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Checking Parity

Parity checking is the process where the integrity of redundant data on fault-tolerant logical drives (RAID 1, 3, and 5) is checked. Depending on which options you select, the parity can be overwritten and any error reported as an event.

  1. Select the logical drive on which you want to run the parity check.

  2. Choose Array Administration > Parity Check.

    NOTE: You need to be logged in as either ssadmin or ssconfig to access options on this menu.

  3. When the Logical Drive Parity Check window is displayed, select one or more logical drives for parity checking.
  4. To run a parity check on multiple drives, use the Array Administration > Schedule Parity Check command to schedule a parity check for multiple logical drives in the near future (such as within three minutes). When the scheduled parity check runs, it automatically performs the parity checks one after another.

  5. Select from the following options:

    • Regenerate - For RAID 3 and 5 configurations, the parity checking procedure on a logical drive recalculates the parity of data stripes in each of the logical drive’s RAID stripe sets and compares it with the stored parity. If a discrepancy is found, the new correct parity is substituted for the stored parity. For RAID 1 configurations, if an inconsistency is encountered, data is copied from the master disk to the slave disk. If a bad block is encountered when the parity is regenerated, the data is copied from the other disk, master or slave, to the reporting disk drive reallocating the bad block.
    • NOTE: If you select Regenerate, make sure Generate Error Event is also selected.

    • Generate Error Event (default) - When a parity check is run and a discrepancy is found, an error is reported, which enables you to analyze the error and check the integrity of your data before overwriting the parity drive.

    CAUTION: If an array's data parity is seriously damaged, restoring data by regenerating might cause data loss. Only select Regenerate after you have performed any necessary data recovery based on the parity check errors.

  6. Click the Parity Check button to start the parity check process.
  7. Once a parity check has started, the Progress Indicator is automatically displayed. If this window is closed, it can be reopened by choosing View > Array Admin Progress, or by clicking the Progress Indicator icon. A window is displayed that shows the percentage of completion progress for each array.

    To stop the parity check, click Cancel.

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