Users Guide

ManualsBrandsDell ManualsActive System ManagerOpenManage Server Administrator Version 10.1.0.0

Table Of Contents

Dell EMC Server Administrator Storage Management 10.1.0.0
Contents
Overview
- What is new in this release
- OMSA Customer Survey
- Before Installing Storage Management
Getting Started
- Launching Storage Management
  - On Systems Running Microsoft Windows
  - On A System Running Linux And Any Remote System
- User Privileges
- Using The Graphical User Interface
- Using The Storage Management Command-Line Interface
- Displaying The Online Help
- Common Storage Tasks
Understanding RAID concepts
- RAID
- Organizing Data Storage For Availability And Performance
- Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation
- Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance
- No-RAID
Quick Access To Storage Status And Tasks
- Storage Health
- Hot Spare Protection Policy
- Storage Component Severity
- Storage Properties And Current Activity
- Alerts Or Events
- Monitoring Disk Reliability On RAID Controllers
- Using Alarms To Detect Failures
- Using Enclosure Temperature Probes
- Time Delay In Displaying Configuration Changes
PCI Express Solid-State Device Support
- PCIe SSD
- PCIe SSD Features
- PCIe SSD Subsystem Properties
- PCIe Extender Cards
- Physical Device Properties
- Physical Device Tasks
- PCIe SSD In Slot Card Tasks
  - To Locate Cryptographic Erase In Storage Management For A PCIe SSD In Slot Card
- PCIe SSD In Slot Card Properties
- Exporting The Log For A PCIe SSD In Slot Card
  - To Locate Export Log In Storage Management For NVMe PCIe SSDs
- Performing A Cryptographic Erase On An NVMe PCIe SSD In Slot Card
  - To Locate Cryptographic Erase In Storage Management For A PCIe SSD In Slot Card
- PCIe SSD Subsystem Health
  - Backplanes
  - Backplane Firmware Version
Storage Information And Global Tasks
- Storage Properties
- Global Tasks
  - Setting the Remaining Rated Write Endurance Threshold
  - Setting the Available Spare Threshold
- Storage Controller Properties
  - Storage Components
Controllers
- Controller
- RAID Controller Technology - SATA And SAS
  - SAS RAID Controllers
- RAID Controller Features
- Controller — Supported RAID Levels
- Controller — Supported Stripe Sizes
- RAID Controller Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy
- Background Initialization On PERC Controllers
- Non-RAID Controller Description
  - Non-RAID SAS Controllers
- Firmware Or Driver Versions
  - Firmware Or Driver Properties
- Controller Health
  - Controller Components
- Controllers Properties And Tasks
- Controller Tasks
- System Configuration Lock Down Mode
- Viewing Available Reports
Support for PERC 9, PERC 10, and PERC 11 hardware controllers
- Support For RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation On PERC Hardware Controllers
  - RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation With Uneven Span
- Support For Advanced Format 4KB Sector Hard-Disk Drives
  - Hot Spare Considerations — 4KBSector Hard-Disk Drives
  - Reconfiguration Considerations — 4KB Sector Hard-Disk Drives
Support for BOSS RAID Controllers
Enclosures And Backplanes
- Backplanes
- Enclosures
- Enclosure Management
- Identifying An Open Connector On The Enclosure
- Enclosure Components
Connectors
- Channel Redundancy
- Creating A Channel-Redundant Virtual Disk
- Connector Health
  - Controller Information
  - Connector Components
- Connector Properties And Tasks
- Logical Connector Properties And Tasks
Tape Drive
- Tape Drive Properties
RAID Controller Batteries
- Battery Properties And Tasks
- Battery Tasks
- Battery — Available Tasks
- Starting A Learn Cycle
- Battery Transparent Learn Cycle
- Initiating The Battery Delay Learn Cycle
- Delay The Battery Learn Cycle
- To Locate Delay Learn Cycle In Storage Management
Physical Disks Or Physical Devices
- Guidelines To Replace A Physical Disk Or Physical Device
- Adding A New Disk To The System
  - For SAS Controllers
- Replacing A Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts
  - Disk Is Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk
  - Disk Is Not Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk
- Other Disk Procedures
- Physical Disk Or Physical Device Properties
- Physical Disk Or Physical Device Tasks
- Physical Disk Tasks
Virtual Disks
- Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks
  - Virtual disk considerations for controllers
  - Virtual Disk Considerations For PERC S100, S110, S130, And S300 Controllers
  - Virtual Disk Considerations On Systems Running Linux
  - Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk
  - Number Of Virtual Disks Per Controller
  - Calculation For Maximum Virtual Disk Size
    - SATA RAID Controllers
    - SAS RAID Controllers
  - Channel-Redundant Virtual Disks
- Creating Virtual Disks
- Reconfiguring Or Migrating Virtual Disks
- Starting and Target RAID Levels for Virtual Disk Reconfiguration And Capacity Expansion
- Maintaining The Integrity Of Redundant Virtual Disks
- Rebuilding Redundant Information
- Managing Virtual Disk Bad Block Management
- Recommendations For Clearing Bad Blocks
- Virtual Disk Properties And Tasks
  - Virtual Disk Properties
  - Virtual Disk Tasks
- Virtual Disk — Available Tasks
  - Reconfiguring A Virtual Disk
  - Format, Initialize, Slow, And Fast Initialize
  - Canceling Background Initialization
  - Restoring Dead Segments
  - Deleting Data On the Virtual Disk
  - Performing A Check Consistency
  - Cancelling A Check Consistency
  - Pausing A Check Consistency
  - Resuming A Check Consistency
  - Blinking And Unblinking A Virtual Disk
  - Renaming A Virtual Disk
  - Canceling A Rebuild
  - Changing The Virtual Disk Policy
  - Replacing A Member Disk
  - Clearing Virtual Disk Bad Blocks
  - Encrypting A Virtual Disk
- Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard
- Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard Step 2
- Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard
- Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard Step 2
- Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard Step 3
- Span Edit
- Virtual Disk Task - Reconfigure Step 1 of 3
  - To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk - Step 1 of 3
    - To locate Reconfigure In Storage Management
- Virtual Disk Task - Reconfigure Step 2 of 3
- To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk Expand Virtual Disk Capacity - Step 2 of 3
- Virtual Disk Task - Reconfigure Step 3 of 3
- Slow And Fast Initialize
  - Considerations For Slow Initialize
- Formatting Or Initializing A Disk
  - To Locate Virtual Disks Task In Storage Management
- Deleting A Virtual Disk
  - To Delete A Virtual Disk
  - To Locate Delete In Storage Management
- Renaming A Virtual Disk
  - To Rename A Virtual Disk
  - To Locate Rename In Storage Management
- Changing The Policy Of A Virtual Disk
  - Changing The Read, Write, Or Disk Cache Policy Of A Virtual Disk
  - To Locate Change Policy In Storage Management
- Split Mirror
  - Splitting A Mirror
  - To Locate Split Mirror In Storage Management
- Unmirror
  - To Unmirror
  - To Locate Unmirror In Storage Management
- Assigning And Unassigning Dedicated Hot Spare
  - Assigning A Dedicated Hot Spare
  - Unassigning A Dedicated Hot Spare
  - To Locate Assign Or Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare In Storage Management
- Virtual Disk Task - Replace Member Disk Step 1 of 2
  - Replacing A Member Disk Step 1 of 2
  - To Locate Replace Member Disk In Storage Management
- Virtual Disk Task - Replace Member Disk Step 2 of 2
Moving Physical And Virtual Disks From One System To Another
- Required Conditions
  - SAS Controllers
  - SAS Controller
- Migrating SAS Virtual Disks To Another System
Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare
- Understanding Hot Spares
- Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy
- Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations
- Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC S100, PERC S300, PERC S130 and later controllers
  - Size Requirements For Global Hot Spares On S100 And S300 Controllers
Troubleshooting
- Common Troubleshooting Procedures
- Virtual Disk Troubleshooting
- Specific Problem Situations And Solutions
- PCIe SSD Troubleshooting
  - Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Solid-State Drive Is Not Visible In The Operating System
  - PCIe SSD Is Not Visible In Disk Management In The Operating System
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why Is A Rebuild Not Working
- How To Avoid Removing The Wrong Disk
- How Can I Safely Remove Or Replace A Physical Disk
- How Do I Recover From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk
- How Do I Identify The Firmware Version That Is Installed
- Which Controllers Do I Have
- How Do I Turn Off An Alarm
- Which RAID Level Is Best For Me
Supported Features
- Supported Features On PERC Hardware Controllers
- Supported Features On PERC H200 Controllers
- Supported Features On The PERC Software RAID Controllers
- Supported Features On The Non-RAID Controllers
- Enclosure And Backplane Features
- Enclosure And Backplane Tasks
- Maximum Supported Configuration For SAS Controllers
Determining The Health Status For Storage Components
- Health Status Rollup - Battery Is Charging Or Dead
- Health Status Rollup - Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Failed Or Removed
- Health Status Rollup - Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Unsupported, Partially, Or Permanently Degraded
- Health Status Rollup - All Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State
- Health Status Rollup - Some Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State
- Health Status Rollup - Virtual Disk Is Degraded, Physical Disks Are Failed Or Rebuilding
- Health Status Rollup - Virtual Disk Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - Unsupported Firmware Version
- Health Status Rollup - Enclosure Power Supply Failed Or Power Connection Removed
- Health Status Rollup - One Enclosure Fan Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - One Enclosure EMM Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - One Enclosure Temperature Probe Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - Lost Both Power Connections To The Enclosure
- Health Status Rollup - One Or More Physical Disks Are Failed
- Health Status Rollup - Physical Disk Is Rebuilding
Identifying the series of your Dell EMC PowerEdge servers

Controllers

This chapter provides information about the supported controllers and controller features in Storage Management.

Topics:

• Controller

• RAID Controller Technology - SATA And SAS

• RAID Controller Features

• Controller — Supported RAID Levels

• Controller — Supported Stripe Sizes

• RAID Controller Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy

• Background Initialization On PERC Controllers

• Non-RAID Controller Description

• Firmware Or Driver Versions

• Controller Health

• Controllers Properties And Tasks

• Controller Tasks

• System Configuration Lock Down Mode

• Viewing Available Reports

Controller

Most operating systems do not read and write data directly from the disks, but instead send read and write instructions to

a controller. The controller is the hardware in your system that interacts directly with the disks to write and retrieve data.

A controller has connectors (channels or ports) which are attached to one or more physical disks or an enclosure containing

physical disks. RAID controllers can span the boundaries of the disks to create an extended amount of storage space — or a

virtual disk — using the capacity of more than one disk.

Controllers also perform other tasks, such as initiating rebuilds, initializing disks, and more. To complete their tasks, controllers

require special software known as firmware and drivers. In order to function properly, the controller must have the minimum

required version of the firmware and drivers installed.

Storage Management supports different types of controllers. If your system has a supported controller, the controller is

displayed by expanding the Storage object in the System tree view in the GUI. You can select the controller to display tabs for

executing controller tasks and viewing controller properties.

Different controllers have different characteristics in the way they read and write data and execute tasks. It is helpful to

understand these features to most efficiently manage the storage. The following sections describe the supported controllers

and their features.

RAID Controller Technology - SATA And SAS

Storage Management supports RAID controllers using SATA and SAS technology. This section indicates which technology the

supported RAID controllers use. For more information on these controllers, see Supported Features and the controller hardware

documentation.

SAS RAID Controllers

The following RAID controllers use Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or SATA technology.

48 Controllers