Documentation

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This chapter explains how to use FAST to work with the disks connected to and managed by the controller. This chapter also provides instructions for working with disk properties.

Understanding Disks

Figure shows how disks are represented in the Controller view window, and Figure shows how disks are represented in the Disk view window.

The Disk ID, which appears in both the Controller view and Disk view windows, consists of the following:

Bus to which the disk is attached
SCSI ID of the device attached to the bus
LUN number of the device attached to the bus

Figure 1. Disks represented in Controller view
Note: The number of buses in your controller may be fewer than shown.

Figure 2. Disk represented in Disk view

Understanding Legacy Disks

A legacy disk is a disk that was previously connected to a standard SCSI adapter and contains one or more DOS partitions. Legacy disks appear in both Controller view and Disk view (Figure ). When you connect a legacy disk to the controller, the controller recognizes the DOS partitions and represents the disk's contents as a legacy disk container in Container view (Figure ). (See Understanding Legacy Disk Containers for additional information.)

Figure 3. A legacy disk in Controller view and Disk view

Figure 4. A legacy disk container in Container view

Caution: Do not initialize a legacy disk if you want to use its contents.

Prior to initializing the legacy disk, you may save the data that resides on the legacy disk container's DOS partitions using any standard copy or backup utility. Once you have copied all the data from a legacy disk container and wish to use its disk as part of a standard PERC 2 container, you must initialize the disk according to the directions in the next section.

Note: Partitions created by Windows NT are treated similar to those created by DOS.

Initializing Disks

You must initialize all new SCSI disks to prepare them for use in a container. You can also use existing DOS-partitioned disks as legacy disk containers without initializing them.

This section covers initializing disks from the Disk menu. You can also initialize disks using the Initialize button in the Container Creation Wizard and Container Reconfiguration Wizard. (See Understanding Containers and Multilevel Containers and Reconfiguring a Container for more information about the container wizards.)

Initializing SCSI Disks

To initialize one or more SCSI disks:

Select Initialize from the Disk menu. The Initialize SCSI Disks dialog box appears (Figure ).

Figure 5. Initialize SCSI Disks dialog box

Manuals



Working with Disks: Dell Flexible Array Storage Tool User's Guide Back to Contents Page Working with Disks: Dell™ Flexible Array Storage Tool User's Guide	Understanding Disks	Understanding Legacy Disks	Initializing Disks	Working with S.M.A.R.T. Disks	Verifying a Disk	Clearing a Disk	Blinking a Disk Light	Working with Disk Properties


Dialog Box Element	Function
Disks
List box	Lists all disks available for initialization and includes the Disk ID (Bus:ID:LUN) and usage (the disk format in use)
Select Initialized Disks button	Selects all listed SCSI disks that have been initialized for container use
Select Uninitialized Disks button	Selects all listed SCSI disks that have not been initialized for container use
Select All Disks button	Selects all listed SCSI disks in the Disks list
Initialize button	Initializes the selected SCSI disk(s)
Cancel button	Ignores changes and closes the dialog box

Select from the Disks list one or more disks you want to initialize (or reinitialize).
Click Initialize.

If any selected disks are initialized for container use, the following message appears:

If part of a redundant container resides on a disk that is to be initialized, that part of the container will be deleted. If failover drives have been assigned to the container, the deleted part of the container will be rebuilt on the failover drive. Otherwise you will be prompted to create a failover before the disk is initialized.
To force the initialization of disks on referenced drives, select the Initialize unconditionally check box.
Note: Initializing disks with outstanding references on a Windows NT or Windows 2000 system can lead to unexpected results.
Click Yes.

Working with S.M.A.R.T. Disks

FAST supports disks that incorporate S.M.A.R.T. technology. FAST displays icons that indicate the S.M.A.R.T. status of a disk. These icons appear in the following places:

S.M.A.R.T. disks displayed in the Controller view window
S.M.A.R.T. disks displayed in the Disk view window
S.M.A.R.T. tab of the SCSI Device Properties dialog box

Table lists the appropriate actions to take when specific S.M.A.R.T. icons appear.

Table 1. Responding to S.M.A.R.T. icons

Icon Status Action

Disk supports S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T. error detection enabled; error indicated (orange signal light over dark green) A problem is reported by S.M.A.R.T. on this disk; check the system log for more information (most likely, you will have to replace the drive)

Disk supports S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T. error detection enabled; no error indicated (light maroon signal light over light green) No problems are reported by S.M.A.R.T. on this disk; no action is necessary

Disk supports S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T. error detection disabled (maroon signal light over dark green) S.M.A.R.T. is disabled for this disk; enable S.M.A.R.T. to take advantage of its features

Disk does not support S.M.A.R.T. This icon appears in the SMART tab of the SCSI Device Properties dialog box No action is possible

Note: While a controller's I/O is paused, you cannot obtain S.M.A.R.T. information.

Verifying a Disk

You can use the Verify command to:

Verify a disk after adding it to your system to determine if the disk has any obvious defects
Occasionally check a disk (without the repair option) to be sure it is reliable
Verify a disk before removing any dead partitions
Note: Verifying a disk is not the same as running chkdsk or error checking (which is accessed from the Tools tab on the Properties dialog box for a device in the Windows Explorer). The Verify command only checks the underlying data blocks, not the file system consistency.

To verify a disk:

Select Controller View or Disk View from the View menu.
Select a disk to verify.

Select Verify from the Disk menu.

The Verify SCSI Disk dialog box appears (Figure ).

Figure 6. Verify SCSI Disk dialog box

Dialog Box Element Function

Disk icon and Disk ID Displays the status of the disk and the SCSI device ID (Bus:ID:LUN)

Options

Replace bad blocks check box Repairs any bad blocks as part of disk verification

Verify button Closes the dialog box and begins the disk verification task on the disk

Cancel button Closes the dialog box without verifying the disk

Click Verify.

The following icons appear on the disk in both Controller view and Disk view while the disk is being verified:

Icon Function

Indicates that a verify task is in progress on the disk

Shows the progress of the verify task

Clearing a Disk

When you clear a disk, all data is erased and cannot be recovered.

To clear a disk:

Select Controller View or Disk View from the View menu.
Select a disk to clear.

Select Clear from the Disk menu.

A warning message similar to the following appears: Clearing a disk will destroy all data on the disk such that it can not be retrieved. Are you sure you want to clear disk 0:03:0?

Click Yes.

Figure shows how a disk that is being cleared appears in Controller view.

Figure 7. A disk being cleared (Controller view)

Icon Function

Indicates that a clear task is in progress on the disk

Shows the progress of the clear task

Blinking a Disk Light

To identify the physical drive that corresponds to a SCSI disk displayed in the Controller view or Disk view windows, you can blink the drive's activity light.

Note: For disks housed in SAF-TE enclosures, use the Identify buttons in the Enclosure Slots dialog box to physically locate a drive (see Managing Enclosure Slots).

To blink a drive activity light:

Select Controller View or Disk View from the View menu.
Select a disk.

Select Blink from the Disk menu.

The Blink Disk Light dialog box appears (Figure ).

Figure 8. Blink Disk Light dialog box

Dialog Box Element Function

Disk icon and Disk ID Displays the status of the disk and the SCSI Device ID (Bus:ID:LUN)

Blink list Specifies the duration of blink time

Blink button Causes the selected drive's activity light to blink for the specified time and closes the dialog box

Cancel button Closes the dialog box without blinking any drive activity lights

Select a time or Until stopped by user from the Blink list.
Click Blink.

The Blink command in the Disk menu remains checked as long as the selected drive light is blinking.

To stop a single drive activity light from blinking:

Select Controller View or Disk View from the View menu.
Select the disk that is blinking.
Select Blink from the Disk menu.

To stop all drive activity lights from blinking, select Unblink All from the Disk menu.

Working with Disk Properties

The SCSI Device Properties dialog box contains the following tabs:

General

This tab displays information about the physical properties of the disk (Figure ).
SMART

This tab displays the S.M.A.R.T. status of the disk (Figure ).
Tasks

This tab shows information about any tasks running on the disk (Figure ).

To access the SCSI Device Properties dialog box:

Select Controller View or Disk View from the View menu.
Select a disk.

Select Properties from the Edit menu.

The SCSI Device Properties dialog box appears, as shown in Figure .

Figure 9. SCSI Device Properties dialog box (General tab)

Dialog Box Element Function

Disk icon and Disk ID Displays the status of the disk and the SCSI Device ID (Bus:ID:LUN)

SCSI bus icon Indicates the type of bus to which the SCSI device is connected

Device Type Indicates that the SCSI device is direct access

Product Displays the SCSI device product ID

Vendor Displays the SCSI device vendor

Revision Displays the SCSI device revision number

Managed by Indicates whether the SCSI device is managed by the controller or the host

Data transfer speed Displays the maximum possible data transfer speed to the SCSI device

Media type Indicates that the SCSI device is either removable or fixed

Size (Usable/Physical) Displays a comparison of the usable size of the disk to the physical size of the disk; displayed in megabytes, bytes, blocks, and bytes per block of the SCSI device

Usage Displays the data format present on the SCSI device

OK button Accepts changes and closes the dialog box

Cancel button Ignores changes and closes the dialog box

Click the SMART tab.

Figure 10. SCSI Device Properties dialog box (SMART tab)

Dialog Box Element Function

Disk icon and Disk ID Displays the status of the disk and the SCSI Device ID (Bus:ID:LUN)

S.M.A.R.T. status Indicates whether the SCSI disk supports S.M.A.R.T. error detection

Parameters
Note: The options in this group are only available for disks that support S.M.A.R.T. error detection.

Enable SMART error reporting check box Enables S.M.A.R.T. error checking

Reporting method Displays the current method for reporting errors. Reporting methods include: Mode 0: Do not report exception conditions Mode 3: Report exceptions after a SCSI command if reporting recovered errors Mode 4: Unconditionally generate recovered errors Mode 5: Generate "no sense" Mode 6: Report exceptions only when polled

Interval time period list Specifies how often the drive reports its S.M.A.R.T. errors.

Report count list Specifies the number of times a single error is reported

Force SMART reporting regardless of drive default check box Allows you to override the setting for S.M.A.R.T. error logging for a device. When you select this option, S.M.A.R.T. error logging is enabled regardless of the device setting. (By default, this option is selected.)

Disable SMART tests that may impact performance check box Allows you to disable S.M.A.R.T. tests that might degrade performance. By default, this option is not selected. Devices that have S.M.A.R.T. enabled perform various periodic self-tests during normal operation. Some of these tests (for example, those that perform an I/O operation) might degrade performance by competing with (and possibly delaying) user I/O requests. Note that, in most cases, the performance degradation tends to be very slight. When you select this option, you elect to skip certain self-tests that impact performance (as determined by the device manufacturer); doing so, however, partially nullifies some beneficial features and hinders the ability of the device to predict imminent failure.

Error count Displays the total number of errors on the disk

Reset error count button Resets the error count to 0

Update error count button Immediately updates the error count

OK button Accepts changes and closes the dialog box

Cancel button Ignores changes and closes the dialog box

Click the Tasks tab (Figure ).

Figure 11. SCSI Device Properties dialog box (Tasks tab)

Dialog Box Element Function

Disk icon and Disk ID Displays the status of the disk and the SCSI Device ID (Bus:ID:LUN)

Tasks list Displays the following information for any task(s) running on the disk:

Task ID. ID number associated with a specific task
Function. Type of task running on the controller
Percent Done. Progress (percentage complete) of the currently running task
Container. ID number of the container associated with the task
Device. SCSI Device ID (Bus:ID:LUN)
State. Status of the task (for example, OK)
Speed. Task speed setting, which defines the rate of specific tasks to minimize their effect on I/O transactions

Stop button Stops the selected task

Suspend button Suspends the selected task

Resume button Resumes the selected suspended task

Task Speed Resets the selected task's speed

OK button Accepts changes and closes the dialog box

Cancel button Ignores changes and closes the dialog box

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Manuals

Working with Disks: Dell™ Flexible Array Storage Tool User's Guide