User's Manual

To Reconfigure a Virtual Disk (Changing the RAID Level and Size): Step 2 of 3

1. Select the new RAID level for the virtual disk — The available RAID levels depend on the number or

physical disks selected and the controller. The following describes the possible RAID levels:

– Depending on the controller, Concatenated enables you to combine the storage capacity of

several disks or to create a virtual disk using only a single physical disk. For information on

whether the controller supports a single physical disk or two or more when using Concatenated,

see Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk. Using Concatenated does not provide data

redundancy nor does it affect the read and write performance.

– Select RAID 0 for striping — This selection groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a

total capacity of n disks. Data is stored to the disks alternately so that they are evenly distributed.

Data redundancy is not available in this mode. Read and 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 parity information — This selection groups n disks as

one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n-2) disks. Two sets of parity information are alternately

stored on all disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk failures.

– 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.

2. In the Size field, type the size of the reconfigured virtual disk. The minimum and maximum allowable

size is displayed below the Size field. These values reflect the new capacity of the virtual disk after

any addition or deletion of physical disks which you may have chosen in Virtual Disk Task:

Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3).

NOTE: PERC S100 and S300 controllers do not allow you to change the RAID level.

3. Click Continue to go to the next page or Exit Wizard if you want to cancel.