Users Guide

The cancel check consistency is a real-time operation.
You must have Login and Server Control privilege to check consistency of virtual disks.
Initializing Virtual Disks
Initializing virtual disks erases the all the data on the disk but does not change the virtual disk configuration. You must initialize a
virtual disk that is configured before it is used.
NOTE: Do not initialize virtual disks when attempting to recreate an existing configuration.
You can perform a fast initialization, a full Initialization, or cancel the initialization operation.
NOTE: The cancel initialization is a real-time operation. You can cancel the initialization using only the iDRAC Web interface
and not RACADM.
Fast Initialization
The fast initialize operation initializes all physical disks included in the virtual disk. It updates the metadata on the physical disks
so that all disk space is available for future write operations. The initialize task can be completed quickly because the existing
information on the physical disks is not erased, although future write operations overwrite any information that remains on the
physical disks.
Fast initialization only deletes the boot sector and stripe information. Perform a fast initialize only if you are constrained for time
or the hard drives are new or unused. Fast Initialization takes less time to complete (usually 30-60 seconds).
CAUTION: Performing a fast initialize causes existing data to be inaccessible.
The fast initialize task does not write zeroes to the disk blocks on the physical disks. It is because the Fast Initialize task does
not perform a write operation, it causes less degradation to the disk.
A fast initialization on a virtual disk overwrites the first and last 8 MB of the virtual disk, clearing any boot records or partition
information. The operation takes only 2-3 seconds to complete and is recommended when you are recreating virtual disks.
A background initialization starts five minutes after the Fast Initialization is completed.
Full or Slow Initialization
The full initialization (also called slow initialize) operation initializes all physical disks included in the virtual disk. It updates the
metadata on the physical disks and erases all existing data and file systems. You can perform a full initialization after creating
the virtual disk. In comparison with the fast initialize operation, you may want to use the full initialize if you have trouble with a
physical disk or suspect that it has bad disk blocks. The full initialize operation remaps bad blocks and writes zeroes to all disk
blocks.
If full initialization of a virtual disk is performed, background initialization is not required. During full initialization, the host is
not able to access the virtual disk. If the system reboots during a full initialization, the operation terminates and a background
initialization process starts on the virtual disk.
It is always recommended to do a full initialization on drives that previously contained data. Full initialization can take up to 1-2
minutes per GB. The speed of initialization depends on the controller model, speed of hard drives, and the firmware version.
The full initialize task initializes one physical disk at a time.
NOTE: Full initialize is supported only in real-time. Only few controllers support full initialization.
Encrypting Virtual Disks
When encryption is disabled on a controller (that is, the security key is deleted), manually enable encryption for virtual disks
created using SED drives. If the virtual disk is created after encryption is enabled on a controller, the virtual disk is automatically
encrypted. It is automatically configured as an encrypted virtual disk unless the enabled encryption option is disabled during the
virtual disk creation.
NOTE: This task can only be staged and real-time is not supported.
You must have Login and Server Control privilege to manage the encryption keys.
Managing Storage Devices
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