HP MSA 1040 HP MSA 1040 SMU Reference Guide (762784-001, March 2014) - Page 59

3 Provisioning the system Using the Provisioning Wizard The Provisioning Wizard helps you create a vdisk with volumes and to map the volumes to hosts. Before using this wizard, read documentation and Resource Library guidelines for your product to learn about vdisks, volumes, and mapping. Then plan the vdisks and volumes you want to create and the default mapping settings you want to use. The wizard guides you through the following steps. For each step you can view help by clicking the help icon in the wizard panel. As you complete steps they are highlighted at the bottom of the panel. If you cancel the wizard at any point, no changes are made. • Specify a name and RAID level for the vdisk • Select disks to use in the vdisk • Specify the number and size of volumes to create in the vdisk • Specify the default mapping for access to the volume by hosts • Confirm changes and apply them NOTE: To create an NRAID, RAID-0, or RAID-3 vdisk, you must use the CLI create vdisk command. For more information on this command, see the CLI Reference Guide. Step 1: Starting the wizard 1. In the Configuration View panel, right-click the system and select either Provisioning > Provisioning Wizard or Wizards > Provisioning Wizard. The wizard panel appears. 2. Click Next to continue. Step 2: Specifying the vdisk name and RAID level A vdisk is a virtual disk that is composed of one or more disks, and has the combined capacity of those disks. The number of disks that a vdisk can contain is determined by its RAID level. When you create a vdisk, all its disks must be the same type: either enterprise SAS or midline SAS. A vdisk can contain different models of disks, and disks with different capacities. If you mix disks with different capacities, the smallest disk determines the logical capacity of all other disks in the vdisk, regardless of RAID level. For example, the capacity of a vdisk composed of one 500-GB disk and one 750-GB disk is equivalent to a vdisk composed of two 500-GB disks. To maximize capacity, use disks of similar size. For greatest reliability, use disks of the same size and rotational speed. In a single-controller system, all vdisks are owned by that controller. In a dual-controller system, when a vdisk is created the system automatically assigns the owner to balance the number of vdisks each controller owns; or, you can select the owner. Typically it doesn't matter which controller owns a vdisk. In a dual-controller system, when a controller fails, the partner controller assumes temporary ownership of the failed controller's vdisks and resources. If the system uses a fault-tolerant cabling configuration, both controllers' LUNs are accessible through the partner. When you create a vdisk you can also create volumes within it. A volume is a logical subdivision of a vdisk, and can be mapped to controller host ports for access by hosts. The storage system presents only volumes, not vdisks, to hosts. To create a vdisk 1. Set the options: • Vdisk name. This field is populated with a default name, which you can change. A vdisk name is case sensitive; cannot already exist in the system; and cannot include a comma, double quote, angle bracket or backslash. The name you enter can have a maximum of 32 bytes. Using the Provisioning Wizard 59