Dell Sas 6ir Manual

SAS 6/iR BIOS39
Array 
StatusStatus of the current array
The status definitions are given as:
Optimal—All members of the array are online and ready.
Degraded—One or more members of a RAID 1 array have failed or are 
offline. The array can be returned to the Optimal state by replacing the 
failed or offline member.
Disabled—The array has been disabled
Quiesced—The array has been quiesced
Resync—The array is resynchronizing
Failed—The array has failed 
PermDegraded—The array is permanently degraded. This...

40SAS 6/iR BIOS
Drive 
StatusOk - Disk is online and fully functional.
Missing - Diskette is not detected.
Failed - Disk is not accessible or has reported a failure.
Initing - Disk is initializing.
CfgOffln - Disk is offline at hosts request.
UserFail - Disk is marked failed at hosts request.
Offline - Disk is offline for some other reason.
Inactive - Disk has been set to inactive.
Not Syncd - Data on disk is not synchronized with the rest of the array.
Primary - Disk is the primary disk for a 2 disk...

SAS 6/iR BIOS41
View Array
The View Array screen allows you to view the current array configuration.
Press  to view the next array. See the table above to view 
descriptions of each virtual disk property.
Manage Array
The Manage Array screen is used to manage the current array. The options 
are Manage Hotspares, Synchronize Mirror, Activate Array, and Delete Array. 
A confirmation is requested for each action.
Table 6-3. Manage Array Field Descriptions
Field Description
Identifier The identifier of the...

42SAS 6/iR BIOS
Exit Screen
It is important to exit the SAS BIOS Configuration Utility properly, because 
some changes take effect only when you exit. From the Adapter List, press 
 to exit. In addition, a similar exit screen appears when you exit most 
other screens, and it can be used to save settings.
Performing Configuration Tasks
Creating an Integrated Striping Virtual Disk
An Integrated Striping (IS) virtual disk, also referred to as RAID 0, offers the 
ability to stripe data across multiple...

SAS 6/iR BIOS43
There are several limitations when creating a RAID 0 virtual disk:
 All disks must be either Dell-compliant SAS or SATA physical disks.
 SAS and SATA physical disks cannot be used in the same virtual disk.
 There must be at least 2 physical disks in a virtual disk.
 No more than 8 physical disks are allowed in a virtual disk.
5Press  and then select Save changes when the virtual disk has been 
fully configured. 
6Press  to confirm that existing data will be lost with the creation of 
the...

44SAS 6/iR BIOS
5There are several limitations when creating a RAID 1 virtual disk:
 All disks must be either Dell-compliant SAS or SATA physical disks.
 SAS and SATA physical disks cannot be used in the same virtual disk.
 There must be 2 physical disks in a RAID 1 virtual disk.
6Press  and then select Save changes when the virtual disk has been 
fully configured. 
 NOTE: There is an option to create a hot spare for a RAID 1 virtual disk. 
The Create RAID 1 screen allows the option to assign a hot...

SAS 6/iR BIOS45
Synchronizing a Virtual Disk
Synchronizing a virtual disk means that the firmware synchronizes the data on 
the secondary disk(s) with the data on the primary disk of the mirror. 
Follow these steps to start synchronization for a RAID 1 virtual disk:
1
Select Synchronize Mirror.
2Press Y to start the synchronization or N to cancel it.
Activating a Virtual Disk
A virtual disk can become inactive if, for example, it is removed from one SAS 
6/iR controller and moved to another one. The...

46SAS 6/iR BIOS
replacing drives. Volumes that are migrated to another controller will be 
inactive and must therefore be activated.To activate a virtual disk see 
Activating a Virtual Disk on page 45.
Deleting a Virtual Disk
 NOTICE: Before deleting a virtual disk, be sure to back up all data on the virtual 
disk that you want to keep.
Follow these steps to delete a selected virtual disk:
1
Select Delete Virtual Disk.
2Press Y to delete the virtual disk or press N to abandon the deletion.
3Press  to...

SAS 6/iR BIOS47
 NOTE: During the rebuilding of a volume the synchronization will be restarted from 
the beginning if a hard drive is added or removed from the system. Wait until any 
synchronization processes have been completed before adding or removing hard 
drives. 
 
NOTE: Always remove any configuration information from hard drives if they are to 
be removed from a system. This can be completed by deleting the RAID 
configuration through the BIOS configuration utility or an operating system unless...

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book.book  Page 48  Monday, September 15, 2008  2:47 PM