Apple Xserve RAID User's guide Technical Information download pdf (Page 15)

CHAPTER

Working With RAID Arrays

Once you’ve conﬁgured the Xserve RAID system with basic settings, you can create RAID

arrays (also known as RAID sets). For explanations of RAID levels and combinations offered

by the Xserve RAID system, see Chapter 7, “RAID Overview,” and Chapter 8, “Planning RAID

Storage for the Xserve RAID System,” in the

Xserve RAID User’s Guide.

Creating a RAID Array

You use the Create Array window of RAID Admin to set up an array. This window lists the

hardware RAID levels you can create and displays a picture of the system’s front panel so that

you can easily choose the drives to include in each array. A checkbox is on each available

drive in the picture. (Once you’ve created an array, its drives show the array’s number.)

Note:

The Xserve RAID system uses two RAID controllers. The upper controller manages

drives 1 through 7 on the left side of the system (when viewed from the front); the lower

controller manages drives 8 through 14 on the right side. If your system has fewer than 14

drives, you may want to rearrange the drive modules to take advantage of both RAID

controllers, which provide greater performance and redundancy. Dividing the drives

between the two controllers decreases the overall capacity of any one array, however.

If you want to move drive modules from one controller to the other, you must do it before

creating a RAID array that contains those drives. You cannot create a RAID array that spans

both controllers. (You can use Disk Utility to add software RAID to two or more arrays,

however; see “Adding Software RAID to Two or More Arrays” on page 24 for details.)

Note:

If you move a drive module from one RAID controller to another, the preset RAID

array using that drive is deleted.

Any drives not used in an array are treated as global spares (also called “hot spares”) for all

arrays on that controller.

As you plan your arrays, keep in mind that each RAID controller can have up to three arrays.

Important

Once you create an array, you cannot edit it. Be sure to plan the arrays carefully

to avoid having to remove an array later.

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Apple Xserve RAID User's guide Technical Information Page 15