Specifications

DS300f G2 Series User Manual
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StrIPe SIze
Stripe Size, also called “Stripe Block Size,” refers to the size of the data blocks written to, and read from, the
physicaldrives.StripeSizeisspeciedwhenyoucreatealogicaldrive.YoucanchooseStripeSizedirectlywhen
youusetheWizardAdvancedCongurationfunctiontocreatealogicaldrive.
You cannot change the Stripe Size of an existing logical drive. You must delete the logical drive and create a
new one.
The available Stripe Sizes are 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1 MB. 64 KB is the default. There are two
issues to consider when choosing the Stripe Size:
• You should choose a Stripe Size equal to, or smaller than, the smallest cache buffer found on any physical
drive in the disk array. Selecting a larger value slows read/write performance because physical drives with
smallercachebuffersneedmoretimeformultipleaccessestolltheirbuffers.
• Ifyourdataretrievalconsistsofxeddatablocks,suchaswithsomedatabaseorvideoapplications,then
you should choose that size as your Stripe Size.
Ifyoudonotknowthecachebufferorxeddatablocksizes,choose64KBasyourStripeSize.Generally
speaking,
• Email, POS, and web servers prefer smaller stripe sizes.
• Video and database applications prefer larger stripe sizes.
Sector SIze
A sector is the smallest addressable area on a physical drive. Sector size refers to the number of data bytes a
sectorcanhold.Asmallersectorsizeisamoreefcientuseofaphysicaldrive’scapacity.512bytes(512B)is
the most common sector size, and the default in ASUS Storage Management.
PreferreD controller ID
When you create a logical drive using the Advanced method of disk array creation, you can specify the Preferred
Controller ID:
• Controller 1 – Assign all logical drives to Controller 1
• Controller 2 – Assign all logical drives to Controller 2.
• Automatic – Alternate logical drive assignments between Controllers 1 and 2.
Automatic is the default and preferred setting because it balances the logical drive assignments for you.
InItIalIzatIon
Initialization is done to logical drives after they are created from a disk array. Full initialization sets all data bits
inthelogicaldrivetoaspeciedpattern,suchasallzeros.Theactionisusefulbecausetheremayberesidual
dataonthelogicaldrivesleftbehindfromearliercongurations.Forthisreason,Initializationisrecommended
for all new logical drives. "Initializing a Logical Drive (CLU)" on page <?>.
Caution
When you initialize a logical drive, all the data on the logical drive is lost. Backup any
important data before you initialize a logical drive.
PartItIon anD format
Like anyother type of xed disk media in your system, a RAID logical drive must also be partitioned and
formatted before use. Use the same method of partitioning and formatting on an logical drive as you would any
otherxeddisk.
Depending on the operating system you use, there may or may not be various capacity limitations applicable
for the different types of partitions.