Rebuilding RAID Level Configurations

6.4 RAID Level 5

RAID Level 5 increases reliability while using fewer disks than mirroring by employing parity redundancy. Distributed parity on multiple drives provides the redundancy to rebuild a failed drive from the remaining good drives.

CAUTION

Selecting RAID configuration causes all previous drive data on the Diamond Storage Array to be erased. Make sure all information is backed up before configuring RAID groups.

In RAID Level 5, parity data is added to the transmitted data at one end of the transaction, then the parity data is checked at the other end to make sure the transmission has not had any errors.

In the Diamond Storage Array, transmitted data with the added parity data is striped across disk drives. A hardware XOR engine computes parity, thus alleviating software processing during reads and writes.

The array uses parity declustering, a special case of RAID Level 5. Parity information is spread across each LUN, not concentrated on one drive or sled.

When you initially set up RAID groups using the QuickRAID command, groups are synchronized automatically because there is no pre-existing data on the drives. However, drives may display as “degraded, and you need to set all LUNs to OK status. Refer to

on page 63.

Configuring a fully-populated array

You may set up a fully-populated Diamond (12 sleds) into one, two, three or four RAID Level 5 groups, with or without hot spare sleds, using the QuickRAID 5 command.

To set up RAID Level 5 groups

1Connect to Diamond Storage Array services via the RS-232 port or the optional Ethernet management services card (refer to Accessing the Array on page 17). You should now be in the CLI.

2Continue with the CLI or access the RAID page of the ExpressNAV interface (refer to ATTO ExpressNAV: Browser-based Interface on page 25).

Note

Because the ExpressNAV pages take you through this process easily, the following instructions are based on the CLI commands. Use these instructions as a guide in ExpressNAV.

3Decide how many RAID Level 5 groups you want (1, 2, 3 or 4)..

4Type set QuickRAID5 [01234] 0 returns the array to JBOD

5Type SaveConfiguration Restart to save the RAID Level 5 configuration.

6A Ready prompt displays. You must zero all drives and parity to make all RAID Level 5 drives coherent. Type RAID5ClearData all

CAUTION

This is a destructive operation: all information stored on these drives is lost.

DO NOT interrupt power until the RAID5ClearData operation has completed (three to six hours).

7Information displays on the screen while the array updates NVRAM ending with a Ready*.

8Type SaveConfiguration.

9Type FirmwareRestart to reboot the array.

10Reboot the host computer connected via Fibre Channel or SCSI to the array.

11The array is now configured. To verify the configuration, type DriveInfo. If any sleds are missing, the sled slots are reported as offline.

To set up one RAID Level 5 group with one Hot Spare sled

1Connect to Diamond Storage Array services (refer Accessing the Array on page 17) and use the Command Line Interface or enter ATTO ExpressNAV browser interface Advanced CLI Configuration page.

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ATTO Technology Inc. Diamond Storage Array Installation and Operation Manual

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ATTO Technology S-Class manual Configuring a fully-populated array, To set up RAID Level 5 groups

S-Class specifications

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