Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Version 7.4 User Manual
Server Administrator Storage Management
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you
how to avoid the problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and
intellectual property laws. Dell™ and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. in the United States and/or other
jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
2014 - 03
Rev. A00
Contents
1 Overview....................................................................................................................15
What Is New In This Release?..............................................................................................................15
Before Installing Storage Management.............................................................................................. 16
Version Requirements For Controller Firmware And Drivers...................................................... 16
Supported Controllers...................................................................................................................16
Supported Enclosures....................................................................................................................17
Support For Disk And Volume Management................................................................................ 17
2 Getting Started........................................................................................................ 19
Launching Storage Management........................................................................................................19
On Systems Running Microsoft Windows.................................................................................... 19
On A System Running Linux And Any Remote System................................................................19
User Privileges.....................................................................................................................................20
Using The Graphical User Interface................................................................................................... 20
Storage Object.............................................................................................................................. 20
Health............................................................................................................................................ 20
Information/Configuration........................................................................................................... 20
Using The Storage Management Command-Line Interface............................................................. 21
Displaying The Online Help.................................................................................................................21
Common Storage Tasks......................................................................................................................21
3 Understanding RAID Concepts........................................................................... 23
What Is RAID?...................................................................................................................................... 23
Hardware And Software RAID.......................................................................................................23
RAID Concepts.............................................................................................................................. 24
RAID Levels....................................................................................................................................24
Organizing Data Storage For Availability And Performance..............................................................24
Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation........................................................................................25
Concatenation...............................................................................................................................25
RAID Level 0 (Striping)...................................................................................................................26
RAID Level 1 (Mirroring).................................................................................................................27
RAID Level 5 (Striping With Distributed Parity).............................................................................28
RAID Level 6 (Striping With Additional Distributed Parity)........................................................... 28
RAID Level 50 (Striping Over RAID 5 Sets)....................................................................................29
RAID Level 60 (Striping Over RAID 6 Sets)................................................................................... 30
RAID Level 10 (Striped-Mirrors).....................................................................................................31
RAID Level 1-Concatenated (Concatenated Mirror)....................................................................32
Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance................................................................33
No-RAID.............................................................................................................................................. 34
4 Quick Access To Storage Status And Tasks..................................................... 35
Storage Health.....................................................................................................................................35
Hot Spare Protection Policy............................................................................................................... 35
Storage Component Severity............................................................................................................. 36
Storage Properties And Current Activity............................................................................................ 36
Alerts Or Events................................................................................................................................... 37
Monitoring Disk Reliability On RAID Controllers................................................................................37
Using Alarms To Detect Failures.........................................................................................................37
Using Enclosure Temperature Probes................................................................................................37
Rescanning To Update Storage Configuration Changes...................................................................37
Time Delay In Displaying Configuration Changes.............................................................................38
5 PCI Express Solid-State Device Support...........................................................39
What Is PCIe SSD?...............................................................................................................................39
PCIe SSD Features...............................................................................................................................39
PCIe SSD SubSystem Properties.........................................................................................................39
PCIe Extender Cards...........................................................................................................................40
Physical Device Properties..................................................................................................................41
Physical Device Tasks......................................................................................................................... 43
Blinking And Unblinking A PCIe SSD............................................................................................ 43
Enabling Full Initialization On A Micron PCIe SSD.......................................................................43
Preparing To Remove A PCIe SSD................................................................................................44
Exporting The Log.........................................................................................................................44
Enabling Cryptographic Erase On An Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) PCIe SSD...........45
Adding PCIe SSDs To Fluid Cache Pool.............................................................................................46
Removing PCIeSSDs From Fluid Cache Pool.................................................................................... 46
PCIe SSD SubSystem Health...............................................................................................................47
Backplanes.....................................................................................................................................47
Backplane Firmware Version.........................................................................................................47
6 Fluid Cache For DAS ............................................................................................. 49
Fluid Cache Properties........................................................................................................................49
Fluid Cache Disks................................................................................................................................50
Fluid Cache Disk Properties..........................................................................................................50
Fluid Cache Pool..................................................................................................................................51
Fluid Cache Pool Properties..........................................................................................................51
Physical Device Properties............................................................................................................ 51
Cache I/O Statistics.............................................................................................................................53
Cache Pool Usage.........................................................................................................................53
Viewing The Performance Of The Fluid Cache Disk....................................................................53
License Settings...................................................................................................................................54
7 Storage Information And Global Tasks............................................................. 57
Storage Properties...............................................................................................................................57
Global Tasks.........................................................................................................................................57
Performing A Global Rescan......................................................................................................... 57
Enabling Or Disabling A Smart Thermal Shutdown.....................................................................58
Storage Controller Properties.............................................................................................................58
Storage Components....................................................................................................................60
8 Controllers................................................................................................................61
What Is A Controller?.......................................................................................................................... 61
RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, And SAS...................................................................61
SAS RAID Controllers.....................................................................................................................61
RAID Controller Features....................................................................................................................62
Controller — Supported RAID Levels................................................................................................. 62
Controller — Supported Stripe Sizes..................................................................................................63
RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, And Disk Cache Policy........................................................... 63
Read Policy.................................................................................................................................... 63
Write Policy....................................................................................................................................63
Cache Policy..................................................................................................................................64
Disk Cache Policy..........................................................................................................................64
Background Initialization On PERC Controllers................................................................................ 65
Non-RAID Controller Description...................................................................................................... 65
Non-RAID SCSI Controllers.......................................................................................................... 65
Non-RAID SAS Controllers............................................................................................................65
Firmware Or Driver Versions.............................................................................................................. 66
Firmware/Driver Properties...........................................................................................................66
Controller Health.................................................................................................................................67
Controller Components................................................................................................................67
Controllers Properties And Tasks....................................................................................................... 67
Controller Tasks...................................................................................................................................71
Rescanning The Controller........................................................................................................... 72
Creating A Virtual Disk...................................................................................................................72
Enabling The Controller Alarm......................................................................................................72
Disabling The Controller Alarm.....................................................................................................72
Turning Off The Controller Alarm.................................................................................................73
Testing The Controller Alarm........................................................................................................73
Setting The Rebuild Rate...............................................................................................................73
Resetting The Controller Configuration.......................................................................................74
Exporting The Controller Log File.................................................................................................74
Foreign Configuration Operations................................................................................................75
Importing Foreign Configurations................................................................................................78
Importing Or Recovering Foreign Configurations.......................................................................78
Clearing Foreign Configuration.................................................................................................... 79
Physical Disks In Foreign Virtual Disks......................................................................................... 80
Setting Background Initialization Rate......................................................................................... 82
Setting The Check Consistency Rate........................................................................................... 83
Setting The Reconstruct Rate.......................................................................................................84
Setting The Redundant Path Configuration.................................................................................84
Setting The Patrol Read Mode......................................................................................................86
Starting And Stopping Patrol Read............................................................................................... 87
Changing The Controller Properties............................................................................................88
Managing The Physical Disk Power..............................................................................................89
Managing The Preserved Cache................................................................................................... 91
Encryption Key.............................................................................................................................. 92
Converting To Non-RAID Disks....................................................................................................94
Converting To RAID Capable Disks..............................................................................................94
Viewing Available Reports ..................................................................................................................95
Available Reports...........................................................................................................................95
Viewing Patrol Read Report..........................................................................................................95
Viewing Check Consistency Report............................................................................................. 95
Viewing Slot Occupancy Report.................................................................................................. 96
Viewing Physical Disk Firmware Version Report..........................................................................96
9 Support For PERC 9 Hardware Controllers..................................................... 99
Support For RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation On PERC 9 Hardware Controller........................ 99
RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation With Uneven Span.............................................................. 99
Support For Advanced Format 4K Sector Hard-Disk Drives........................................................... 100
Hot Spare Considerations — 4K Sector Hard-Disk Drives.........................................................101
Reconfiguration Considerations — 4K Sector Hard-Disk Drives...............................................101
T10 Standard Protection Information (PI) — Data Integrity Field.................................................... 101
Hot Spare Considerations — T10 Protection Information Capability....................................... 102
10 Enclosures And Backplanes............................................................................. 103
Backplanes.........................................................................................................................................103
Enclosures......................................................................................................................................... 103
SMART Thermal Shutdown.........................................................................................................104
Enclosure Physical Disks.............................................................................................................104
Enclosure Fans............................................................................................................................ 104
Enclosure Power Supplies...........................................................................................................105
Enclosure Temperature Probes..................................................................................................106
Enclosure Management Modules (EMMs)..................................................................................108
Enclosure And Backplane Health................................................................................................110
Enclosure And Backplane Properties And Tasks........................................................................ 110
Changing The Mode On 220S And 221S Enclosures.......................................................................116
Enclosure Management.................................................................................................................... 116
Identifying An Open Connector On The Enclosure.........................................................................116
Enclosure Components.....................................................................................................................117
11 Connectors............................................................................................................119
Channel Redundancy And Thermal Shutdown................................................................................119
Creating A Channel-Redundant Virtual Disk....................................................................................119
Creating A Physical Disk For Channel Redundant Virtual Disks On PERC Controllers............ 120
Connector Health............................................................................................................................. 120
Controller Information................................................................................................................120
Connector Components.............................................................................................................120
Connector Properties And Tasks......................................................................................................120
Rescanning The Connector........................................................................................................ 121
Rescanning A Controller Connector.......................................................................................... 122
Logical Connector Properties And Tasks......................................................................................... 122
Path Health.................................................................................................................................. 123
Clearing The Connectors Redundant Path View....................................................................... 123
Connector Components.............................................................................................................123
12 Tape Drive.............................................................................................................125
Tape Drive Properties........................................................................................................................125
13 RAID Controller Batteries................................................................................. 127
Battery Properties And Tasks............................................................................................................ 127
Battery Properties........................................................................................................................ 127
Battery Tasks......................................................................................................................................128
Battery — Available Tasks..................................................................................................................128
Starting A Learn Cycle.................................................................................................................128
Battery Transparent Learn Cycle................................................................................................ 129
Initiating The Battery Delay Learn Cycle.................................................................................... 129
To Locate Delay Learn Cycle In Storage Management...................................................................130
14 Physical Disks Or Physical Devices.................................................................131
Guidelines To Replace A Physical Disk Or Physical Device............................................................. 131
Adding A New Disk To The System...................................................................................................131
For SCSI, SATA, And ATA Controllers..........................................................................................131
For SAS Controllers......................................................................................................................132
Replacing A Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts..........................................................................132
Disk Is Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk.....................................................................................132
Disk Is Not Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk............................................................................. 133
Other Disk Procedures......................................................................................................................133
Physical Disk Or Physical Device Properties.................................................................................... 133
Physical Disk Or Physical Device Tasks............................................................................................138
Physical Disk Tasks............................................................................................................................138
Blinking And Unblinking A Physical Disk ....................................................................................138
Removing Dead Segments..........................................................................................................139
Preparing To Remove..................................................................................................................139
Rebuilding Data........................................................................................................................... 139
Canceling A Rebuild....................................................................................................................140
Assigning And Unassigning Global Hot Spare............................................................................140
Setting The Physical Disk Online Or Offline............................................................................... 141
Performing A Clear Physical Disk And Cancel Clear.................................................................. 141
Enabling Revertible Hot Spare.................................................................................................... 142
Enabling Instant Encrypt Erase................................................................................................... 142
Convert To RAID Capable Disk...................................................................................................143
Convert To Non-RAID Disk.........................................................................................................143
15 Virtual Disks..........................................................................................................145
Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks.................................................................................. 145
Virtual Disk Considerations For Controllers............................................................................... 145
Virtual Disk Considerations For PERC S100, S110, And S300 Controllers................................ 147
Virtual Disk Considerations On Systems Running Linux............................................................147
Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk.................................................................................147
Number Of Virtual Disks Per Controller.....................................................................................148
Calculation For Maximum Virtual Disk Size................................................................................148
Channel-Redundant Virtual Disks.............................................................................................. 148
Creating Virtual Disks........................................................................................................................148
Reconfiguring Or Migrating Virtual Disks.........................................................................................149
Starting And Target RAID Levels For Virtual Disk Reconfiguration And Capacity Expansion........ 149
Maintaining The Integrity Of Redundant Virtual Disks..................................................................... 151
Rebuilding Redundant Information...................................................................................................151
Managing Virtual Disk Bad Block Management................................................................................151
Recommendations For Clearing Bad Blocks....................................................................................153
Virtual Disk Properties And Tasks......................................................................................................153
Virtual Disk Properties................................................................................................................. 153
Virtual Disk Tasks.........................................................................................................................156
Virtual Disk — Available Tasks...........................................................................................................156
Reconfiguring A Virtual Disk........................................................................................................157
Format, Initialize, Slow, And Fast Initialize.................................................................................. 157
Canceling Background Initialization........................................................................................... 157
Restoring Dead Segments...........................................................................................................157
Deleting Data On the Virtual Disk...............................................................................................158
Performing A Check Consistency...............................................................................................158
Canceling A Check Consistency.................................................................................................158
Pausing A Check Consistency.................................................................................................... 158
Resuming A Check Consistency.................................................................................................158
Blinking And Unblinking A Virtual Disk....................................................................................... 158
Renaming A Virtual Disk..............................................................................................................158
Canceling A Rebuild.................................................................................................................... 159
Changing The Virtual Disk Policy................................................................................................159
Replacing A Member Disk........................................................................................................... 159
Clearing Virtual Disk Bad Blocks.................................................................................................159
Encrypting A Virtual Disk.............................................................................................................159
Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard...................................................................................................160
Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 2)......................................................................................161
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard...............................................................................................162
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2)..................................................................................165
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 3)................................................................................. 166
Span Edit............................................................................................................................................168
Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3)..................................................................................... 168
To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk: Step 1 of 3................................................................................. 169
Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 2 of 3)..................................................................................... 170
To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk Expand Virtual Disk Capacity: Step 2 of 3..................................171
Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 3 of 3)......................................................................................171
Slow And Fast Initialize......................................................................................................................172
Considerations For Slow Initialize...............................................................................................172
Formatting Or Initializing A Disk....................................................................................................... 173
To Locate Virtual Disks Task In Storage Management...............................................................173
Deleting A Virtual Disk.......................................................................................................................173
To Delete A Virtual Disk...............................................................................................................174
To Locate Delete In Storage Management................................................................................ 174
Renaming A Virtual Disk....................................................................................................................174
To Rename A Virtual Disk............................................................................................................174
To Locate Rename In Storage Management..............................................................................175
Changing The Policy Of A Virtual Disk............................................................................................. 175
Changing The Read, Write, Or Disk Cache Policy Of A Virtual Disk..........................................175
To Locate Change Policy In Storage Management .................................................................. 175
Split Mirror..........................................................................................................................................175
Splitting A Mirror.......................................................................................................................... 175
To Locate Split Mirror In Storage Management ........................................................................ 176
Unmirror............................................................................................................................................ 176
To Unmirror................................................................................................................................. 176
To Locate Unmirror In Storage Management............................................................................ 176
Assigning And Unassigning Dedicated Hot Spare............................................................................176
Assigning A Dedicated Hot Spare................................................................................................177
Unassigning A Dedicated Hot Spare........................................................................................... 177
To Locate Assign Or Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare In Storage Management........................ 177
Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk (Step 1 of 2)...................................................................... 177
Replacing A Member Disk: (Step 1 of 2)......................................................................................178
To Locate Replace Member Disk In Storage Management....................................................... 178
Virtual Disk Task: Replace Member Disk (Step 2 of 2)..................................................................... 178
Enabling Fluid Cache On Virtual Disks............................................................................................. 179
Disabling Fluid Cache On Virtual Disks............................................................................................ 179
Enabling Fluid Cache On Virtual Disk Partitions..............................................................................180
Disabling Fluid Cache On Virtual Disk Partitions............................................................................. 180
16 Moving Physical And Virtual Disks From One System To Another.........181
Required Conditions..........................................................................................................................181
SCSI And SAS Controllers............................................................................................................ 181
SAS Controller .............................................................................................................................181
Migrating SAS Virtual Disks To Another System............................................................................... 181
17 Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare........................................... 183
Understanding Hot Spares................................................................................................................183
Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy.................................................................................................183
Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy..................................................................................... 184
Global Hot Spare Protection Policy............................................................................................184
Considerations For Hot Spare Protection Policy.......................................................................184
Considerations For Enclosure Affinity........................................................................................ 185
Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC 5/E, PERC 5/i, PERC 6/E, And PERC 6/I Controllers.... 185
Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations.........................................................................................186
Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC S100 And PERC S300 Controllers................................ 186
Size Requirements For Global Hot Spares On S100 And S300 Controllers............................. 186
Global Hot Spare Considerations On A SAS 6/iR.............................................................................186
18 CacheCade Using Solid-State Drives............................................................ 189
Managing The CacheCade............................................................................................................... 189
CacheCade Properties................................................................................................................190
Creating A CacheCade............................................................................................................... 190
Resizing The CacheCade............................................................................................................ 191
Renaming The CacheCade......................................................................................................... 191
Blinking And Unblinking The CacheCade...................................................................................191
Deleting The CacheCade............................................................................................................ 191
19 Troubleshooting................................................................................................. 193
Common Troubleshooting Procedures...........................................................................................193
Cables Attached Correctly..........................................................................................................193
System Requirements..................................................................................................................193
Drivers And Firmware..................................................................................................................194
Isolate Hardware Problems.........................................................................................................194
Rescan To Update Information On SCSI Controllers................................................................ 194
Replacing A Failed Disk............................................................................................................... 194
Using The Physical Disk Online Command On Select Controllers...........................................195
Recovering From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk............................................................. 196
Resolving Microsoft Windows Upgrade Problems.................................................................... 196
Virtual Disk Troubleshooting............................................................................................................ 196
A Rebuild Does Not Work........................................................................................................... 196
A Rebuild Completes With Errors............................................................................................... 197
Cannot Create A Virtual Disk.......................................................................................................197
A Virtual Disk Of Minimum Size Is Not Visible To Windows Disk Management....................... 197
Virtual Disk Errors On Systems Running Linux...........................................................................198
Problems Associated With Using The Same Physical Disks For Both Redundant And Non-
Redundant Virtual Disks.............................................................................................................. 198
Specific Problem Situations And Solutions...................................................................................... 198
Physical Disk Is Offline Or Displays An Error Status...................................................................199
Receive A Bad Block Alert With Replacement, Sense, Or Medium Error..................................199
Alerts 2146 Through 2150 Received During A Rebuild Or While A Virtual Disk Is Degraded...199
Alerts 2146 Through 2150 Received While Performing I/O, Consistency Check, Format,
Or Other Operation....................................................................................................................200
Read And Write Operations Experience Problems....................................................................200
A Task Menu Option Is Not Displayed....................................................................................... 200
A Corrupt Disk Or Drive Message Suggests Running Autocheck During A Reboot................ 200
Erroneous Status And Error Messages After A Windows Hibernation......................................200
Storage Management May Delay Before Updating Temperature Probe Status...................... 200
Storage Management May Delay Displaying Storage Devices After Reboot............................201
You Are Unable To Log Into A Remote System......................................................................... 201
Cannot Connect To Remote System Running Microsoft Windows Server 2003.................... 201
Reconfiguring A Virtual Disk Displays Error In Mozilla Browser................................................201
Physical Disks Are Displayed Under The Connector Object Instead Of The Enclosure
Object.......................................................................................................................................... 201
PCIe SSD Troubleshooting............................................................................................................... 201
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Solid-State Drive (SSD) Is Not Visible
In The Operating System............................................................................................................202
PCIe SSD Is Not Visible In Disk Management In The Operating System.................................. 202
Fluid Cache For DAS.........................................................................................................................202
Fluid Cache tree is not seen in OMSS........................................................................................ 202
Additional entries seen in the statistics chart.............................................................................202
Fluid Cache device is not seen in the operating system...........................................................202
On H310 I do not see any option for Fluid Cache.....................................................................202
Cannot add more than 64 VDs for caching...............................................................................202
Configured mode vs operational mode troubleshooting in cases of Pass Through and
Write Through operational mode.............................................................................................. 203
When the Fluid Cache node is selected, Fluid Cache details is not displayed.........................203
Add PCIe SSD to Fluid Cache Pool fails..................................................................................... 203
Blank graph or graph with minimal data is plotted................................................................... 203
20 Frequently Asked Questions...........................................................................205
Why Is A Rebuild Not Working?....................................................................................................... 205
How To Avoid Removing The Wrong Disk...................................................................................... 205
How Can I Safely Remove Or Replace A Physical Disk...................................................................205
How Do I Recover From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk.......................................................206
How Do I Identify The Firmware Version That Is Installed..............................................................206
Which Controllers Do I Have?..........................................................................................................206
How Do I Turn Off An Alarm............................................................................................................206
Which RAID Level Is Best For Me?....................................................................................................207
21 Supported Features........................................................................................... 209
Supported Features On The PERC 5/ And PERC 6/ Controllers.................................................... 209
Controller Tasks Supported On The PERC 5/ And PERC 6/ Controllers..................................209
Battery Tasks Supported On The PERC 5/E And PERC 6/ Controllers......................................211
Connector Tasks Supported By The PERC 5/ And PERC 6/ Controllers.................................. 212
Physical Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC 5/E, And PERC 6/ Controllers............................ 212
Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC 5/ And PERC 6/ Controllers..................................213
Virtual Disk Specifications For The PERC 5/ And PERC 6/ Controllers.....................................214
RAID Levels Supported By The PERC 5/E And PERC 6 Controllers...........................................217
Read, Write, And Cache Policy Supported By The PERC 5/E And PERC 6 Controllers............217
Enclosure Support On The PERC 5/ And PERC 6/ Controllers.................................................218
Supported Features On The PERC Hardware Controllers...............................................................218
Controller Tasks Supported On The PERC Hardware Controllers............................................219
Battery Tasks Supported On The PERC Hardware Controllers.................................................222
Connector Tasks Supported By The PERC Hardware Controllers............................................222
Physical Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC Hardware Controllers........................................ 223
Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC Hardware Controllers...........................................224
Virtual Disk Specifications For The PERC Hardware Controllers..............................................226
RAID Levels Supported By The PERC Hardware Controllers.....................................................231
Read, Write, Cache And Disk Cache Policy Supported By The PERC Hardware Controllers.. 231
Enclosure Support On PERC Hardware Controllers..................................................................232
Supported Features On The SAS 5iR, SAS 6iR, And PERC H200 Controllers................................. 233
Controller Tasks Supported On The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers......................233
Battery Tasks Supported On The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers...........................234
Connector Tasks Supported On The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers.................... 234
Physical Disk Tasks Supported On The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers................. 234
Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers..................... 235
RAID Levels Supported By The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers.............................. 236
Virtual Disk Specifications For The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And PERC H200 Controllers.............. 237
Read, Write, And Cache Policy Supported By The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200
Controllers...................................................................................................................................238
Enclosure Support On The SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, And H200 Controllers.................................... 239
Supported Features On The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers.................................239
Controller Tasks Supported On The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers..............239
Physical Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers.......... 240
Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers.............240
Virtual Disk Specifications For The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers.................241
RAID Levels Supported By The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers...................... 242
Read Write Cache And Disk Cache Policy Supported By The PERC S100, PERC S110, And
S300 Controllers.........................................................................................................................242
Enclosure Support On The PERC S100, PERC S110, And S300 Controllers............................ 243
Supported Features On The Non-RAID Controllers....................................................................... 243
Controller Tasks Supported On The Non-RAID Controllers.....................................................243
Battery Tasks Supported By Non-RAID Controllers..................................................................244
Connector Tasks Supported On The Non-RAID Controllers................................................... 244
Physical Disk Tasks Supported On The Non-RAID Controllers................................................ 244
Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By The Non-RAID Controllers.................................................... 245
Enclosure Support On The Non-RAID Controllers................................................................... 246
Enclosure And Backplane Features..................................................................................................246
Enclosure And Backplane Tasks.................................................................................................246
Maximum Supported Configuration For SAS Controllers............................................................... 247
22 Determining The Health Status For Storage Components..................... 249
Health Status Rollup: Battery Is Charging Or Dead.........................................................................249
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Failed Or Removed.............................. 249
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Unsupported, Partially, Or
Permanently Degraded.....................................................................................................................250
Health Status Rollup: All Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State...............................250
Health Status Rollup: Some Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State......................... 250
Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk Is Degraded; Physical Disks Are Failed Or Rebuilding.............. 251
Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk Is Failed....................................................................................... 251
Health Status Rollup: Unsupported Firmware Version.................................................................... 251
Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply Failed Or Power Connection Removed.............. 252
Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Fan Is Failed..........................................................................252
Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure EMM Is Failed....................................................................... 252
Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure Temperature Probe Is Failed............................................... 253
Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections To The Enclosure....................................... 253
Health Status Rollup: One Or More Physical Disks Are Failed........................................................ 253
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disk Is Rebuilding............................................................................254
1
Overview
Server Administrator Storage Management provides enhanced features for configuring the locally
attached RAID and non-RAID disk storage on a system. Storage Management enables you to perform
controller and enclosure functions for all supported RAID and non-RAID controllers and enclosures from
a single graphical user interface (GUI) or command-line interface (CLI). The GUI is wizard-driven and
includes features for novice and advanced users. The CLI is fully featured and scriptable. Using Storage
Management, you can protect your data by configuring data-redundancy, assigning hot spares, or
rebuilding failed physical disks. 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 information on Storage Management alerts, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide.
What Is New In This Release?
This release of Storage Management provides the following new features:
• Added support for the following operating systems:
– Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 (64–bit)
– VMware vSphere 5.0 U3 and 5.5
– Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5
– Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
* Foundation Edition
* Essential Edition
* Standard Edition
* Datacenter Edition
• Support for a new license format for Citrix XenServer 6.1
• Added support for web browsers:
– Mozilla Firefox version 22 and 23
– Internet Explorer version 8, 9, 10, and 11
– Google Chrome version 27, 28, 30, and 31
– Safari version 6.0
• Introduction of PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 9 — PERC H730P Adapter
– Support For RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation on PERC 9 Hardware Controller — Uneven Span
feature
– Support For Advanced Format 4K Sector Hard-Disk Drives
– T10 Standard Protection Information (PI) — Data Integrity Field
For more information, see Support For PERC 9 Hardware Controllers
15
• Added support for Software RAID controllers (PERC S110) on systems running the Windows Server
2012 R2 operating system.
• Added support for Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
(PCIe) solid-state drives (SSDs) — Cryptographic Erase. For more information on Cryptographic Erase,
see Enabling Cryptographic Erase On A Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) PCIe SSD
• Added support for the following LSI Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Host Bus Adapters (HBAs):
– LSI SAS 9207–8e
– LSI SAS 9300–8e
– LSI SAS 9206–16e
Before Installing Storage Management
The following sections describe considerations for installing Storage Management.
Version Requirements For Controller Firmware And Drivers
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 Server Administrator Readme
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, contact your service provider.
NOTE: To download the latest storport driver, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB943545
at support.microsoft.com.
If you install Storage Management without the minimum required firmware and drivers, Storage
Management may not be able to display the controllers or perform other functions. Storage Management
generates alerts 2131 and 2132 when it detects unsupported firmware or drivers on a controller.
For information on alert messages, see the Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide.
Supported Controllers
NOTE: The firmware and drivers listed in the Server Administrator Readme 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, contact your service provider.
This release of Storage Management supports the following controllers.
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 5/E
• PERC 5/i Integrated and PERC 5/i Adapter
• SAS 5/iR Integrated and SAS 5/iR Adapter
• PERC 6/E
• PERC 6/I Integrated and PERC 6/I Adapter
• PERC 6/I Modular
• SAS 6/iR controller
• PERC S100, PERC S110, and PERC S300
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• 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
• PERC H730P Adapter
NOTE: The PERC H200, PERC H7x0, and PERC H8x0 controllers support 3TB NL SAS hard drives,
3TB 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 6 Gbps Adapter
• LSI SAS 9207-8e
• LSI SAS 9300-8e
• LSI SAS 9206-16e
Supported Enclosures
This release of Storage Management supports the following enclosures:
• 20xS and 21xS storage systems
• 220S and 221S storage systems
• MD1000 and MD1120 storage systems
• MD1200 and MD1220 storage systems
Support For Disk And Volume Management
Storage Management does not provide disk and volume management. To implement disk and volume
management, you must use the native disk and volume management utilities provided by your operating
system.
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Getting Started
Server Administrator Storage Management is designed for system administrators who implement
hardware RAID solutions and understand corporate and small business storage environments.
Storage Management enables you to configure the storage components attached to your system. These
components include RAID and non-RAID controllers and the channels, ports, enclosures, and disks
attached to them. Using Storage Management, you can configure and manage the 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. 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 on automatic shutdown, 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.
Launching Storage Management
Storage Management is installed as a 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 Server Administrator User’s Guide
On Systems Running Microsoft Windows
To start a Server Administrator session on a local system running Microsoft Windows operating system,
click the Server Administrator icon on your desktop and log in using an account with Administrator
privileges.
NOTE: Administrative privileges are required for configuration purposes.
On A System Running Linux And Any Remote System
To start a Server Administrator session on a Linux or any remote system, click the Server Administrator
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>:
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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: Type https:// (not http://) in the address field to receive a valid response in your browser.
User Privileges
Server Administrator provides security through the User, Power User, and Administrator user groups. Each
user group is assigned a different level of access to the Server Administrator features.
The Administrator privileges are required to access all Storage Management features. 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 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.
Related Links
Displaying The Online Help
Health
On the Properties page, click Health to view the status information for the storage components.
Related Links
Storage Health
Information/Configuration
On the Properties page, click Information/Configuration to view the property information for a storage
object. The Information/Configuration subtabs also have options for executing storage tasks or
launching wizards.
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Using The Storage Management Command-Line Interface
Storage Management has a fully featured command-line interface (CLI). For more information on CLI, see
the Server Administrator Command Line Interface User’s Guide.
Displaying The Online Help
Storage Management provides an 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.
The online Help is available as:
• Context-sensitive Help — Each Storage Management page has a icon. Click this icon to display
the context-sensitive online Help that describes the contents of the displayed page.
• Table of Contents — The table of contents is available in the page that displays the information when
you access the context-sensitive Help.
Related Links
Storage Object
Common Storage Tasks
This section provides information on commonly performed storage tasks:
• Create and configure virtual disks (RAID configuration). For more information, see:
– Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard — This topic provides information on 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 — This topic provides information on 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 topic provides detailed information regarding the 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 RAID level, you can assign a hot
spare (backup physical disk) to rebuild data if a physical disk in the virtual disk fails.
– Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare — This topic provides information on hot spares and
controller-specific information.
• Perform a Check Consistency — The Maintaining The Integrity Of Redundant Virtual Disks task verifies
the accuracy of the redundant data on a virtual disk.
• Reconfigure a Virtual Disk — To expand the capacity of a virtual disk you can add physical disks to the
virtual disk. You can also change the RAID levels. For more information, see Virtual Disk Task:
Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3).
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Understanding RAID Concepts
Storage Management uses the Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology to provide
Storage Management capability. Understanding Storage Management requires an understanding of RAID
concepts, as well as some familiarity with how the RAID controllers and operating system view disk space
on your system.
Related Links
What Is RAID?
Organizing Data Storage For Availability And Performance
Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation
Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance
What Is RAID?
RAID is a technology for managing the storage of data on the physical disks that reside or are attached to
the system. 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 a 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
RAB defines the RAID levels, commercial implementation of RAID levels by different vendors may
vary from the actual RAID specifications. An implementation of 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 the RAID
levels. For this reason, using software RAID by itself can slow the system performance. You can, however,
use software RAID along with 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.
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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 always. Either side of the mirror can act as the operational side. A
mirrored RAID disk group is comparable in performance to a RAID 5 disk group in read operations but
faster in write operations.
• Striping — Disk striping writes data across all physical disks in a virtual disk. 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.
• 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 also entail
an increase or decrease in the I/O (read and write) performance of a system.
Maintaining redundant data requires the use of additional physical disks. The possibility of a disk failure
increases with an increase in the number of disks. Since 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 the ability of a system to
maintain operations and provide access to data even when one of its components has failed. In RAID
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volumes, availability or 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 option cannot be avoided in
situations where redundant data is a requirement, it does have implications on the workload of the
system support staff within your organization.
• 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.
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 topics 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)
• RAID Level 5 (Striping With Distributed Parity)
• RAID Level 6 (Striping With Additional Distributed Parity)
• RAID Level 50 (Striping Over RAID 5 Sets)
• RAID Level 60 (Striping Over RAID 6 Sets)
• RAID Level 10 (Striping Over Mirror Sets)
• RAID Level 1-Concatenated (Concatenated Mirror)
• Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance
• No-RAID
Related Links
Starting And Target RAID Levels For Virtual Disk Reconfiguration And Capacity Expansion
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.
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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 costefficient 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.
• 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 redundant data is stored. When a disk fails, the large virtual disk fails.
• No performance gain.
• No redundancy.
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.
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RAID 0 characteristics:
• Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (smallest disk size) *n disks.
• Data is stored to the disks alternately.
• No redundant data is stored. When a disk fails, the large virtual disk fails with no means of rebuilding
the data.
• Better read and write performance.
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 fails, data can be rebuilt using the data from the other side of
the mirror.
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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 both the disks.
• When a disk fails, the virtual disk still works. The data is read from the mirror of the failed disk.
• Better read performance, but slightly slower write performance.
• Redundancy for protection of data.
• RAID 1 is more expensive in terms of disk space since twice the number of disks are used than
required to store the data without redundancy.
RAID 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, the parity information is striped across all physical disks in the
disk group.
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.
• 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.
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.
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The additional parity provides data protection in the event of two disk failures. In the following image, the
two sets of parity information are identified as P and Q.
RAID 6 characteristics:
• Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n-2) disks.
• Redundant information (parity) is alternately stored on all disks.
• The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk failures. The data is reconstructed from the
surviving disks.
• Better read performance, but slower write performance.
• Increased redundancy for protection of data.
• Two disks per span are required for parity. RAID 6 is more expensive in terms of disk space.
RAID 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.
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RAID 50 characteristics:
• Groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-1) disks, where s is the number of
spans and n is the number of disks within each span.
• Redundant information (parity) is alternately stored on all disks of each RAID 5 span.
• Better read performance, but slower write performance.
• Requires as much parity information as standard RAID 5.
• Data is striped across all spans. RAID 50 is more expensive in terms of disk space.
RAID 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.
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