Getting Started Checklist; About Adaptec Storage Manager; About The Adaptec Storage Manager Agent - Adaptec RAID 3085 User Manual

Getting Started Checklist

Part I of this User's Guide includes five special Getting Started chapters to help you install, start,
and begin to use Adaptec Storage Manager.
Step 1: Familiarize yourself with Adaptec Storage Manager and the Adaptec Storage
Manager Agent (see the remainder of this chapter).
Step 2: Install Adaptec Storage Manager on every system that will be part of your storage
space, then start Adaptec Storage Manager—or the Adaptec Storage Manager Agent
only—on those systems (see
Step 3: Explore the features of Adaptec Storage Manager (see
Step 4: Build your storage space (see
Step 5: Optional—Customize Adaptec Storage Manager and the Adaptec Storage Manager
Agent (see

About Adaptec Storage Manager

Adaptec Storage Manager is a software application that helps you build a storage space for your
online data, using Adaptec RAID controllers, disk drives, and enclosures. Your storage space
can include direct-attached (internal RAID) storage (the subject of this User's Guide) and
external RAID storage.
Note:
For more information about using Adaptec Storage Manager to manage external RAID
storage, such as an IPSAN, refer to the Adaptec Web site at www.adaptec.com.
With Adaptec Storage Manager, you can group disk drives into logical drives and build in
redundancy to protect your data and improve system performance. You can also use Adaptec
Storage Manager to monitor and manage all the controllers, enclosures, and disk drives in your
storage space from a single location.

About the Adaptec Storage Manager Agent

When Adaptec Storage Manager is installed on a system, the Adaptec Storage Manager Agent is
also installed automatically. The Agent is like a service that keeps your storage space running.
It's designed to run in the background, without user intervention, and its job is to monitor and
manage system health, event notifications, tasks schedules, and other on-going processes on
that system. It sends notices when tasks are completed successfully, and sounds an alarm when
errors or failures occur on that system.
The Agent uses less memory than the full application. If your storage space includes systems
that won't be connected to monitors (and therefore won't require the user interface described
in this User's Guide), you can choose to run the Agent only on those systems instead of the full
application (see
want more system resources available for other tasks.
Note:
Linux or Unix users only—If your storage space includes systems without X-Windows installed or
running, you can run the Agent, even though you can't run the full Adaptec Storage Manager application.
You can manage and monitor systems running the Agent only by logging into them as remote
systems (see page
You can also customize the Agent settings to suit your storage space requirements (see
Getting Started Step 1: Introduction to Adaptec Storage Manager
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