Plan Your Storage Configuration; System And Performance Expectations; Striping Methods - HP AD510A - StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 1500 cs 2U Fibre Channel SAN Attach Controller Shelf Hard Drive Installation Manual

b. In the utility, disable the controller to be removed.
For details, see the utility online help or MSA user documentation.
c. Wait for array controller disabled to display on the controller LCD panel.
d. Remove the disabled controller for servicing or replacement.
CAUTION: If an operational controller is removed without first being disabled, the active controller
might halt. To clear this fault condition, you must power-cycle the MSA.
For more information, see the HP StorageWorks 1500 Modular Smart Array maintenance and
service guide, available on the Technical documentation page of the MSA1500 website:
http://www.hp.com/go/msa1500cs.

Plan your storage configuration

Proper planning of the system storage and its subsequent performance is critical to a successful
deployment of your MSA. Improper planning or implementation can result in wasted storage space,
degraded performance, or inability to expand the system to meet growing storage needs.
Considerations include:

• System and performance expectations

• Striping methods

• RAID levels
• Hard drive sizes and types
• Spare drives
• Array sizing (capacity)
System and performance expectations
To help you determine the best way to configure your storage, you must first rank the following three
storage characteristics in order of importance:
• Fault tolerance (high availability)
• I/O performance
• Storage efficiency
With your priorities established, you can determine which striping method and RAID level to use.
As highlighted in the following sections on
methods offer greater fault tolerance, while other configuration methods offer better I/O
performance or storage efficiency.
Striping methods
A storage array combines the capacity of several physical hard drives into one virtual unit called an
array. These arrays are then presented to the operating system as a single disk device. The physical
layout of an array can be one of two configurations:
Striping methods
HP StorageWorks 1500 Modular Smart Array installation guide
and RAID levels, some configuration
25