Apple RAID Utility User Manual
RAID Utility
User’s Guide
Instructions for setting up RAID volumes
on a computer with a MacPro RAID Card
or Xserve RAID Card.
1
Contents
3 RAID Utility User’s Guide
3
Installing the RAID Software
4
Running RAID Utility
5
Setting Up RAID Volumes
6
Migrating an Existing Volume to a RAID Volume
7
Creating a RAID Set
8
Creating a Volume
9
Setting Up a Spare Drive
9
Reverting a Spare Drive
9
Deleting a Volume or RAID Set
10
Solving Problems
13
Using the Command Line
14
About RAID Levels
15
Using Non-RAID JBOD Disks
16
Setup Examples
2
1
RAID Utility User’s Guide
This guide shows you how to set up RAID volumes using the
RAID Utility application on a computer with a Mac Pro RAID
Card or Xserve RAID Card.
With a Mac Pro RAID Card or Xserve RAID Card installed in your computer, you can use
RAID Utility to turn your computer’s internal disks into storage volumes based on RAID
(redundant array of independent disks) schemes that improve performance and
protect your data.
Installing the RAID Software
If you purchased your computer with a RAID card installed, the RAID software is already
installed on your startup disk and RAID Utility is in /Applications/Utilities/. RAID Utility
is also available from the Utilities menu when you start up your computer using the
Mac OS X installation disc that comes with the computer.
3
Running RAID Utility
The RAID Utility application is in /Applications/Utilities/. You can open it from there
anytime you want to check the status of the RAID components in your computer.
You can also run RAID Utility from the Installer when you start up your computer using
the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server installation disc that comes with the computer.
Choose Utilities > RAID Utility while you are in the Installer.
Note:
If you plan to perform any setup tasks that affect the computer’s startup disk (for
example, migrating the startup disk or otherwise reusing the startup disk to create new
RAID sets or volumes), you need to start up the computer from the installation disc that
comes with your computer or from an external disk on which you have installed
Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server using that installation disc.
The RAID Utility Window
Show or hide
the toolbar
Overall RAID status
Components of your
RAID configuration
RAID battery status
Items belonging
to the selected
component
4
Setting Up RAID Volumes
There are two basic ways to set up RAID volumes:
Â
Migrate an existing startup volume
Â
Set up RAID sets and volumes manually
For examples of some typical setups, see “Setup Examples” on page 17.
Migrating an Existing Startup Volume
The simplest way to set up RAID volumes on a new computer is to use the Migrate
RAID Set command to convert the existing startup volume, together with other empty
disks in the computer, to one or two RAID volumes in a single step. When you migrate
your existing startup volume, you don’t need to reinstall the operating system.
Note:
You can only migrate a volume that is based on an Enhanced JBOD RAID set.
When you purchase a computer with the RAID card installed, the startup volume is set
up this way.
To migrate your disks to one or two RAID volumes:
m
Follow the instructions under “Migrating an Existing Volume to a RAID Volume” on
page 6.
Setting Up RAID Sets and Volumes Manually
If you want to create more than two volumes or want more control over RAID set and
volume setup, and you don’t mind reinstalling Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server, you can
use the Create RAID Set and Create Volume commands to set up your RAID storage.
To set up RAID sets and volumes manually:
1
Start up the computer using the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server installation disc that
comes with the computer
2
When the Installer opens, choose your language and click the Next button to see the
Utilities menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3
Choose Utilities > RAID Utility.
4
In RAID Utility, use the Create RAID Set and Create Volume commands to create your
RAID volumes.
For information, see “Creating a RAID Set” on page 8, and “Creating a Volume” on
page 9.
5
When you have created your volumes, quit RAID Utility.
6
Follow the Installer onscreen instructions to install Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server on one
of the new RAID volumes and restart the computer.
5
Migrating an Existing Volume to a RAID Volume
When you purchase a computer with the RAID card installed, the startup disk is
configured as a single-disk Enhanced JBOD RAID set. You can convert this RAID set,
along with one, two, or three empty disks, to a RAID volume in one step using the
Migrate RAID Set command. All files on the single original disk are moved to the new
RAID volume. Files on the additional disks are erased.
To migrate to a RAID volume:
1
Start up your computer using the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server installation disc that
comes with the computer.
2
When the Installer opens, choose your language and click the Next button to see the
Utilities menu at the top of the screen.
3
Choose Utilities > RAID Utility.
4
Select the existing RAID set, which supports your current startup volume, in the left
column of the RAID Utility window.
5
Click Migrate RAID Set in the toolbar.
6
Choose the type of RAID volume you want to create.
Maximum Protection:
RAID 1 or RAID 5 level, depending on the number of drives available.
Maximum Performance:
7
Choose the additional drives you want to include in the volume.
6
Migrates your system to a RAID volume based on either the
Creates a volume based on the RAID 0 level.
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