- Select the array that you want to configure.
- Choose Configuration > Custom Configure.
NOTE: This selection is inactive
unless you have selected a controller with available physical drives.
- Select Add LDs/LVs to the Current Configuration
from the Custom Configuration Options window.
-
Verify that the server and controller
displayed at the top of the window are correct.
- Select a disk you want to be included
in the new logical drive and click Add Disk.
If you make a mistake or change your mind,
select the drive in the participating drives list and click Remove
Disk.
- Select a RAID level. For definitions of
the RAID levels, see RAID Levels.
- Select the Host channel and ID to which
you would like your new logical drive to be mapped to from the Channel
and the ID list boxes.
- Set the Max Drive Size.
The Max Drive Size displays the
total capacity of each disk. A smaller logical drive can be created
by decreasing this value.
NOTE: If you do not change the
Max Drive Size but you do change the Partition Size,
a new partition is created at the specified partition size. Remaining
capacity can be used later by expanding the drive (as explained in
Expanding the Capacity of
a Logical Drive). The drive capacity is no longer editable after
a partition is created.
NOTE: If you want to create another logical drive on the same
controller, click New LD. The logical drive you just defined is created
and you are returned to the top of the window, enabling you to create
another logical drive.
-
(Solaris OS only). If you want the new
logical drive to be automatically labeled, which enables the OS to
use the drive, click Write a new label to the new LD.
-
To use the logical drive immediately,
select On-line Initialization.
Because logical drive initialization
can take up to several hours, you can choose to initialize a logical
drive on-line. On-line initialization enables you to begin configuring
and using the logical drive before initialization is complete. However,
because the controller is building the logical drive while performing
I/O operations, initializing a logical drive on-line requires more
time than off-line initialization.
If you do not select On-line initialization,
you can configure and use the drive only after initialization is complete.
Because the controller is building the logical drive without having
to also perform I/O operations, off-line initialization requires less
time than on-line initialization.
NOTE: On-line Initialization
does not apply to logical volumes.
- Select the Stripe Size.
Select Default to assign the stripe
size per Optimization mode as specified in the default stripe size
table shown in Changing
Controller Parameters - Cache tab, or select a different stripe
size.
Once the stripe size is selected and
data is written to logical drives, the only way to change the stripe
size of an individual logical drive is to back up all its data to
another location, delete the logical drive, and create a logical drive
with the stripe size that you want.
- Specify Default, Write-through,
or Write-back as the Write Policy for the logical drive.
The write policy determines when cached
data is written to the disk drives. The ability to hold data in cache
while it is being written to disk can increase storage device speed
during sequential reads. Write policy options include write-through
and write-back.
Using write-through cache, the controller
writes the data to the disk drive before signaling the host OS that
the process is complete. Write-through cache has lower write operation
and throughput performance than write-back cache, but it is the safer
strategy, with minimum risk of data loss on power failure. Because
a battery module is installed, power is supplied to the data cached
in memory and the data can be written to disk when power is restored.
Using write-back cache, the controller
receives the data to write to disk, stores it in the memory buffer,
and immediately sends the host OS a signal that the write operation
is complete, before the data is actually written to the disk drive.
Write-back caching improves the performance of write operations and
the throughput of the controller card. Write-back cache is enabled
by default.
NOTE: The setting you specify
you specify in the Write Back field on the Cache tab of the Change
Controller Parameters window is the default global cache setting for
all logical drives. (See Changing
Controller Parameters - Cache tab.)
- Click OK.
- To add this logical drive to a logical
volume, click New LD and see Adding
a Logical Drive to a Logical Volume.
- When you are satisfied with the selections
on this window, and do not want to define another logical drive, click
Commit. A confirmation window is displayed showing the new configuration.
- Click OK to accept the configuration
or Cancel to return to the
console.
NOTE: You cannot change a logical
drive configuration after you click OK. During
initialization LD/LV size is displayed as 0 Mbyte.
- (HP-UX OS only). To ensure that the environment
is stable and accurate after making configuration changes, you need
to run the ioscan -fnC disk command.
NOTE: If you used System Administrator
Manager (SAM) to unmount the file system, make sure it is closed before
running the ioscan command.
- (IBM AIX OS only). To ensure that the
environment is stable and accurate after making configuration changes,
you must update the Object Data Manager (ODM) as explained in Updating
the Object Data Manager on an IBM AIX host.