*HelpHelp for RAID Manager*RAID


The RAID Manager service enables you to conveniently manage RAID systems.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a technology whereby several physical storage devices (fixed disks) are grouped into one or more virtual drives that appear to the operating system as one or more physical drives.

The following information and statistics are available:

Note: RAID Manager is available for use only on systems that have both a RAID array and supported RAID adapter installed.

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Adapter Information

Adapter Information gives helpful information about your adapter.

  • Adapter Identifier
  • A unique identifier for the adapter. For Micro-channel adapters, this is the POSID. For PCI adapters, this field is not applicable.
  • Adapter Slot
  • The slot, if it can be ascertained, of the RAID adapter.
  • Buses Available
  • Number of buses or channels available of this RAID adapter.
  • Configured Devices
  • The number of configured devices. Non-configured devices are not counted but may be present.
  • Device I/O
  • The protocol that the adapters use to transfer data to and from RAID devices.
  • Host Bus
  • The host bus type. Common types are Micro-channel, PCI, ISA, and EISA.
  • Adapter Status
  • The status of the adapter. RAID Adapters may attain any of the states listed:

  • RAID Adapter On-line Status
  • The RAID adapter is active.
  • RAID Adapter Off-line Status
  • The RAID adapter is non-active or in a maintenance or error state.
  • RAID Adapter Diagnostics Status
  • The RAID adapter is in a diagnostic mode but is otherwise functioning as desired.
  • Manufacturer, Model, and Serial Number Information
  • The Manufacturer, Model, and Serial Number are not necessary for proper operation of the RAID system. It is included as a convenience for the user.

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    Adapter Specific Data

    Adapter Specific Data gives advanced information about your adapter.

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    Standard Device Information

    Standard Device Information provides real-time information about system devices.

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    Virtual Drive Information

    Displays helpful information about Virtual Drives on your RAID system.

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    Adapter Statistics

    Adapter Statistics show real time information about your RAID adapter.

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    Device Statistics

    The Device Statistics section displays helpful data about your RAID devices.

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    Virtual Drive Statistics

    Provides real time statistical information about Virtual Drives on your RAID system.

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    Physical Array

    A RAID Physical Array is a collection of physical devices combined to act as one or more physical devices or virtual drives.

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    Virtual Drive

    A Virtual Drive is created by the RAID adapter by combining several physical drives and presenting them to the operating system as an individual drive or series of individual drives. Virtual drives are represented by cylinders on the main RAID Service display window.

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    RAID Level

    RAID technology allows you to configure the virtual drives in a variety of configurations. These configurations (called RAID Levels) provide varying levels of data integrity, protection, storage capacity, and speed. RAID Level describes the method by which data is stored on the physical devices of an array.

    Common RAID Levels are:

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    RAID Level 0

    RAID Level 0 stripes data across all of the devices making up each virtual drive. RAID Level 0 devices do not use any form of data mirroring or data redundancy.

    Note: Because RAID Level 0 does not use any form of data mirroring or redundancy, the failure of even one physical device results in a loss of data for the virtual drive. However, RAID Level 0 maximizes the storage capacity of the virtual drive because no storage space is used to store parity information. RAID Level 0 also provides the best speed advantage of the various RAID Levels.

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    RAID Level 1

    RAID Level 1 stripes data across all of the devices making up each virtual drive. Enhanced IBM RAID Level 1 uses data mirroring to ensure data integrity. Because the data is mirrored, the capacity of the virtual drive is one half of the total capacity of all the physical devices in the array. Enhanced Data Mirroring is also known as RAID Level 6.

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    RAID Level 5

    RAID Level 5 stripes all data and parity information across all physical devices in the virtual drive. This striping method enables the RAID system to reconstruct data when any one of the physical devices fails or is removed from the array. The virtual drive will continue to be operational (at reduced performance) should this occur.

    The capacity of a RAID Level 5 virtual array is ((N-1)/N) multiplied by the total physical capacity of all N devices (N is the number of devices in the array).

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    RAID Level 6

    RAID Level 6 is IBM Enhanced RAID Level 1 which features data mirroring. Disk space available is 50% of the total physical capacity. Maximum data protection is available through RAID Level 6.


    RAID Level 7

    RAID Level 7 is RAID Level 0 striped across one physical device.

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    Data Striping

    Data Striping is the process by which data is distributed across all devices in a virtual array. Striping improves data throughput during normal system operation. Striping sizes or stripe widths are usually multiples of 8 kilobytes. Once a stripe size is set it should not be changed. Changing the stripe size destroys all data on all drives connected to that adapter.

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    Data Mirroring

    Data Mirroring is a format used in some RAID Levels that helps to ensure data integrity. Data mirroring makes a mirror copy of the data so that if one device in the virtual drive fails or is removed from the array, all data will be safeguarded AND the drive will continue to be operational albeit at lower reduced performance. A minimum of 2 devices is required for data mirroring.

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    Hot Spare

    A Hot Spare is a physical device that is kept ready and in a waiting state for use by a virtual drive of RAID Level 1, 5, or 6. Should a device fail the Hot Spare will automatically take the failed devices' place.

    If another device in the array fails while the Hot Spare is coming on line, data loss will result thus it is important to replace drives as quickly as possible.

    When a device fails, the Hot Spare will automatically become an active member of that virtual drive. The failed device should be replaced. After the failed device is replaced it will become the Hot Spare.

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    Exiting

    To exit the RAID Manager service, select the "Netfinity" image on the top or bottom of the RAID Manager service to return to the Netfinity services screen.

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