Dell MD3220, MD3200 Preferred and Alternate Controllers and Paths, Virtual Disk Ownership

Preferred and Alternate Controllers and Paths

A preferred controller is a RAID controller module designated as the owner of a virtual disk or disk group. The preferred controller is automatically selected by MDSM when a virtual disk is created. You can change the preferred RAID controller module owner of a virtual disk after it is created. If a host is only connected to only one RAID controller module, the preferred owner must manually be assigned to the RAID controller module the host can access.

Ownership of a virtual disk is moved from the preferred controller to the secondary controller (also called the alternate controller) when the preferred controller is:

•Physically removed

•Updating firmware

•Involved in an event that caused failover to the alternate controller

Paths used by the preferred RAID controller module to access either the disks or the host server are called the preferred paths; redundant paths are called the alternate paths. If a failure causes the preferred path to become inaccessible, the storage array automatically uses the alternate path to access data, when this occurs the enclosure status LED blinks amber.

Virtual Disk Ownership

MDSM can be used to automatically build and view virtual disks. It uses optimal settings to stripe the disk group. Virtual disks are assigned to alternating RAID controller modules when they are created. This default assignation provides a simple means for load balancing the workload of the RAID controller modules.

Ownership can later be modified to balance workload according to actual usage. If virtual disk ownership is not manually balanced, it is possible for one controller to have the majority of the work, while the other controller is idle. Limit the number of virtual disks in a disk group. If multiple virtual disks are in a disk group, consider:

•The impact each virtual disk has on other virtual disks in the same disk group.

•The patterns of usage for each virtual disk.

•Different virtual disks have higher usage at different times of day.

Planning: MD3200 Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts

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