C H A P T E R 8

Using MegaRAID Storage Manager

This chapter explains how to launch and use the MSM (MegaRAID Storage Manager) program. Use the program to create RAID arrays, and then manage and monitor the RAID arrays after array creation. The following sections describe how to start and use the MSM program:

- Starting the MSM Program

- Using the MSM RAID Configuration Wizard

- Monitoring System Events and Storage Devices

- Maintaining and Managing Storage Configurations

- Known Issues

Note - MegaRAID Storage Manager (MSM) is also known as MegaRAID Storage Manager - Integrated RAID (MSM-IR) for versions earlier than 2.x. Some x64 servers ship MSM 2.x; others support MSM 1.x versions.

##

Starting the MSM Program

The following sections describe how to start and log in to the MSM program:

- To Start MSM on the Windows 2003 Server

- To Start MSM on a RHEL 4 Server

- To Start MSM on a SLES 10 Server

- Running MSM

- To Access Servers on Alternate Subnets

- To Log in to MSM

### To Start MSM on the Windows 2003 Server

1. On the taskbar, click Start and choose All Programs.

2. Choose the MSM program group, and click StartupUI.

Tip - Alternatively, double click the MSM icon on the desktop.

### To Start MSM on a RHEL 4 Server

On the taskbar, click Applications > System Tools > MegaRAID Storage Manager StartupUI.

### To Start MSM on a SLES 10 Server

On the taskbar, click Computer > System > MegaRAID Storage Manager StartupUI.

### Running MSM

After you have started MSM, the MSM server window appears. The first screen is the Select Server window, similar to the one shown in FIGURE 8-1.

Note - If a warning appears indicating the Windows Firewall has blocked some features of the program, click Unblock to allow MSM to start. The Windows Firewall might block some Java based programs like MSM. If there are multiple servers on the network, you might experience a delay before the Select Server window appears. A network with multiple servers might look similar to the Select Server window shown in FIGURE 8-1.

FIGURE 8-1 MSM Select Server Window (Opening Screen)

The Host server icon status is indicated by an LED-like indicator located within the host server icon, to the left of the center to the left of the IP address.

- A green LED indicates normal operation.

- A yellow LED indicates that the server is running in a degraded state.

For example, a disk drive used as a virtual disk has failed.

- A red LED indicates that the server’s storage configuration has failed.

Note - You can access servers on a different subnet by entering an IP address in the Connect to remote Framework at field at the bottom of the screen. The check box next to the Connect to remote Framework at field enables you to access a standalone server running MSM, if it has a network connection.

### To Access Servers on Alternate Subnets

1. Type the IP address in the `Connect to remote Framework at` field, located at the bottom of the screen.

Use the IP address of a server operating in the desired subnet where MSM has access.

2. Click Update.

3. To access the standalone server running MSM with a network connection, select the check box to the left of `Connect to remote Framework at`.

### To Log in to MSM

1. Double-click the icon of the desired Host server in the `Select Server` window.
See FIGURE 8-1 or FIGURE 8-2.

FIGURE 8-2 MSM Select Server Window (Simplified)

2. Select the check box next to `Connect to remote Framework at` in the lower portion of the screen, as shown in FIGURE 8-2.

The User Name & Password dialog box appears. See FIGURE 8-3.

FIGURE 8-3 MSM User Name & Password Dialog Box

3. Select a login mode from the drop-down list. See FIGURE 8-3.

- Select Full Access to view or modify the current configuration.

- Select View Only to view and monitor the configuration.

Note - If you are accessing the server over a network, you will also need to enter the root/administrator user name and password to use Full Access mode. Step 4 gives you access to the server, but not full access over the network.

If your user name and password are correct, the MSM Physical/Logical window appears, similar to the one shown in FIGURE 8-4.

4. (View Only Access) Type your user name and password, and then click Login.

5. (Full Access) Type the Administrator user name and password, and then click Login. See FIGURE 8-3.

The MSM Physical/Logical window displays similar to the one shown in FIGURE 8-4.

FIGURE 8-4 MSM Physical/Logical Window

Graphic showing Opening Screen for MegaRAID Storage Manager-IR

### MSM Windows

This section describes the MSM Physical/Logical window, which appears after you have logged in to the MSM program. The following topics describe the panels and menu options that display in this window.

#### Physical/Logical View Panel

The left panel of the MSM window displays either the Physical view or the Logical view of the host server and the devices, depending on which tab you select.

- Physical view: Shows the hierarchy of physical devices in the host server. At the top of the hierarchy is the host server. The host server has one or more controllers installed and each controller has one or more ports. Disk drives and other devices are attached to the ports.

- Logical view: Shows the hierarchy of controllers, virtual disks, and disk groups that are defined on the host server. (Physical drives also appear in the Logical view, so you can see which physical disk drives are used by each virtual disk.)

TABLE 8-1 shows the icons that appear in the left panel to represent the controllers, disk drives, and other devices:

TABLE 8-1 MSM Window Icons
System | Degraded state -- A yellow LED indicates that the device is running in a degraded state. For example, the yellow LED next to virtual disk indicates that it is running in a degraded state because a disk drive has failed.
Controller
Port
Disk group | Device failure -- A red LED indicates that the device has failed. For example, the red LED next to disk drive icon indicates that it has failed.
Virtual disk
Physical disk drive

#### Event Log Panel

The lower part of the MSM window displays the system event log entries. New event log entries appear during the session. Each entry has a timestamp and date, an error level indicating the severity of the event, and a brief description of the event.

Note - Some events in MSM_IR do not display an accurate date and timestamp value in the MSM log. When this is the case, the date and timestamp line will display "#####" as the value. For example, creating a new RAID 0 or RAID 1 will generate "#####" in the MSM date & timestamp log. Also, swapping hard disks will only display "###################" in the MSM log section.

FIGURE 8-5 MSM Window (Events and Icons)

Graphic showing screen of MSM-IR events and icons

#### Properties/Operations/Graphical View Panel

The right panel of the MSM window has two or three tabs, depending on the device type selected in the left panel.

- Properties tab: Displays information about the selected device.

- Operations tab: Lists the operations that can be performed on the device selected in the left panel.

- Graphical tab: Selected in the right panel if a physical drive or a virtual disk is selected in the left panel.

- In Graphical View, the device’s storage capacity is color coded according to the legend shown on the screen.

#### Dual-Path SAS Disk Drives

MSM version 2.63 and later handles dual-path disk drives automatically.

When you have SAS disk drives with dual paths, you see a single disk in the left panel of the main menu screen with the Physical tab chosen.

Select a drive in this panel and choose the Properties tab in the right panel of the screen. If the disk drive has two paths, you see a SAS Address 0 and SAS Address 1 in the Properties tab. You also see that the Redundant Paths property has the value ‘Yes.’

If you remove one of the paths (for example by removing a Multi-Function NEM that connects a server blade to a disk blade), you see only one SAS address and the Redundant Paths property has the value ‘No.’ When you restore the path, the Redundant Paths property has the value ‘Yes’ once again.

Note - You can view the Redundant Paths property when you remove and restore a path to verify that your version of MSM is multi-path aware.

You get an Alert Event Notification whenever a second path is added or deleted. The messages are:

- Redundant path inserted.

- Redundant path broken.

#### Menu Bar

The brief descriptions listed here refer to the main selections in the MSM menu bar.

- File Menu: The File menu has an Exit option for exiting MSM. It also has a Rescan option for updating the display in the MSM-IR window. (Rescan is seldom required; the display normally updates automatically.)

- Operations Menu: The Operations menu is available when a controller, physical drive, or logical drive is selected in the MSM window. The Operations menu options vary, depending on what type of device is selected in the left panel of the MSM window.

- You can also view the Operations tab in the right panel. If an operation requires user inputs before it can be executed, it appears in the Operations tab but not in the Operations menu. A device-specific Operations menu pops up if you right-click a device icon in the left panel.

An Advanced Operations submenu is also available. This is where you access the Configuration Wizard and other configuration-related commands. To access this menu, select Operations > Advanced Operations.

- Group Operations Menu: The Group Operations menu selections include Initialize and Show Progress.

- Log Menu: The Log menu includes selections for saving and clearing the message log.

- Help Menu: On the Help menu you can select Help > Help to view the MSM online Help file. You can select Help > About to view version information for the MSM.

Note - When you use MSM online Help, you might see a warning message that Internet Explorer has restricted the file from showing active content. If this warning displays, click the active content warning bar and enable the active content.

##

Using the MSM RAID Configuration Wizard

Use the MSM RAID configuration wizard to create, delete, or modify RAID configurations.

Note - Physical disk drives with bootable partitions cannot be used to create a virtual drive on a SAS IR controller with MSM. Drives with bootable partitions do not appear on the list of available drives to create a new virtual drive. To make physical disk drives with bootable partitions available for use in creating a virtual drive, you must clear the bootable flag in the partition or remove the partition.

### To Start the MSM RAID Configuration Wizard

1. In the Physical tab, click Controller 0. See FIGURE 8-6.

You can also use the Menu bar to access the RAID configuration wizard, by choosing Operations > Advanced Operations.

FIGURE 8-6 MSM Window (RAID Creation)

FIGURE 8-7 MSM Configuration Wizard Dialog Box

2. Click Configuration Wizard to start the MSM RAID configuration wizard.

The Configuration Wizard dialog box displays.

3. Select the physical disk drive(s) and add the selected disk drive(s) to the new array.

Note - Two disks can be selected at the same time by using the shift key after making the first disk drive selection.

a. In the `Unconfigured Physical Drive List` section, click a physical disk drive to select it (highlight).

b. Skip to Step c, or make a second selection by holding down the shift key, while your first physical disk drive is selected (highlighted).

Both physical disk drives should be highlighted.

c. Click the right arrow to move the physical disk drive(s) into the section labeled: `Arrays with Available Space`.

4. When you are finished, click Accept, and then click Next.

The Virtual Disk Creation dialog box displays. See FIGURE 8-8.

FIGURE 8-8 MSM Virtual Disk Creation Dialog Box

5. Select a RAID Level, Size (in Mbytes), and a Disk Cache Policy from `Virtual Disk Properties`.

6. Click the active Accept button, and then click Next. See FIGURE 8-8 and FIGURE 8-9.

The Finish dialog box displays with RAID 0 (New Array) selected and accepted.

FIGURE 8-9 MSM RAID Finish Screen

7. Click Finish to create the RAID.

The MSM Configuration Wizard builds the RAID and the resultant updated RAID configuration is displayed in the MSM window. See FIGURE 8-10.

FIGURE 8-10 MSM Physical Window (New RAID Array)

### To Create a RAID Partition and File System (Windows 2003)

After you create a new RAID configuration, you need to create a partition and format the partition using Windows Disk Manager.

1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open field, enter `diskmgmt.msc`, and then click OK.

The Windows Disk Manager Initialize Wizard displays.

FIGURE 8-11 Windows Disk Manager Initialize Wizard

3. Click Cancel to exit the Windows Disk Manager Initialize wizard.

4. Right-click the Disk containing the new RAID created by MSM, and then click Initialize Disk.

FIGURE 8-12 Windows Disk Manager Initialize Disk

5. Right-click on the Un-allocated Drive section of the new initialized partition, and then select New Partition.

FIGURE 8-13 Windows Disk Manager New Partition Wizard

6. Follow the onscreen prompts to page through the New Partition wizard to create and format a new Windows partition.

Once the New Partition wizard completes, the RAID file system is built and available for use. See FIGURE 8-14.

FIGURE 8-14 Windows Display of New RAID File System

Note - MSM might also be installed from the BIOS. For details see the Service Manual for your product.

### Changing Virtual Disk Properties

This section describes the virtual disk parameters that you can set when you use the Guided Configuration or Manual Configuration modes of the Configuration Wizard. You do not necessarily need to change these parameters when you create a storage configuration; you can leave the values at the default settings.

- Disk Cache Policy: Select a cache setting for this disk: Unchanged, Enabled, or Disabled.

- Init State:

- No Initialization: The new configuration is not initialized and the existing data on the disks is not overwritten.

- Fast Initialization: MSM quickly writes zeros to the first and last 10 MB regions of the new virtual disk, and then completes the initialization in the background. This enables you to start writing data to the virtual disk immediately.

- Full Initialization: A complete initialization is done on the new configuration. You cannot write data to the new virtual disk until the initialization is complete. This might take a long time if the disks are large.

| Caution - To prevent an inoperable system, do not initialize a drive on which the operating system is installed. Initializing any drive overwrites the drive contents, including the operating system if it is installed.

You can change a virtual disk’s Read Policy, Write Policy, and other properties at any time after the virtual disk is created.

Note - Support is provided for enabling/disabling SMART and Write Cache Enable on physical disks that are not part of a virtual disk, but are connected to a SAS IR controller. This is different from the way in which properties are changed for virtual disks.

To Change a Virtual Disk Property

1. Select a virtual disk icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. In the right panel, select the Properties tab, and select Set Virtual Disk Properties.

A list of virtual disk properties displays in the right panel.

3. Change the virtual disk properties as needed in the right panel.

4. Click Go to accept the changes.

### Deleting a Virtual Disk

You can delete virtual disks for a number of reasons, including rearranging the storage space.

| Caution - To prevent any data loss, including the operating system (OS), back up the data on the virtual disk before you delete it. Ensure the operating system is not installed on the virtual disk you intend to delete.

Note - Virtual drives with a bootable partition cannot be deleted. This prevents you from accidentally deleting a drive that contains the operating system. To delete the virtual drive, you must clear the bootable flag in the partition or remove the partition.

To Delete A Virtual Disk

1. Back up all user data on the virtual disk you intend to delete.

2. In the left panel of the MSM window, select the Logical tab and click the icon of the virtual disk to delete.

3. In the right panel, select the Operations tab and select Delete Virtual Disk.

4. Click Go.

5. When the warning message appears, click Yes to confirm the deletion of the virtual disk.

### Saving a Storage Configuration to Disk

There is a `Save` `Configuration` command on the Operations > Advanced Operations > Configuration menu. The purpose of this command is to save an existing controller configuration to a file so that it can be applied to the same or another controller at a later date.

| Caution - This `Save` `Configuration`command is problematical and is not supported.

### Clearing a Storage Configuration From a Controller

To create a new configuration on the controller, the existing storage configuration must be cleared.

| Caution - To prevent any data loss, back up the data on the virtual disk connected to the controller before you clear a configuration. Clearing a configuration deletes all data from the disks of the existing configuration.

To Clear a Configuration from a Controller

1. Select a controller icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. On the menu bar, select Operations > Advanced Operations > Configuration
> Clear Configuration.

A warning message displays.

3. To clear the configuration, click Yes.

##

Monitoring System Events and Storage Devices

MSM enables you to monitor the status of disk drives, virtual disks, and other storage devices. This section has the following subsections:

- Monitoring System Events

- Monitoring Controllers

- Monitoring Disk Drives

- Monitoring Virtual Disks

- Monitoring Rebuilds and Other Processes

### Monitoring System Events

MSM monitors the activity and performance of all controllers in the system and the storage devices connected to the controllers. When an event occurs (such as the creation of a new virtual disk or the removal of a physical disk drive), an event message appears in the log displayed at the bottom of the MSM window.

Each event in the log includes an error level (Info, Warning, Caution, Fatal, or Dead) a date and timestamp, and a brief description.

Note - Some events in MSM_IR do not display an accurate date and timestamp value in the MSM log. When this is the case, the date and timestamp line will display "#####" as the value. For example, creating a new RAID 0 or RAID 1 will generate "#####" in the MSM date & timestamp log. Also, swapping hard disks will only display "###################" in the MSM log section.

The Log menu has three options:

- Save Log: Saves the current log to a file.

- Clear Log: Clears the current log information.

- Load Log: Enables you to load a different log file.

### Monitoring Controllers

MSM enables you to see the status of all

controllers in the left panel of the MSM window. The controller’s status is indicated by the controller icon(s).

The controller icon by itself indicates that it is operating normally.

A red LED next to the icon indicates that the controller has failed. (See Physical/Logical View Panelfor a complete list of device icons.)

To Display All Controller Information

1. Click a controller icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. Click the Properties tab in the right panel.

The Properties tab lists information such as Product Name, Serial number, Vendor ID, and Host Port Count.

All controller properties are defined in Glossary.

### Monitoring Disk Drives

MSM enables you to see the status of all physical disk drives in the left panel of the MSM window. The physical disk drive status is indicated by the physical disk drive icon(s):

The physical disk drive icon by itself indicates that it is operating normally.

A red LED next to the icon indicates that the physical disk drive has failed.

To Display Complete Disk Drive Information

1. Click a disk drive icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. Click the Properties tab in the right panel.

The Properties tab lists information such as Vendor Name, Device ID, and Physical Drive State. All disk drive properties are defined in Glossary.

To Display a Graphical View of a Disk Drive

1. Click a drive icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. Click the Graphical View tab.

In Graphical View, the drive’s storage capacity is color-coded according to the legend shown on the screen:

- Blue = Configured space

- White = Available space

- Red = Reserved space

- Green = The space used by the virtual disk when you select a virtual disk from the drop-down menu.

### Monitoring Virtual Disks

MSM enables you to see the status of all virtual disks. The virtual disk status is indicated by the virtual disk icon.

The virtual disk icon by itself indicates that it is operating normally.

A yellow LED next to the icon indicates that the virtual disk is in degraded mode.

For example, if a physical disk has failed, the virtual disk icon reflects this degraded condition

A red LED next to the icon indicates that the virtual disk has failed. (See Physical/Logical View Panelfor a complete list of device icons.)

To Display a Graphical View of a Virtual Disk

1. Click a virtual disk icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. Click the Graphical View tab.

In Graphical View, the icon for this disk group (array) indicates the virtual disk usage.

- Blue = Indicates how much of the disk group capacity is used by this virtual disk.

- White = Indicates that some of the virtual disk capacity is used by another virtual disk.

### Monitoring Rebuilds and Other Processes

MSM enables you to monitor the progress of rebuilds and other lengthy processes in the Group Show Progress window. Open this window by selecting Group Operations > Show Progress on the menu bar.

Operations on virtual disks appear in the left panel of the Group Show Progress window, and operations on physical disk drives appear in the right panel. The following operations appear in this window.

- Background initialization of a virtual disk

- Rebuild (see To Rebuild a Drive on a SAS IR System)

- Consistency check (SAS IR controllers only)

To abort any ongoing process:

- Click the Abort button next to the status indicator.

- Click Abort All to abort all ongoing processes.

- Click Close to close the window.

##

Maintaining and Managing Storage Configurations

This section explains how to use MSM to maintain and manage storage configurations. This section has the following subsections:

- To Scan for New Drives

- Rebuilding a Drive

- Putting a Drive Offline or Missing

### To Scan for New Drives

MSM normally detects newly installed disk drives and displays icons for them in the MSM window. If MSM fails to detect a new drive (or drives), you can use the Scan for Foreign Config command to find it.

1. Select a controller icon in the left panel of the MSM window.

2. Select Operations > Scan for Foreign Config.

If MSM detects any new disk drives, it displays a list of them on the screen.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the disk detection.

### Rebuilding a Drive

Due to the definition of a RAID 1 virtual drive, the system is protected from data loss if a single drive fails. However, the failed drive must be replaced, and the failed drive’s data must be rebuilt on a new drive to restore the system to a fault-tolerant condition. You can also rebuild a failed drive, if the failed drive is still operational.

A yellow LED next to the virtual disk indicates that it is in a degraded state; the data is still safe, but data could be lost if another drive fails.

If you see that the virtual disk is in a degraded state, then view the physical disk in the virtual disk configuration for drive indications.

A red LED next to the drive icon indicates that the drive has failed.

To Rebuild a Drive on a SAS IR System

1. Record the number of the failed drive(s) (0, 1, 2, 3) in the MSM window.

2. Shut down the system, disconnect the power cord, and open the server chassis.

3. Find the failed disk drive and remove it from the server chassis.

You can identify the disk drive by reading the number (0, 1, 2, 3) on the drive cable. This corresponds to the drive number displayed in the MSM window. Also, the drive 0 cable is color-coded. For an Integrated RAID controller, the hard drive number is on the motherboard next to the cable connector.

4. Replace the failed disk drive with a new drive of equal or greater capacity.

5. Close the computer case, reconnect the power cord, and restart the server.

6. Restart MSM.

When the new drive spins up, the drive icon changes back to normal status, and the rebuild process begins automatically.

### Putting a Drive Offline or Missing

Note - The option to mark a physical disk (drive) as missing does not appear in some versions of MSM. In those versions where “Mark physical disk as missing” is disabled or not available, you will see "Mark drive online" and "Rebuild" options.

If a disk drive is currently part of a redundant configuration and you want to use it in another configuration, you can use MSM commands to remove the disk drive from the first configuration for this purpose. When you do this, all data on that drive is lost. You can remove the disk drive from the configuration without harming the data on the virtual disk.

Note - If a disk drive in a virtual disk has failed, the drive goes offline. If this happens, you must remove the disk drive and replace it. You cannot make the drive usable for another configuration by using the Mark physical disk as missing and Rescan commands.

To Put a Drive Offline or Missing

1. In the left panel of the MSM window, right-click the icon of a disk drive in a redundant virtual disk.

2. Select Make drive offline from the pop-up menu.

The disk drive status changes to Offline.

3. Right-click the disk drive icon again and select Mark physical disk as missing.

4. Select File > Rescan.

The disk drive status changes to Unconfigured Good. At this point, the data on this disk drive is no longer valid.

##

Known Issues

The following section lists known issues by product.

### Sun Fire X4100 M2 /X4200 M2 Server Issues

#### (Windows 2003 Server) MSM-IR 1.19 Does Not Reflect Correct Disk Count Information (CR 6514389)

On Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit), MSM-IR 1.19 does not show the correct disk count information at the physical and logical level before the RAID set is created. There is no workaround, but this was fixed in software release 1.1 (February, 2007).

### Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Issues

#### MSM-IR 1.19 Does Not Show Disk Removal Status Correctly in a Non-RAID Configuration (CR 6525255)

In a non-RAID configuration only, the status log does not show an entry when a disk is removed. There is no workaround.

#### MSM Server and Client Must Be in Same Subnet (6533271)

For firmware prior to Phase 11, MSM 2.29, the MSM server and client must be in the same subnet; otherwise, the applications reports “No server found.”

### Sun Blade X6240, X6440 Server Issues

#### Locate Virtual Disk Function Does Not Light LEDs on Disks Controlled by Server Blade (CR 6732326)

When you have a virtual disk highlighted in the logical view and you choose the Locate Virtual Disk command in the Operations tab, LEDs should blink on all the physical disks that make up the virtual disk. These LEDs are not blinking on disks controlled by the X6240, X6440 server blades.

### Sun Blade X6220 Server Issues

#### MSM "Prepare For Removal" Operation Fails in Windows 2003, 2008 (CR 6747581) for Disks in Disk Blade

In MSM 2.63, the Prepare for Removal function does not work for single disk drives in a Sun Blade 6000 Disk Module. If the disk is in a RAID volume, however, the Make Drive Offline function does work.

Copyright © 2006, 2007 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved. © 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.