Users Guide

Importing or Auto Importing Foreign Configuration
A foreign configuration is data residing on physical disks that have been moved from one controller to another. Virtual disks
residing on physical disks that have been moved are considered to be a foreign configuration.
You can import foreign configurations so that virtual disks are not lost after moving Physical Disks. A foreign configuration can
be imported only if it contains a virtual disk that is in either Ready or Degraded state or a hotspare that is dedicated to a virtual
disk which can be imported or is already present.
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.
For example, if the foreign configuration contains only one side of a mirror in a RAID 1 virtual disk, then the virtual disk is in a
Degraded state and can be imported. If the foreign configuration contains only one physical disk that was originally configured
as a RAID 5 using three physical disks, then the RAID 5 virtual disk is in a Failed state and cannot be imported.
In addition to virtual disks, a foreign configuration may consist of a physical disk that was assigned as a hot spare on one
controller and then moved to another controller. The Import Foreign Configuration task imports the new physical disk as a hot
spare. If the physical disk was set as a dedicated hot spare on the previous controller, but the virtual disk to which the hot spare
was assigned is no longer present in the foreign configuration, then the physical disk is imported as a global hot spare.
If any foreign configurations locked using Local Key manager (LKM) are Detected, then import foreign configuration operation
is not possible in iDRAC in this release. You must unlock the drives through CTRL-R and then continue to import foreign
configuration from iDRAC.
The Import Foreign Configuration task is only displayed when the controller has detected a foreign configuration. You can also
identify whether a physical disk contains a foreign configuration (virtual disk or hot spare) by checking the physical disk state.
If the physical disk state is Foreign, then the physical disk contains all or some portion of a virtual disk or has a hot spare
assignment.
NOTE:
The task of importing foreign configuration imports all virtual disks residing on physical disks that have been added
to the controller. If more than one foreign virtual disk is present, all the configurations are imported.
PERC9 controller provides support for auto import of foreign configuration without requiring user interactions. The auto import
can be enabled or disabled. If enabled, the PERC controller can auto import any foreign configuration detected without manual
intervention. If disabled the PERC does not auto import any foreign configuration.
You must have Login and Server Control privilege to import foreign configurations.
This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode.
NOTE:
It is not recommended to remove an external enclosure cable while the operating system is running on the system.
Removing the cable could result in a foreign configuration when the connection is re-established.
You can manage foreign configurations in the following cases:
● All the physical disks in a configuration are removed and re-inserted.
● Some of the physical disks in a configuration are removed and re-inserted.
● All the physical disks in a virtual disk are removed, but at different times, and then re-inserted.
● The physical disks in a non-redundant virtual disk are removed.
The following constraints apply to the physical disks that are considered for import:
● The drive state of a physical disk can change from the time the foreign configuration is scanned to when the actual import
occurs. The foreign import occurs only on drives that are in the Unconfigured Good state.
● Drives in the failed or offline state cannot be imported.
● The firmware does not allow you to import more than eight foreign configurations.
Importing Foreign Configuration Using Web Interface
To import foreign configuration:
1. In the iDRAC Web interface, go to Overview > Storage > Controllers > Setup.
The Setup Controllers page is displayed.
2. In the Foreign Configuration section, from the Controller drop-down menu, select the controller that you want to
configure.
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Managing Storage Devices