Users Guide

NOTE: The All Disks and Enclosure options enable you to edit spans after selecting the physical disks that comprise
them. You can remove a span and specify a span again with dierent physical disks before proceeding.
• Number of Disks per Span — Enables you to select the number of disks in each span (default = 2). This option is available only
on SAS controllers with rmware version 6.1 and later.
NOTE: This option is available only if the Intelligent Mirroring on the Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 2 of
3) page.
NOTE: On a SAS controller with rmware version 6.1 and later, RAID 10 supports only even number of disks per span
and a maximum of 8 spans with 32 disks in each span.
Let us consider that the controller has three enclosures with six physical disks each (total number of available disks = 3 x 6 =18
disks). If you select four disks per span, the controller creates four spans (18 disks/4 disks per span = 4 spans). The last two
disks of the last enclosure are not part of RAID 10.
• Select the number of disks to create a single spanned virtual disk list box — Enables you to create a single span virtual disk
with 22 or 26 physical drives for PERC controllers. This list box option appears only if you have selected RAID 10 in step 1 and the
system has 22 or more physical drives.
NOTE: Only physical disks that comply with the virtual disk parameters, selected in the Create Virtual Disk Wizard
page are displayed.
Select the required connector and the corresponding physical disk, and click Continue.
Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 3)
The Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 3 of 3) - <Controller Name> page displays the summary of attributes of the
selected RAID level. The attributes include Bus Protocol, Stripe Element Size, Read Policy and the selected physical disk. The
default values of the virtual disk attributes excluding the RAID level are recommended for the selected RAID level.
1. In the Name eld, type a name for the virtual disk.
The virtual disk name can contain only alphanumeric characters, spaces, dashes, and underscores. The maximum length
depends on the controller. In most cases, the maximum length is 15 characters.
The name cannot start with a space or end with a space. It is recommended that you specify a unique name for each virtual
disk. If you have virtual disks with the same name, it is hard to dierentiate the generated alerts.
2. In the Size eld, type the size of the virtual disk.
The virtual disk size must be within the minimum and maximum values displayed near the Size eld.
In some cases, the virtual disk is slightly larger than the size you specify. The Create Virtual Disk Wizard adjusts the size of the
virtual disk to avoid rendering a portion of the physical disk space unusable.
NOTE: If a physical disk is receiving a SMART alert, it cannot be used in a virtual disk.
NOTE: For a controller that has more than one channel, it may be possible to congure a virtual disk that is channel-
redundant.
Depending on the RAID level you selected and the virtual disk size, this page displays the disks and connectors (channels or
ports) available for conguring the virtual disk.
NOTE: The Size eld displays the default size of the virtual disk depending upon the RAID conguration you
selected. You can specify a dierent size. The virtual disk size must be within the minimum and maximum values
displayed near the Size eld. In some cases, the virtual disk is slightly larger than the size you specify. The Create
Virtual Disk Wizard adjusts the size of the virtual disk to avoid rendering a portion of the physical disk space
unusable.
3. Select a stripe size from the Stripe Element Size drop-down list box. The stripe size refers to the amount of space that each
stripe consumes on a single disk.
4. Select the required read, write, and disk cache policy from the respective drop-down list box. These selections can vary
depending on the controller.
NOTE: There is limited support for write policy on controllers that do not have a battery. The cache policy is not
supported on controllers that do not have a battery.
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