Users Guide
4. Select Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller Available Tasks drop-down menu.
5. Click Execute.
Importing Foreign Configurations
Some controllers enable you to import a foreign configuration so that virtual disks are not lost after moving the physical disks.
To be imported, the foreign configuration must contain a virtual disk that is in either Ready or Degraded state. In other words, all of the virtual disk data must
be present, but if the virtual disk is using a redundant RAID level, the additional redundant data does not need to be present.
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 Degraded state and can be
imported. On the other hand, 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 failed 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 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.
The Import Foreign Configuration task is only displayed when the controller has detected a foreign configuration. You can also identify whether or not 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.
If you have an incomplete foreign configuration which cannot be imported, you can use the "Clear Foreign Configuration" task to erase the foreign data on the
physical disks.
Importing/Recovering Foreign Configurations
The recover operation attempts to restore degraded, failed, or missing virtual disks to a healthy state. A virtual disk may be in a degraded, failed, or missing
state after losing communication with the controller due to a power loss, faulty cable connection, or other failure. A rebuild or background initialization may
automatically initiate after the recover operation completes.
The virtual disk data may be inconsistent after recovery. You should always verify the virtual disk data after the Import/Recover Foreign Configuration task
completes.
In some cases, the virtual disk data is incomplete and it is not possible to successfully recover the virtual disk.
To import or recover a foreign configuration:
Click Import/Recover when you are ready to import or recover all virtual disks residing on physical disks attached to the controller. To exit without importing or
recovering the foreign configuration, click Cancel.
To locate this task in Storage Management:
For SAS controllers with firmware versions 6.1 and later:
1. Expand the Storage tree object to display the controller objects.
2. Select a controller object.
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, you cannot choose which one to import. All foreign configurations will be imported.