Understanding arrays

Understanding arrays

You can create an array at any time. The table below describes the drive requirements for each RAID level.

RAID Level

 

Minimum No. of Drives

Maximum No. of Drives

 

 

 

 

0

1

12

 

 

 

 

1

2

12

 

 

 

 

5

3

12

 

 

 

 

50

6

12

 

 

 

 

10 (Mirrored)

4

12

 

 

 

Important

 

Before you create more than one array, you must be sure

 

 

 

that your host operating system supports multiple Logical

 

 

Unit Numbers (LUNs). Most operating systems do support

 

 

multiple LUNs, or have an option for it. If your operating

 

 

system does not support multiple LUNs, the host will only

 

 

be able to see one array at the first disk LUN.

 

 

 

 

Terminology

The following describes the terminology used when creating and managing arrays.

Term

Description

 

 

Array

A group of drives that are combined together to create a

 

single large storage area. Up to 64 arrays are supported,

 

each containing up to 12 drives per array. There is no limit

 

for the drive size in the arrays.

 

 

Chunk Size

This is the amount of data that is written on a single drive

 

before the controller moves to the next drive in the stripe.

 

 

Stripe Size

This is the number of data drives multiplied by the chunk

 

size.

 

 

Cache Flush Array

This is the array that is used to automatically flush cache

 

data in the situation where power has failed to some of the

 

drives.

 

 

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