User manual

SuperTrak TX Series User Manual
176
Full initialization, where all data bits of all blocks of the logical drive are set to
zero, is not supported on the SuperTrak TX series.
See “Creating a Logical Drive” on page 74 or page 128, “Creating a Disk Array –
Advanced Configuration” on page 125, and “Initializing a Logical Drive” on
page 135.
Hot Spare Drives
A hot spare is a physical drive that is available to a disk array but not actually a
part of it. In the event of the failure of a physical drive, the hot spare is activated
as a member of the disk array to replace the failed drive.
SuperTrak will replace a failed physical drive in a disk array with a hot spare
drive, if one is available. There are two types of hot spare drive:
• Global – An unassigned physical drive available to any logical drive on the
Host PC.
• Dedicated – An unassigned physical drive that can only be used by a
specified logical drive.
Whenever possible, having a hot spare drive in your RAID system is good
protection against physical drive failure. Even though the hot spare drive is
assigned to a disk array, the rebuild operation is said to apply to a logical drive.
Partition and Format the Logical Drive
Like any other type of fixed disk media in your system, a RAID logical drive must
also be partitioned and formatted before use. Use the same method of
partitioning and formatting on an logical drive as you would any other fixed disk.
See “Appendix A: Partition and Format” on page 207.
RAID Level Migration
To migrate a disk array is to do one or both:
• Change its RAID level
• Increase the number of physical drives (sometimes called expansion)
On SuperTrak, RAID level migration is performed on the disk array but it applies
to the logical drives. Migration takes place on an existing Functional disk array
without disturbing the existing data. While the disk array is migrating, you can
access the data as before. When migration is complete, your disk array will have
a different RAID level and/or a larger capacity.
In most cases, you must add one or more physical drives during the migration
process. You can never reduce the number of physical drives.