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.
Contents 1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What’s New in this Release? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Before Installing Storage Management . . . . . . . . . Version Requirements for Controller Firmware and Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 24 . . 25 Supported Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Supported Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Common Storage Tasks 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Understanding RAID Concepts What Is RAID? 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation Concatenation RAID Level 0 (Striping) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RAID Level 1 (Mirroring) . . . . .
4 Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Storage Dashboard and Storage Health. Storage Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Hot Spare Protection Policy . Select Report. Storage Component Severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Physical Device Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Blink and Unblink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Full Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Physical Device Tasks . Preparing to Remove Export Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Read Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Write Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Disk Cache Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cluster-enabled RAID Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 . . . 89 . . . . . . . .
Export Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Foreign Configuration Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 110 . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Importing/Recovering Foreign Configurations Clear Foreign Configuration . . . . 114 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 . . . . . . . 116 . . . . . . . . . . 121 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Physical Disks in Foreign Virtual Disks . Set Background Initialization Rate Set Check Consistency Rate .
Resizing the CacheCade Renaming the CacheCade . . . . . 140 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 CacheCade Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Convert to Non-RAID Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Convert to RAID Capable Disks Patrol Read Report . Check Consistency Report . Slot Occupancy Report 8 140 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blinking and Unblinking the CacheCade . Deleting the CacheCade 140 . . . . . .
Enclosure and Backplane Components . . . . . . . . 151 . . . . . . 151 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Enclosure and Backplane Properties and Tasks Enclosure and Backplane Properties. Enclosure Tasks . Available Reports . Set Asset Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connector Properties and Tasks Connector Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Connector Tasks: Rescan Connector . Connector Components. . . . . . . . 177 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 . . . . . . . . 177 . . . . . . . . . . . 177 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Logical Connector Properties and Tasks Logical Connector Properties Path Health Clearing the Redundant Path View . Related Tasks . . . . . . . . . 178 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Physical Disk or Physical Device Tasks . . . . . . 199 . . . . . . . . . . 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Blink and Unblink (Physical Disk) . Remove Dead Segments . Prepare to Remove . Initialize Rebuild Cancel Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Number of Physical Disks per Virtual Disk . Maximum Number of Virtual Disks per Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 . . . . . . 216 Calculation for Maximum Virtual Disk Size and the Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard . . . . . . 217 . . . . . . . . . 217 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Channel Redundant Virtual Disks . Creating Virtual Disks Reconfiguring/Migrating Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . .
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 Considerations for Format . . . . 254 . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Considerations for Initialize . . . . . . . . . . . . Considerations for Fast Initialize . . . . . . . . . Considerations for Slow Initialize . 255 . . . . . . . . . 256 . . . . . . . . . . . .
14 Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Understanding Hot Spares . 269 . . . 269 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy 270 . . . . . . . . . . Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy Resetting the Hot Spare Protection Policy . Global Hot Spare Protection Policy 270 . . . . . . . . . . 270 . . . . . . . . 271 Considerations for Hot Spare Protection Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BIOS Terms and the CERC SATA1.5/6ch and CERC SATA1.5/2s Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Troubleshooting . . . 279 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Common Troubleshooting Procedures. . . . . . . . . 281 . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Drivers and Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Cables Attached Correctly Isolate Hardware Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . Rescan to Update Information on SCSI Controllers . . . .
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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Task Menu Option is Not Displayed 294 . . . . . . I/O Stops When a Redundant Channel Fails . . . . 294 . . . . . . . 294 A Corrupt Disk or Drive Message Suggests Running autocheck During a Reboot . . . . 295 . . . .
How do I Recover from Removing the Wrong Physical Disk? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 How do I Identify the Firmware Version that is installed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Which Controllers do I Have? How do I Turn off an Alarm? . . . . . . . . . . . 301 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Which RAID level is Best for me? A Supported Features .
Supported Features on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Controller Tasks . Battery Tasks . Connector Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physical Disk Tasks . Virtual Disk Tasks . 325 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Virtual Disk Specifications Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Supported Features on the PERC S100, PERC S110, and S300 Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controller Tasks . . 353 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 Physical Disk Tasks . Virtual Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 Virtual Disk Specifications Supported RAID Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356 Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy. Enclosure Support . . . 356 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Unsupported, Partially or Permanently Degraded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Health Status Rollup: All Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are in Foreign State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 . 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 . . . .
Contents
1 Overview Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management provides enhanced features for configuring a system's locally-attached RAID and nonRAID 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.
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.
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.
• 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,
• 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Getting Started
Understanding RAID Concepts 3 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.
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.
• 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.
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.
• 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 p
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.
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.
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: 42 • Groups n + n disks as one virtual disk with the capacity of n disks.
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.
• 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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
• 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.
Table 3-1. RAID Level and Concatenation Performance Comparison RAID Level Data Read Write Rebuild Minimum Availability Performance Performance Performance Disks Required Suggested Uses Concatenation No gain No gain No gain N/A 1 or 2 depending on the controller. More cost efficient than redundant RAID levels. Use for noncritical data.
Table 3-1. RAID Level and Concatenation Performance Comparison (continued) Suggested Uses RAID Level Data Read Write Rebuild Minimum Availability Performance Performance Performance Disks Required RAID 6 Excellent Sequential Fair, unless Poor reads: good. using writeTransaction back cache al reads: Very good N+2 (N = at least two disks) Critical information. Databases and other readintensive transactional uses. RAID 60 Excellent Very Good X x (N + 2) (N = at least 2) Critical information.
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.
• 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.
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.
• 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.
Using Enclosure Temperature Probes Physical disk enclosures have temperature probes that warn you when the enclosure has exceeded an acceptable temperature range.
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.
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.
Quick Access to Storage Status and Tasks
PCI Express Solid-State Device Support 5 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 readonly 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.
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.
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.
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
Storage Information and Global Tasks 5 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
• 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.
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.
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-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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 110 This property displays the name of the foreign configuration and is available as a link.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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: • 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.
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.
• 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.
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 Spares The Enabled option spins down the hot spares if no Spin Down Configured Drives The Enabled option spins down the configured disks if they are unattended for a specified interval of time. read-write operation takes place on the hot spare in a specified interval of time.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Table 7-9. CacheCade Properties Property Definition Disk Cache Policy This property displays whether the disk cache policy of the physical 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.
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.
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.
Enclosures and Backplanes 8 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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 joinedbus 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 clusterenabled RAID controllers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 channelredundant. There are specific RAID level and configuration requirements for implementing channel redundancy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Selecting this option clears the redundant path view and the connectors are represented on the user interface as Connector 0 and Connector 1.
Connectors
RAID Controller Batteries 10 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.
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.
Table 10-1. Property Status Battery Properties Definition 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.
Property Definition Predicted Capacity Status This property displays the charge capacity of the battery. 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.
Property Definition Maximum Learn Delay This property displays the maximum number of days and hours that you can delay the battery learn cycle. The controller firmware automatically initiates the battery learn cycle. You cannot stop or pause the Learn cycle, but you can delay it. For more information, see Battery Delay Learn Cycle and Start Learn Cycle. Recharge Count This property displays the number of times the controller's battery has been recharged.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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. Property Physical Disk Properties 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If Revertible Hot Spare is enabled and the physical disk is SMART-enabled, the controller firmware automatically starts copying data from the SMARTenabled 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 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.
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 nonRAID, 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
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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued) Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, RAID 0 Comments RAID 5 Add at least one additional disk RAID 0 With or without adding additional disks RAID 5 Add additional disks 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 SATA1.
Table 12-1.
Table 12-1. Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued) Controller Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments RAID 0 RAID 6 requires a minimum of 4 disks. RAID 6 Reconfiguration from RAID 0 to RAID 6 requires at least 2 additional disks even when this exceeds the 4disk 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.
Table 12-1. Controller Virtual Disk Reconfiguration and Capacity Expansion (continued) Starting RAID Level Target RAID Level Comments PERC S100, S110, RAID 0 and S300 RAID 0 With or without 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.
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.
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 Virtual Disk Scenario Result 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.
Table 12-2. Sample Scenarios For Virtual Disk Bad Blocks RAID Level State Virtual Disk Scenario RAID 6 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. Ready Result Recommendations Storage Management provides the ability to clear the bad block warnings.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
– 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 (n2) 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.
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 ar
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
– 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
– 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.
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.
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.
NOTE: On the CERC SATA1.5/6ch controllers, doing a Split Mirror on a RAID 1concatenated 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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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).
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.
• 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
Global Hot Spare Protection Policy Table 14-2. Property Global Hot Spare Properties Definition Enable Global Hot Spare Enables the Global Hot Spare Protection Policy. Minimum Number of Disks Displays the minimum number of physical disks to be 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
CacheCade Using Solid State Drives 15 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.
• 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.
BIOS Terminology 16 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 NonRedundant 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Troubleshooting
Frequently Asked Questions 18 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 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.
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.
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.
Table A-1.
Table A-1. Controller Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued) Controller Task Name PERC 4/SC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM Set Patrol Read Yes Mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No NOTE: For PERC 4 controllers, (Manual mode is not available). Start Patrol Read No No No No No No No Stop Patrol Read No No No No No No No Battery Tasks Table A-2.
Physical Disk Tasks Table A-4. Physical Disk Tasks Supported by the PERC 4/ Controllers Physical Disk Task Name PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC PERC 4/IM 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.
Virtual Disk Tasks Table A-5.
Table A-5.
Virtual Disk Specifications Table A-6.
Table A-6.
Table A-6.
Table A-6. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 4/ Controllers (continued) PERC 4/SC PERC 4/DC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/IM Virtual Disk 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC Specification Maximum NA number of physical disks in a RAID 6 NA NA NA NA NA NA Maximum NA number of physical disks in a RAID 60 NA NA NA NA NA NA Minimum NA number of physical disks in a RAID 6 NA NA NA NA NA NA Minimum NA number of physical disks in a RAID 60 NA NA NA NA NA NA Supported RAID Levels Table A-7.
Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy Table A-8.
Enclosure Support Table A-9. Enclosure Support on the PERC 4/ Controllers Enclosure Support PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC PERC 4/SC 4/DC 4/DI 4e/SI 4e/DI 4e/DC 4/IM Can an enclosure be attached to this controller? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No 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 Table A-10. Controller Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers Controller Task Name CERC SATA 1.5/2s CERC SATA 1.
Battery Tasks Table A-11. Battery Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers Battery Task Name CERC SATA 1.5/2s CERC SATA 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.
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.
Table A-14. Virtual Disk Tasks Supported by the CERC SATA Controllers (continued) Virtual Disk Task Name CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch Resume Check Consistency No Yes Cancel Background Initialization (BGI) No No Format Virtual Disk No Yes Cancel Format Virtual Disk No No Restore Dead Disk Segments No Yes Initialize Virtual Disk No No Fast Initialize Virtual Disk No No Slow Initialize Virtual Disk No No Cancel Initialize Virtual Disk No No Virtual Disk Specifications Table A-15.
Table A-15.
Table A-15. Virtual Disk Specifications for the CERC SATA Controllers (continued) Virtual Disk Specification CERC SATA 2S CERC SATA 6ch Minimum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 10 NA 4 Minimum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 50 NA NA Maximum number of NA physical disks in a RAID 6 NA Maximum number of physical disks in a RAID 60 NA NA Minimum number of NA physical disks in a RAID 6 NA Minimum number of physical disks in a RAID 60 NA NA Supported RAID Levels Table A-16.
Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy Table A-17.
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.
Table A-19.
Table A-19. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC 5/ PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers (continued) Controller Task Name PERC 5/E PERC 5/i PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I Modular CERC 6/I Hot-plug of Enclosures No No Yes with No firmware 6.1 and later No No Change Controller Properties No No Yes with firmware 6.1 and later Yes with firmware 6.1 and later Yes with No firmware 6.1 and later Intelligent Mirroring No No Yes with firmware 6.1 and later Yes with firmware 6.
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.
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 Segments No No No No No No 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 firmware 6.1 and later Yes with firmware 6.
Table A-23.
Virtual Disk Specifications Table A-24.
Table A-24. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers (continued) Virtual Disk Specification PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I Modular Maximum Number of 16 Physical Disks in a RAID 10 16 256 16 with firmware version 6.
Table A-24. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC 5/, PERC 6/, and CERC 6/I Controllers (continued) Virtual Disk Specification PERC 5/E PERC 5/I PERC 6/E PERC 6/I PERC 6/I CERC 6/I Modular Minimum number of physical disks in a RAID 6 NA NA 4 4 4 4 Minimum number of physical disks in a RAID 60 NA NA 8 8 8 8 Supported RAID Levels Table A-25.
Table A-26.
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 followi
Controller Tasks Table A-28.
Table A-28.
Table A-28.
Table A-28. Controller Tasks Supported on the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued) Controller Task PERC Name H800 PERC H810 Adapter PERC PERC H700 H700 Adapter/I Modular ntegrated PERC PERC H710 H710P Adapter/ Adapter Mini Monolithi c/Mini Blade PERC H310 Adapter/ Mini Blade/ Mini Monolithi c Patrol Read Report Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Check Consistency Report Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Slot Occupancy Report Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Battery Tasks Table A-29.
Connector Tasks Table A-30. Controller Tasks Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers Controller Task Name PERC PERC PERC PERC H800 H810 H700 H700 Adapter Adapter/ Modular Integrated PERC PERC H710 H710P Adapter Adapter /Mini Blade/ Mini Monolit hic PERC H310 Adapter/Mini Blade/Mini Monolithic Connector Rescan No No No No No No No Physical Disk Tasks Table A-31.
Table A-31.
Virtual Disk Tasks Table A-32.
Table A-32.
Table A-33.
Table A-33.
Table A-33. Virtual Disk Specifications for the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued) Virtual Disk Specification PERC H800 PERC PERC H810 H700 Adapter Adapter/I ntegrate d/Modul ar PERC H710 Mini Blade PERC PERC H710 H710P Adapter/ Adapter Mini Monolithi c PERC H310 Adapter/M ini Blade/Min i Monolithic Minimum number of 4 physical disks in a RAID 6 4 4 4 4 4 NA Minimum number of 8 physical disks in a RAID 60 8 8 8 8 8 NA Supported RAID Levels Table A-34.
Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy Table A-35.
Table A-35. Read, Write, and Cache Policy Supported by the PERC Hardware Controllers (continued) Read, Write, and Cache Policy PERC H800 PERC PERC H700 PERC H710 PERC H810 Adapter/Integr Adapter/Mini H710P Adapter ated/Modular Monolithic/ Adapter Mini Blade PERC H310 Adapter/Mini Blade/Mini Monolithic Direct I/O No No No No No No Enclosure Support Table A-36.
• Enclosure Support For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure and Backplane Features. Controller Tasks Table A-37.
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.
Table A-40. Physical Disk Tasks Supported on the SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, and H200 Controllers Physical Disk Task Name SAS 5/IR SAS 6/iR PERC H200 Prepare to Remove No No No Offline No No No Online No No No Initialize No No No Rebuild No NA. NA. Rebuild automatically initiated by the controller. Rebuild automatically initiated by the controller.
Table A-41.
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.
Table A-43.
Read, Write, Cache and Disk Cache Policy Table A-44.
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.
Virtual Disk Tasks Table A-48.
Table A-49.
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 Physical Disks in a RAID 5 3 3 Minimum Number of Physical Disks in a RAID 10 4 4 4 Supported RAID Levels Table A-50.
Table A-51.
• Virtual Disk Tasks • Enclosure Support For enclosure-supported tasks, see Enclosure and Backplane Features. Controller Tasks Table A-53.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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 tag and asset name) No No Blink Enclosure No No Controller Reports No No Enclosure and Backplane Support for Smart Thermal Shutdown Table A-61.
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.
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: 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 Subsyste r m Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s) Driver Compon ent Status Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Unsupported, Partially or Permanently Degraded Table B-3.
Table B-3. Health Status Rollup: Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are Unsupported, Partially or Permanently Degraded (Enclosures Not Included) Storage Controlle Battery Subsyste r m Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s) Driver Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: All Physical Disks in a Virtual Disk are in Foreign State Table B-4.
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 Subsyste r m Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual or Disk(s) e/ Disk(s) Driver Compon ent Status Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Degraded; Physical Disks are Failed or Rebuilding Table B-6.
Table B-6. Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Degraded; Physical Disks are Failed or Rebuilding (Enclosures Not Included) Storage Controlle Battery Subsyste r m Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual or Disk(s) e/Driver Disk(s) Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: Virtual Disk is Failed Table B-7.
Health Status Rollup: Unsupported Firmware Version Table B-8. Health Status Rollup: Unsupported Firmware Version (Enclosures Not Included) Storage Controlle Battery Subsyste r m Connect Physical Firmwar Virtual or Disk(s) e/Driver Disk(s) Compon ent Status Health Rollup Health Status Rollup: Enclosure Power Supply Failed or Power Connection Removed Table B-9.
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 Subsyste r or e e Fan Disks m Physical Disks Compon ent Status Health Rollup NA NA NA Health Status Rollup: One Enclosure EMM is Failed Table B-11.
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 Subsyste r or e e Disks m Tempera ture Probe Physical Disks Compon ent Status Health Rollup NA Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections to the Enclosure Table B-13.
Table B-13. Health Status Rollup: Lost Both Power Connections to the Enclosure Storage Controlle Connect Enclosur All Virtual Subsyste r or e Enclosur Disks m e Compone nts Health Rollup NA NA Physical Disks NA Health Status Rollup: One or More Physical Disks are Failed Table B-14.
Health Status Rollup: Physical Disk is Rebuilding Table B-15.
