Drive Size File - nStor Corporation Ultra S2S User Manual

Drive Size File

Previous versions of the firmware for the controller used a drive sizing algorithm
which took the capacity of the smallest drive in a RAID group and used that to
determine the total RAID group size. Mixtures of different drive types with
slightly different drive sizes in an array can lead to problems when a drive failure
takes place. Since the actual size of the drive is used to find a replacement, a
replacement drive that is slightly smaller than the failed drive will not be used in a
drive rebuild. For example, in an array composed of 4.2 GB and 4.0 GB drives, a
failed 4.2 GB drive cannot be replaced with a 4.0 GB drive.
The solution is to allow the user to define how much of the drive's total capacity
should be used. This information is stored in the drive size file.
1 To open to the Drive Size menu, select Drive Size File from the Tools menu.
The Drive Size menu is displayed. You may create a preliminary drive size file
based on:
• the drives attached to the currently-selected, or
• all drives attached to all available controllers
Once a preliminary drive size file is created, you can view (browse) the file
within AdminiStor PC Utilities (RAIDfx), but you will need to open file
(drvsize.dat) in a text editor to make changes and save your working file.
2 Select Create from Current or Create from All from the Drive Size menu.
The file "drvsize.dat" is created based either on the drives attached to the
current controller or all drives attached to all available controllers.
3 Press <Esc> to return to the Drive Size menu.
4 Select View to browse the "drvsize.dat" file that was just created. This may
also be used at any time to verify the contents of the Drive Size File.
5 To edit the drive size file, open drvsize.dat in a text editor and make the
required changes.
NOTE: The general idea is to set the size of each drive to a common setting. For
example, drives of 4.0 GB, 4.02 GB, and 4.2 GB configured in a single
RAID group can all be set to 4 GB in the drive size file. You can only set a
drive to a size equal to or smaller than its actual size. For example, you
cannot set a 3.5 GB drive to 4 GB using the drive size file.
Maintenance
105
Drive Size File