User's Manual

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 177

Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Physical disks or physical devices reside within an enclosure or are attached to

the controller. On a RAID controller, physical disks or devices are used to

create virtual disks.

Guidelines to Replace a Physical Disk or Physical

Device

A replacement disk may not always be the same model as the physical disks or

devices in the storage enclosure. Use the following guidelines when replacing

a disk:

• A drive within an array may be replaced with a drive of equal or greater

capacity.

• Consider the bus speed while replacing a drive. Replacing drives with equal

or greater bus speeds within the same array is supported. You can use both

3-GB and 6-GB drives in the same array. It is not recommended to replace

a 6-GB drive with a 3-GB drive. Although it is fully functional, the

performance could be impacted. Replacing 3-GB drives with 6-GB drives is

supported. This occurs more frequently as legacy parts are depleted and

warranty service is required.

• Also consider the RPM while replacing a drive. Replacing drives with equal

or greater spindle speeds within the same array is supported. You can use

both 10000 RPM and 15000 RPM drives in the same enclosure. It is not

recommended to replace a 15000 RPM drive with a 10000 RPM drive.

Although it is fully functional, the performance could be impacted.

Replacing 10000 RPM drives with 15000 RPM drives is supported. This

scenario occurs while replacing parts from service inventory due to part

unavailability.

• SAS and SATA drives on the same backplane are supported but not within

the same Virtual Disk.

• Solid State Disks and Hard Disk Drives on the same backplane are

supported but not within the same Virtual Disk.