Users Guide

Property Definition
• Orphan drive — A physical disk in the foreign configuration has configuration information that
matches another physical disk that is already a part of an array (either a foreign or a native
array).
NOTE: For other applicable physical disk tasks and properties, see Physical Disk Or
Physical Device Properties and Physical Disk Or Physical Device Tasks.
Layout Displays the RAID level of the foreign configuration.
Remarks Provides information about the foreign virtual disk. If the virtual disk cannot be imported, the
reason for failure is displayed.
• Exceeded maximum — The number of virtual disks selected for import has exceeded the
maximum number of supported disks.
• Missing physical disk or Missing span — One or more physical disk(s) or span(s) in the virtual
disk to be imported is missing.
• Unsupported — The selected RAID level is not supported on this controller.
• Orphan drive — The physical disk has been replaced and is no longer a part of the RAID
volume. The configuration should be cleared.
• Stale physical disk — The physical disk to be imported in the virtual disk has outdated data.
• Partially foreign — The virtual disk is part of an already existing configuration. Some physical
disks in this virtual disk are foreign.
Dedicated Hot Spare Displays whether the foreign disk is a dedicated hot spare.
Based on the properties information, you can decide whether you want to import, recover, or clear the foreign configuration.
To Locate Foreign Configuration Operations Task In Storage
Management
For SAS controllers with firmware version 6.1:
1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects.
2. Select a controller object.
3. Click Information/Configuration on the controller Properties page.
4. Select Foreign Configuration Operations from the Controller 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.
You can import a foreign configuration only if it contains a virtual disk that is either in a 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 is not required.
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 a 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 in a Failed state 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 set as 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 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 Clearing Foreign Configuration option to erase
the foreign data on the physical disks.
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, all the configurations are imported.
60 Controllers