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

SAS Controller ........................................................................................................................................................... 143

Migrating SAS Virtual Disks To Another System..................................................................................................... 143

Chapter 17: Protecting Your Virtual Disk With A Hot Spare.........................................................144

Understanding Hot Spares............................................................................................................................................ 144

Setting Hot Spare Protection Policy...........................................................................................................................144

Dedicated Hot Spare Protection Policy................................................................................................................144

Global Hot Spare Protection Policy.......................................................................................................................145

Considerations For Hot Spare Protection Policy............................................................................................... 145

Considerations For Enclosure Affinity.................................................................................................................. 145

Chapter 18: Troubleshooting...................................................................................................... 146

Common Troubleshooting Procedures....................................................................................................................... 146

Cables Attached Correctly...................................................................................................................................... 146

System Requirements...............................................................................................................................................146

Drivers And Firmware............................................................................................................................................... 146

Isolate Hardware Problems......................................................................................................................................147

Replacing A Failed Disk.............................................................................................................................................147

Using The Physical Disk Online Command On Select Controllers..................................................................148

Recovering From Removing The Wrong Physical Disk..................................................................................... 148

Resolving Microsoft Windows Upgrade Problems.............................................................................................148

Virtual Disk Troubleshooting......................................................................................................................................... 148

A Rebuild Does Not Work........................................................................................................................................ 148

A Rebuild Completes With Errors.......................................................................................................................... 149

Cannot Create A Virtual Disk.................................................................................................................................. 149

A Virtual Disk Of Minimum Size Is Not Visible To Windows Disk Management......................................... 149

Virtual Disk Errors On Systems Running Linux................................................................................................... 149

Problems Associated With Using The Same Physical Disks For Both Redundant And Non-

Redundant Virtual Disks.......................................................................................................................................150

Specific Problem Situations And Solutions............................................................................................................... 150

Physical Disk Is Offline Or Displays An Error Status......................................................................................... 150

Receive A Bad Block Alert With Replacement, Sense, Or Medium Error............................................. 150

Alerts 2146 Through 2150 Received During A Rebuild Or While A Virtual Disk Is Degraded....................151

Alerts 2146 Through 2150 Received While Performing IO, Consistency Check, Format, Or Other

Operation..................................................................................................................................................................151

Read And Write Operations Experience Problems............................................................................................. 151

A Task Menu Option Is Not Displayed................................................................................................................... 151

A Corrupt Disk Or Drive Message Suggests Running Autocheck During A Reboot...................................151

Erroneous Status And Error Messages After A Windows Hibernation......................................................... 152

Storage Management May Delay Before Updating Temperature Probe Status........................................ 152

Storage Management May Delay Displaying Storage Devices After Reboot..............................................152

You Are Unable To Log Into A Remote System..................................................................................................152

Cannot Connect To Remote System Running Microsoft Windows Server 2003...................................... 152

Reconfiguring A Virtual Disk Displays Error In Mozilla Browser..................................................................... 152

Physical Disks Are Displayed Under The Connector Object Instead Of The Enclosure Object..............153

PCIe SSD Troubleshooting............................................................................................................................................ 153

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Solid-State Drive Is Not Visible In The Operating

System......................................................................................................................................................................153

PCIe SSD Is Not Visible In Disk Management In The Operating System..................................................... 153

Contents