Users Guide

Table Of Contents
Encrypting A Virtual Disk
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
The Encrypt Virtual Disk task encrypts an unencrypted virtual disk. This feature is only applicable to controllers that:
Are encryption capable (PERC H700, PERC H710 Adapter, PERC H710 Mini Blades, PERC H710 Mini Monolithic, PERC
H710P Adapter, PERC H710P Mini Blades, PERC H710P Mini Monolithic, PERC H800, PERC H810 Adapter, PERC H730
Adapter, PERC H730 Mini Monolithic, PERC H730 Mini Blades, PERC H730P Adapter, PERC H730P Mini Monolithic, PERC
H730P Mini Blades, PERC H730P Slim, PERC H740P Adapter, PERC H740P Mini Monolithic, PERC H830 Adapter, PERC
H730P MX, PERC H745P MX, PERC H840 Adapter, PERC FD33xD/FD33xS, PERC H745, PERC H345 Adapter, PERC
H755 , PERC H755 Adapter and PERC 755N
Are encryption capable (PERC H730P MX and PERC H745P MX)
Have an Encryption Key
Have Self Encryption Drives (SEDs) virtual disks
Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard
Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.
WARNING: There is an automatic initialization in the background which starts and if there are some user data it
will be erased.
The Create Virtual Disk Wizard allows you to select the wizard type and the RAID level. The Create Virtual Disk Express
Wizard calculates the appropriate virtual disk configuration based on the available space and controller considerations. To make
your own selections for the virtual disk configuration, select the Advanced Wizard option.
Before creating a virtual disk, you should be familiar with the information in Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks. You
may also want to review Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation.
NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode.
To create a virtual disk using the Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard:
1. In the Server Administrator window, expand System > Storage.
2. Click Connector 0 (RAID).
The Virtual Disk(s) on Controller <Controller Name> page is displayed.
3. Click Go to the Create Virtual Disk Wizard.
The Create Virtual Disk Wizard (Step 1) <Controller Name> page is displayed.
4. Select the Express Wizard option and the RAID level from the drop-down list.
Depending on the controller, Concatenated enables you to combine the storage capacity of several disks or to create a
virtual disk using a single physical disk. For more information about the number of supported physical disks when using
Concatenated, see Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk. Concatenated does not provide data redundancy or
affect the read/write performance.
Select RAID 0 for striping. This selection groups n disks together as a large virtual disk with a total capacity of n disks.
Data is alternately stored in the disks so that they are evenly distributed. Data redundancy is not available in this mode.
Read/write performance is enhanced.
Select RAID 1 for mirroring disks. This selection groups two disks together as one virtual disk with a capacity of one
single disk. The data is replicated on both disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. This feature
provides data redundancy and good read performance, but slightly slower write performance. The system must have at
least two physical disks to use RAID 1.
Select RAID 5 for striping with distributed parity. This selection groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a
total capacity of (n-1) disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. This feature provides better data
redundancy and read performance, but slower write performance. The system must have at least three physical disks to
use RAID 5.
Select RAID 6 for striping with additional distributed parity. This selection groups n disks as one large virtual disk with
a capacity of (n- 2) disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk failures. RAID 6 provides better read
performance, but slower write performance. The system must have at least four physical disks to use RAID 6.
Select RAID 10 for striping over mirror sets. This selection groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a
total capacity of (n/2) disks. Data is striped across the replicated mirrored pair disks. When a disk fails, the virtual
disk continues to function. The data is read from the surviving mirrored pair disk. This feature provides the best failure
protection, read and write performance. The system must have at least four physical disks to use RAID 10.
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Virtual Disks