3Ware 9650SE-2LPML User Manual page 37

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4 Type Y to continue, delete any existing data on the drives, and create the
unit.
Depending on the RAID configuration you are creating, initialization of
the unit may begin immediately. (RAID 6 units and some RAID 5 and
RAID 50 units begin immediate initialization.) The initialization process
can take several hours, depending on the size of your drives.
5 If you want to use a RAID configuration which has started initializing,
you can press Esc to cancel the progress box. (Before doing this, be sure
to read "Trade-offs to cancelling initialization," below.)
You can then exit 3BM and boot to the operating system before the
process of writing zeroes to the drives is complete. Once you have booted
to the operating system, background initialization of the unit will begin
after a delay of up to ten minutes.
Trade-offs to cancelling initialization:
• Performance of these units will be lower until initialization is
complete.
• When initializing is done after booting to the operating system,
the process of initializing takes longer than it does if initialization
is done by writing zeroes to the unit in the BIOS. Consequently, it
will be a longer period of time until the performance of the unit is
fully optimal. Data remains intact when initialization is done in the
operating system.
For complete information about initialization of RAID units, see "About
Initialization" on page 143.
6 If you are finished creating RAID units, be sure to check the boot
sequence for your system, as described under "Checking the Motherboard
Boot Sequence" on page 29.
Basic Steps for Creating a Unit
27