Users Guide

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.
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.
The Foreign Configuration Operations task is displayed only when a controller detects a foreign configuration. Select this
option and click Execute to display the Foreign Configuration Preview page.
The Foreign Configuration Preview page provides a preview of the foreign disks and enables you to perform operations such
as, importing, recovering, or clearing the foreign disks. You can also import or clear a locked foreign configuration.
If any foreign configurations locked using Local Key manager (LKM) or Secure Enterprise Key Management (SEKM) are
detected, the associated Encryption Key Identifier is displayed prompting you to provide the corresponding passphrase to
unlock the drives.
To avoid unlocking foreign configurations and to proceed to preview, import, or clear a foreign configuration that has not been
locked, click Skip or Continue.
If you do not want to import or clear the foreign configurations, or if there is loss of the associated passphrase of the
corresponding Encryption Key Identifier, perform the Cryptographic Erase task for the physical disks.
CAUTION: Performing the Cryptographic Erase task erases all data on the physical disk.
Some conditions, such as an unsupported RAID level or an incomplete disk group, can prevent the import or recovery of foreign
virtual disks.
Foreign Configuration Properties
The following table describes the properties that are displayed for the Foreign Disks and Global Hot Spares.
Table 12. Foreign Configuration Properties
Property Definition
Status These icons represent the severity or health of the storage component.
● — Normal/OK
● — Warning/Non-critical
● — Critical/Failure/Error
For more information, see Storage Component Severity.
Name Displays the name of the foreign configuration and is available as a link. This link enables you
to access the physical disks that constitute the foreign disk.
State Displays the current state of the foreign configuration. Possible values are:
● 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.
The foreign configuration may be in degraded or failed state due to any of the following
reasons:
● Missing physical disk — One of the physical disk(s) in the potential virtual disk is missing
or not available.
● Missing span — One or more spans of a hybrid virtual disk is missing.
●
Stale physical disks — One or more physical disks in the configuration may contain
out-of-date data relating to other disks of that virtual disk. Hence, the data integrity of
the imported virtual disk is not intact.
● Unsupported configuration of the virtual disk — The virtual disk has an unsupported
RAID level.
● Import and Export — The virtual disks available for import exceed the number of virtual
disks available for export.
Controllers 59