IBM Partner Pavilion DS4100 Operating the storage server, Turning the storage server on and off

Chapter 4. Operating the storage server

To ensure optimal operation of your system, always follow these best practices guidelines:

vBack up the data on your storage drives periodically.

vDS4100 base storage server only: To maintain power redundancy, plug the storage server’s right and the left power supplies into two independent external power circuits through ac distribution units inside a rack cabinet or directly into external receptacles. Similarly, the right and left power supplies of the DS4000 storage expansion units attached to the DS4100 should be plugged into the same two independent external power circuits as the DS4100. This ensures that the DS4100 and all its attached storage expansion units will have power if only one power circuit is available. In addition, having all the right or all the left power supplies plug into the same power circuit will enable the components in the storage subsystem to power on simultaneously during an unattended restoration of power. See Figure 56 on page 62 for an example of redundant power connections.

vBefore any planned system shutdown or after any system additions, removals, or modifications (including logical drive creations, storage partitioning definitions, hardware changes, and so on), save the storage subsystem profile as explained in the DS4000 Storage Manager guide for your operating system. Save the profile in a location other than the logical drives created for the DS4100 storage server.

vEnsure that your system is in an optimal state before you shut it down. Never turn the power off if any fault light is lit; be sure to resolve any error conditions before you shut down the system.

vDuring any maintenance or attended power-up procedure, carefully follow the power-up sequence listed in “Turning on the storage server” on page 66. You should check that each component of the subsystem is powered-on in the proper order during this entire power-up procedure to ensure that the controller will optimally access all of your storage subsystems.

vThe storage subsystem supports simultaneous power-up to the system components; however, you should always follow the power-up sequence listed in “Turning on the storage server” on page 66 during any attended power-up procedure.

vA storage system in an optimal state should recover automatically from an unexpected shutdown and unattended simultaneous restoration of power to system components. After power is restored, call IBM support if any of the following conditions occur:

–The storage subsystem logical drives and arrays are not displayed in the DS4000 Storage Manager graphical user interface (GUI).

–The storage subsystem logical drives and arrays do not come online.

–The storage subsystem logical drives and arrays seem to be degraded.

Turning the storage server on and off

This section contains instructions for turning the storage server on and off under normal and emergency situations.

If you are turning on the storage server after an emergency shutdown or power outage, see “Restoring power after an emergency shutdown” on page 69.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2004 65