disks in a RAID
10
Minimum Number of NA NA
Physical Disks in a RAID
50
Maximum number of NA NA
physical disks in a RAID 6
Maximum number of NA NA
physical disks in a RAID
60
Minimum number of NA NA
physical disks in a RAID 6
Minimum number of NA NA
physical disks in a RAID
60

Supported RAID Levels

Table A-16. RAID Levels Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

RAID Level CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch

Concatenation Yes Yes
RAID 0 Yes Yes
RAID 1 Yes Yes
RAID 5 No Yes
RAID 10 No Yes
RAID 50 No No
RAID 6 No No
RAID 60 No No

320 Supported Features

Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy

Table A-17. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers

Read, Write, and Cache CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch

Policy
Cache settings No Yes
Read Policy No Yes
Read Ahead (Enabled) No Yes
Adaptive Read Ahead No No
No Read Ahead Yes Yes
(Disabled)
Write Policy No Yes
Write Back (Enabled) No No
Write Through (Disabled) Yes Yes
Force Write Back No No
(Enabled Always)
Write Cache Enabled No Yes
Protected
Cache Policy No No
Cache I/O No No
Direct I/O No No

Enclosure Support

Table A-18. Enclosure Support on the CERC SATA Controllers

Enclosure Support CERC SATA CERC SATA

2S 6ch
Can an enclosure be No No
attached to this
controller?

Supported Features 321

 Supported Features on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and
CERC 6/I Controllers
This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i, PERC 6/E, PERC
6/I, PERC 6/I Modular, and CERC 6/I controllers.
• 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

Table A-19. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers

Controller Task PERC 5/E PERC 5/i PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Name Modular
Enable Alarm Yes No No NA NA NA
Disable Alarm Yes No No NA NA NA
Quiet Alarm Yes No No NA NA NA
Test Alarm Yes No No NA NA NA
Reset configuration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Set Rebuild Rate Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Set Background Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Initialization Rate

322 Supported Features

Table A-19. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC 5/E PERC 5/i PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Name Modular
Set Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Consistency Rate
Set Reconstruct Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rate
Rescan Controller No No No No No No
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Export Log File Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Clear Foreign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Configuration
Import Foreign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Configuration
Import/Recover Yes with Yes with Yes Yes Yes Yes
Foreign firmware firmware
Configuration 5.1.x or 5.1.x or
greater. greater.
Set Patrol Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mode
Start Patrol Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Stop Patrol Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Replace Member No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later
Foreign No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
Configuration firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later
Import Preview of No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
Foreign firmware firmware firmware
Configuration 6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later

Supported Features 323

 Table A-19. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC 5/E PERC 5/i PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Name Modular
Hot-plug of No No Yes with No No No
Enclosures firmware
6.1 and
later
Change Controller No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
Properties firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later
Intelligent Mirroring No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later
Redundant Path No No Yes with No No No
Configuration firmware
6.1 and
later
Disk Cache Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Managing Preserved No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
Cache firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later
Controller Reports
Patrol Read Report Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Check Consistency Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Report
Slot Occupancy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Report

324 Supported Features

Battery Tasks

Table A-20. Battery Tasks Supported on the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers

Battery Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/i PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Recondition Battery No No No No No No
Start Learn Cycle Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Delay Learn Cycle Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Connector Tasks

Table A-21. Connector Tasks Supported by the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers

Connector Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Connector Rescan No No No No No No

Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-22. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers

Physical Disk Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Assign and Unassign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Global Hot Spare
Prepare to Remove No No No No No No
Offline Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Initialize No No No No No No
Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Supported Features 325

 Table A-22. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers (continued)

Physical Disk Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Cancel Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Remove Dead Disk No No No No No No
Segments
Format Disk No No No No No No
Clear Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cancel Clear Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cancel Replace Member No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later

Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-23. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Assign and Unassign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dedicated Hot Spare
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Advanced Wizard
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Express Wizard
Rename Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Reconfigure Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Change Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Split Mirror No No No No No No

326 Supported Features

Table A-23. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Unmirror No No No No No No
Delete Last Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Delete (any) Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Check Consistency Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cancel Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Consistency
Pause Check No No No No No No
Consistency
Resume Check No No No No No No
Consistency
Cancel Background Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Initialization (BGI)
Format Virtual Disk No No No No No No
Cancel Format Virtual No No No No No No
Disk
Restore Dead Disk No No No No No No
Segments
Initialize Virtual Disk No No No No No No
Fast Initialize Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Slow Initialize Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Cancel Initialize Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Replace Member No No Yes with Yes with Yes with No
firmware firmware firmware
6.1 and 6.1 and 6.1 and
later later later

Supported Features 327

 Virtual Disk Specifications

Table A-24. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers

Virtual Disk PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Specification Modular
Maximum Number of 64 64 64 64 64 64
Virtual Disks per
Controller
Minimum Virtual Disk 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB
Size
Maximum Virtual None None None None None None
Disk Size
Maximum Number of 8 8 8 8 8 8
Spans per Virtual Disk
Maximum Number of 32 32 32 32 32 32
Physical Disks per
Span
Minimum Stripe Size 8k 8k 8k 8k 8k 8k
Maximum Stripe Size 128k 128k 1MB 1MB 1MB 1MB
Maximum Number of 16 16 16 16 16 16
Virtual Disks per Disk
Group
Maximum Number of NA NA NA NA NA NA
Physical Disks that
Can Be Concatenated
Maximum Number of 32 32 32 32 32 32
Physical Disks in a
RAID 0
Maximum Physical 2 2 2 2 2 2
Disks in a RAID 1
Maximum Number of 32 32 32 32 32 32
Physical Disks in a
RAID 5

328 Supported Features

Table A-24. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Specification Modular
Maximum Number of 16 16 256 16 16 16
Physical Disks in a with
RAID 10 firmware
version 6.1
Maximum Number of 256 256 256 256 256 256
Physical Disks in a
RAID 50
Minimum Number of NA NA NA NA NA NA
Physical Disks that
Can Be Concatenated
Minimum Number of 1 1 1 1 1 1
Physical Disks in a
RAID 0
Minimum Number of 2 2 2 2 2 2
Physical Disks in a
RAID 1
Minimum Number of 3 3 3 3 3 3
Physical Disks in a
RAID 5
Minimum Number of 4 4 4 4 4 4
Physical Disks in a
RAID 10
Minimum Number of 6 6 6 6 6 6
Physical Disks in a
RAID 50
Maximum number of NA NA 32 32 32 32
physical disks in a
RAID 6
Maximum number of NA NA 256 256 256 256
physical disks in a
RAID 60

Supported Features 329

 Table A-24. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I
Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Specification Modular
Minimum number of NA NA 4 4 4 4
physical disks in a
RAID 6
Minimum number of NA NA 8 8 8 8
physical disks in a
RAID 60

Supported RAID Levels

Table A-25. RAID Levels Supported by the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers

RAID Level PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Concatenation No No No No No No
RAID 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 50 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 6 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 60 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy

Table A-26. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and
CERC 6/I Controllers

Read, Write, and Cache PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Policy Modular
Cache settings Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

330 Supported Features

Table A-26. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and
CERC 6/I Controllers (continued)

Read, Write, and Cache PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Policy Modular
Read Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Read Ahead (Enabled) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Adaptive Read Ahead Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
No Read Ahead Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
(Disabled)
Write Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Write Back (Enabled) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Write Through Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
(Disabled)
Force Write Back Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
(Enabled Always)
Write Cache Enabled No No No No No No
Protected
Cache Policy No No No No No No
Disk Cache Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cache I/O No No No No No No
Direct I/O No No No No No No

Enclosure Support

Table A-27. Enclosure Support on the PERC 5/E, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers

Enclosure Support PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I
Modular
Can an enclosure be Yes No Yes No No No
attached to this
controller?

Supported Features 331

 Supported Features on the PERC Hardware
Controllers
This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the following:
• PERC H800 and PERC H810 Adapter Controllers
• PERC H700 Adapter, PERC H700 Integrated, and PERC H700 Modular
Controllers
• PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, and PERC H710 Mini
Monolithic Controllers
• PERC H310 Adapter, PERC H310 Mini Monolithic, and PERC H310
Mini Blades Controllers
The features comprise 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.

332 Supported Features

Controller Tasks

Table A-28. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC Hardware Controllers

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Name H800 H810 H700 H700 H710 H710P Adapter/
Adapter Adapter/I Modular Adapter/ Adapter Mini
ntegrated Mini Blade/
Monolithi Mini
c/Mini Monolithi
Blade c
Enable Alarm NA No NA NA No No No
Disable Alarm NA No NA NA No No No
Quiet Alarm NA No NA NA No No No
Test Alarm NA No NA NA No No No
Reset Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Configuration
Set Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rate
Set Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Background
Initialization
Rate
Set Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Consistency
Rate
Set Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Reconstruct
Rate
Rescan No No No No No No No
Controller
Create Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Export Log Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
File

Supported Features 333

 Table A-28. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Name H800 H810 H700 H700 H710 H710P Adapter/
Adapter Adapter/I Modular Adapter/ Adapter Mini
ntegrated Mini Blade/
Monolithi Mini
c/Mini Monolithi
Blade c
Clear Foreign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Configuration
Import Foreign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Configuration
Import/Recove Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
r Foreign
Configuration
Set Patrol Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Read Mode
Start Patrol Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Read
Stop Patrol Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Read
Convert RAID NA No NA NA No No Yes
To Non-RAID
Convert Non- NA No NA NA No No Yes
RAID To
RAID
Replace Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Member
Import Preview Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
of Foreign
Configuration
Hot-plug of Yes Yes No No No No No
Enclosures
Change Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Controller
Properties

334 Supported Features

Table A-28. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Name H800 H810 H700 H700 H710 H710P Adapter/
Adapter Adapter/I Modular Adapter/ Adapter Mini
ntegrated Mini Blade/
Monolithi Mini
c/Mini Monolithi
Blade c
Intelligent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mirroring
Redundant Yes Yes No No No No No
Path
Configuration
Disk Cache Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Policy
Managing Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Preserved
Cache
Manage Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Encryption
Key
Manage Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
CacheCade
Persistent Hot Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Spare
Manage Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Physical Disk
Power for un-
configured and
hot spare
drives
Manage NA Yes NA NA Yes Yes No
Physical disk
power for
configured
drives
Controller Reports

Supported Features 335

 Table A-28. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued)

Controller Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Name H800 H810 H700 H700 H710 H710P Adapter/
Adapter Adapter/I Modular Adapter/ Adapter Mini
ntegrated Mini Blade/
Monolithi Mini
c/Mini Monolithi
Blade c
Patrol Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Report
Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Consistency
Report
Slot Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Occupancy
Report

Battery Tasks

Table A-29. Battery Tasks Supported on the PERC Hardware Controllers

Battery Task PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
Name H800 H810 H700 H700 Adapter/M H710P Mini
Adapter Adapter/In Modular ini Adapter Monolithic
tegrated Monolithic /Mini
/Mini Blade
Blade
Recondition NA No NA NA No No NA
Battery
Start Learn Cycle Yes No Yes Yes No No NA
Delay Learn Yes No Yes Yes No No NA
Cycle

336 Supported Features

Connector Tasks

Table A-30. Controller Tasks Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers

Controller PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310

Task Name H800 H810 H700 H700 H710 H710P Adapter/Mini
Adapter Adapter/ Modular Adapter Adapter Blade/Mini
Integrated /Mini Monolithic
Blade/
Mini
Monolit
hic
Connector No No No No No No No
Rescan

Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-31. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers

Physical Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
Task Name H800 H810 H700 H700 Adapter/Mi H710P Adapter/M
Adapter Adapter/I Modular ni Adapter ini
ntegrated Blade/Mini Blade/Mini
Monolithic Monolithic
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Assign and Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Unassign
Global Hot
Spare
Prepare to No No No No No No No
Remove
Offline Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Initialize No No No No No No No
Rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Supported Features 337

 Table A-31. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers

Physical Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
Task Name H800 H810 H700 H700 Adapter/Mi H710P Adapter/M
Adapter Adapter/I Modular ni Adapter ini
ntegrated Blade/Mini Blade/Mini
Monolithic Monolithic
Cancel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rebuild
Remove Dead No No No No No No No
Disk Segments
Format Disk No No No No No No No
Clear Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Cancel Clear Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Cancel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Replace
Member
Convert to NA No NA NA No No Yes
Raid Capable
disk
Convert to NA No NA NA No No Yes
Non-Raid disk
Instant Secure Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Erase
Revertible Hot Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Spare

338 Supported Features

Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-32. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name PERC PERC PERC PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
H800 H810 H700 Adapter/M H710P Adapter/Mini
Adapter Adapter/I ini Adapter Blade/Mini
ntegrated Monolithic Monolithic
/Modular /Mini
Blade
Assign and Unassign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dedicated Hot Spare
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Advanced Wizard
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Express Wizard
Rename Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Reconfigure Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Change Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Split Mirror No No No No No No
Unmirror No No No No No No
Delete Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Check Consistency Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cancel Check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Consistency
Pause Check No No No No No No
Consistency
Resume Check No No No No No No
Consistency
Cancel Background Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Initialization (BGI)
Format Virtual Disk No No No No No No

Supported Features 339

 Table A-32. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name PERC PERC PERC PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
H800 H810 H700 Adapter/M H710P Adapter/Mini
Adapter Adapter/I ini Adapter Blade/Mini
ntegrated Monolithic Monolithic
/Modular /Mini
Blade
Cancel Format Virtual No No No No No No
Disk
Restore Dead Disk No No No No No No
Segments
Initialize Virtual Disk No No No No No No
Fast Initialize Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Slow Initialize Virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk
Replace Member Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Encrypt Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Clear Virtual Disk Bad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Blocks

Virtual Disk Specifications

Table A-33. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC Hardware Controllers

Virtual Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Specification H800 H810 H700 H710 H710 H710P Adapter/M
Adapter Adapter/I Mini Adapter/ Adapter ini
ntegrate Blade Mini Blade/Min
d/Modul Monolithi i
ar c Monolithic
Maximum Number 64 64 64 64 64 64 16
of Virtual Disks per
Controller
Minimum Virtual 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB 100MB
Disk Size

340 Supported Features

Table A-33. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Specification H800 H810 H700 H710 H710 H710P Adapter/M
Adapter Adapter/I Mini Adapter/ Adapter ini
ntegrate Blade Mini Blade/Min
d/Modul Monolithi i
ar c Monolithic
Maximum Virtual None None None None None None None
Disk Size
Maximum Number 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
of Spans per Virtual
Disk
Maximum Number 32 32 32 32 32 32 8
of Physical Disks per
Span
Minimum Stripe Size 8k 64k 8k 64k 64k 64k 64k
Maximum Stripe 1MB 1MB 1MB 1MB 1MB 1MB 64k
Size
Maximum Number 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
of Virtual Disks per
Disk Group
Maximum Number NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
of Physical Disks that
Can Be
Concatenated
Maximum Number 32 32 32 32 32 32 16
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 0
Maximum Physical 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Disks in a RAID 1
Maximum Number 32 32 32 32 32 32 16
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 5
Maximum Number 256 256 16 NA 16 16 16
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 10

Supported Features 341

 Table A-33. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Specification H800 H810 H700 H710 H710 H710P Adapter/M
Adapter Adapter/I Mini Adapter/ Adapter ini
ntegrate Blade Mini Blade/Min
d/Modul Monolithi i
ar c Monolithic
Maximum Number 256 256 256 NA 256 256 16
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 50
Minimum Number NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
of Physical Disks that
Can Be
Concatenated
Minimum Number 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 0
Minimum Number 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 1
Minimum Number 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 5
Minimum Number 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 10
Minimum Number 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
of Physical Disks in a
RAID 50
Maximum number of 32 32 32 32 32 32 NA
physical disks in a
RAID 6
Maximum number of 256 256 256 NA 256 256 NA
physical disks in a
RAID 60

342 Supported Features

Table A-33. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H310
Specification H800 H810 H700 H710 H710 H710P Adapter/M
Adapter Adapter/I Mini Adapter/ Adapter ini
ntegrate Blade Mini Blade/Min
d/Modul Monolithi i
ar c Monolithic
Minimum number of 4 4 4 4 4 4 NA
physical disks in a
RAID 6
Minimum number of 8 8 8 8 8 8 NA
physical disks in a
RAID 60

Supported RAID Levels

Table A-34. RAID Levels Supported by the PERC H800, PERC H700 Adapter, PERC H700
Integrated, and PERC H700 Modular Controllers

RAID Level PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
H800 H810 H700 H710 Adapter/Mini H710P Adapter/Mini
Adapter Adapter/I Mini Monolithic Adapter Blade/Mini
ntegrated Blade Monolithic
/Modular
Concatenation No No No No No No No
RAID 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 50 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RAID 6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
RAID 60 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Supported Features 343

 Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy

Table A-35. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC Hardware
Controllers

Read, Write, PERC PERC PERC H700 PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
and Cache H800 H810 Adapter/Integr Adapter/Mini H710P Adapter/Mini
Policy Adapter ated/Modular Monolithic/ Adapter Blade/Mini
Mini Blade Monolithic
Cache Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
settings
Read Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Read Ahead Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Enabled)
Adaptive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Read Ahead
No Read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Ahead
(Disabled)
Write Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Write Back Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Enabled)
Write Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Through
(Disabled)
Force Write Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Back (Enabled
Always)
Write Cache No No No No No No
Enabled
Protected
Cache Policy No No No No No No
Disk Cache Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Policy
Cache I/O No No No No No No

344 Supported Features

Table A-35. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC Hardware
Controllers (continued)

Read, Write, PERC PERC PERC H700 PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
and Cache H800 H810 Adapter/Integr Adapter/Mini H710P Adapter/Mini
Policy Adapter ated/Modular Monolithic/ Adapter Blade/Mini
Mini Blade Monolithic
Direct I/O No No No No No No

Enclosure Support

Table A-36. Enclosure Support on PERC Hardware Controllers

Enclosure Support PERC PERC PERC H700 PERC H710 PERC PERC H310
H800 H810 Adapter/Integr Mini H710P Adapter/Mi
Adapter ated/Modular Monolithic/Mi Adapter ni
ni Blade/Mini
Blade/Adapter Monolithic
Can an enclosure Yes Yes No No No No
be attached to
this controller?

Supported Features on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR,

and PERC H200 Controllers
This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the controller.
• 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

Supported Features 345

 • Enclosure Support
For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure and Backplane Features.

Controller Tasks

Table A-37. Controller Tasks Supported on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200 Controllers

Controller Task Name SAS 5/iR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Enable Alarm No No No
Disable Alarm No No No
Quiet Alarm No No No
Test Alarm No No No
Reset configuration No Yes Yes
Set Rebuild Rate No No No
Set Background Initialization Rate No No No
Set Check Consistency Rate No No No
Set Reconstruct Rate No No No
Rescan Controller No No No
Create Virtual Disk No Yes Yes
Export Log File No No No
Clear Foreign Configuration Yes Yes Yes
Import Foreign Configuration No Yes Yes
Import/Recover Foreign Configuration No Yes Yes
Set Patrol Read Mode No No No
Start Patrol Read No No No
Stop Patrol Read No No No
Controller Reports
Patrol Read Report No No No
Check Consistency Report No No No
Slot Occupancy Report Yes Yes Yes

346 Supported Features

Battery Tasks

Table A-38. Battery Tasks Supported on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200 Controllers

Battery Task Name SAS 5/iR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Recondition Battery No No No
Start Learn Cycle No No No
Delay Learn Cycle No No No

Connector Tasks

Table A-39. Connector Tasks Supported on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200
Controllers

Connector Task Name SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Connector Rescan No No No

Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-40. Physical Disk Tasks Supported on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200
Controllers

Physical Disk Task SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Name
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes
Task only available
when an enclosure
or backplane and
LEDs on the
physical disks are
present.
Assign and Unassign No Supports up to Supports up to
Global Hot Spare two global hot two global hot
spares spares

Supported Features 347

 Table A-40. Physical Disk Tasks Supported on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200
Controllers

Physical Disk Task SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Name
Prepare to Remove No No No
Offline No No No
Online No No No
Initialize No No No
Rebuild No NA. NA.
Rebuild Rebuild
automatically automatically
initiated by the initiated by the
controller. controller.
Cancel Rebuild No No No
Remove Dead Disk No No No
Segments
Format Disk No No No
Clear No No No
Cancel Clear No No No

Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-41. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200
Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200
Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot No No No
Spare
Create Virtual Disk No Yes Yes
Create Virtual Disk Advanced No Yes Yes
Wizard
Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard No No No
Rename No No No

348 Supported Features

Table A-41. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200
Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Task Name SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200
Blink/Unblink Yes Yes Yes
Reconfigure No No No
Change Policy No No Yes
Split Mirror No No No
Unmirror No No No
Delete Last Virtual Disk No Yes Yes
Delete (any) Virtual Disk No Yes Yes
Check Consistency No No No
Cancel Check Consistency No No No
Pause Check Consistency No No No
Resume Check Consistency No No No
Cancel Background Initialization No No No
(BGI)
Format Virtual Disk No No No
Cancel Format Virtual Disk No No No
Restore Dead Disk Segments No No No
Initialize Virtual Disk No No No
Fast Initialize Virtual Disk No No No
Slow Initialize Virtual Disk No No No
Cancel Initialize Virtual Disk No No No

Supported RAID Levels

Table A-42. RAID Levels Supported by the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200 Controllers

RAID Level SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

RAID 0 Yes Yes Yes
RAID 1 Yes Yes Yes

Supported Features 349

 Table A-42. RAID Levels Supported by the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200 Controllers

RAID Level SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

RAID 10 No No Yes

Virtual Disk Specifications

Table A-43. Virtual Disk Specifications for the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and PERC H200
Controllers

Virtual Disk Specification SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Maximum Number of Virtual Disks 2 2 2
per Controller
Minimum Virtual Disk Size Max Max Max
Maximum Virtual Disk Size 2TB None None
Maximum Number of Spans per 1 1 1
Virtual Disk
Maximum Number of Physical Disks 4 10 10
per Span
Minimum Stripe Size 64k 64k 64k
Maximum Stripe Size 64k 64k 64k
Maximum Number of Virtual Disks 1 1 1
per Disk Group
Maximum Number of Physical Disks NA NA NA
that Can Be Concatenated
Maximum Number of Physical Disks 4 8 10 - Adapter
in a RAID 0 10 - Integrated
4 - Modular
Maximum Physical Disks in a RAID 1 2 2 2
Maximum Number of Physical Disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 5
Maximum Number of Physical Disks NA NA 10 - Adapter
in a RAID 10 10 - Integrated
4 - Modular

350 Supported Features

Table A-43. Virtual Disk Specifications for the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and PERC H200
Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Specification SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Maximum Number of Physical Disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 50
Minimum Number of Physical Disks NA NA NA
that Can Be Concatenated
Minimum Number of Physical Disks 2 2 2
in a RAID 0
Minimum Number of Physical Disks 2 2 2
in a RAID 1
Minimum Number of Physical Disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 5
Minimum Number of Physical Disks NA NA 4
in a RAID 10
Minimum Number of Physical Disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 50
Maximum number of physical disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 6
Maximum number of physical disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 60
Minimum number of physical disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 6
Minimum number of physical disks NA NA NA
in a RAID 60
Maximum number of disks in 8 8 14
configured state (part of a virtual disk
or hot spares)

Supported Features 351

 Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy

Table A-44. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and
H200 Controllers

Read, Write, and Cache Policy SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200
Cache settings No No No
Read Policy No No No
Read Ahead (Enabled) No No No
Adaptive Read Ahead No No No
No Read Ahead (Disabled) No No No
Write Policy No No No
Write Back No No No
Write Through No No No
Force Write Back (Enabled Always) No No No
Write Cache Enabled Protected No No No
Cache Policy No No No
Disk Cache Policy Yes Yes Yes
Cache I/O No No No
Direct I/O No No No

Enclosure Support

Table A-45. Enclosure Support on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200 Controllers

Enclosure Support SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200

Can an enclosure be attached to this No No No
controller?

352 Supported Features

Supported Features on the PERC S100, PERC S110,
and S300 Controllers
This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the controller.
• Controller Tasks
• Physical Disk Tasks
• Virtual Disk Tasks
• Virtual Disk Specifications
• Supported RAID Levels
• Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy
• Enclosure Support

Controller Tasks

Table A-46. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC S100 and S300 Controllers

Controller Task Name PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300

Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes

Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-47. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300
Controllers

Physical Disk Task Name PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300
Blink/Unblink No Yes Yes
Assign and Unassign Yes Yes Yes
Global Hot Spare

Supported Features 353

 Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-48. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300
Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300
Assign and Unassign Yes Yes Yes
Dedicated Hot Spare
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes
Advanced Wizard
Create Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes
Express Wizard
Rename Yes Yes Yes
Blink/Unblink No No Yes
Reconfigure Yes Yes Yes
Change Policy Yes Yes Yes
Delete Last Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes
Delete (any) Virtual Disk Yes Yes Yes
Check Consistency Yes Yes Yes

Virtual Disk Specifications

Table A-49. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300
Controllers

Virtual Disk Specification PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300

Maximum Number of 8 8 8
Virtual Disks per
Controller
Minimum Virtual Disk 100MB 100MB 100MB
Size

354 Supported Features

Table A-49. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300
Controllers

Virtual Disk Specification PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300

Maximum Virtual Disk None None None
Size

Maximum Number of NA NA NA
Spans per Virtual Disk
Maximum Number of NA NA NA
Physical Disks per Span
Minimum Stripe Size 64k 64k 64k
Maximum Stripe Size 64k 64k 64k
Maximum Number of 8 8 8
Virtual Disks per Physical
Disk
Maximum Number of NA NA NA
Physical Disks that Can Be
Concatenated
Maximum Number of 4 4 4
Physical Disks in a RAID 0
Maximum Physical Disks 2 2 2
in a RAID 1
Maximum Number of 8 8 8
Physical Disks in a RAID 5
Maximum Number of 4 4 4
Physical Disks in a RAID
10
Minimum Number of NA NA NA
Physical Disks that Can Be
Concatenated
Minimum Number of 2 2 2
Physical Disks in a RAID 0
Minimum Number of 2 2 2
Physical Disks in a RAID 1

Supported Features 355

 Table A-49. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300
Controllers

Virtual Disk Specification PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300

Minimum Number of 3 3 3
Physical Disks in a RAID 5
Minimum Number of 4 4 4
Physical Disks in a RAID
10

Supported RAID Levels

Table A-50. RAID Levels Supported by the PERC S100, PERC S110 and S300 Controllers

RAID Level PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300

RAID 0 Yes Yes Yes
RAID 1 Yes Yes Yes
RAID 5 Yes Yes Yes
RAID 10 Yes Yes Yes
RAID 50 No No No
RAID 6 No No No
RAID 60 No No No

Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy

Table A-51. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC S100, PERC S110,
and S300 Controllers

Read, Write, and Cache PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300
Policy
Cache settings Yes Yes Yes
Read Policy Yes Yes Yes
Read Ahead (Enabled) Yes Yes Yes
Adaptive Read Ahead No No No

356 Supported Features

Table A-51. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC S100, PERC S110,
and S300 Controllers (continued)

Read, Write, and Cache PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300
Policy
No Read Ahead (Disabled) Yes Yes Yes
Write Policy Yes Yes Yes
Write Back (Enabled) Yes Yes Yes
Write Through (Disabled) Yes Yes Yes
Force Write Back (Enabled No No No
Always)
Write Cache Enabled No No No
Protected
Cache Policy No No No
Disk Cache Policy No No No
Cache I/O No No No
Direct I/O No No No

Enclosure Support

Table A-52. Enclosure Support on the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300 Controllers

Enclosure Support PERC S100 PERC S110 PERC S300

Can an enclosure be No No No
attached to this controller?

Supported Features on the Non-RAID Controllers

This section identifies the controller-supported features and whether or not
an enclosure can be attached to the controller.
• Controller Tasks
• Battery Tasks
• Connector Tasks
• Physical Disk Tasks

Supported Features 357

 • Virtual Disk Tasks
• Enclosure Support
For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure and Backplane Features.

Controller Tasks

Table A-53. Controller Tasks Supported on the Non-RAID Controllers

Controller Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Enable Alarm No No
Disable Alarm No No
Quiet Alarm No No
Test Alarm No No
Reset configuration No No
Set Rebuild Rate No No
Set Background Initialization Rate No No
Set Check Consistency Rate No No
Set Reconstruct Rate No No
Rescan Controller No No
Create Virtual Disk No No
Export Log File No No
Clear Foreign Configuration No No
Import Foreign Configuration No No
Import/Recover Foreign Configuration No No
Set Patrol Read Mode No No
Start Patrol Read No No
Stop Patrol Read No No

358 Supported Features

Battery Tasks

Table A-54. Battery Tasks Supported on the 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

Table A-55. Connector Tasks Supported on the Non-RAID Controllers

Connector Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Connector Rescan No No

Physical Disk Tasks

Table A-56. Physical Disk Tasks Supported on the Non-RAID Controllers

Physical Disk Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Blink/Unblink Yes Yes
Assign and Unassign Global Hot No No
Spare
Prepare to Remove No No
Offline No No
Online No No
Initialize No No
Rebuild No No
Cancel Rebuild No No
Remove Dead Disk Segments No No
Format Disk No No
Clear No No

Supported Features 359

 Table A-56. Physical Disk Tasks Supported on the Non-RAID Controllers (continued)

Physical Disk Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Cancel Clear No No

Virtual Disk Tasks

Table A-57. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the Non-RAID Controllers

Virtual Disk Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Assign and Unassign Dedicated Hot No No
Spare
Create Virtual Disk No No
Create Virtual Disk Advanced No No
Wizard
Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard No No
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 No No
(BGI)
Format Virtual Disk No No
Cancel Format Virtual Disk No No

360 Supported Features

Table A-57. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the Non-RAID Controllers (continued)

Virtual Disk Task Name Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Restore Dead Disk Segments No No
Initialize Virtual Disk No No
Fast Initialize Virtual Disk No No
Slow Initialize Virtual Disk No No
Cancel Initialize Virtual Disk No No

Enclosure Support

Table A-58. Enclosure Support on the Non-RAID Controllers

Enclosure Support Non-RAID SCSI Non-RAID SAS

Can an enclosure be attached to this Yes No
controller?

Enclosure and Backplane Features

This section identifies the features supported by the enclosure or backplane.
• Enclosure and Backplane Tasks
• Enclosure and Backplane Support for Smart Thermal Shutdown
For information on controller-supported features, see:
• Supported Features on the PERC 4/ Controllers
• Supported Features on the CERC SATA Controllers
• Supported Features on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers
• Supported Features on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and PERC H200
Controllers
• Supported Features on the PERC H310 Adapter (A), PERC H310 Mini
Monolithic (MM), PERC H310 Mini Blades (MB) Controllers, see
"Supported Features on the PERC Hardware Controllers"

Supported Features 361

 • Supported Features on the PERC H700, PERC H710 A, PERC H710 MB,
PERC H710 MM, PERC H710P A, PERC H710P MB, and PERC H710P
MM Controllers, see "Supported Features on the PERC Hardware
Controllers"
• Supported Features on the PERC H800 and PERC H810 A Controllers,
see "Supported Features on the PERC Hardware Controllers"

Enclosure and Backplane Tasks

Table A-59. Enclosure Tasks for PowerVault controllers

Enclosure PowerVaul PowerVault PowerVault PowerVault PowerVault PowerVault

Tasks t 20xS and 220S and MD1000 MD1120 MD1200 MD1220
21xS 221S Storage Storage
Enable No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Alarm
Disable No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Alarm
Set Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Temperature
Probe Values
Set Asset Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Data
(includes
asset tag and
asset name)
Blink No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Enclosure
Controller Reports
Slot No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Occupancy
Report

362 Supported Features

Table A-60. Backplane Tasks for SCSI and SAS Controllers

Backplane Tasks SCSI SAS

Enable Alarm No No
Disable Alarm No No
Set Temperature Probe Values No No
Set Asset Data (includes asset No No
tag and asset name)
Blink Enclosure No No
Controller Reports No No

Enclosure and Backplane Support for Smart Thermal Shutdown

Table A-61. Enclosure Support for Smart Thermal Shutdown

Smart PowerVault PowerVault PowerVault PowerVaul PowerVault PowerVaul

Thermal 20xS and 220S and MD1000 t MD1120 MD1200 t MD1220
Shutdown 21xS 221S Storage Storage
Smart No Yes No No No No
Thermal
Shutdown

Supported Features 363

 Table A-62. Backplane Support for Smart Thermal Shutdown

Smart Thermal Shutdown SCSI SAS

Smart Thermal Shutdown No No

Maximum Supported Configuration

Table A-63. Maximum Supported Configuration for SAS and SCSI Controllers

Maximum Supported SCSI SAS (MD 1000, SAS (MD 1200,

Configuration MD 1120) MD 1220)
External controllers on 2 2 2
each Server (a)
External connectors on 2 2 2
each controller (b)
Enclosures per connector 1 3 4
(c)
Total numbers of 4 12 16
enclosures on a server
(a x b x c)

364 Supported Features

 B
Determining the Health Status for
Storage Components
The tables in this appendix indicate 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: Battery is Charging or Dead

Table B-1. Health Status Rollup: Battery is Charging or Dead (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connecto Physical Firmware Virtual

Subsyste r r Disk(s) / Disk(s)
m Driver
Compon
ent
Status

Health NA NA NA NA NA
Rollup

Determining the Health Status for Storage Components365

 Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual
Disk are Failed or Removed
Table B-2. Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Failed or Removed
(Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s)
m Driver
Compon
ent
Status

Health
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual

Disk are Unsupported, Partially or Permanently
Degraded
Table B-3. Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Unsupported,
Partially or Permanently Degraded (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s)
m Driver
Compon
ent
Status

366 Determining the Health Status for Storage Components

Table B-3. Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Unsupported,
Partially or Permanently Degraded (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s)
m Driver
Health
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: All Physical Disks in a

Virtual Disk are in Foreign State
Table B-4. Health Status Rollup: All Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are in Foreign State
(Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s)
m Driver
Compon NA
ent
Status
Health NA
Rollup

Determining the Health Status for Storage Components 367

 Health Status Rollup: Some Physical Disks in a
Virtual Disk are in Foreign State
Table B-5. Health Status Rollup: Some Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are in Foreign
State (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s)
m Driver
Compon
ent
Status
Health
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Degraded;

Physical Disks are Failed or Rebuilding
Table B-6. Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Degraded; Physical Disks are Failed or
Rebuilding (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/Driver Disk(s)
m
Compon
ent
Status

368 Determining the Health Status for Storage Components

Table B-6. Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Degraded; Physical Disks are Failed or
Rebuilding (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/Driver Disk(s)
m
Health
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Failed

Table B-7. Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Failed (Enclosures Not Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/Driver Disk(s)
m
Compon
ent
Status
Health
Rollup

Determining the Health Status for Storage Components 369

 Health Status Rollup: Unsupported Firmware
Version
Table B-8. Health Status Rollup: Unsupported Firmware Version (Enclosures Not
Included)

Storage Controlle Battery Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual

Subsyste r or Disk(s) e/Driver Disk(s)
m
Compon
ent
Status
Health
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply

Failed or Power Connection Removed
Table B-9. Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply Failed or Power Connection
Removed

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur Enclosur Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e e Power Disks Disks
m Supply
Compon
ent
Status
Health NA NA NA
Rollup

370 Determining the Health Status for Storage Components

Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Fan is Failed
Table B-10. Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Fan is Failed

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur Enclosur Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e e Fan Disks Disks
m
Compon
ent
Status
Health NA NA NA
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure EMM is

Failed
Table B-11. Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure EMM is Failed

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur Enclosur Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e e EMM Disks Disks
m
Compon
ent
Status

Health NA
Rollup

Determining the Health Status for Storage Components 371

 Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Temperature
Probe is Failed
Table B-12. Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Temperature Probe is Failed

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur Enclosur Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e e Disks Disks
m Tempera
ture
Probe
Compon
ent
Status

Health NA
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power

Connections to the Enclosure
Table B-13. Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections to the Enclosure

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur All Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e Enclosur Disks Disks
m e
Compone
nts
Compon NA NA
ent
Status

372 Determining the Health Status for Storage Components

Table B-13. Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections to the Enclosure

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur All Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e Enclosur Disks Disks
m e
Compone
nts
Health NA NA NA
Rollup

Health Status Rollup: One or More Physical Disks

are Failed
Table B-14. Health Status Rollup: One or More Physical Disks are Failed

Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur Enclosur Virtual Physical

Subsyste r or e e Disks Disks
m Physical
Disk(s)
Compon
ent
Status

Health NA NA
Rollup

Determining the Health Status for Storage Components 373

 Health Status Rollup: Physical Disk is Rebuilding
Table B-15. Health Status Rollup: Physical Disk is Rebuilding

Storage Controlle Connecto Enclosur Enclosur Virtual Physical

Subsyste r r e e Disks Disks
m Compone
nt
Compon
ent
Status
Health NA NA
Rollup

374 Determining the Health Status for Storage Components