Chapter 4. Operating The Storage Subsystem And Storage Enclosure; Performing The Health Check Process - IBM DS3500 Installation, User's, And Maintenance Manual

Chapter 4. Operating the storage subsystem and storage
enclosure
This chapter describes operating procedures for the storage subsystem and storage enclosure.
To ensure optimal operation of the storage subsystem and storage enclosure, see "Best practices
guidelines" on page 1-7.

Performing the health check process

Use the health check process to help you verify and maintain the optimal performance of the storage
configuration. The information that you collect in these steps also helps provide IBM Service with
important information that is needed during a service call.
Perform the following health check tasks after the initial configuration of the storage subsystem and after
all configuration sessions.
1. Monitor the Recovery Guru in the Storage Manager software for any obvious storage subsystem
errors or problem conditions.
2. Gather and save the following storage subsystem event logs for review by IBM Service. These event
logs should be gathered periodically for regular health check monitoring regardless of the state of the
Recovery Guru. (You can collect all these logs at once and compress them into a single file by clicking
the Support tab and then Gather Support Information in the Subsystem Management window.)
v DS3500 storage subsystem management event log (MEL)
v Storage Subsystem Profile or DS3500 Profile
v SAS PHY error log
In addition, you should also collect event logs for the host servers that have mapped logical drives
from the storage subsystem.
Attention: Save these event-log files to a server disk that will remain accessible in the event of a
DS3500 storage configuration failure. Do not save these event log files only to a LUN in the DS3500
storage subsystem.
3. Use the Storage Subsystem Profile or DS3500 Profile to make sure that the following firmware levels
are at the latest versions:
v Controller firmware
v ESM firmware
v Drive firmware
If the firmware is not up-to-date, upgrade the firmware and software to the latest level that is
applicable to the storage configuration. See "Software and hardware compatibility and upgrades" on
page 1-14 for information about where to find the latest firmware and software.
Attention: You must resolve Recovery Guru errors or problems before you upgrade firmware.
Save the storage subsystem profile before you perform any controller or ESM firmware upgrades.
Save the storage subsystem profile and all .cfg files to a server disk that will remain accessible in the
event of a DS3500 storage configuration failure.
4. Use the Storage Subsystem Profile or DS3500 Profile to make sure that the following functions are
enabled:
v For all DS3500 models, enable Media Scan both at the controller level and at the LUN level.
v For all DS3500 models, enable the read/write cache. In addition, use the Storage Subsystem Profile
to make sure that cache is matched between the controllers.
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2011,
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