Product manual
Table Of Contents
- VTrak Product Manual
- Contents
- Chapter 1: Introduction to VTrak
- Chapter 2: VTrak Installation
- Unpacking the VTrak
- Mounting VTrak in a Rack
- Installing Disk Drives
- Making Management and Data Connections
- Setting Up Serial Cable Connections
- Connecting the Power
- Chapter 3: VTrak Setup
- Chapter 4: Management with WebPAM PROe
- Logging into WebPAM PROe
- Choosing a Language
- Perusing the Interface
- Logging out of WebPAM PROe
- Working with the Storage Network
- Working with Subsystems
- Viewing Subsystem Information
- Saving a System Service Report
- Setting an Alias for the Subsystem
- Setting Redundancy for the Subsystem
- Setting Cache Mirroring for the Subsystem
- Setting Subsystem Date and Time
- Making NTP Settings
- Synchronizing with a NTP Server
- Viewing the Runtime Event Log
- Saving the Runtime Event Log
- Clearing the Runtime Event Log
- Viewing NVRAM Events
- Saving NVRAM Events
- Clearing NVRAM Events
- Viewing Current Background Activities
- Making Background Activity Settings
- Running Background Activities
- Running Media Patrol
- Running PDM
- Viewing Scheduled Activities
- Scheduling an Activity
- Deleting a Scheduled Activity
- Viewing Lock Status
- Setting the Lock
- Renewing the Lock
- Releasing the Lock
- Managing Users
- Managing the Network Connection
- Managing Fibre Channel Connections
- Managing SAS Connections
- Managing Storage Services
- Monitoring Performance
- Managing Software Services
- Exporting the User Database
- Exporting a Configuration Script
- Importing a User Database
- Importing a Configuration Script
- Updating the Firmware
- Viewing Flash Image Information
- Restoring Factory Defaults
- Clearing Statistics
- Saving a System Service Report
- Shutting Down the Subsystem
- Starting Up After Shutdown
- Restarting the Subsystem
- Managing Controllers
- Managing Enclosures
- Managing Physical Drives
- Managing UPS Units
- Managing Disk Arrays
- Viewing a List of Disk Arrays
- Creating a Disk Array
- Creating a Disk Array - Automatic
- Creating a Disk Array - Express
- Creating a Disk Array - Advanced
- Deleting a Disk Array
- Viewing Disk Array Information
- Making Disk Array Settings
- Creating a Logical Drive
- Deleting a Logical Drive
- Migrating a Disk Array
- Rebuilding a Disk Array
- Running Media Patrol on a Disk Array
- Running PDM on a Disk Array
- Transitioning a Disk Array
- Preparing a Disk Array for Transport
- Managing Logical Drives
- Managing Spare Drives
- Working with the Logical Drive Summary
- Chapter 5: Management with the CLU
- Initial Connection
- Running Quick Setup
- Managing the Subsystem
- Managing the Controllers
- Managing the Enclosure
- Viewing the Enclosures Summary
- Viewing Enclosure Information
- Making Enclosure Settings
- Viewing FRU VPD Information
- Viewing Power Supply Status
- Locating a Power Supply
- Viewing Cooling Unit Status
- Viewing Temperature Sensor Status
- Viewing Voltage Sensor Status
- Checking the Batteries
- Reconditioning a Battery
- Locating an Enclosure
- Viewing Enclosure Topology
- Managing Physical Drives
- Managing Disk Arrays
- Viewing a List of Disk Arrays
- Creating a Disk Array
- Creating a Disk Array - Automatic
- Creating a Disk Array - Express
- Creating a Disk Array - Advanced
- Deleting a Disk Array
- Viewing Disk Array Information
- Setting an Alias for a Disk Array
- Accepting an Incomplete Array
- Enabling Media Patrol and PDM on a Disk Array
- Preparing the Disk Array for Transport
- Rebuilding a Disk Array
- Migrating a Disk Array
- Running PDM
- Running Transition on a Disk Array
- Locating a Disk Array
- Creating a Logical Drive
- Deleting a Logical Drive
- Managing Spare Drives
- Managing Logical Drives
- Managing the Network Connection
- Managing Fibre Channel Connections
- Managing SAS Connections
- Managing Background Activity
- Working with the Event Viewer
- Working with LUN Mapping
- Managing UPS Units
- Managing Users
- Working with Software Management
- Flashing through TFTP
- Viewing Flash Image Information
- Clearing Statistics
- Restoring Factory Defaults
- Shutting Down the Subsystem
- Starting Up After Shutdown
- Restarting the Subsystem
- Making Buzzer Settings
- Chapter 6: Maintenance
- Updating the Firmware in WebPAM PROe
- Updating the Firmware in the CLU
- Downloading the Firmware Image File
- Updating the Firmware
- Restarting - Single RAID Subsystem, Telnet
- Restarting - RAID with JBOD Expansion, Telnet
- Restarting - Single RAID Subsystem, SSH
- Restarting - RAID with JBOD Expansion, SSH
- Restarting - Single RAID Subsystem, Serial
- Restarting - RAID with JBOD Expansion, Serial
- Replacing a Power Supply
- Replacing a Cooling Unit Fan or Blower
- Replacing a Cache Battery
- Replacing a RAID Controller - Dual Controllers
- Replacing a RAID Controller - Single Controller
- Chapter 7: Technology Background
- Chapter 8: Troubleshooting
- VTrak is Beeping
- LEDs Display Amber or Red
- CLU Reports a Problem
- WebPAM PROe Reports a Problem
- Event Notification Response
- Critical & Offline Disk Arrays
- Incomplete Array
- Physical Drive Problems
- Enclosure Problems
- Controller Enters Maintenance Mode
- Connection Problems
- Browser Does Not Connect to WebPAM PROe
- Unsaved Data in the Controller Cache
- Chapter 9: Support
- Appendix A: Useful Information
- Appendix B: Multipathing on Windows
- Before You Begin
- Installing PerfectPath
- Verifying Installation
- Running Perfect Path View
- Monitoring Your LUNs and Paths
- Features and Settings
- Troubleshooting
- Updating PerfectPath
- Repairing PerfectPath
- Removing PerfectPath
- Appendix C: Multipathing on Linux
- Index
Chapter 7: Technology Background
293
Capacity Coercion
This feature is designed for fault-tolerant logical drives (RAID 1, 1E, 5, 10, 50,
and 60). It is generally recommended to use physical drives of the same size in
your disk arrays. When this is not possible, physical drives of different sizes will
work but the system must adjust for the size differences by reducing or coercing
the capacity of the larger drives to match the smaller ones. With VTrak, you can
choose to enable Capacity Coercion and any one of four methods.
Enable Capacity Coercion and choose the Method in the Controller Settings
menu. See page 122 or page 177. The choices are:
• GB Truncate – (Default) Reduces the useful capacity to the nearest
1,000,000,000 byte boundary.
• 10GB Truncate – Reduces the useful capacity to the nearest 10,000,000,000
byte boundary.
• Group Rounding – Uses an algorithm to determine how much to truncate.
Results in the maximum amount of usable drive capacity.
• Table Rounding – Applies a predefined table to determine how much to
truncate.
Capacity Coercion also affects a replacement drive used in a disk array.
Normally, when an physical drive fails, the replacement drive must be the same
capacity or larger. However, the Capacity Coercion feature permits the
installation of a replacement drive that is slightly smaller (within 1 gigabyte) than
the remaining working drive. For example, the remaining working drives can be
80.5 GB and the replacement drive can be 80.3, since all are rounded down to
80 GB. This permits the smaller drive to be used.
Without Capacity Coercion, the controller will not permit the use of a replacement
physical drive that is slightly smaller than the remaining working drive(s).
Initialization
Initialization is done to logical drives after they are created from a disk array. Full
initialization sets all data bits in the logical drive to a specified pattern, such as all
zeros. The action is useful because there may be residual data on the logical
drives left behind from earlier configurations. For this reason, Initialization is
recommended for all new logical drives. See “Initializing a Logical Drive” on
page 155 or page 205.
Caution
When you initialize a logical drive, all the data on the logical drive
will be lost. Backup any important data before you initialize a
logical drive.