Users Guide

ManualsBrandsDell ManualsActive System ManagerOpenManage Server Administrator Version 9.4

Table Of Contents

Dell EMC Server Administrator Storage Management 9.4 User’s Guide
Contents
Overview
- What Is New In This Release
- Before Installing Storage Management
Getting Started
- Launching Storage Management
  - On Systems Running Microsoft Windows
  - On A System Running Linux And Any Remote System
- User Privileges
- Using The Graphical User Interface
- Using The Storage Management Command-Line Interface
- Displaying The Online Help
- Common Storage Tasks
Understanding RAID concepts
- RAID
- Organizing Data Storage For Availability And Performance
- Choosing RAID Levels And Concatenation
- Comparing RAID Level And Concatenation Performance
- No-RAID
Quick Access To Storage Status And Tasks
- Storage Health
- Hot Spare Protection Policy
- Storage Component Severity
- Storage Properties And Current Activity
- Alerts Or Events
- Monitoring Disk Reliability On RAID Controllers
- Using Alarms To Detect Failures
- Time Delay In Displaying Configuration Changes
PCI Express Solid-State Device Support
- PCIe SSD
- PCIe SSD Features
- PCIe SSD Subsystem Properties
- PCIe Extender Cards
- Physical Device Properties
- Physical Device Tasks
- PCIe SSD In Slot Card Tasks
  - To Locate Cryptographic Erase In Storage Management For A PCIe SSD In Slot Card
- PCIe SSD In Slot Card Properties
- PCIe SSD In Slot Card Tasks
- Exporting The Log For A PCIe SSD In Slot Card
- To Locate Export Log In Storage Management For NVMe PCIe SSDs
- PCIe SSD Subsystem Health
  - Backplanes
  - Backplane Firmware Version
Storage Information And Global Tasks
- Storage Properties
- Global Tasks
  - Setting the Remaining Rated Write Endurance Threshold
  - Setting the Available Spare Threshold
- Storage Controller Properties
  - Storage Components
Controllers
- Controller
- RAID Controller Technology - SATA And SAS
  - SAS RAID Controllers
- RAID Controller Features
- Controller — Supported RAID Levels
- Controller — Supported Stripe Sizes
- RAID Controller Read, Write, and Disk Cache Policy
- Background Initialization On PERC Controllers
- Non-RAID Controller Description
  - Non-RAID SAS Controllers
- Firmware Or Driver Versions
  - Firmware Or Driver Properties
- Controller Health
  - Controller Components
- Controllers Properties And Tasks
- Controller Tasks
- System Configuration Lock Down Mode
- Viewing Available Reports
Support For PERC 9 and PERC 10 Hardware Controllers
- Support For RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation On PERC 9 and PERC 10 Hardware Controllers
  - RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation With Uneven Span
- Support For Advanced Format 4KB Sector Hard-Disk Drives
  - Hot Spare Considerations — 4KBSector Hard-Disk Drives
  - Reconfiguration Considerations — 4KB Sector Hard-Disk Drives
Support for BOSS-S1 RAID Controllers
Enclosures And Backplanes
- Backplanes
- Enclosures
- Enclosure Management
- Identifying An Open Connector On The Enclosure
- Enclosure Components
Connectors
- Channel Redundancy
- Creating A Channel-Redundant Virtual Disk
- Connector Health
  - Controller Information
  - Connector Components
- Connector Properties And Tasks
- Logical Connector Properties And Tasks
Tape Drive
- Tape Drive Properties
RAID Controller Batteries
- Battery Properties And Tasks
- Battery Tasks
- To Locate Delay Learn Cycle In Storage Management
Physical Disks Or Physical Devices
- Guidelines To Replace A Physical Disk Or Physical Device
- Adding A New Disk To The System
  - For SAS Controllers
- Replacing A Physical Disk Receiving SMART Alerts
  - Disk Is Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk
  - Disk Is Not Part Of A Redundant Virtual Disk
- Other Disk Procedures
- Physical Disk Or Physical Device Properties
- Physical Disk Or Physical Device Tasks
- Physical Disk Tasks
Virtual Disks
- Considerations Before Creating Virtual Disks
  - Virtual Disk Considerations For Controllers
  - Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC S100 And PERC S300 Controllers
  - Virtual Disk Considerations On Systems Running Linux
  - Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk
  - Number Of Virtual Disks Per Controller
  - Calculation For Maximum Virtual Disk Size
    - SATA RAID Controllers
    - SAS RAID Controllers
  - Channel-Redundant Virtual Disks
- Creating Virtual Disks
- Reconfiguring Or Migrating Virtual Disks
- Starting And Target RAID Levels For Virtual Disk Reconfiguration And Capacity Expansion
- Maintaining The Integrity Of Redundant Virtual Disks
- Rebuilding Redundant Information
- Managing Virtual Disk Bad Block Management
- Recommendations For Clearing Bad Blocks
- Virtual Disk Properties And Tasks
  - Virtual Disk Properties
  - Virtual Disk Tasks
- Virtual Disk — Available Tasks
  - Reconfiguring A Virtual Disk
  - Format, Initialize, Slow, And Fast Initialize
  - Canceling Background Initialization
  - Restoring Dead Segments
  - Deleting Data On the Virtual Disk
  - Performing A Check Consistency
  - Cancelling A Check Consistency
  - Pausing A Check Consistency
  - Resuming A Check Consistency
  - Blinking And Unblinking A Virtual Disk
  - Renaming A Virtual Disk
  - Canceling A Rebuild
  - Changing The Virtual Disk Policy
  - Replacing A Member Disk
  - Clearing Virtual Disk Bad Blocks
  - Encrypting A Virtual Disk
- Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard
- Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard Step 2
- Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard
- Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard Step 2
- Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard Step 3
- Span Edit
- To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk - Step 1 of 3
- To locate Reconfigure In Storage Management
- Virtual Disk Task - Reconfigure Step 2 of 3
- To Reconfigure A Virtual Disk Expand Virtual Disk Capacity - Step 2 of 3
- Virtual Disk Task - Reconfigure Step 3 of 3
- Slow And Fast Initialize
  - Considerations For Slow Initialize
- Formatting Or Initializing A Disk
  - To Locate Virtual Disks Task In Storage Management
- Deleting A Virtual Disk
  - To Delete A Virtual Disk
  - To Locate Delete In Storage Management
- Renaming A Virtual Disk
  - To Rename A Virtual Disk
  - To Locate Rename In Storage Management
- Changing The Policy Of A Virtual Disk
  - Changing The Read, Write, Or Disk Cache Policy Of A Virtual Disk
  - To Locate Change Policy In Storage Management
- Split Mirror
  - Splitting A Mirror
  - To Locate Split Mirror In Storage Management
- Unmirror
  - To Unmirror
  - To Locate Unmirror In Storage Management
- Assigning And Unassigning Dedicated Hot Spare
  - Assigning A Dedicated Hot Spare
  - Unassigning A Dedicated Hot Spare
  - To Locate Assign Or Unassign Dedicated Hot Spare In Storage Management
- Virtual Disk Task - Replace Member Disk Step 1 of 2
  - Replacing A Member Disk Step 1 of 2
  - To Locate Replace Member Disk In Storage Management
- Virtual Disk Task - Replace Member Disk Step 2 of 2
Moving Physical And Virtual Disks From One System To Another
- Required Conditions
  - SAS Controllers
  - SAS Controller
- Migrating SAS Virtual Disks To Another System
Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare
- Understanding Hot Spares
- Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy
Troubleshooting
- Common Troubleshooting Procedures
- Virtual Disk Troubleshooting
- Specific Problem Situations And Solutions
- PCIe SSD Troubleshooting
  - Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Solid-State Drive Is Not Visible In The Operating System
  - PCIe SSD Is Not Visible In Disk Management In The Operating System
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why Is A Rebuild Not Working
- How To Avoid Removing The Wrong Disk
- How Can I Safely Remove Or Replace A Physical Disk
- How Do I Recover From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk
- How Do I Identify The Firmware Version That Is Installed
- Which Controllers Do I Have
- Which RAID Level Is Best For Me
Supported Features
- Supported Features On PERC Hardware Controllers
- Controller Tasks Supported On PERC Hardware Controllers
- Battery Tasks Supported On PERC Hardware Controllers
- Connector Tasks Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers
- Physical Disk Tasks Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers
- Virtual Disk Tasks Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers
- Virtual Disk Specifications For PERC Hardware Controllers
- RAID Levels Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers
- Read, Write, Cache And Disk Cache Policy Supported By PERC Hardware Controllers
- Supported Features On The PERC Software RAID Controllers
Determining The Health Status For Storage Components
- Health Status Rollup - Battery Is Charging Or Dead
- Health Status Rollup - Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Failed Or Removed
- Health Status Rollup - Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are Unsupported, Partially, Or Permanently Degraded
- Health Status Rollup - All Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State
- Health Status Rollup - Some Physical Disks In A Virtual Disk Are In Foreign State
- Health Status Rollup - Virtual Disk Is Degraded, Physical Disks Are Failed Or Rebuilding
- Health Status Rollup - Virtual Disk Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - Unsupported Firmware Version
- Health Status Rollup - Enclosure Power Supply Failed Or Power Connection Removed
- Health Status Rollup - One Enclosure EMM Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - Lost Both Power Connections To The Enclosure
- Health Status Rollup - One Or More Physical Disks Are Failed
- Health Status Rollup - Physical Disk Is Rebuilding
Identifying the series of your Dell EMC PowerEdge servers

3. Click Execute.

Viewing Check Consistency Report

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

The check consistency report provides information on all the consistency checks performed on the controller in a chronological

order. It provides information such as last run time and result. If the consistency check fails, it provides the reason for the

failure.

To Locate View Check Consistency Report In Storage Management

1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, click Storage.

2. Select View Check Consistency Report from the Select Report drop-down menu.

3. Click Execute.

Setting The Redundant Path Configuration

Does my Controller Support This Feature? See Supported Features.

Redundant path is supported only on external PERC cards that use firmware version 6.1 and later. A redundant path internal to

the system is not supported. MD1xxx enclosures are supported.

For redundant paths, the enclosure must be in the Unified mode however specific port connections are not required. A

connection from either controller ports to either EMM In ports creates the redundant path as long as two cables are used. But,

Redundant Path continues to appear in the field even as the redundant path is removed. The redundant path ceases to appear

only when it is cleared in the storage management.

In a daisy-chain scenario, more than one enclosure can be connected to a controller in a redundant path mode. You can connect

up to four MD1400 and MD1420 to a PERC H840 controller and SAS 12 Gbps adapter in a daisy-chain enclosure. For an example

of a daisy-chain configuration (for PERC 6/E controller), see the following image:

If the communication channel between the connector and the first enclosure is lost, the redundant path configuration is lost. In

this case, the health of the logical connector is displayed as critical. Navigate to the Information/Configuration page of the

logical connector to view details of the Path Health. For a brief outline of this scenario, see the following table:

Controllers