Users Guide

ManualsBrandsDell ManualsActive System ManagerOpenManage Server Administrator Version 9.5

Table Of Contents

Dell EMC Server Administrator Storage Management 9.5
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
- Using Enclosure Temperature Probes
- 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
- Performing A Cryptographic Erase On An NVMe PCIe SSD In Slot Card
  - To Locate Cryptographic Erase In Storage Management For A PCIe SSD In Slot Card
- 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, PERC 10, and PERC 11 Hardware Controllers
- Support For RAID Level 10 Virtual Disk Creation On PERC 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 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
- Battery — Available Tasks
- Starting A Learn Cycle
- Battery Transparent Learn Cycle
- Initiating The Battery Delay Learn Cycle
- Delay The Battery Learn Cycle
- 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
  - Virtual Disk Considerations For PERC S100, S110, S130, And 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
- Virtual Disk Task - Reconfigure Step 1 of 3
  - 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
- Dedicated Hot Spare Considerations
- Considerations For Hot Spares On PERC S100, PERC S300, PERC S130 and later controllers
  - Size Requirements For Global Hot Spares On S100 And S300 Controllers
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
- How Do I Turn Off An Alarm
- Which RAID Level Is Best For Me
Supported Features
- Supported Features On PERC Hardware Controllers
- Supported Features On PERC H200 Controllers
- Supported Features On The PERC Software RAID Controllers
- Supported Features On The Non-RAID Controllers
- Enclosure And Backplane Features
- Enclosure And Backplane Tasks
- Maximum Supported Configuration For SAS 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 Fan Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - One Enclosure EMM Is Failed
- Health Status Rollup - One Enclosure Temperature Probe 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

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode.

NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC 10 hardware controllers.

1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects.

2. Select the Controller object.

3. Click Information/Configuration on the controller Properties page.

4. In the Controller Tasks drop-down menu, select Convert to Non-RAID.

The disks in Ready state are displayed.

5. Select the drives that you want to convert.

6. Click Apply.

An acknowledgement that the disks have been converted is displayed.

Converting To RAID Capable Disks

On supported PERC adapters:

Does my controller support this feature? See Supported Features.

NOTE: This task is not supported on PERC hardware controllers running in HBA mode.

1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects.

2. Select the Controller object.

3. Click Information/Configuration on the controller Properties page.

4. In the Controller Tasks drop-down menu, select Convert to RAID Capable disks.

The non-RAID disks are displayed.

5. Select the drives that you want to convert.

6. Click Apply.

An acknowledgment that the disks have been converted is displayed.

NOTE: This operation is not supported on the PERC 10 controllers.

Changing The Controller Mode

You can change the controller mode to Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) or Host Bus Adapter (HBA) mode. To

change the controller mode, perform the following steps:

NOTE:

This option is supported only on PowerEdge RAID Controller 9 (PERC 9) and PERC 10 family of hardware

controllers.

NOTE: When you change the controller mode from RAID to HBA or from HBA to RAID, certain features or functionality may

vary.

NOTE: The is Enhanced HBA feature is supported only on two controllers H740P and H745PMX.

1. In the Server Administrator window, under the system tree, expand Storage to display the controller objects.

2. Select the Controller object.

3. Click Information/Configuration on the controller Properties page.

4. In the Controller Tasks drop-down menu, select Change Controller Mode..., and then click Execute.

The Change Controller Mode window is displayed. The Current Controller Mode section displays the mode of the

controller – RAID or HBA or Enhanced HBA.

5. Select RAID or HBA or Enhanced HBA from the Change Controller Mode section, and then click Apply Changes.

6. After you click Apply Changes, if you receive one of the following error messages, click OK, and then click Return to

Previous Page. Disable or remove the options listed in the error message and then repeat steps 1 to 5.

● The controller is already running in the selected mode. — Check the controller mode in the Current Controller

Mode section before you proceed.

Controllers