.
Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers

User's Guide

maxView Storage Manager
Released
March 2019

Revision History
Revision Revision
Date

Details of Change

9March 2019 maxView Storage Manager v3.01.00

8

January
2019

maxView Storage Manager v3.0.0

7

May 2018

Removed "Proprietary and Confidential" markings in footer text.

6

April 2018

maxView Storage Manager v2.06

5September maxView Storage Manager v2.04
2017

4

May 2017

3

September V1.2.0 Maintenance Release. maxView Storage Manager v2.02
2016

2April 2016

V1.1.0 Maintenance Release. maxView Storage Manager v2.01

1

December
2015

First Production release. maxView Storage Manager v2.00

maxView Storage Manager v2.03

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

2

Contents
Microsemi Adaptec® Product Support.............................................................................................9
Software License Agreement.........................................................................................................10
1 About this Guide........................................................................................................................13
1.1 What You Need to Know Before You Begin.................................................................................................13
1.2 Terminology Used in this Guide..................................................................................................................14
1.3 How to Find More Information...................................................................................................................14

2 Introduction to maxView Storage Manager...............................................................................15
2.1 Getting Started............................................................................................................................................15
2.2 About maxView Storage Manager .............................................................................................................15
2.2.1 About maxView Storage Manager Redfish Server .......................................................................15
2.2.2 About the maxView Storage Manager Web Server......................................................................15
2.3 System Requirements.................................................................................................................................16
2.4 Browser Support.........................................................................................................................................16
2.5 Typical Storage Space Configurations.........................................................................................................172.5.1 A Simple Storage Space................................................................................................................172.5.2 An Advanced Storage Space.........................................................................................................172.5.3 Continuing to Grow Your Storage Space.......................................................................................18

3 Installing maxView Storage Manager.........................................................................................19
3.1 Before You Begin the Installation................................................................................................................19
3.1.1 Gather Installation Information....................................................................................................19
3.1.1.1 Check Network Configuration........................................................................................19
3.1.2 Download the Installation Package..............................................................................................19
3.2 Installing on Windows.................................................................................................................................20
3.3 Installing on Red Hat, Citrix XenServer, CentOS, or SuSE Linux...................................................................21
3.4 Installing on Debian or Ubuntu Linux.........................................................................................................21
3.5 Installing on VMware..................................................................................................................................22
3.6 Running maxView Storage Manager from a Bootable USB Image .............................................................23
3.7 Uninstalling maxView Storage Manager.....................................................................................................23
3.7.1 Uninstalling from Windows..........................................................................................................23
3.7.2 Uninstalling from Red Hat, Citrix XenServer, CentOS, or SuSE Linux............................................24
3.7.3 Uninstalling from Ubuntu Linux....................................................................................................24
3.7.4 Uninstalling from VMware............................................................................................................24

4 Exploring maxView Storage Manager........................................................................................25
4.1 Starting maxView Storage Manager and Logging In ..................................................................................25
4.2 Working in maxView Storage Manager.......................................................................................................25
4.3 Overview of the Main Window...................................................................................................................26
4.3.1 The Enterprise View .....................................................................................................................26
4.3.1.1 What do the Enterprise View Icons Mean? .................................................................28
4.3.2 The Ribbon ...................................................................................................................................29
4.3.3 The Storage Dashboard................................................................................................................29
4.4 Checking System Status from the Main Window........................................................................................30
4.5 Revealing More Device Information ..........................................................................................................31
4.6 Getting Help................................................................................................................................................32

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4.7 Logging Out of maxView Storage Manager................................................................................................33

5 Building Your Storage Space.......................................................................................................34
5.1 Overview.....................................................................................................................................................34
5.2 Choosing a Management System................................................................................................................34
5.2.1 ‘Local’ or ‘Remote’?......................................................................................................................34
5.2.2 Logging in on the Local System ....................................................................................................35
5.3 Logging into Remote Systems from the Local System.................................................................................35
5.4 Creating Arrays and Logical Drives..............................................................................................................36
5.4.1 Creating a Logical Drive on a New Array ......................................................................................37
5.4.2 Creating a Logical Drive on an Existing Array ...............................................................................40
5.4.3 Partitioning and Formatting Your Logical Drives...........................................................................43
5.4.4 Creating Logical Drives on Other Systems in Your Storage Space.................................................44
5.4.5 Controller Support for 4K Drives..................................................................................................44
5.4.5.1 Creating a Logical Drive..................................................................................................44
5.4.5.2 Moving a Logical Drive ..................................................................................................44
5.4.5.3 Modifying a Logical Drive ..............................................................................................46
5.4.5.4 Assigning Spares at the Array Level................................................................................47
5.4.5.5 Assigning Spares at the Physical Device Level................................................................48

6 Protecting Your Data..................................................................................................................51
6.1 Dedicated Spare or Auto-Replace Spare?...................................................................................................51
6.2 Hot Spare Limitations.................................................................................................................................51
6.3 Assigning a Dedicated Hot Spare ...............................................................................................................52
6.4 Assigning an Auto-Replace Hot Spare.........................................................................................................53
6.5 Removing a Hot Spare.................................................................................................................................55
6.6 Setting the Spare Activation Mode ............................................................................................................57
6.7 Controller Sanitize Lock Freeze/Anti-Freeze ..............................................................................................58
6.7.1 Sanitize Lock Property in Controller Node Properties Tab............................................................59
6.7.2 Physical Device Sanitize Lock Freeze/Anti-Freeze.........................................................................60
6.7.3 Secure Erase Pattern.....................................................................................................................61

7 Modifying Your Storage Space...................................................................................................63
7.1 Understanding Arrays and Logical Drives....................................................................................................63
7.2 Creating and Modifying Logical Drives........................................................................................................63
7.2.1 Including Different-sized Disk Drives in a Logical Drive................................................................64
7.3 Enabling Background Consistency Check....................................................................................................65
7.4 Optimizing Logical Drive Performance........................................................................................................66
7.4.1 Enabling Cache Optimizations......................................................................................................66
7.4.1.1 Enabling Cache Optimization for a Logical Drive............................................................67
7.4.2 Enabling SSD I/O Bypass...............................................................................................................68
7.5 Moving a Logical Drive................................................................................................................................68
7.6 Moving an Array..........................................................................................................................................70
7.7 Modifying an Array.....................................................................................................................................72
7.8 Working with Mirrored Arrays....................................................................................................................73
7.8.1 Creating a Split Mirror Backup .....................................................................................................74
7.8.2 Re-mirroring, Rolling Back, or Reactivating a Split Mirror Backup ...............................................74
7.9 Healing an Array..........................................................................................................................................75
7.10 Changing the RAID Level of a Logical Drive...............................................................................................77
7.11 Increasing the Capacity of a Logical Drive.................................................................................................78
7.12 Changing the Logical Drive Rebuild Priority..............................................................................................79
7.13 Renaming a Logical Drive..........................................................................................................................80
7.14 Deleting an Array or Logical Drive ............................................................................................................80
7.15 Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Storage Space .......................................................................................81

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8 Working with maxCache Devices...............................................................................................83
8.1 maxCache Limitations.................................................................................................................................83
8.2 Creating a maxCache Device.......................................................................................................................83
8.3 Changing the Write Cache Mode ...............................................................................................................85
8.4 Deleting the maxCache Device...................................................................................................................85
8.5 Analyzing maxCache Performance .............................................................................................................86

9 Working with maxCrypto Devices..............................................................................................87
9.1 maxCrypto Initial Setup ..............................................................................................................................87
9.1.1 Managing maxCrypto Accounts ...................................................................................................89
9.1.2 Logging In and Logging Out..........................................................................................................90
9.1.3 Checking maxCrypto Status .........................................................................................................92
9.2 Modifying the maxCrypto Configuration ...................................................................................................93
9.3 Creating an Encrypted Logical Drive...........................................................................................................94
9.4 Converting Plaintext Data to Encrypted Data.............................................................................................95
9.5 Re-Keying a Logical Drive ...........................................................................................................................96
9.6 Clearing the maxCrypto Configuration .......................................................................................................97
9.7 Erasing an Encrypted Logical Drive.............................................................................................................98
9.8 Importing a Foreign Master Key .................................................................................................................99

10 Maintaining Physical Devices.................................................................................................101
10.1 Viewing Device Properties .....................................................................................................................101
10.2 Locating Drives in Your Storage Space....................................................................................................101
10.2.1 Locating Disk Drives..................................................................................................................102
10.2.2 Locating Physical Disks in an Array or Logical Drive..................................................................103
10.2.3 Locating SSDs in the maxCache Device.....................................................................................103
10.3 Working with Physical Device Error Counters.........................................................................................104
10.3.1 Viewing Physical Device Error Counters ..................................................................................105
10.3.2 Clearing Error Counters from a Physical Device........................................................................106
10.3.3 Clearing Error Counters from a Controller................................................................................107
10.4 Working with Failed or Failing Disk Drives..............................................................................................107
10.4.1 Replacing Disk Drives in a Logical Drive....................................................................................107
10.4.2 Setting a Disk Drive to ‘Failed’..................................................................................................10810.5 Erasing a Disk Drive ................................................................................................................................108
10.5.1 Restricted/Unrestricted Secure Erase.......................................................................................109
10.6 Initializing and Uninitializing Disk Drives................................................................................................109
10.6.1 Uninitializing a Disk Drive.........................................................................................................109
10.6.2 Initializing/Uninitializing all Drives on a Controller .................................................................11010.7 Setting the Physical Drive Boot Priority..................................................................................................111
10.8 Working with Controllers........................................................................................................................112
10.8.1 Rescanning a Controller............................................................................................................112
10.8.2 Optimizing Controller Performance..........................................................................................113
10.8.3 Changing the Connector Operating Mode................................................................................114
10.9 Updating Controller, Enclosure, and Disk Drive Firmware......................................................................115
10.9.1 Before You Begin.......................................................................................................................115
10.9.2 Updating the Controller Firmware ...........................................................................................115
10.9.3 Updating the Disk Drive Firmware ...........................................................................................119
10.9.4 Updating the Enclosure Firmware ...........................................................................................120

11 Monitoring Status and Activity..............................................................................................122
11.1 Monitoring Options................................................................................................................................122
11.2 Checking Status from the Main Window ...............................................................................................122
11.2.1 Viewing Activity Status in the Event Log...................................................................................122

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11.2.1.1 What Do the Event Status Icons Mean?.....................................................................123
11.2.2 Viewing Task Status in the Task Log..........................................................................................124
11.2.3 Viewing Component Status in the Storage Dashboard.............................................................124
11.2.3.1 Monitoring Enclosure Status......................................................................................126
11.2.3.2 Viewing SMART Statistics...........................................................................................126
11.2.4 Viewing Storage Space Usage in Chart View............................................................................127
11.3 Notifying Users by Email About Status and Activity ...............................................................................127
11.3.1 Setting Up Email Notifications..................................................................................................128
11.3.2 Sending a Test Message............................................................................................................130
11.3.3 Modifying or Removing an Email Recipient .............................................................................131
11.3.4 Modifying Email Server Settings...............................................................................................132
11.3.5 Disabling Email Notifications....................................................................................................132
11.4 Monitoring Advanced Statistics about Activity in Your Storage Space...................................................133
11.4.1 Setting up Statistics Logging.....................................................................................................133
11.4.2 Viewing Advanced Statistics.....................................................................................................134
11.4.3 Resetting the Statistics Counters..............................................................................................135
11.5 Changing an Operating System's Event Log Setting................................................................................135

12 Managing Your Storage Space................................................................................................137
12.1 Deploying Servers ..................................................................................................................................137
12.1.1 Creating a Server Template File................................................................................................137
12.1.2 Duplicating the Server Template..............................................................................................138
12.2 Managing Remote Systems.....................................................................................................................140
12.2.1 Adding Remote Systems with the Wizard.................................................................................141
12.2.2 Manually Adding a Remote System..........................................................................................141
12.2.3 Removing a Remote System.....................................................................................................141
12.2.4 Changing the Auto-Discovery Settings......................................................................................142
12.3 Clearing the Controller Configuration.....................................................................................................143
12.4 Changing the Web Server Port................................................................................................................144
12.5 Granting Standard Users Admin Privilege...............................................................................................145

13 Solving Problems....................................................................................................................146
13.1 General Troubleshooting Tips.................................................................................................................146
13.2 Identifying a Failed or Failing Component..............................................................................................146
13.3 Recovering from a Disk Drive Failure......................................................................................................147
13.3.1 Failed Disk Drive Protected by a Hot Spare..............................................................................147
13.3.2 Failed Disk Drive Not Protected by a Hot Spare.......................................................................147
13.3.3 Failure in Multiple Logical Drives Simultaneously....................................................................147
13.3.4 Disk Drive Failure in a RAID 0 Logical Drive..............................................................................148
13.3.5 Forcing a Logical Drive with Multiple Drive Failures Back Online ............................................148
13.4 Rebuilding Logical Drives........................................................................................................................148
13.5 Creating a Support Archive File...............................................................................................................148

Appendix A Silent Installation on Windows and Linux................................................................150
A.1 Completing a Silent Installation................................................................................................................150
A.1.1 Windows Silent Installation........................................................................................................150
A.1.1.1 Switches, Properties, and Values ................................................................................151
A.1.2 Linux Silent Installation..............................................................................................................151
A.2 Example Command Line Installations.......................................................................................................152

Appendix B Using the maxView Plugin for VMware vSphere Web Client...................................153
B.1 Installing the maxView Plugin for vSphere Web Client.............................................................................153
B.2 Starting the maxView Plugin for vSphere Web Client...............................................................................154

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B.3 Monitoring maxView Resources in vSphere Web Client...........................................................................155

Appendix C Using maxView Storage Manager with HBAs and Non-RAID Mode Controllers.....................................................................................................................................................158
Appendix D Selecting the Best RAID Level..................................................................................160
D.1 Comparing RAID Levels.............................................................................................................................160
D.2 Non-redundant Logical Drives (RAID 0)....................................................................................................161
D.3 RAID 1 Logical Drives ...............................................................................................................................161
D.4 RAID 1 (ADM) Logical Drives ....................................................................................................................162
D.5 RAID 10 Logical Drives..............................................................................................................................163
D.6 RAID 10 (ADM) Logical Drives ..................................................................................................................163
D.7 RAID 5 Logical Drives................................................................................................................................165
D.8 RAID 50 Logical Drive................................................................................................................................166
D.9 RAID 6 Logical Drives................................................................................................................................167
D.10 RAID 60 Logical Drives............................................................................................................................167

Appendix E Icons At-a-Glance.....................................................................................................168
Appendix F Advanced Statistics Descriptions..............................................................................174
Appendix G Smart Controller Device Status ...............................................................................178

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Tables
Table 1 • Advanced Statistics Descriptions...........................................................................................................174

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 98Microsemi Adaptec® Product Support
If you have questions about installing or using your Microsemi Adaptec® product, check this document
first—you will find answers to most of your questions. If you need further assistance, use the support
options listed below. To expedite your service, have your computer in front of you.
Note: Please visit our Support site at start.microsemi.com for the most up to date contact
information.

Self Help and Support in English• Search the Microsemi Support Knowledgebase (ASK) at ask.microsemi.com for articles,
troubleshooting tips, and frequently asked questions for your product.
• For support through email, submit your question at ask.microsemi.com.
• To contact Technical Support, visit our product support site at start.microsemi.com.

Technische Informationen und Support in Deutsch• Suchen Sie in der Adaptec Support Knowledgebase (ASK) unter ask-de.microsemi.com nach Artikeln,
Tipps zur Fehlerbehebung und häufig gestellten Fragen zu Ihrem Produkt.
• Support per Email erhalten Sie unter ask-de.microsemi.com.
• Um den Technischen Support zu kontaktieren, besuchen Sie uns bitte unter start.microsemi.com
und klicken Sie auf „Support kontaktieren“, für Auswahlmöglichkeiten.

Техническая поддержка и информация на русском языке
• База знаний Microsemi (ASK) на сайте ask-ru.microsemi.com ask-ru.adaptec.com – статьи, советыпо устранению неисправностей и часто задаваемые вопросы о Вашем продукте.
• Для поддержки по электронной почте отправьте Ваш запрос на сайте ask-ru.microsemi.com• Для обращения в службу Технической Поддержки, пожалуйста, посетите наш web сайтstart.microsemi.com и используйте ссылку "Contact Support".

日本語での技術情報とサポート• ask.microsemi.co.jp のMicrosemi Support Knowledgebase (ASK)で、お使いの製品の情報 トラブル
シューティングのヒント、よくある質問を検索してください。

• Eメールでのサポートには ask.microsemi.co.jp から質問を送ってください。
• テクニカルサポートへコンタクトするには、弊社ウェブサイトstart.microsemi.comをご覧になり、"Contact
Support“をクリックして下さい。

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 99Software License Agreement
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
OF MICROSEMI CORPORATION, AND OTHER LICENSORS WHOSE SOFTWARE MAY BE BUNDLED WITH
THIS PRODUCT.
BY YOUR USE OF THE SOFTWARE INCLUDED WITH THIS PRODUCT YOU AGREE TO THE LICENSE TERMSREQUIRED BY THE LICENSOR OF THAT SOFTWARE, AS SET FORTH DURING THE INSTALLATION PROCESS.
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you reproduce Microsemi's copyright proprietary legends. Notwithstanding the foregoing, theSoftware may be used on the home, laptop or other secondary computer of the principal userof the Software, and an additional copy of the Software may be made to support such use. As
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Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 910

6. Special Terms Applicable to Databases. Where a database is included with the Software, you
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provision shall be deemed severable from this Agreement and shall not affect the remainder hereof.
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Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

12About this Guide

1

About this Guide
maxView Storage Manager™ is a browser-based software application that helps you build a storage
space using Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers, disk drives, and enclosures, and then manage yourstored data, whether you have a single controller installed in a server or multiple controllers, servers,and enclosures.
This guide describes how to install and use maxView Storage Manager to build and manage direct
attached storage; that is, storage where the controller and disk drives reside inside, or are directly
attached to, the computer accessing them, similar to the basic configurations shown in the figures
below.
Note: This guide focuses on using maxView Storage Manager with Microsemi Smart Storage
Controllers (SmartRAID/SmartHBA/SmartIOC/SmartROC). For information about using maxView
Storage Manager with Microsemi Adaptec Series 8 (legacy) RAID controllers, see How to Find
More Information on page 14.

Server with Smart Storage
controller and disk drives

System running maxView
Storage Manager

Network
Connection

Server with Smart Storage
controller and disk drives

1.1

System running maxView
Storage Manager

Server with Smart Storage controller
running maView Storage Manager

Storage enclosures withdisk drives installed

What You Need to Know Before You Begin
This guide is written for data storage and IT professionals who want to create a storage space for their
online data. You should be familiar with computer hardware, operating system administration, andRedundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology.
If you are using maxView Storage Manager as part of a complex storage system, with multiple servers,
enclosures and Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers, you should be familiar with network administration,
have knowledge of Local Area Networks (knowledge of storage area networks (SANs) is not required),and be familiar with the input/output (I/O) technology of the storage devices on your network, such as
Serial ATA (SATA) or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

13About this Guide

1.2

Terminology Used in this Guide
Because this guide provides information that can be used to manage multiple Microsemi Adaptec Smart
Storage Controllers in a variety of configurations, the generic term “storage space” is used to refer tothe controller(s), disk drives, and systems being managed with maxView Storage Manager.
For efficiency, the term “component” or “components” is used when referring generically to the physicaland virtual parts of your storage space, such as systems, disk drives, controllers, and logical drives.
Many of the terms and concepts referred to in this guide are known to computer users by multiple
names. In this guide, this terminology is used:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

1.3

Controller (also known as adapter, board, or I/O card)
Disk drive (also known as hard disk, hard drive, or hard disk drive)
Solid State Drive (also known as SSD or non-rotating storage media)
Logical drive (also known as a logical device)
Array (also known as a storage pool or container)
System (also known as a server, workstation, or computer)
Enclosure (also known as a storage enclosure or disk drive enclosure)

How to Find More Information
You can find more information about your Microsemi Smart Storage Controller, management software,and utilities by referring to these documents, available for download at start.microsemi.com and theMicrosemi customer portal at www.pmcs.com/myPMC:• SmartIOC 2100/SmartROC 3100 Installation and User's Guide, SmartIOC 2000 Installation and User's
Guide—Describes how to install drivers and configure the SmartIOC/SmartROC controller for initialuse• ARCCONF Command Line Utility User's Guide for Smart Storage Controllers, SmartIOC 2000 Command
Line Utility User's Guide—Describes how to use the ARCCONF utility to perform RAID configurationand storage management tasks from an interactive command line.
• SmartIOC 2100/SmartROC 3100 Software/Firmware Release Notes, SmartIOC 2000
Software/Firmware Release Notes—Provides driver, firmware, and release package information,and known issues.
• README: maxView Storage Manager & ARCCONF Command Line Utility—Provides productinformation, installation notes, and known issues for maxView Storage Manager and ARCCONF
command line utility.
For information about using maxView Storage Manager with Microsemi Adaptec Series 8 (legacy) RAID
controllers, see the maxView Storage Manager User's Guide for Microsemi ARC Controllers(CDP-00285-06-A).

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2

Introduction to maxView Storage Manager
This section introduces the maxView Storage Manager software, explains the concept of a “storage
space,” and provides a checklist of getting-started tasks.

2.1

Getting Started
The first part of this guide provides the information you need to install, start, and begin to use maxView
Storage Manager. Follow these general steps:
Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the software components of maxView Storage Manager, review thesystem requirements, and study the configuration examples that illustrate how to build and grow yourstorage space (described in the remainder of this chapter).
Step 2: Install maxView Storage Manager on every system that will be part of your storage space (seeInstalling maxView Storage Manager on page 19).
Step 3: Start maxView Storage Manager and explore its graphical user interface (see Exploring maxView
Storage Manager on page 25).
Step 4: Build your storage space (see Building Your Storage Space on page 34).

2.2

About maxView Storage Manager
maxView Storage Manager is a browser-based software application that helps you build a storage spacefor your data, using Microsemi Adaptec RAID controllers, disk drives, Solid State Drives (SSDs), andenclosures.
With maxView Storage Manager, you can group disk drives into arrays and logical drives and build in
redundancy to protect your data and improve system performance. You can also use maxView Storage
Manager to monitor and maintain all the controllers, enclosures, and disk drives in your storage spacefrom a single location.
The maxView Storage Manager GUI, or graphical user interface, runs on most contemporary Web
browsers (for a list of supported browsers, see Browser Support on page 16). A software stack comprisinga Web server, and Redfish server allows maxView Storage Manager to communicate with the controller(s)in your storage space and coordinate activity in your system.
A flexible installation model allows you to install all software components on a single machine, or
distribute components on different machines across your network, with the maxView Storage Manager
GUI and Web server on one machine, and the and Redfish server on others.

2.2.1

About maxView Storage Manager Redfish Server
The maxView Storage Manager Redfish Server is an instance of Nodejs. On Windows and Linux systems,
the Redfish Server manages the hardware, which monitors the controllers in your system and provide
notifications to the maxView Storage Manager. The maxView Storage Manager Redfish Server is installed
automatically with the maxView Storage Manager.

2.2.2

About the maxView Storage Manager Web Server
The maxView Storage Manager Web Server is an instance of the open-source Apache Tomcat servlet
container. It runs the maxView Storage Manager Web application, and serves static and dynamic content
to the maxView Storage Manager GUI. The maxView Web Server is installed automatically with themaxView Storage Manager GUI.

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2.3

System Requirements
To install maxView Storage Manager, each system in your storage space must meet these requirements:••••

PC-compatible computer with Intel Pentium processor, or equivalent
At least 4 GB of RAM
350 MB of free disk drive space
One of these operating systems:• Microsoft® Windows® Server, Windows SBS, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7• Red Hat® Enterprise Linux• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server• Ubuntu Linux• CentOS• Hypervisors:• VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi
• Citrix XenServer• Microsoft Hyper-V

See the Release Notes for a complete list of supported operating system versions.
Note: maxView Storage Manager can also be used before an operating system is installed. See
Running maxView Storage Manager from a Bootable USB Image on page 23 for more information.

2.4

Browser Support
To run the maxView Storage Manager GUI, each system in your storage space must be running one ofthese Web browsers:••••

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 10, 11, or newer
Microsoft® Edge browser for Windows 10
Google® Chrome™ 32 or newer
Mozilla Firefox® 31 or newer

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2.5

Typical Storage Space Configurations
The following examples show typical storage spaces that you can build with maxView Storage Manager.
You can grow your storage space as your requirements change by adding more systems, controllers,
disk drives, and enclosures, and by adding redundant logical drives for protection against data loss.

2.5.1

A Simple Storage SpaceThis example shows a simple storage space that might be appropriate for a small business. This storage
space includes one RAID controller and three disk drives installed in a server. For data protection, thedisk drives have been used to build a RAID 5 logical drive.

Business andCustomer Data

Server with Smart Storage
controller and 3 disk drives

2.5.2

System running
maxView Storage Manager

An Advanced Storage SpaceThis example shows how you can grow your storage space as the requirements of your application
change. On the first server, segments from each disk drive have been used to build two RAID 5 logicaldrives. A second server connected to two 12-disk enclosures has been added. The additional storage
space has been used to create two RAID 50 logical drives. The Administrator of this storage space cancreate and modify logical drives and monitor both controllers, disk drives, and enclosures from a single
system running the maxView Storage Manager GUI.

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2.5.3

Continuing to Grow Your Storage SpaceFor more advanced applications, such as high-volume transaction processing in a "cloud" or data center
environment, maxView Storage Manager helps you grow your storage space to include multiple
controllers, storage enclosures, and disk drives in multiple locations.
In this example, multiple systems, servers, disk drives, and enclosures have been added to the storage
space. The Administrator can create and modify logical drives and monitor all the controllers, enclosures,and disk drives in the storage space from any system running the maxView Storage Manager GUI.

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3

Installing maxView Storage Manager
This section describes how to install and uninstall maxView Storage Manager on the supported operating
systems. It also describes how to run maxView Storage Manager from a bootable USB image, before
the application is installed on an operating system.
Note: To perform a silent installation without messages or user interaction, follow the instructionsin Silent Installation on Windows and Linux on page 150.
Note: VMware users can install the maxView plugin for vSphere Web Client for Windows andmonitor storage resources without using the maxView Storage Manager GUI. For more information,
see Using the maxView Plugin for VMware vSphere Web Client on page 153.

3.1

Before You Begin the Installation
Complete the following steps before you begin the installation.

3.1.1

Gather Installation Information
Prepare the following information:• Redfish Server port number. The default port is recommended (8081). If the default port is notavailable, another port number will be automatically assigned. For more information on the Redfish
Server, see About maxView Storage Manager Redfish Server on page 15.
• maxView Web Server port number. The default port is recommended (8443). If the default port is
not available, another port number will be automatically assigned. For more information on the
Web Server, see About the maxView Storage Manager Web Server on page 15.
Note: You can install maxView Storage Manager over an existing installation if it is no more than
two versions older than the current release. Otherwise, you must remove the old version first,
before beginning a new installation. See Uninstalling maxView Storage Manager on page 23 fordetails.

3.1.1.1

Check Network Configuration
Check your network configuration to ensure that it meets the prerequisites for a standard (non-Standalone
Mode) installation:• Ensure that the system is configured with an IP address.
• Ensure that the OS hostname is per standard.
• Ensure that the hostname-to-IP address mapping is updated in DNS. At minimum, ensure that thehostname-to-IP mapping is entered in the /etc/hosts file.

3.1.2

Download the Installation Package
Complete these steps to download the installation package for your operating system(s):1. Open a browser window, then type start.microsemi.com in the address bar.
2. Select your controller family and controller model.
3. Select Storage Manager Downloads, then select the appropriate installer package from the list; forinstance, maxView Storage Manager for Windows x64 or maxView Storage Manager for Linux.
4. Click Download Now and accept the license agreement.
5. When the download completes, extract the package contents to a temporary location on yourmachine.
Note: See the Release Notes for a complete list of installer packages for the supported operating
systems.

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3.2

Installing on Windows
This section describes how to install maxView Storage Manager on Windows systems.
Note: You need administrator privileges to install maxView Storage Manager. For details on
verifying privileges, refer to your operating system documentation.
1. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer, then change to the directory where the Windows installer
package is located (see Download the Installation Package on page 19 for details).
2. Double-click the setup program for your operating system version:
Options
Description
Windows 64-bit setup_asm_x64.exe
The Installation wizard opens.
3. Click Next to begin the installation.
The License Agreement screen on the Installation wizard appears.
4. Select I accept the terms in the license agreement option, then click Next.
5. Accept or modify the default server ports in the maxView Storage Manager Configuration screen,:a) Web Server Port: 8443 (default)b) Redfish Server Port: 8081 (default)

6. To disable remote system management from the GUI, click the Standalone Mode check box.
Note: In Standalone mode, maxView Storage Manager displays the system name as "localhost"and events as "127.0.0.1/localhost".
7. Click Next, then click OK to verify the Web Server port and the Redfish Server port numbers.
The Direct Attached Storage Setup screen appears on the Installation wizard.
8. Ensure that GUI and/or Redfish Server is selected. Optionally, select CLI Tools. Click Next.

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9. Click Install to begin the installation.
10. Repeat these steps to install maxView Storage Manager on every Windows system that will be partof your storage space.
When the installation is complete you receive a confirmation message and the maxView Storage Manager
icon is placed on your desktop.

3.3

Installing on Red Hat, Citrix XenServer, CentOS, or SuSE LinuxThis section describes how to install maxView Storage Manager on systems running Red Hat Linux,
CentOS, XenServer, or SuSE Linux. For a list of supported Linux operating systems, see System
Requirements on page 16.
1. Open a shell window, then change to the directory where the Linux installer package is located (seeDownload the Installation Package on page 19 for details).
2. Run the .bin file for your operating system version (x.xx-xxxxx=version-build number):
Options
Description
Linux 64-bit./StorMan-X.XX-XXXXX.x86_64.bin

3. When prompted for configuration details, enter the following:Standalone Mode: [default: No]
Note: Standalone Mode disables remote system management from the GUI. maxView Storage
Manager displays the system name as "localhost", and events as "127.0.0.1/localhost".
4. Repeat these steps to install maxView Storage Manager on every Linux system that will be part ofyour storage space.
When the installation completes a confirmation message is displayed and the maxView Storage
Manager icon is placed on your desktop.

3.4

Installing on Debian or Ubuntu LinuxThis section describes how to install maxView Storage Manager on systems running Debian or Ubuntu
Linux.
1. Open a shell window, then change to the directory where the Linux installer package is located (seeDownload the Installation Package on page 19 for details).
2. Install the .deb package for your operating system version (x.xx-xxxxx=version-build number).

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Options

Description

Linux 64-bit

dpkg -i StorMan-X.XX-XXXXX_amd64.deb

3. When prompted for configuration details, enter the following:Standalone Mode: [default: No]
Note: Standalone Mode disables remote system management from the GUI. maxView Storage
Manager displays the system name as "localhost", and events as "127.0.0.1/localhost".
4. Repeat these steps to install maxView Storage Manager on every Debian and Ubuntu Linux systemthat will be part of your storage space.
5. Before upgrading/re-installing maxView Storage Manager on an existing Ubuntu/Debian installation,
enable the upgrade switch before installing the maxView .deb package:export maxView_Upgrade=true
dpkg -i StorMan-*.deb

When the installation is complete you receive a confirmation message and the maxView Storage Manager
icon is placed on your desktop.

3.5

Installing on VMware
Use the following procedure to install the .vib files for a VMware ESXi system. Perform the installationfrom a remote system running a Telnet/SSH client. Use a terminal emulator to access the ESXi server
remotely.
1. Copy the following files from the installer download location to the /tmp directory on your local
ESXi server (see Download the Installation Package on page 19 for details):• vmware-esx-provider-arcconf.vib• vmware-esx-provider-arc-cim-provider.vib
The arcconf.vib is for command line communication.
The arc-cim-provider.vib is for remote management communication.
2. Check for existing installation of arcconf.
esxcli software vib list | grep arcconf

3. Remove the existing arcconf package.
esxcli software vib remove -n arcconf

When the package is removed, you receive the message "Reboot Required: false."
4. Check for an existing installation of arc-cim-provider.
esxcli software vib list | grep arc-cim-provider

5. Remove the existing arc-cim-provider package.
esxcli software vib remove -n arc-cim-provider

When the package is removed, you receive the message "Reboot Required: true."
6. Set the installation acceptance level to either PartnerSupported or CommunitySupported:
esxcli software acceptance set –-level=PartnerSupported

7. Install the arcconf package.
esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/vmware-esx-provider-arcconf.vib

When the package is installed, you receive the message "Reboot Required: false."
8. Install the arc-cim-provider package.
esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/vmware-esx-provider-arc-cim-provider.vib

When the package is installed, you receive the message "Reboot Required: true."
9. Reboot the system.
10. Continue with Managing Remote Systems on page 140 to add a remote system.

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3.6

Running maxView Storage Manager from a Bootable USB Image
Running maxView Storage Manager from a bootable USB image allows you to configure your controller
before you install the operating system. The procedure consists of three basic steps:
1. Download the bootable USB image from the Microsemi web site
2. Create a "live" image on a USB flash drive
Note: We recommend using Rufus bootable USB create (http://rufus.akeo.ie/).
3. Boot from the USB flash drive, login to maxView Storage Manager and configure your controller
The bootable USB image is not a substitute for running maxView Storage Manager as an installed
application. Many of the features and functions described in this guide are not available when you run
maxView Storage Manager from a bootable USB image. Use the bootable USB image only to configure
your controller before you install an operating system.
Note: Before you begin, ensure that your system is set up to boot from a USB drive. Check thesystem BIOS to see if the USB drive is included in the boot sequence. (For more information, see
your system's documentation.) You will need a USB drive with at least 2 GB of storage to complete
this task. To run the bootable USB image, the target machine must have at least 4 GB of memory.
To run maxView Storage Manager from a bootable USB image:
1. Download the bootable USB image:a) Open a browser window, then type start.microsemi.com in the address bar.
b) Select your controller family and controller model.
c) Select Storage Manager Downloads.
d) Download the bootable USB image (zip file archive).
e) Extract the contents of the bootable image archive file to a temporary location.
The archive contains one file: the maxView Storage Manager bootable iso image.
2. Create a "live" image on the USB drive:a) Run the USB Creator utility setup program at http://rufus.akeo.ie/.
b) Start USB Creator from the Windows All Programs menu.
c) In the Use Existing Live CD field, click Browse, then locate and select the maxView Storage
Manager bootable ISO image.
d) In the Target Device field, select the USB flash drive (e:\, for instance).
e) Click Create Live USB.
3. Insert the USB drive on the machine you want to configure.
The Boot menu opens in a shell window.
4. Select Launch maxView from the menu.
After a minute or so, the maxView Storage Manager login screen opens in a browser window.
Note: If you prefer to configure the controller from the command line, select Launch arcconffrom the Boot menu, then enter root, with no password, for the login credentials.
5. Enter root/root for the login credentials.
6. Continue with Creating Arrays and Logical Drives.

3.7

Uninstalling maxView Storage Manager
To uninstall maxView Storage Manager, follow the instructions for your operating system.

3.7.1

Uninstalling from Windows
To uninstall maxView Storage Manager from a Windows system, use the Add or Remove Programs toolin the Control Panel. All maxView Storage Manager components are uninstalled.

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When the uninstall process is complete, you receive a confirmation message and the maxView icon isremoved from your desktop.

3.7.2

Uninstalling from Red Hat, Citrix XenServer, CentOS, or SuSE LinuxThis section describes how to uninstall maxView Storage Manager from systems running Red Hat,
XenServer, CentOS, SuSE Linux.
Type the command rpm -e StorMan
When the uninstall process is complete, you receive a confirmation message and the maxView icon isremoved from your desktop.

3.7.3

Uninstalling from Ubuntu LinuxThis section describes how to uninstall maxView Storage Manager from systems running Ubuntu Linux.
1. Type the command dpkg -r StorMan
2. Type the command to uninstall maxView after the upgrade export maxView_Upgrade=false
dpkg -r storman

When the uninstall process is complete, you receive a confirmation message and the maxView icon isremoved from your desktop.

3.7.4

Uninstalling from VMware
Use the following procedure to remove maxView Storage Manager from a VMware ESXi 5.5 or 6.0
system.
1. Log in with the user name: root
2. List the installed packages:
esxcli software vib list | grep arcconf
esxcli software vib list | grep arc-cim-provider

3. Remove the arcconf package:esxcli software vib remove -n arcconf

4. Remove the arc-cim-provider package:esxcli software vib remove -n arc-cim-provider

5. Reboot the system.
To verify that maxView Storage Manager is uninstalled, repeat Step 2. If no results are shown, thesoftware was uninstalled successfully.

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4

Exploring maxView Storage Manager
This section familiarizes you with the main features of the maxView Storage Manager graphical userinterface. It describes how to start and log into maxView Storage Manager. It also explains how to gethelp and log out of maxView Storage Manager when you are finished working with the application.

4.1

Starting maxView Storage Manager and Logging In
The procedure for starting and logging in to maxView Storage Manager is the same for all operating
systems with a graphical desktop. You can login as the Administrator, with full management-level accessto your storage space, or as a Standard user, with restricted access to your storage space (see Working
in maxView Storage Manager on page 25 for more information about access permissions).
1. On the desktop, double-click the maxView Storage Manager desktop icon.
The login window opens in the default browser.

Note: If you do not have an icon for maxView Storage Manager on your desktop, open abrowser window, then type this URL in the address bar and press Return:https://127.0.0.1:8443/maxview/manager/login.xhtml.
2. For full management-level access to your storage space, enter the Administrator account username
and password for your operating system. For Standard-level access to your storage space, enter
your regular network login credentials. Then click Login.
The maxView Storage Manager main window opens.

4.2

Working in maxView Storage Manager
You can perform most tasks in maxView Storage Manager by:• Selecting storage components in the Enterprise View (controllers, hard drives, logical drives, andso on)• Clicking icons on the ribbon, at the top of the maxView Storage Manager main window• Working with information in the Storage Dashboard and Chart View
• Checking status in the Event Log and Task Log
If you are logged in as the Administrator, you have full access to manage and modify the componentsof your storage space, using all of the features of maxView Storage Manager. If you are logged in as aStandard user, you have restricted "view-only" access to your storage space, with limited ability toperform non-destructive operations, as described in the table below.
Note: maxView Storage Manager allows you to give Standard users Administrator privileges. For
details, see Granting Standard Users Admin Privilege on page 145.

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Standard users can:Standard users can't:

Rescan controllers

Create arrays and logical drives

Save activity logs

Modify arrays and logical drives

Identify physical devices, logical devices, and enclosures Delete arrays and logical drives
Silence alarms

Perform data migrations

View component properties on the Storage Dashboard Clear the controller configuration

4.3

Overview of the Main Window
The main window of maxView Storage Manager has three main panels—left, right, and bottom—plus
the ribbon, at the top of the window.
The left panel always shows the Enterprise View. The bottom panel shows the Event Log and Task Log.
The right panel shows the Storage Dashboard and Chart View. Different information appears in the rightpanel depending on which component is selected in the Enterprise View.
In example below, a controller is selected in the Enterprise View, and the right panel displays the Storage
Dashboard for the controller, with a chart view of its storage space.

RibbonStorage
DashboardEnterprise
View

Task Log
Event Log

You can resize the panels and scroll horizontally or vertically as needed, to view more or less information.

4.3.1

The Enterprise View
The Enterprise View is an expandable “tree” that shows the physical and logical components of yourstorage space. The Enterprise View lists the local system (the system you're working on) and any remotesystems that you have logged in to from the local system. (See ‘Local’ or ‘Remote’? on page 34 for more
information.) It also lists the maxCache Devices in your system.
Note: maxCache is not supported on all Microsemi Adaptec Smart Storage Controllers. See theReadme for more information. For more information about maxCache, see Working with maxCache
Devices on page 83.

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Local System

Remote System

Expand a system in the Enterprise View to see its controllers, arrays, logical drives (“devices”), physicaldrives, enclosures, and maxCache Devices.
In the figure below, a controller is expanded in the Enterprise View, revealing the physical and logicaldevices associated with that controller.

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By selecting a controller
in the Enterprise View...

...the disk drives or
enclosuresand disk drives
connected to it
and the arrays andlogical drives
created with those disk
drives appear
in the Physical and
Logical Devices trees.

You can perform most tasks in maxView Storage Manager by selecting a component in the EnterpriseView, such as a controller or disk drive, then using the related commands on the ribbon, as describedin the section below.

4.3.1.1

What do the Enterprise View Icons Mean?
Icon

Description
System with controller and directly attached disk drives or enclosures
Controller
Enclosure

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Icon

Description
Logical drive (encrypted)1
maxCache Device (healthy)2
Array (healthy)
Hard disk drive
Solid State Drive (SSD)
SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording)3 drive
Connector or other physical device

4.3.2

The Ribbon
Most tasks in maxView Storage Manager are available from the ribbon, at the top of the main window.
The ribbon replaces toolbars and menus in maxView Storage Manager to help you quickly find thecommands you need to complete a task.

The ribbon is organized into groups of related tasks for Systems, Controllers, Arrays, Logical Devices,
Physical Devices, and maxCache Devices. The Home group (on the left) provides commands for working
with remote systems (see Managing Remote Systems on page 140). Active options on the ribbon vary,depending on which type of component is selected in the Enterprise View.
For instance, if you select a controller in the Enterprise View, these options are activated:••••

Create Logical Drive in the Logical Device group
Spare Management in the Physical Device group
Create maxCache Device in maxCache group (if the controller supports maxCache)
All options in the Controller group

If you select an array in the Enterprise View, options in the Array group are highlighted; selecting a disk
drive highlights options in the Physical Device group; and so on.
For a description of the icons on the ribbon, see Icons At-a-Glance on page 168.

4.3.3

The Storage Dashboard
When you select a component in the Enterprise View, maxView Storage Manager displays detailed
information about that component on the Storage Dashboard. Occupying the largest portion of themain window in maxView Storage Manager, the Storage Dashboard provides status information, physical1

A lock in the Enterprise View means that the device is encrypted. For more information, see
Working with maxCrypto Devices on page 87.
2
A green check mark in the Enterprise View means that the device is healthy with no problems or
issues. For more information, see Identifying a Failed or Failing Component on page 146.
3
Not supported on all controllers. See the Readme for more information.

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and logical device properties, resources, usage statistics, and reliability indicators for hard drives and
SSDs. It also provides a chart view of free and used space in your system.
Tabs provide quick access to component
information

Chart view of free
and used space inyour system

For more information about the types of information provided on the Storage Dashboard for eachcomponent in your storage space, see Viewing Component Information and Status in the Storage
Dashboard; also see Revealing More Device Information.

4.4

Checking System Status from the Main Window
maxView Storage Manager includes an Event Log and Task Log for at-a-glance status and activity
information for all managed systems. The Event Log provides status information and messages about
activity (or events) occurring in your storage space. The Task Log provides information about current orrecurring processes in your storage space, such as rebuilding a logical device. Single-click any event or
task to see more information in an easier-to-read format. For more information about the Event Log
and Task Log, see Viewing Activity Status in the Event Log on page 122 and Working with Tasks.
Click this tab to open the Task
Log
Click this tab to open
the Event Log

Warning- and Error-level icons appear next to components in the Enterprise View affected by a failure
or error, creating a trail, or rapid fault isolation, that helps you identify the source of a problem when
it occurs. See Identifying a Failed or Failing Component on page 146 for more information.

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If your storage space includes a drive enclosure with a temperature sensor, temperature, fan, and power
module status is displayed on the Storage Dashboard (see Monitoring Enclosure Status on page 126).
For more information about checking status from the main window, see Monitoring Status and Activity.

4.5

Revealing More Device Information
You can reveal more information about disk drive, array, and logical drive usage in your storage space(including maxCache Devices) with the Resources view on the Storage Dashboard.
To reveal disk drive usage by logical drive (and vice-versa), select a controller in the Enterprise View,
then open the Resources tab on the Storage Dashboard. As shown in the figures below, you can click a
logical drive to see its member disk drives and spares; similarly, you can click a physical disk to see whicharray (if any) it belongs to. In the following figure the disk in Slot 5 belongs to Array A.
Note: Click the Arrow icons, on the right side of the Resources table, to jump to that resource inthe Enterprise View tree.

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Two disk drives plus a dedicated hotspare comprise the selected logical drive.

4.6

Getting Help
maxView Storage Manager provides online help that includes conceptual information and descriptionsof on-screen items and dialog boxes, in addition to step-by-step instructions for completing tasks.
To open the online help, click the Help button at the upper-right corner of the main window.

Click here to open theHelp window.

For help with a dialog box or wizard, click the question-mark icon, in the lower corner of the dialog box,
for help with that specific procedure.

Click here for help
with this procedure

For help with individual options in the Set Properties dialog box (for controllers, logical drives, andphysical drives), or specific information fields on the Storage Dashboard, mouse over any field or option
name for a brief description of that option.

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4.7

Logging Out of maxView Storage Manager
To log out of maxView Storage Manager:
1. In the Enterprise View, click on the local system.
2. Click the Logout button at the upper-right corner of the main window:

Click here to log
out

You are logged out of maxView Storage Manager and the main window is closed.

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5

Building Your Storage Space
Follow the instructions in this section to choose a management system, log in to each system in yourstorage space, and create arrays and logical drives.
Note: Before beginning the tasks in this chapter, ensure that maxView Storage Manager is installedon every system that will be part of your storage space.

5.1

Overview
To build your storage space, complete these steps:
1. Choose at least one management system (see Choosing a Management System).
2. Start and log in to maxView Storage Manager on the management system (see Starting maxView
Storage Manager and Logging In on page 25).
3. Log in to all other systems from the management system (see Logging into Remote Systems fromthe Local System on page 35).
4. Create arrays and logical drives for all systems in your storage space (see Creating Arrays and Logical
Drives).
As your storage requirements change, you can add systems, controllers, and disk drives, then modify
the arrays and logical drives in your storage space by following the instructions in Modifying Your Storage
Space on page 63.

5.2

Choosing a Management System
You must designate at least one system as a management system, a system from which you will manage
the storage on all systems in your storage space.
The management system can be any system on your network that has a video monitor and can run themaxView Storage Manager GUI and Web server.

5.2.1‘Local’ or ‘Remote’?
Whenever you're working in maxView Storage Manager, the system that you're working on is the local
system. All other systems in your storage space are remote systems. ‘Local’ and ‘remote’ are relative
terms, as shown in the following figure—when you are working on system A (local system), system B isa remote system; when you are working on system B (local system), system A is a remote system.
For the purposes of this guide, the ‘local system’ is the management system.

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Building Your Storage SpaceA

B

Local logged
in to remote
Redfish Server or
CIM Server

maxView Storage
Manager

A

B

Local logged
in to remote
Redfish Server or
CIM Server

5.2.2

maxView Storage
Manager

Logging in on the Local System
To log in on the local system, see Starting maxView Storage Manager and Logging In on page 25.

5.3

Logging into Remote Systems from the Local System
Once maxView Storage Manager is running on all systems in your storage space, you can log into theremote systems from the local system.
Once you have logged in to a remote system, it automatically appears in the Enterprise View each time
you start maxView Storage Manager on the local system. You can work with a remote system's controllers,
disk drives, and logical drives as if they were part of your local system.
To log in to a remote system:
1. On the ribbon, in the Home group, click Add System.

The Add System window opens, showing a list of "discovered" systems; that is, systems on yournetwork that are running the Redfish.
2. Select the systems you want to add to the Enterprise View, then enter the systems' login credentials(username/password) in the space provided.

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Note: You can add a system manually if you don't see the system in the list. For more
information, see Manually Adding a Remote System .
3. Click Add.
maxView Storage Manager connects to the remote system(s) and adds them to the list of managed
systems in the Enterprise View.
For more information about working with remote systems, see Managing Remote Systems.

5.4

Creating Arrays and Logical Drives
maxView Storage Manager provides a wizard to help you create, or configure, the arrays and logicaldrives in your storage space. You can choose from two configuration methods:• Create logical drive on new array—Helps you set the RAID level for the logical drive, group disk
drives and SSDs, determine logical drive size and other advanced settings.
For instructions, see Creating a Logical Drive on a New Array.
• Create logical drive on existing array—Helps you select an array on which to create the logical drive,
set the RAID level, group disk drives and SSDs, determine logical drive size and configure advanced
settings.
For instructions, see Creating a Logical Drive on an Existing Array
If maxCrypto is enabled, you can create encrypted or plaintext volumes. (For more information, see
Working with maxCrypto Devices on page 87.)
Note:
1. Mixing SAS and SATA drives within the same logical drive is not supported. The wizard does
not allow you to select a combination of SAS and SATA drive types.
2. maxView Storage Manager supports SMR HA4 and SMR DM drives for all RAID levels. However,mixing SMR and PMR5 drives within the same logical drive is not supported. maxView Storage

4

SMR: Shingled Magnetic Recording. HA: Host Aware (backward compatible with standard HDD).
DM: Device Managed (backward compatible with standard HDD).
5
PMR: Perpendicular Magnetic Recording; standard HDD recording technology.

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Building Your Storage SpaceManager displays a warning message if you try to create a logical drive using a combinationof SMR and PMR device types.

5.4.1

Creating a Logical Drive on a New Array
Before you can create a logical drive, you must create an array. Use the On New Array configuration
method to step through the process of creating a logical drive on a new array, setting the RAID level,
and configuring other settings.
To create a logical drive on an existing array, see Creating a Logical Drive on an Existing Array.
By default, maxView Storage Manager uses all available disk space to maximize the capacity of a newlogical drive.
To create a logical drive on a new array:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Create Logical Device.

3. When the wizard opens, select On New Array, then click Next.

4. Select a RAID level for the logical drive, then click Next.

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Note: Not all RAID levels are supported by all controllers. (See the Release Notes for more
information.) See Selecting the Best RAID Level for more information about RAID levels.
5. Select the disk drives you want to include in the logical drive, then click Next. Be sure the drive type
is the same for all drives (SAS or SATA, not mixed), and that you select the right number of drives
for the RAID level you selected.

6. (Optional) In the RAID Attributes panel, customize the logical drive settings.

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Building Your Storage SpaceYou can:• Enter a name for the logical drive. Names can include any combination of letters, numbers, andspaces.
• Set the size and unit of measure for the logical drive. (By default, a new logical drive uses all
available disk space.)• Change the stripe size—the amount of data, in bytes, written per disk in the logical drive. (Thedefault stripe size usually provides the best performance.)• Enable or disable controller caching.
• Set the initialization method to Default or Build. The initialization method determines how the
logical drive is prepared for reading and writing, and how long initialization will take:• Default—Initializes parity blocks in the background while the logical drive is available foraccess by the operating system. A lower RAID level results in faster parity initialization.
• Build—Overwrites both the data and parity blocks in the foreground. The logical drive
remains invisible and unavailable to the operating system until the parity initialization
process completes. All parity groups are initialized in parallel, but initialization is faster for
single parity groups (RAID 5). RAID level does not affect performance during Build
initialization.
Note: Not all initialization methods are available for all RAID levels.
• Create an encrypted or plaintext logical drive (for more information, see Working with maxCrypto
Devices on page 87)
7. Click Next, then review the array and logical drive settings.
This example shows a RAID 5 logical drive ready to be created on Array A.

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8. Click Finish.
maxView Storage Manager builds the array and logical drive. Use the Event Log and Task Log to trackbuild progress.
9. If you have other disk drives or available disk space and want to create additional arrays on thecontroller, repeat Steps [2]-[8].
10. Repeat Steps [1]-[9] for each controller in your storage space.
11. Partition and format your logical drives. See Partitioning and Formatting Your Logical Drives on page
43.

5.4.2

Creating a Logical Drive on an Existing Array
After you create an array, you can continue to build your storage space by creating more logical driveson that array. Use the On Existing Array configuration method to step through the process of creating
a logical drive on an existing array, setting the RAID level, and configuring other settings.
To create a logical drive on a new array, see Creating a Logical Drive on a New Array.
By default, maxView Storage Manager uses all available disk space to maximize the capacity of a newlogical drive.
To create a logical drive on an existing array:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Create Logical Device.

3. When the wizard opens, select On Existing Array, then click Next.

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4. Select the array on which to create the logical drive, then click Next.

5. Select a RAID level for the logical drive, then click Next.

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Note: Not all RAID levels are supported by all controllers. (See the Release Notes for more
information.) See Selecting the Best RAID Level for more information about RAID levels.
6. (Optional) In the RAID Attributes panel, customize the logical drive settings.

You can:• Enter a name for the logical drive. Names can include any combination of letters, numbers, andspaces.
• Set the size and unit of measure for the logical drive. (By default, a new logical drive uses all
available disk space.)• Change the stripe size—the amount of data, in bytes, written per disk in the logical drive. (Thedefault stripe size usually provides the best performance.)• Enable or disable controller caching.
• Set the initialization method to Default or Build. The initialization method determines how the
logical drive is prepared for reading and writing, and how long initialization will take:Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 942Building Your Storage Space• Default—Initializes parity blocks in the background while the logical drive is available foraccess by the operating system. A lower RAID level results in faster parity initialization.
• Build—Overwrites both the data and parity blocks in the foreground. The logical drive
remains invisible and unavailable to the operating system until the parity initialization
process completes. All parity groups are initialized in parallel, but initialization is faster for
single parity groups (RAID 5). RAID level does not affect performance during Build
initialization.
Note: Not all initialization methods are available for all RAID levels.
• Create an encrypted or plaintext logical drive (for more information, see Working with maxCrypto
Devices on page 87)
7. Click Next, then review the array and logical drive settings.
This example shows a RAID 5 logical drive ready to be created on Array A.

8. Click Finish.
maxView Storage Manager builds the logical drive on the array. Use the Event Log and Task Log to
track build progress.
9. If you have other disk drives or available disk space and want to create more logical drives on an
existing array, repeat Steps [2]-[8].
10. Repeat Steps [1]-[9] for each controller in your storage space.
11. Partition and format your logical drives. See Partitioning and Formatting Your Logical Drives on page
43.

5.4.3

Partitioning and Formatting Your Logical Drives
The logical drives you create appear as physical disk drives on your operating system. You must partition
and format these logical drives before you can use them to store data.
Note: Logical drives that have not been partitioned and formatted cannot be used to store data.
Refer to your operating system documentation for more information.

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5.4.4

Creating Logical Drives on Other Systems in Your Storage Space
If you installed maxView Storage Manager and Microsemi Adaptec Smart Storage controllers on morethan one system, continue building your storage space as follows:• From each individual system, log in to maxView Storage Manager and repeat the steps to create
logical drives on new or existing arrays, or• From your local system (the system you're working on), log in to all other systems in your storage
space as remote systems (see Logging into Remote Systems), then repeat the steps to create logicaldrives on new or existing arrays, or• From your local system, create a server template file and deploy the configuration to the remotesystems in your storage space (see Deploying Servers).

5.4.5

Controller Support for 4K Drives
This section describes how to use the maxView GUI with 4K drives to create and modify logical drives
and spares.

5.4.5.1

Creating a Logical Drive
You can create a logical device using 4K drives. 512-byte drives cannot be mixed with 4K drives. Thiscan be done by selecting the Device Type as HDD SATA 4K or HDD SAS 4K. This will ensure that only
HDD SATA 4K or HDD SAS 4K devices are displayed.

5.4.5.2

Moving a Logical Drive
A 4K SAS or 4K SATA logical device can be moved to another array of 4K SAS or 4K SATA drives, butcannot be moved to an array with 512-byte drives.

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Building Your Storage Space• Moving to a new array: all SATA and SAS 4K drives that are available to move to a new array arelisted.

• Moving to an existing array: if the logical device has already been created in a different array using
4K drives, then the user can move a logical device to the existing array of the same block size SAS/SATA
4K drives. Only arrays created using 4K drives will be listed (512-byte arrays will not be listed).

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5.4.5.3

Modifying a Logical Drive
Arrays created using 4K drives can be modified.

• Moving drive(s): you can move a drive from one array to another array that uses the same interface
type. For example, if an array is created using 4K SATA drives, then you can move a drive(s) fromthat array to a separate array that also uses 4K SATA drives.

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Building Your Storage Space• Changing drive types: you can change the drive interface type from SAS to SATA or from SATA toSAS. For example, if an array is created using 4K SAS drives, you can change the drive type to 4K
SATA drives only.

5.4.5.4

Assigning Spares at the Array Level
Spares for 4K logical drives can be assigned at the array level.

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1. Dedicated Hot Spare: If the array/logical device is created using 4K SATA drives, then only the 4K
SATA devices can be assigned as spares.
2. Auto Replace Hot Spare: The process is the same as the Dedicated Hot Spare.

5.4.5.5

Assigning Spares at the Physical Device Level
Spares for 4K logical drives can be assigned at the physical device level.

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Building Your Storage Space• If array/logical device is created with 4K SAS drives, then only logical devices that were created with
4K SAS drives are listed.

Note:• maxCache cannot be created using 4K SATA drives.
• 512-byte maxCache cannot be assigned to 4K logical devices.
• Drive interface types and drive block sizes cannot be mixed.

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Building Your Storage SpaceFor example, SATA drives and SAS drives of the same block size cannot be mixed; 512-byte
drives and 4K drives of the same interface type cannot be mixed.

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6

Protecting Your Data
In addition to standard RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10), Microsemi Adaptec controllers provide
additional methods of protecting your data, including dedicated and auto-replace hot spare drives.
A hot spare is a disk drive or SSD (Solid State Drive) that automatically replaces any failed drive in a
logical drive, and can subsequently be used to rebuild that logical drive. (For more information, see
Recovering from a Disk Drive Failure on page 147.)

6.1

Dedicated Spare or Auto-Replace Spare?
A dedicated hot spare is assigned to one or more arrays. It will protect any redundant logical drive on
those arrays.
After using a dedicated hot spare to rebuild a failed logical drive, data is moved back to its original
location, using a process called copyback, once the controller detects that the failed drive has been
replaced. Once the data is copied back, the hot spare becomes available again. You must create an array
before you can assign a dedicated hot spare to protect it. To assign a dedicated hot spare, see Assigninga Dedicated Hot Spare on page 52.
An auto-replace hot spare is assigned to a specific array. It will protect any redundant logical drive onthat array. After using an auto-replace spare to rebuild a failed logical drive, it becomes a permanent
part of the array. You must create an array before you can assign an auto-replace hot spare to protect
it. To assign an auto-replace hot spare, see Assigning an Auto-Replace Hot Spare on page 53.

6.2

Hot Spare Limitations• Hot spares protect redundant logical drives only. To protect non-redundant logical drives, set thespare activation mode of the controller to predictive activation.
• You cannot create a hot spare from a disk drive that is already part of an array.
• You should select a disk drive that is at least as big as the smallest disk drive in the array that it
might replace.
• You must designate a SAS hot spare drive for an array comprised of SAS disk drives, and a SATA
hot spare drive for an array comprised of SATA disk drives.
• You can designate a SMR HA6 or SMR DM drive for all hot spare types. A SMR drive cannot protect
a PMR drive, 7 or vice-versa.

6

SMR: Shingled Magnetic Recording. HA: Host Aware (backward compatible with standard HDD).
DM: Device Managed (backward compatible with standard HDD).
7
PMR: Perpendicular Magnetic Recording; standard HDD recording technology.

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6.3

Assigning a Dedicated Hot Spare
A dedicated hot spare is assigned to one or more arrays. It will protect any redundant logical drive on
those arrays.
Note: You must create the array before you can assign a dedicated hot spare to protect it.
To assign a dedicated spare:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, an array on that controller, or a Ready physical drive.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Spare Management.

The Spare Management wizard opens.
3. Select the Dedicated spare type, then click Next.

4. If you selected a physical drive in the Enterprise view, select the arrays you want to protect with adedicated spare, then click Next.

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5. If you selected an array in the Enterprise view, select the physical drive(s) you want to dedicate as
hot spares, then click Next. (See Hot Spare Limitations on page 51 for help selecting drives.)

6. Review the summary of dedicated spares and protected arrays, then click Finish.

6.4

Assigning an Auto-Replace Hot SpareAn auto-replace hot spare is assigned to a specific array. After using an auto-replace spare to rebuild afailed logical drive, it becomes a permanent part of the array.
To assign an auto-replace hot spare to an array:
1. In the Enterprise View, select an array on that controller.
Note: The auto-replace option is not available, if you select an array with a non-redundant
logical device when the controller's "spare activation mode" is set to "failure activation".

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However, when you select a physical device itself, the option is available only if one or more
auto-replace spares already exist. Otherwise, you can just assign Dedicated spares in the
wizard.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Spare Management.

The Spare Management wizard opens.
3. Select the Auto-Replace spare type, then click Next.

4. If you selected a controller in the Enterprise view, select the array you want to protect with anauto-replace spare, then click Next.

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5. Select the physical drive(s) you want to assign as auto-replace hot spares, then click Next. (See Hot
Spare Limitations on page 51 for help selecting drives.)

6. Review the summary of auto-replace spares and protected arrays, then click Finish.

6.5

Removing a Hot Spare
You can remove a dedicated or auto-replace hot spare from an array. Removing the last hot spare froman array returns the drive to the Ready state.
You may want to remove a hot spare to:• Make disk drive space available for another array or logical drive.
• Convert an auto-replace hot spare into a dedicated hot spare.
• Remove the ‘hot spare’ designation from a drive that you no longer want to use as a spare.
To remove a hot spare:

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1. In the Enterprise View, select an array or an existing hot spare drive.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Spare Management.

The Spare Management wizard opens.
3. Select Un-Assign, then click Next. (Un-Assign is preselected for an existing hot spare.)4. If you selected a hot spare in the Enterprise view, select the array(s) from which to remove the spare,then click Next.

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5. If you selected an array in the Enterprise view, select the hot spare(s) to remove from the array,then click Next.

6. Review the summary of affected hot spares and arrays, then click Finish.
If the spare protects only one array, it is deleted and the drive becomes available for other uses inyour storage space. If the spare protects more than one array, it is removed from the selected array(s)but continues to protect the other arrays to which it is assigned.

6.6

Setting the Spare Activation Mode
The spare activation mode determines when a hot spare is used to rebuild a failed logical drive. You
can choose to activate a spare when:• A data drive fails; this is the default mode.
• A data drive reports a predictive failure (SMART) status.

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In normal operations, the firmware starts rebuilding a failed logical drive with a spare only when a data
drive fails. With the predictive failure activation mode, rebuilding can begin before the drive fails,
reducing the likelihood of data loss.
The spare activation mode applies to all arrays on a controller.
To set the spare activation mode:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. Click the Data Protection tab.
4. From the Spare Activation Mode drop-down list, select Failure (default) or Predictive, then click OK.

6.7

Controller Sanitize Lock Freeze/Anti-Freeze
The Sanitize Lock Freeze/Anti-Freeze feature provides the controller level of sanitize lock, which helps
prevent accidental erasing of user data on the disk after initiating a sanitize command. To accomplish
this, you have the option of applying a controller-wide Sanitize Lock Freeze/Anti-Freeze policy. The
freeze and anti-freeze commands will be used to block and unblock the sanitize commands that would
erase user data on the disk.
The sanitize lock feature has three options:• Freeze: prevents the user from performing any sanitize erase operation.
• Anti-Freeze: locks the freeze command, enabling the user to perform any sanitize erase operation.
• None: enables the user to perform any sanitize erase operation

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This is applicable only to SATA drives which support Sanitize Erase, Freeze, and Anti-Freeze.
To set the Sanitize Lock:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. Click the Data Protection tab.
4. From the Sanitize Lock drop-down list, select one of the three following options: None (default),
Freeze, or Anti-Freeze.

Note:
If the Sanitize Lock is set to any value other than None, the following warning message will be
displayed in the menu header:
Changing the Sanitize Lock will require a reboot to apply the new state to the controller, andrequire all physical devices to be power cycled or hot-plugged for the lock state to be applied
to the physical devices.
5. Click OK.

6.7.1

Sanitize Lock Property in Controller Node Properties Tab
The properties of the Sanitize Lock feature are displayed in the controller node properties tab as shownin the following screen capture.

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The Sanitize Lock property will display the current setting in which the controller is operating.
When the Sanitize Lock property is changed in the Set Properties dialog, the pending Sanitize Lockproperty will show the changed value.
When the machine is rebooted, the pending Sanitize Lock value will be "Not Applicable", and the Sanitize
Lock value will be set to the previous pending Sanitize Lock value.

6.7.2

Physical Device Sanitize Lock Freeze/Anti-FreezeThis feature is supported only on SATA drives that are connected to the controller. If the drive supports
the Sanitize Lock Freeze feature, it may or may not support the Sanitize Lock Anti-freeze. Based on the
support bit on the drive, the Sanitize Lock policy can be set from the controller and it will be applied on
the drives that support Sanitize Freeze/Anti-Freeze.

The Sanitize Lock property is dependent upon the following conditions:• If the drive does not support Sanitize Erase, the Sanitize Lock property is not displayed.
• If the drive supports Sanitize Erase but does not support Freeze/Anti-Freeze, then the Sanitize Lockproperty will be listed as "Not Applicable".
• If the controller Sanitize Lock is in the Freeze state, then no Sanitize Erase can be performed.
• If the controller Sanitize Lock is in the Anti-Freeze or None state, then all Sanitize Erase commands
can be performed.
Once the controller Sanitize Lock is in the freeze state, then no Sanitize Erase operations will listed
during the secure erase operation.

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6.7.3

Secure Erase Pattern
If the drive or controller Sanitize Lock is in the freeze state, then all the Sanitize Erase patterns will not
be listed when you click on the Secure Erase ribbon icon in the physical device ribbon group.

Only three secure erases can be performed.
If the drive and controller Sanitize Lock is in Anti-Freeze or None states, then the Sanitize Erase pattern
will be listed.

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Note: When you perform the Sanitize Erase operation, it sets the controller Sanitize Lock to freeze,
and reboots the system, the drive will remember the percentage completion for the Sanitize
Secure Erase after the reboot. The freeze state will be applied only after the Sanitize Erase iscompleted and the sanitize erase operation cannot be stopped.

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7

Modifying Your Storage SpaceThis section provides additional scenarios for creating and modifying arrays and logical drives. It explains
how to check your logical drives for bad or inconsistent data; optimize controller and logical drive
performance; move arrays and logical drives; and perform advanced operations, such as creating a split
mirror backup array.

7.1

Understanding Arrays and Logical Drives
A logical drive is a group of physical disk drives that appears to your operating system as a single drivethat can be used to store data.
The group of physical drives containing the logical drive is called a drive array, or just array. An arraycan contain several logical drives, each of a different size.
You can include the same disk drive in two different logical drives by using just a portion of the spaceon the disk drive in each, as shown in the following figure.

Three Disk Drives(500 MB Each)

One RAID 1
Logical Drive

One RAID 5
Logical Drive
250 MB250 MB250 MB250 MB
Available
Space

250 MB250 MB250 MB250 MB

Appears to Operating System
as one 250 MB disk drive

250 MB250 MB

Appears to Operating System
as one 500 MB disk drive

Disk drive space that has been assigned to a logical drive is called a segment. A segment can include allor just a portion of a disk drive's space. A disk drive with one segment is part of one logical drive, a disk
drive with two segments is part of two logical drives, and so on. When a logical drive is deleted, thesegments that comprised it revert to available space (or free segments).
A logical drive can include redundancy, depending on its RAID level. (See Selecting the Best RAID Levelfor more information.)
You can also protect your logical drives by assigning one or more hot spares to them. (See ProtectingYour Data on page 51 for more information.)

7.2

Creating and Modifying Logical Drives
For basic instructions for creating logical drives, see Building Your Storage Space on page 34.
This section describes additional scenarios for creating logical drives:• To create a logical drive from different-sized disk drives, see Including Different-sized Disk Drives
in a Logical Drive on page 64.

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 963Modifying Your Storage Space• To create a logical drive using available segments of disk drives, see Creating a Logical Drive Using
Available Segments.

7.2.1

Including Different-sized Disk Drives in a Logical Drive
You can combine disk drives of different sizes in the same logical drive. If the logical drive includes
redundancy, however, the size of each segment can be no larger than the size of the smallest disk drive.
(See Selecting the Best RAID Level for more information about redundancy.)
Note: You cannot combine SAS and SATA disk drives and also different block size like 512 bytes
or 4K within the same array or logical drive.
To create a logical drive with disk drives of different sizes, follow the instructions in Creating a Logical
Drive on a New Array. When the wizard displays the RAID Members panel, select different size drives,
as shown in the figure below, then complete the wizard.

When the logical drive is created, check its resources on the Storage Dashboard: it should appear similar
to the next figure, where a RAID 5 logical drive includes two disk drives of one size and one of another.

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RAID5 with different size
disks. No segment is larger
than smallest disk drive(931.5 GB, in thisexample).

7.3

Enabling Background Consistency Check
When background consistency check is enabled, maxView Storage Manager continually and automaticallychecks your logical drives for bad or inconsistent data, and then fixes any problems. Enabling consistency
check ensures that you can recover data if a logical drive fails. The scanning process checks physicaldrives in fault-tolerant logical drives for bad sectors. It also verifies the consistency of parity data, if
applicable. The available modes are High, Disable, Idle. If you select the Idle mode, you must also specify
a delay value and parallel scan count.
To enable or disable background consistency check:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. Click the Data Protection tab.

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4. In Consistency Check Mode drop-down list, select High, Disabled, or Idle.
5. If you selected the Idle mode, enter the consistency check delay (in seconds) and parallel consistency
check count:• Consistency Check Delay—Amount of time the controller must be inactive before the consistency
check is started. Enter a value from 0-30. A value of 0 disables the scan.
• Parallel Consistency Check Count—Number of logical drives on which the controller will performthe consistency check in parallel.
6. Click OK.

7.4

Optimizing Logical Drive PerformanceThis section describes how to enable controller cache optimizations and SSD I/O bypass acceleration to
improve I/O throughput on the logical drives in your storage space. You can apply cache optimizations
independently on a per controller or per logical drive basis. You can apply I/O bypass acceleration onarrays comprised of SSDs only.

7.4.1

Enabling Cache Optimizations
Use this option to enable the following cache optimizations on the controllers in your storage space.
You can apply cache optimizations independently on a per controller or per logical drive basis.
Note: You cannot use controller caching and maxCache caching concurrently. Controller caching
is available only if maxCache is not enabled on the controller. For more information about
maxCache, see Working with maxCache Devices on page 83.
OptionDescription

Cache Ratio

Sets the global Read:Write cache ratio.

Write Cache Bypass Threshold Sets the write cache block size threshold, above which data is written directly tothe drive.
No Battery Write Cache

Enables write caching on controllers without a backup module.

Wait for Cache Room

Waits for cache space (if none is available) before completing the request.

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OptionDescription

Global Physical Devices Write Sets the write cache policy for the physical drives on the controller.
Cache Policy
Caution: Enabling drive write caching can improve performance. However,a power, device, system failure, or dirty shut down may result in data loss
or file-system corruption.

To enable cache optimizations on a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

When the Set Properties window opens, click the Cache tab.
3. Adjust cache settings, as needed.

4. Click OK.

7.4.1.1

Enabling Cache Optimization for a Logical Drive
You can enable/disable cache optimization for each logical drive in your storage space:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select a logical drive.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Set Properties.
3. In the Write-Cache Mode drop down-list, select Disabled (Write-Through) or Enabled(Write-Back).
4. Click OK.

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7.4.2

Enabling SSD I/O Bypass
Use this option to enable I/O Bypass acceleration for logical drives comprised of SSDs only. This option
enables I/O requests to bypass the controller firmware and access SSDs directly. This process accelerates
reads for all RAID levels and writes for RAID 0.
To enable I/O Bypass acceleration:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select an array on the controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens; the General tab is selected, by default.
3. From the SSD I/O Bypass drop-down, select Enabled or Disabled.

4. Click OK.

7.5

Moving a Logical Drive
maxView Storage Manager allows you to move a single logical drive from one array to another array.
You can choose the following destinations:• Move Logical Drive To a New Array• Move Logical Drive To an Existing Array
If you move the logical drive to a new array, the array is created automatically. If you move the logicaldrive to an existing array, it must have sufficient space and member disk drives to store the logical drive
data and accommodate the RAID level; for example, three drives, minimum, for a RAID 5.

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Note: Moving a logical drive can be a time-consuming process. All data in the logical drive is
moved onto the new or existing array, and the controller continues to service I/O requests toother logical drives.
To move a logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a logical drive.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Move Logical Device.

3. When the wizard opens, select To New Array or To Existing Array, then click Next.

4. If you are moving the logical drive to a new array, select the physical drives for the array. Be surethe drive type is the same for all drives (SAS or SATA, not mixed).

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Note: The drives must have sufficient capacity to store the logical drive data.
5. If you are moving the logical drive to an existing array, expand the Arrays and Logical Devices list,
then select the destination array.

6. Click Next, review the summary information, then click Finish.
maxView Storage Manager moves the logical drive onto the new or existing array. If you moved thelast logical drive on an array, maxView Storage Manager deletes the array and removes it from theEnterprise View.

7.6

Moving an Array
You can move an array by replacing its physical drives with drives of the same type or different type.
For example, you can replace SAS drives in the array with other SAS drives, or replace SAS drives with
SATA drives. You cannot combine drive types in the same array, however. If you choose to replace SAS

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drives with SATA drives, for example, all drives in the array must be replaced with SATA drives. The
replacement drives must be in the Ready state; that is, not part of any array or assigned as a spare.
Moving an array automatically removes any previously assigned spare drives. Replaced drives in thearray are freed and become Ready drives that can be used in other arrays, logical drives, or as spares.
Note: Moving an array can be a time-consuming process. All data in each logical drive is copied
to the replacement drives, and the controller continues to service I/O requests to other logicaldrives.
To move an array:
1. In the Enterprise View, select an array.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Modify Array.

3. When the wizard opens, select an action, then click Next:• Select Move Drives to replace array drives with drives of the same type.
• Select Change Drive Type to replace array drives with drives of a different type.

4. Select one or more drives. For Move Drives, the wizard displays only physical devices of the same
type. For Change Drive Type, the wizard displays only physical devices of a different type. The RAID
level determines the number of drives you need to select.

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Note: The drives must have sufficient capacity to hold all of the logical drives in the source
array.
5. Click Next, review the summary information, then click Finish.

7.7

Modifying an ArraymaxView Storage Manager allows you to perform different actions to reconfigure an array. You canchoose the following destinations:• Add Drives To an Array• Move Drives To an Array
If you add the logical drives, you are expanding the array by adding the data drives. If you move thelogical drive to an existing array, you need to replace the array drives with the drives of the same type.
Note: Moving a logical drive can be a time-consuming process. All data in the logical drive is
moved onto the new or existing array, and the controller continues to service I/O requests toother logical drives.
To add or remove drives in an array:
1. In the Enterprise View, select an array.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Modify Array.

3. When the wizard opens, select Add Drive(s) or Move Drive(s), then click Next.

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4. If you are adding the new drives to an array, select the physical drives for the array. Be sure the drive
type is the same for all drives (SAS or SATA, not mixed).

Note: The drives must have sufficient capacity to store the logical drive data.
5. Click Next, review the summary information, then click Finish.
maxView Storage Manager moves the logical drive onto the new or existing array. If you moved thelast logical drive on an array, maxView Storage Manager deletes the array and removes it from theEnterprise View.

7.8

Working with Mirrored Arrays
maxView Storage Manager allows you to split a mirrored array and then recombine it. This process
entails splitting a RAID 1, RAID 1(ADM), RAID 10, or RAID 10(ADM) array into two identical new arrays
consisting of RAID 0 logical drives. Arrays with other RAID configurations cannot be split.

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7.8.1

Creating a Split Mirror Backup
Use this option to split a mirrored array, consisting of one or more RAID 1, RAID 1(ADM), RAID 10, or
RAID 10(ADM) logical drives, into two arrays: a primary array and a backup array, with thesecharacteristics:• The primary array and backup array will contain identical RAID 0 logical drives.
• The primary array continues to be fully accessible to the operating system.
• The backup array is hidden from the operating system and data on the drive is frozen.
Note: You can use the backup array to restore the primary array with its original contents.
See Re-mirroring, Rolling Back, or Reactivating a Split Mirror Backup on page 74.
• The primary array includes the designation "Split Mirror Set Primary" as the device type.
• The backup array includes the designation "Split Mirror Set Backup" as the device type.
If the array is protected by a spare drive, the drive is unassigned after the split.
To create a split mirror backup:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a mirrored array.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Split Mirror Backup.

3. When prompted to create the backup array, click OK.

7.8.2

Re-mirroring, Rolling Back, or Reactivating a Split Mirror Backup
When you re-mirror a split mirrored array, you recombine the primary array and backup array into asingle array. You can:• Re-mirror the array and preserve the existing data; the backup array is discarded. This option
re-creates the original mirrored array with the current contents of the primary array.
• Re-mirror the array and roll back to the contents of the backup array; existing data is discarded.
This option re-creates the mirrored array but restores its original contents from the backup array.
You can also reactivate the split mirror backup. This option makes the backup array fully accessible tothe operating system. maxView Storage Manager removes the "Split Mirror Set Backup" designation
and re-designates it as a Data Array.
To re-mirror, roll back, or reactivate a split mirror backup:

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1. In the Enterprise View, select the Split Mirror Set Primary array; that is, an array with an existing
split mirror backup.
Note: Use the Summary tab on the Storage Dashboard to verify the array type.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Remirror/Activate Backup.

3. When prompted to select a re-mirroring task, choose: Re-mirror array, Re-mirror withroll-back, or Activate Backup.
Note: Microsemi recommends that you do not perform a re-mirror with roll back if the logicaldrive to be rolled back is mounted or in use by the operating system.

4. Click OK.

7.9

Healing an Array
You can use the Heal Array operation to replace failed physical drives in the array with healthy physicaldrives. After replacement, the original array and logical drive numbering is unaffected.
The Heal Array operation is part of the Modify Array wizard (see Moving an Array on page 70). It isavailable in the wizard only if:• The array has at least one failed drive.
• The array is not rebuilding to a spare.
• A sufficient number of Ready physical drives of the same type and correct size are available toreplace each failed physical drive in the array.
Note: The correct size is defined as a drive as large as the smallest drive on the array, but
no larger than the smallest spare.
For a RAID 0 volume, the heal operation recreates the volume. For other RAID volume types, the heal
operation rebuilds the volume.
To heal an array:
1. In the Enterprise View, select an array.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Modify Array.

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3. When the wizard opens, select Heal Array, then click Next.

4. Select one or more drives to replace the failed drives in the array.

Note: The drives must have sufficient capacity to hold all of the logical drives in the array.
5. Click Next, review the summary information, then click Finish.

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7.10

Changing the RAID Level of a Logical Drive
If your storage needs or application requirements change, you can change, or migrate, the RAID levelof your logical drives to another, more suitable, RAID level. You might want to change the RAID level to
add redundancy, further protect your data, or to improve data availability for speedier access. See
Selecting the Best RAID Level for more information.
The following RAID level migrations are supported:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

RAID 0 to RAID 5
RAID 0 to RAID 10
RAID 5 to RAID 6
RAID 6 to RAID 5
RAID 10 to RAID 5
RAID 5 to RAID 10
RAID 1 to RAID 5

To change the RAID level of a logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select the logical drive that you want to migrate.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Expand/Migrate.

The Expand/Migrate Logical Device wizard opens.
3. Click Migrate, then click Next.

4. Select a new RAID level, then click Next. Only valid RAID level options are offered.
5. Select the sub array count for RAID 50 and RAID 60.

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6. Select the logical drive stripe size from the drop-down list.
Note: The default stripe size usually provides the best performance.
7. Click Next.
8. Review the summary of logical drive settings. To make changes, click Back.
9. Click Finish.
The logical drive is reconfigured and migrates to the new RAID level.

7.11

Increasing the Capacity of a Logical Drive
You can add more disk drive space, or expand, a logical drive, to increase its capacity.
The expanded logical drive must have a capacity that is greater than or equal to the original logical drive.
Note: You can expand a logical drive only into the free space of the host array. To add physicaldrives in an array, see Modifying an Array on page 72
To increase the capacity of a logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select the logical drive you want to expand.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Expand/Migrate.

The Expand/Migrate Logical Device wizard opens.
3. Click Expand, then click Next.

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4. Enter the new logical drive size in the space provided. It must be greater than or equal to the currentsize.
5. Click Next.
6. Review the summary of logical drive settings. To make changes, click Back.
7. Click Finish.
The logical drive is expanded and its capacity is increased to the new size.

7.12

Changing the Logical Drive Rebuild Priority
The Rebuild Priority setting determines the urgency with which the controller treats an internal command
to rebuild a failed logical drive:••••

At the low setting, normal system operations take priority over a rebuild.
At the medium setting, normal system operations and rebuilds get equal priority.
At the medium high setting, rebuilds get higher priority than normal system operations.
At the high setting, rebuilds take precedence over all other system operations.

If the logical drive is part of an array with an online spare, rebuilding begins automatically when drive
failure occurs. If the array does not have an online spare, rebuilding begins when the failed physicaldrive is replaced. For more information, see Rebuilding Logical Drives on page 148.
To change the rebuild priority:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. In Rebuild Priority Mode drop-down list, select Low, Medium, Medium High, or High. The Rebuild
Priority field is circled in the next figure.

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4. Click OK.

7.13

Renaming a Logical Drive
To change the name of a logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select the logical drive you want to rename.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. In the Logical Device Name field, type the new name, then click OK. Names can include any
combination of letters, numbers, and spaces.
maxView Storage Manager updates the logical drive name and displays the new name in the Enterprise
View.

7.14

Deleting an Array or Logical Drive
When you delete an array or logical drive, it is removed from the Enterprise View and the disk drives
or segments in the logical drive(s) become available to use in a new array or logical drive (see Creatinga Logical Drive Using Available Segments).
Caution: When you delete an array you lose all data on the logical drive(s) within the array, in
addition to the array itself. When you delete a logical drive, you lose all data stored on that logicaldrive. Be sure you no longer need the data on the array or logical drive before you delete it.
To delete an array or logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select the array or logical drive you want to delete.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group or Logical Device group (shown below), click Delete.

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3. When prompted to continue, click Delete to delete the array or logical drive.
Note: If a deleted logical drive is the only logical in the array, the array itself is also deleted.

7.15

Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Storage Space
The power management options in maxView Storage Manager control the power profile of the physicaldrives on a controller. They offer a balance between maximum performance and minimum power usage.
To ensure continued operations when temperature thresholds are exceeded, you can enable Survival
mode to throttle dynamic power settings to their minimum values.
To set the power management options for a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. Click the Power Management tab.

4. In the Power Mode drop-down list, select:• Minimum Power—Set power settings to lowest possible values and reduce power dynamically,
based on workload.

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dynamically.
5. In the Survival Mode drop-down list, select:• Enabled—Allows the controller to throttle back dynamic power settings to their minimum values
when temperatures exceed the warning threshold.
Note: Enabling Survival mode allows the server to continue running in more situations,but may affect performance.
• Disabled—Disables Survival mode.
6. Click OK.

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8

Working with maxCache Devices
Microsemi Adaptec Smart Storage Controllers support an advanced SSD caching technology called
maxCache™. maxCache uses a reserved logical drive, called the maxCache Device, to support read andredundant write caching for storage connected directly to your controller. The maxCache Device iscomprised of SSDs only.
With maxCache read caching enabled, the system copies frequently read "hot" data to the maxCache
Device for faster retrieval. With maxCache write caching enabled, the maxCache Device is populatedwith certain "hot" blocks from the logical drives on the controller. All writes to these hot blocks godirectly to the maxCache Device. The data remain on the maxCache Device until it is full or some other"hotter" data replaces it.

8.1

maxCache Limitations• maxCache is not supported on all Microsemi Adaptec Smart Storage Controllers. See the Readme
for more information.
• If the maxCache controller has a green backup module, the super capacitor must be fully charged.
• The minimum size for a cached logical drive is 16 GB.
• The following operations are not available when maxCache is enabled:• Expand Array/Logical Device• Move Logical Device• Replace Array Drives• Split Mirror• Heal Array• Migrate Array

8.2

Creating a maxCache Device
To create a maxCache Device:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system. You can also create
a maxCache device by selecting a logical device node.
2. On the ribbon, in the maxCache group, click Create maxCache.

3. When the wizard opens, select a RAID level for the maxCache Device, then click Next.
See Selecting the Best RAID Level for more information about RAID levels.
4. Select the SSDs that you want to include in the maxCache Device, then click Next. Be sure to selectthe right number of SSDs for the RAID level you selected.

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5. Select the data logical drive (16 GB minimum), then click Next.

6. (Optional) In the Cache Attributes panel, customize the maxCache Device settings. You can:• Set a smaller logical drive size. (By default, the maxCache Device uses up to the maxSize of thedata logical drive.)• Set the write cache mode to Write-Back (default) or Write-Through.
7. Click Next, then review the logical drive settings.
8. Click Finish, then click OK.
maxView Storage Manager updates the configuration, then adds an array and logical device to the
maxCache Device tree in the Enterprise View.

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8.3

Changing the Write Cache Mode
The write cache mode determines when data is stored on the maxCache Device and when the controller
communicates with the operating system. You can set the Write Cache mode to:• Write-Through—The controller sends (or writes) the data to the maxCache Device, then sends
confirmation to the operating system that the data was received. Use this setting when performanceis less important than data protection.
• Write-Back—The controller sends confirmation to the operating system that the data was received,
then writes the data to the maxCache Device. Use this setting when performance is more important
than data protection.
To change the maxCache write cache mode:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select a maxCache Device on that controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the maxCache group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. In the Write Cache drop-down list, select Write-Back or Write-Through.
4. Click OK.

8.4

Deleting the maxCache Device
When you delete the maxCache Device, the component SSDs become available and can be used tocreate a new logical drive, hot spare, or new maxCache Device.
Caution: Be sure that the maxCache controller is quiescent before deleting the maxCache Device;otherwise you may lose data.
Note:
Also, the delete maxCache option is available only when the write-cache policy is set to"write-through" and is the last maxCache logical device in the maxCache array.
To delete the maxCache Device:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select the maxCache Device.
2. On the ribbon, in the maxCache group, click Delete.

3. When prompted, click Delete, then click OK. Click Cancel to cancel the action.

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8.5

Analyzing maxCache Performance
maxView Storage Manager provides advanced usage statistics about the maxCache Devices on yourMicrosemi Smart Storage controllers. You can use these statistics to gain a better understanding of how
maxCache is performing in your storage space. Use the Statistics Viewer to view the maxCache statistics;
see Viewing Advanced Statistics on page 134 for more information.

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9

Working with maxCrypto Devices
Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers support an advanced controller-based encryption (CBE) technology
called maxCrypto™. It provides an enterprise-class encryption solution that protects sensitive data on
storage connected directly to your controller.
maxCrypto supports two roles for managing encryption services:• A Crypto Officer (Admin) role that can perform all encryption operations• A User role with reduced privileges
maxCrypto allows you to selectively encrypt arrays and logical drives, regardless of RAID level; create
storage spaces with mixed encrypted and plaintext volumes; and convert plaintext volumes to encryptedvolumes.
Note: Encryption of non-RAID volumes (such as physical, raw, or pass-through devices) is notsupported. Consequently, HBAs and controllers operating in HBA Mode do not support maxCrypto.

9.1

maxCrypto Initial Setup
Before you can begin using maxCrypto in your storage space, you must complete the initial setup task
to create the Crypto Officer account and configure the initial maxCrypto settings, including the Crypto
Officer login credentials, maxCrypto master encryption key, and other basic information. You must also
accept the maxCrypto Certificate of Use.
To setup maxCrypto:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click maxCrypto Settings.

The Set maxCrypto Configuration window opens; the Initial Setup tab is selected, by default.

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3. In the maxCrypto Mode drop-down, select Enabled to activate maxCrypto. Select Disabled todeactivate maxCrypto.
4. In the Allow New Plaintext Logical Device(s) drop-down, select Enabled to allow plaintext logicaldevices to be created, in addition to encrypted logical devices. Select Disabled to allow only
encrypted logical devices to be created.
Note: To create plaintext logical devices, both maxCrypto Mode and Allow New Plaintext
Logical Device(s) must be enabled.
5. In the Master Key field, enter the maxCrypto master encryption key. The Master Key is a 10-32
character string, comprising all printable ASCII characters.
Caution: Be sure to record the master key and store in a safe place. Once set, the Master Key
cannot be displayed or recovered, only reset. Failure to provide the Master Key may result inencrypted data being irretrievable.
6. In the Enter Crypto Password field, enter the Crypto Officer password. The password is a 8-16
character string, comprising all printable ASCII characters. It must include at least one uppercase
character, one lowercase character, one numeric, and one special character (#,!,@,...).
7. In the Re-Enter Crypto Password field, re-enter the Crypto Officer password.
8. Click OK.
9. When the maxCrypto Certificate of Use window opens, click Agree to complete the maxCrypto
activation.

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9.1.1

Managing maxCrypto Accounts
After initial setup is complete, the Crypto Officer account is logged in, by default. As the Crypto Officer,
you can perform all account management operations, including configuring the standard User account,changing passwords, and enabling password recovery options. If you are logged into the standard User
account, you have the ability to perform a limited number of maxCrypto operations, as described in thetable below.
Standard users can:Standard users can't:

Log into maxCrypto

Perform initial setup

Lock/Unlock firmware update

Recover password

Enter/Re-Enter new password

Allow new plaintext logical device(s)Create encrypted and plaintext logical drives

Set/Change master key

Convert plaintext array/logical drive to encrypted data

Import master key

Crypto erase array/logical drive

Set/Change password recovery question

Clear maxCrypto configuration

To manage maxCrypto accounts:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click maxCrypto Settings.

When the Set maxCrypto Configuration window opens, click the Account tab.

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3. In the User Role drop-down, select the Crypto Officer or User account.
4. In the Enter New Password field, enter the password for the account.
The password is a 8-16 character string, comprising all printable ASCII characters. It must include atleast one uppercase character, one lowercase character, one numeric, and one special character(#,!,@,...).
Note: The first time you enable the User account, this entry defines the initial login credentials
for the account. For an existing account, this entry changes the login credentials.
5. In the Re-Enter New Password field, re-enter the password for the user account.
6. For the Crypto Officer account, set/change the password recovery question and answer:a) In the Set/Change Password Recovery Question field, enter a recovery question for a forgotten
password.
b) In the Set/Change Password Recovery Answer field, enter the answer to the recovery question.
Note: Password recovery is available only for the Crypto Officer. The recovery qustion/answer
fields are deactivated for the User account.
7. Click OK.

9.1.2

Logging In and Logging Out
You must be logged into maxCrypto to use the encryption features in maxView Storage Manager, fromencrypting a logical drive, to enabling plaintext volumes, to simply changing a maxCrypto password.
After initial setup is complete, the Crypto Officer account is logged in, by default.
To logout of the account (ending the maxCrypto session), simply click the Logout button on the Accounttab or General tab in the Set maxCrypto Configuration window.

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To login back in, or to login to a different account:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click maxCrypto Settings.

When the Set maxCrypto Configuration window opens, click the Login tab.

3. In the User Role drop-down, select the Crypto Officer or User account.

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4. In the Password field, enter the password for the user role.
Note: If you're logging in as the Crypto Officer and forgot the password, you can reset the
password by following the steps below.
5. Click OK.
To reset the Crypto Officer password:
1. In the Login tab, select the Crypto Officer user role, as described above.
2. Click Forgot Password.
3. In the Recovery Answer field, enter the answer to the recovery question.
4. Enter a new password for the Crypto Officer account.
The password is a 8-16 character string, comprising all printable ASCII characters. It must include atleast one uppercase character, one lowercase character, one numeric, and one special character(#,!,@,...).
5. Re-enter the new Crypto Officer password.
6. Click OK.

9.1.3

Checking maxCrypto Status
To check the maxCrypto status, select a controller in the Enterprise view, then click the maxCrypto tabon the storage dashboard. Before completing the initial setup steps, most maxCrypto properties will belisted as "Not Configured". After completing the initial setup steps, the main maxCrypto properties will
be Configured, as described in the table below.

Property

Description

maxCrypto Status

When Enabled, both Encrypted and Plaintext logical devices can be created,based on the Allow New Plaintext Volumes property. When Disabled, only
Plaintext logical devices can be created.

Allow New Plaintext Volumes

When Enabled, both Plaintext and Encrypted logical devices can be created.
When Disabled, only Encrypted logical devices can be created, when maxCrypto
Status is Enabled.

Master Key

After Initial setup, Master Key value is displayed as Configured.

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Property

Description

Firmware Locked for Update

If Unlocked, firmware upgrade is enabled. If Locked, firmware upgrade is disabled.

Number of maxCrypto Logical
Devices

Total count of the encrypted logical devices.

Number of maxCrypto Physical
Devices

Total count of encrypted physical devices.

Crypto Officer Password

After Initial setup, Crypto Officer Password will be displayed as Configured.

Login Status

If logged-in as the Crypto Officer (Admin), displays “Logged-in as Crypto”. If
logged in as User, displays “Logged-in as User”. If maxCrypto session timed out,
displays “Timeout”. If maxCrypto is logged-out, displays as “Not Logged In”.

User Password

If the User account is configured, displays as “Configured”; otherwise, displays
as “Not Configured”.

Crypto Password Unlock Attempts Countdown of Crypto Officer attempts remaining after a failed login.
Remaining
Note: After 10 failed login attempts, the Crypto Officer account is locked
for 15 minutes.
User Password Unlock Attempts Countdown of User role attempts remaining after a failed login.
Remaining
Note: After 10 failed login attempts, the User account is locked for 15
minutes.
Crypto Officer Password Recovery Displays as “Configured” when Crypto Officer sets the password recovery
Parameters
question and answer. Displays as “Not Configured” when Crypto Officer has
not set the password recovery question and answer.

9.2

Modifying the maxCrypto Configuration
To modify the maxCrypto configuration, use the General tab on the Set maxCrypto Configuration window.
If you are logged in as the Crypto Officer, you can:••••Enable/Disable maxCrypto
Enable/Disable new plaintext volumes
Lock/Unlock firmware upgrade
Change the maxCrypto master encryption key

If you are logged in as the maxCrypto User, you can only Lock/Unlock firmware upgrade.
To modify the maxCrypto configuration:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click maxCrypto Settings.

When the Set maxCrypto Configuration window opens, click the General tab.

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3. Adjust the maxCrypto settings, as needed:• In the maxCrypto field, select Enabled or Disabled to enable/disable the maxCrypto system.
• In the Allow New Plaintext Volumes field, select Enabled to allow plaintext volumes andencrypted volumes in your storage space. Select Disabled to allow encrypted volumes only
in your storage space.
• In the Firmware Locked for Update field, select Unlocked to allow firmware upgrades. SelectLocked to block firmware upgrades.
• To change the master encryption key, click Change Master Key, then enter the new key in the
Set/Change Master Key field.
The Master Key is a 10-32 character string, comprising all printable ASCII characters.
Caution: Be sure to record the master key and store in a safe place. Once set, the MasterKey cannot be displayed or recovered, only reset. Failure to provide the Master Key may
result in encrypted data being irretrievable.
4. Click OK.

9.3

Creating an Encrypted Logical Drive
Use the Create Logical Device wizard to create encrypted and plaintext logical drives on an existing arrayor a new array. See Creating Arrays and Logical Drives on page 36.
When the wizard reaches the RAID Attributes panel, click Create Encrypted Logical(s) to encrypt thelogical device. Un-check the check box to create a plaintext logical device.

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Note:
1. If maxCrypto status is Disabled, only plaintext logical drives can be created.
2. If maxCrypto status is Enabled and Allow New Plaintext Volumes property is Enabled, both
encrypted and plaintext logical drives can be created; the default is encrypted.
Note: You must be logged in to maxCrypto to create plaintext volumes, even if maxCrypto
status and Allow New Plaintext Volumes are both Enabled; see Logging In and Logging
Out on page 90.
3. If maxCrypto status is Enabled and Allow New Plaintext Volumes property is Disabled, only
encrypted logical drives can be created.

9.4

Converting Plaintext Data to Encrypted Data
Use this operation to convert plaintext data to encrypted data. You can convert an unencrypted logicaldrive or all unencrypted logical drives on an array. Additionally, you can choose to preserve or discard
the existing data during conversion.
To convert plaintext data:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select a plaintext (unencrypted) logical drive or anarray.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group or Array group, click Set Properties.

When Set Properties window opens, click the maxCrypto tab.

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Note: The User Role and Password fields are enabled only when you are not logged in to
maxCrypto.
3. Click the Convert Plaintext Data to Encrypted Data check box.
4. To preserve the data during conversion, click the Preserve Existing Data check box. Leave it
un-checked to discard the data.
Note: When you convert a plaintext volume to an encrypted volume without preserving
existing data, the old plaintext data remains on disk and is still available if the logical device isdeleted.
5. Click OK.

9.5

Re-Keying a Logical Drive
maxCrypto allows you to re-key a logical drive for added security. The logical drive key is used with themaster key to encrypt the device.
Optionally, you can re-key an array to generate a new key for all encrypted logical drives on the array.
To re-key a logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select an encrypted logical drive or array.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group or Array group, click Set Properties.

When Set Properties window opens, click the maxCrypto tab.

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3. Click the Logical Device(s) Key ReKey check box.
4. Click OK.

9.6

Clearing the maxCrypto Configuration
You can clear the maxCrypto configuration to restore the default maxCrypto settings. Clearing the
maxCrypto configuration resets all keys, passwords, and users, including the maxCrypto Officer accountand User account.
Note: To clear the maxCrypto configuration, ensure that there is no encrypted logical drive
available in your storage space.
To clear the maxCrypto configuration:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Manage Configuration.

The Manage Configuration wizard opens.

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3. Select Clear maxCrypto, then click Next.
4. Review the Summary information, then click Finish.

9.7

Erasing an Encrypted Logical Drive
You can cryptographically erase the data on any encrypted logical drive in the Optimal state. Crypto
erase performs an instant/quick erase. The logical drive remains in the Enterprise View and ready tostore new data.
Optionally, you can cryptographically erase an array, to erase the data on all encrypted logical driveson the array.
Caution: When you cryptographically erase a logical drive, you lose all data on that drive.
To cryptographically erase a logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select an encrypted logical drive or array.
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group or Array group, click Crypto Erase.

The Crypto Erase Logical Device window opens.

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3. Click Erase.

9.8

Importing a Foreign Master Key
When an encrypted logical drive is moved from another controller, the master key used to encrypt thelogical drive is needed to decrypt it. Use the Import Foreign Master Key option to import the masterkey so that the logical drive data can be accessed and managed on the new controller.
To import a foreign master key:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click maxCrypto Settings.

When the Set maxCrypto Configuration window opens, click the General tab.
3. In the Import Foreign Local Master Key field, enter the master key originally used to encrypt thelogical drive.
The Master Key is a 10-32 character string, comprising all printable ASCII characters.

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4. Click OK.

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10

Maintaining Physical Devices
This section describes how to manage the controllers, disk drives, solid state drives, and enclosures inyour storage space.

10.1

Viewing Device Properties
Click on any physical device in the Enterprise View then, on the Storage Dashboard, click the Properties
tab to view version numbers, status, model numbers, features, and other information about the device.
The properties listed vary, depending on which type of device you select. The figure below shows theproperties for a controller. For more information about using the Storage Dashboard to monitor thecomponents in your storage space, see Viewing Component Status in the Storage Dashboard.

10.2

Locating Drives in Your Storage SpaceYou can blink the LEDs on disk drives and SSDs to identify where they are physically located in yourstorage space. This table describes how to locate specific devices.
Note:
Once any of the device is located, the timeout value will be overwritten with the latest timeout
value for all the located devices.
To Locate...

Select...

A disk drive

Disk Drive icon:

All disk drives on a controller

Controller icon:

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To Locate...

Select...

All disk drives included in anarray

Array icon:

All disk drives included in a log- Logical Drive icon:
ical drive

All SSDs in the maxCache Device

10.2.1

maxCache Device icon:

Locating Disk Drives
To locate an individual disk drive or all physical drives on the controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller or an individual drive on the controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Locate.

The Locate Physical Device window opens.
3. From the drop-down list, select the timeout period (1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours).
4. Click the Locate button.
The LED on the disk drive(s) begin to blink.
5. To stop blinking the drive(s) immediately, click Stop.

6. Click Cancel to close the Locate Physical Device window.
The LED(s) continue to blink for the duration of the timeout period.

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10.2.2

Locating Physical Disks in an Array or Logical Drive
To locate all physical disks in an array or logical drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, open the Arrays and Logical Devices tree for a controller, then select an arrayor logical drive.
2. On the ribbon, in the Array group or Logical Device group (shown below), click Locate.

The Locate Logical Device window opens and displays a list of the physical disks associated with thearray or logical drive.
3. Select the timeout period (1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours), then click Locate.

The LEDs on the disk drives begin to blink.
4. Click Cancel to close the Locate window.
The LEDs continue to blink for the duration of the timeout period.
5. Click Stop to stop blinking the drives immediately.

10.2.3

Locating SSDs in the maxCache Device
To locate the Solid State Drives (SSDs) in the maxCache Device:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller; then select the maxCache Device on that controller. You
can select the maxCache array or logical device.
2. On the ribbon, in the maxCache group, click Locate.

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The Locate maxCache window opens, displaying a list SSDs comprising the maxCache Device.
3. Select the time-out period from the drop-down list: 1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours.
4. Click the Locate button.

The LEDs on the SSDs begin to flash.
5. Click Stop to stop blinking the SSDs.
6. Click Cancel to close the Locate maxCache window.

10.3

Working with Physical Device Error Counters
This section explains how to view the physical device error counters and how to clear the error countersfrom a physical device and a controller.
The clear device error counters feature provides an option to clear the device error counters on thephysical devices. This option is available at the controller level to clear the device error counters on all
the physical devices connected to it and at the physical device level to clear the error counters on thespecific device.

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10.3.1

Viewing Physical Device Error Counters
To view the physical device error counters for a hard drive or SSD, select the drive in the Enterprise
View then, on the Storage Dashboard, click the Error Counters tab. The table below describes the error
counters.

Error Counter

Description

Aborted Command

Number of times a drive was failed due to aborted commands that could not
be retried successfully.

Bad Target Error

Number of times that this drive did something that did not conform to the SCSIBus Protocol. It will cause a reset of the SCSI bus that this drive is attached to.

ECC Recovered Read Errors

Number of ECC-corrected read errors.

Failed Read Recover

Number of times a recover of another physical drive in the logical volume failed
due to a hard read error from this drive.

Failed Write Recover

Number of times a recover of this physical drive failed due to an error occurringon this drive during a write operation.

Format Error

Number of times a Format command (used when remapping defects) failed. A
failed remap operation may cause the controller to fail a drive.

Hardware Error

Number of times a drive returned a bad hardware status. The drive may be
failed if retries do not work.

Hard Read Error

Number of unrecoverable read errors.

Hard Write Error

Number of unrecoverable write errors.

Hot-Plug Count

Number of times this drive was hot-plugged (removed) from a box.

Media Failure

Number of times a drive was failed due to unrecoverable media errors.

Not Ready Error

Number of times the drive was failed because it never became ready after the“spin up” command was issued. If retries or drive spin-ups fail, the drive will
be failed.

Other Timeouts

Timeouts other than Data ReQuest Timeouts (DRQ).

Predictive Failure

Number of times that the drive returned a predictive failure error.

Retry Recovered Read Error

Number of retry-recovered read errors.

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10.3.2Error Counter

Description

Retry Recovered Write Error

Number of retry-recovered write errors.

SCSI Bus Fault

Number of “bus faults”, which we define as SCSI bus parity errors, overrun/
underrun conditions, etc.

Service Hours

Number of service hours since the last power cycle.

Sectors Written

Number of sectors written to media.

Sectors Read

Number of sectors read from the media. This value will include sectors read
into the on-drive cache buffer only if the drive keeps track of this value. Otherwise, only sectors requested through the drive interface are counted.

Clearing Error Counters from a Physical Device
Use this option to clear the device error counters of a specific physical device.
To clear the error counters from a physical device:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a physical drive node.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.

3. To clear the device errors, select the Clear Device Error Counter(s) check box.
4. Click OK.

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10.3.3

Clearing Error Counters from a Controller
Use this option to clear the the device error counters of all the physical devices from controller.
To clear the the device errors from a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select a physical drive on the controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.

3. To clear the device errors, select the Clear Device Error Counter(s) check box.
4. Click OK.

10.4

Working with Failed or Failing Disk Drives
This section describes how to use maxView Storage Manager to manage failed or failing disk drives inyour storage space.

10.4.1

Replacing Disk Drives in a Logical Drive
You can replace one or more disk drives in a logical drive. You may want to replace a drive to upgrade
to larger disk drives, or to make disk drive size uniform across the logical drive.
Caution: If another disk drive in the logical drive fails during rebuild (see Rebuilding Logical Drives
on page 148), you may lose data. For help solving disk drive problems, see Recovering from a Disk
Drive Failure.
To replace a disk drive in a logical drive:
1. In the Physical Devices tree in the Enterprise View, find the disk drive you want to replace; note its
size and location (for instance Slot 1 in Enclosure 0).

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2. Set the drive state to failed. (See Setting a Disk Drive to ‘Failed’ on page 108.)
3. Remove and replace the disk drive with one of equal or greater size.
4. Wait for the logical drive to rebuild. (See Rebuilding Logical Drives on page 148.)
5. Repeat these steps for each disk drive you want to replace.

10.4.2

Setting a Disk Drive to ‘Failed’
Before you can remove a disk drive, you should set it to the Failed state to protect your data. To fail adisk drive (or SSD), use the Force Offline option for physical devices.
You can set a disk drive to the Failed state if:• The disk drive is not part of a logical drive, or• The disk drive is part of a redundant, healthy logical drive
Once you force a drive offline, it can be brought online again only after power-cycling the controller.
Caution: You may lose data or damage your disk drive if you remove a disk drive without firstsetting it to a failed state.
To set a disk drive to Failed:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller then, in the Physical Devices tree, select the drive youwant to set to Failed.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Devices group, click Force Offline.

The Force Offline window opens.
3. Click Force.
The drive is taken offline and set to the Failed state.
Note: If the drive is part of a healthy logical drive, the drive is degraded and a warning message
is displayed in the Event Log.

10.5

Erasing a Disk Drive
You can use maxView Storage Manager to securely erase existing data on any disk drive or SSD in the
Ready state. Secure erase completely destroys the data on the drive; the data is completely andirretrievably eradicated.
Optionally, you can choose the erase pattern.
To securely erase a disk drive or SSD:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller then, in the Physical Devices tree, select the drive youwant to erase.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Secure Erase.

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The Secure Erase Physical Device window opens.
3. From the drop-down list, select the erase pattern:• Zero (default)—Initializes all blocks to zero.
• Random Zero—Initializes block to random value then zero.
• Random Random Zero—Initializes block to random value, next block to random value, thenzero.
• Sanitize Overwrite—(HDD only) Fills every physical sector of the drive with a pattern.
• Sanitize Block Erase—(SSD only) Sets the blocks on the drive to a vendor-specific value, removing
all user data. It provides a very fast, complete, and robust erasure of the solid state device.
• Sanitize Crypto Scramble— (Self-Encrypting Drives (SED) only) Changes the internal encryption
keys that are used for user data, making the data irretrievable. This option is implemented forboth HDD and SSD SED devices.
4. Click Erase to erase the drive.

10.5.1

Restricted/Unrestricted Secure Erase
For the Sanitize erase patterns (Overwrite, Block Erase, Crypto Scramble), the following erase methods
are applicable if your drive supports the method:• Restricted: the drive will be unusable until the sanitize operation is completed successfully. If a
restricted sanitize operation fails, you are only allowed to start another sanitize operation.
• Unrestricted: the drive will be recoverable in the case that the sanitize erase operation fails. User
data may still be present on the drive. Not all drives support this sanitize method.
For more information about Sanitize erase patterns, see Erasing a Disk Drive on page 108.

10.6

Initializing and Uninitializing Disk Drives
This section describes how to initialize or erase data and meta-data (including logical drive and partition
information) from the disk drives (and SSDs) in your storage space. You can initialize or uninitialize
individual disks, or use the wizard to initialize/uninitialize all disks on a controller.

10.6.1

Uninitializing a Disk Drive
You can uninitialize any disk drive (or SSD) containing Smart Controller configuration metadata.
Uninitializing a disk drive clears the meta-data and reserved space from the drive and removes any OSpartitions; existing data on the drive is destroyed.
Note: Uninitialized drives change from their current state to the Raw state. Raw drives arecompatible with any Host Bus Adapter (HBA), including Microsemi Adaptec RAID controllers
operating in HBA mode, and can be exchanged with drives on the motherboard's SATA interface.
To uninitialize a disk drive:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller; then, in Physical Devices tree, select the disk drive youwant to uninitialize.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Initialize.

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The Initialize/Uninitialize Physical Device window opens.
3. Click the Uninitialize button, then click OK.

4. When prompted, click OK to close the Initialize/Uninitialize Device window.

10.6.2

Initializing/Uninitializing all Drives on a Controller
To initialize or uninitialize all disk drives (or SSDs) on a controller, use the Initialize/Uninitialize Physical
Devices wizard to clear the meta-data on all drives at once.
To initialize or uninitialize drives with the wizard:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Initialize.

The Initialize/Uninitialize Physical Devices wizard opens.
3. Select Initialize or Uninitialize, then click Next.

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4. Select drives on the controller to initialize or uninitialize, then click Next.
5. Review the Summary, then click Finish.

10.7

Setting the Physical Drive Boot Priority
Use this option to set the boot priority of a physical device to Primary, Secondary, Primary and Secondary,or None (default). A controller can have only one physical (or logical) device as the primary or secondaryboot device. When you select a new physical device as the primary/secondary boot drive, the bootpriority of the existing primary/secondary boot drive is overwritten and set to None.
To set the boot priority of a physical device:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller, then select a physical drive on the controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Physical Device group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.

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3. From the Boot Type drop-down list, select Primary, Secondary, Primary and Secondary, or
None.
4. Click OK.

10.8

Working with Controllers
This section describes how to use maxView Storage Manager to manage the controllers in your storage
space:• To re-scan a controller, see Rescanning a Controller on page 112.
• To optimize controller performance, see Optimizing Controller Performance on page 113.
• To change the operating mode of connectors on the controller , see Changing the Connector
Operating Mode on page 114.

10.8.1

Rescanning a Controller
After you connect a disk drive or remove a Ready (non-failed) disk drive from a controller, maxView
Storage Manager may not recognize the change until it rescans the controller.
To rescan a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select the controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Rescan.

The Rescan window opens.
3. Click the Rescan button (on the Rescan window).
maxView Storage Manager scans all the channels or ports on the controller you selected.
4. When the rescan is finished, click Cancel to close the Rescan window.

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10.8.2

Optimizing Controller Performance
You can enable the following performance optimizations on a controller to improve I/O throughput andensure optimal performance of the arrays and logical drives in your storage space.
OptionDescription

Queue Depth

Sets the max drive request queue depth for the controller. Valid values are Automatic, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32.

Monitor and Performance
Delay

Sets the MNP Analysis delay for the controller, in seconds. Set the value to zero
to disable Monitor and Performance Analysis. Default is 60 minutes (3600 seconds).

Elevator Sort

Sets the behavior of the drive's write Elevator sort algorithm, a scheduling optimization that prioritizes I/O requests such that disk arm and head motion continues inthe same direction. Enabling the elevator sort improves seek times and disabling
the elevator sort improves throughput.

Degraded Performance Opti- For degraded RAID 5 logical drives, enabling this setting directs the controller tomization
attempt to improve performance of large read requests by buffering physical drive
requests. Disabling this setting forces the controller to read from the same drives
multiple times.
Latency

Enables Flexible Latency Optimization for HDDs. When latency optimization is enabled, the controller detects high-latency I/O requests and applies a cutoff, orthreshold, value, after which it suspends elevator sorting and services the request
right away. You can set the latency optimization to low, medium, high, aggressive
level 1, or aggressive level 2.

To enable/disable performance optimizations on a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

When the Set Properties window opens, click the Performance tab.
3. Enable/disable performance optimizations, as needed.

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4. Click OK.

10.8.3

Changing the Connector Operating ModeUse this option to change the behavior of the connectors on your Microsemi Adaptec Smart Storage
Controller. The connectors on the controller can operate in three modes:• HBA Mode: exposes physical drives to the operating system• RAID Mode: exposes only RAID volumes to the operating system• Mixed Mode: exposes RAID volumes and physical drives to the operating system
By default, products with RAID support are configured to operate in Mixed Mode. Mode options vary,depending on the configuration of logical and physical devices on the connector. For example, you
cannot switch the connector to HBA mode if the connector is already configured with a RAID volume.
A reboot is required for connector mode changes to take effect.
Note: Changing from Mixed Mode or HBA Mode to RAID Mode removes access to the physicaldrives from the operating system.
To change the connector mode on a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

When the Set Properties window opens, click the Connector tab.
3. From the drop-down list, change the connector mode for each port to RAID, HBA, or Mixed.

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4. Click OK.
5. Reboot the server.

10.9

Updating Controller, Enclosure, and Disk Drive Firmware
Note: This task is recommended for advanced users only.
maxView Storage Manager includes a wizard to help you update the firmware on the controllers,
enclosures, and disk drives in your storage space. The wizard updates the firmware for devices of thesame type on the local or a remote system.
For example, if your storage space includes disk drives from two different manufactures, you must
update the firmware for each manufacturer's drives separately, by running the wizard twice. Additionally,
if you have more than one system in your storage space, you must run the wizard for each systemseparately.
To update the firmware on the controllers, enclosures, or disk drives in your storage space, review theprerequisites in Before You Begin on page 115, then follow one of these sets of instructions:• Updating the Controller Firmware on page 115• Updating the Disk Drive Firmware on page 119• Updating the Enclosure Firmware on page 120

10.9.1

Before You Begin
Before you begin, download the latest firmware images from www.adaptec.com, or from your vendor's
support site on the World Wide Web. Controller images come in sets of one or more files and have a.bin file extension. Disk drive and enclosure image file names vary by manufacturer.

10.9.2Updating the Controller Firmware
Use the Firmware Update wizard to update the firmware for one or more controllers of the same typeon the local or a remote system.
To update the controller firmware:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click Firmware Update.

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3. When the wizard opens, select Controller, then click Next.

4. Select the controllers you want to update, then click Next.

5. Select flash options for the update, then click Next. Choose Toggle Image to replace the active image
with the backup image.
Note: If you choose Toggle Image, Step [6], Select Files, is skipped.

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6. Click Choose, browse the file system for the firmware update file (typically, a .bin file), click Opento select the file (the button label may be different on your browser).

7. When the file name appears in the Uploaded Firmware File(s) list, click Next.
8. Review the update summary, then click Finish.

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Caution: Do not power down the controller(s) while the update is in progress!
9. When the update is complete, click OK. Restart the server to activate the new firmware image.

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10.9.3Updating the Disk Drive Firmware
Use the Firmware Update wizard to update the firmware for one or more disk drives of the same typeon the local or a remote system. The procedure is similar to updating the controller firmware (seeUpdating the Controller Firmware on page 115).
To update the disk drive firmware:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click Firmware Update.

3. When the wizard opens, select Disk Drive, then click Next.

4. In the Select Files panel, click Choose, browse the file system for the firmware update file, click Opento select the file (the button label may be different on your browser).
5. When the file name appears in the Uploaded Firmware File(s) list, click Next.
6. In the Attributes panel, select the Chunk Size, from 1-n, in kilobytes (KB), then click Next.
7. In the Select Devices panel, select the disk drives you want to update, then click Next.
8. Review the update summary, then click Finish.
Caution: Do not power down the controller(s) while the update is in progress!
9. When the update is complete, click OK. Restart the server to activate the new firmware image.

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10.9.4

Updating the Enclosure Firmware
Use the Firmware Update wizard to update the firmware for one or more enclosures or expanders of
the same type on the local or a remote system.
To update the enclosure/expander firmware:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click Firmware Update.

3. When the wizard opens, select Enclosure/Expander, then click Next.

4. In the Select Files panel, click Choose, browse the file system for the firmware update file, click Opento select the file (the button label may be different on your browser).
Note: If the upgrade requires multiple firmware update files, update one file at a time or use
a combined firmware image to complete the upgrade.
5. When the file name appears in the Uploaded Firmware File(s) list, click Next.
6. Select the Chunk Size, from 1-n, in kilobytes (KB).
7. Select the firmware Upgrade Type:• Firmware—update the firmware image on the expander or enclosure• Manufacturer—update the manufacturing image (BOOT SEEPROM) on the expander or enclosure• CPLD—update the CPLD image on the expander or enclosure
8. Select the firmware upgrade Mode:• Download Microcode Data Only—transfer microcode to the device using one or more write
buffer commands; requires system reset or power cycle to activate.

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or more write buffer commands and activate immediately.
• Download Microcode with Offsets, Save and Activate—transfer microcode to the device using
one or more write buffer commands, save to non-volatile storage, then activate.
Note: In this release, maxView Storage Manager supports option 3 only for expander firmware
upgrade: Download Microcode with Offsets, Save and Activate.
9. When you are ready to continue, click Next.
10. In the Select Devices panel, select the enclosure(s) you want to update, then click Next.
11. Review the summary information, then click Finish.
Caution: Do not power down the controller or enclosure(s) while the update is in progress!
12. When the update is complete, click OK. Restart the server to activate the new firmware image, as
needed.

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11

Monitoring Status and Activity
This section describes how maxView Storage Manager helps you monitor status and activity in yourstorage space.

11.1

Monitoring Options
maxView Storage Manager provides many ways to monitor the status of your storage space:• Event Log—The main window of maxView Storage Manager features an event log that provides
at-a-glance status information about activity (or events) occurring in your storage space. All Warningand Error-level events are also recorded in your operating system's event log.
See Viewing Activity Status in the Event Log on page 122 and Changing an Operating System's Event
Log Setting on page 135.
• Task Log—The main window also features a task log that provides status information about the
progress of tasks in your storage space, such as the creation of a logical drive.
See Viewing Task Status in the Task Log on page 124.
• Storage Dashboard—Occupying the largest portion of the main window in maxView Storage
Manager, the Storage Dashboard provides complete, at-a-glance, information about the componentsof your storage space, including status information, physical and logical device properties, resources,
and reliability indicators for hard drives and SSDs.
See Viewing Component Status in the Storage Dashboard.
• Chart View—Provides a visual representation of free and used space for a system, controller, or
your entire storage space.
See Viewing Storage Space Usage in Chart View on page 127.
• Notifications—You can set maxView Storage Manager to email status notifications in your choiceof format to help you monitor activities in your storage space, such as:• Changes in the status of physical devices, such as disk drive failures.
• Changes on local or remote systems, such as the creation of a hot spare.
• Changes in temperature in storage enclosures, or that fans or power supplies within an
enclosure have failed.
See Notifying Users by Email About Status and Activity on page 127.
• Advanced Statistics—You can set maxView Storage Manager to log advanced I/O and usage statistics
for the RAID controllers in your system.
See Monitoring Advanced Statistics about Activity in Your Storage Space on page 133.
• Audible Alarm—A series of beeps sounds whenever a serious event occurs on your storage space.
See Working with System Alarms.

11.2

Checking Status from the Main Window
You can view status information and messages about the activity occurring in your storage space bylooking at the event log, status icons, and task log in the main window of maxView Storage Manager.
(You can also view all events for a system in its operating system event log; see Changing an Operating
System's Event Log Setting on page 135.) Using the Storage Dashboard and Chart View, you can also
monitor the physical and logical components of your storage space from the main window, includingsummary information and status, physical and logical device properties and resources, and usage andI/O statistics.

11.2.1

Viewing Activity Status in the Event Log
The Event Log lists activity occurring in your storage space, with the most recent event listed at the top.
Status is indicated by icons (see What Do the Event Status Icons Mean? on page 123) in the left-handcolumn, as shown in the figure below.

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You can view events as they occur in the bottom panel of the maxView Storage Manager main window.
The main window displays the last 100 events in your storage space. To view more events, filtered bydevice (a controller, for example), open the Event tab on the Storage Dashboard (see Viewing Component
Status in the Storage Dashboard).
Single-click any event to open the Event Log Detail window to see more information in an easier-to-readformat. Use the up and down arrows to view previous or following events.

Single-click to view
event details.

To make it easier to find a specific event, click on the column heads to sort the events. For example,
sorting the events by Severity can help you find specific Error- or Warning-level events quickly.

11.2.1.1

What Do the Event Status Icons Mean?
maxView Storage Manager indicates event status with icons. This table lists the three categories, ortypes, of events based on severity.
Icon

StatusExamplesInformation

The local system successfully connected to a remote system.
A logical drive was created.
A hot spare was deleted.

Warning

A logical drive is in a degraded state.
A disk drive is being rebuilt.
A controller is not responding to an enclosure.

Error

A controller has failed.
A logical drive has failed.
A disk drive or hot spare has failed.
An enclosure is overheating.

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Icon

StatusExamplesMultiple fans or power supplies within an enclosure have failed.
An enclosure is not responding.

Note: All Warning- and Error-level events also cause the audible alarm to sound. See Working
with Controllers on page 112 for more information.

11.2.2

Viewing Task Status in the Task Log
The Task Log shows the status and progress of tasks in your storage space, with the most recent task
listed at the top.
Single-click any task to open the Task Log Detail window to see more information in an easier-to-readformat.

Single-click to view task
details

11.2.3

Viewing Component Status in the Storage Dashboard
The Storage Dashboard provides detailed information about the components of your storage space,including local and remote systems, controllers, arrays, logical drives, enclosures, disk drives and SSDs,
and maxCache Devices. Occupying the largest portion of the main window in maxView Storage Manager,
the Storage Dashboard organizes component information by category, with a tabs providing one-click
access to summary information and status, properties, resources, and usage statistics.
The information on the Storage Dashboard varies, depending on which component is selected in theEnterprise View. The figure below shows the Storage Dashboard for a controller. Tabs provide accessto summary information, controller properties, and resources. The Events tab shows filtered events forthe selected device (see Viewing Activity Status in the Event Log on page 122).
Note: For information about Chart View, on the right side of the Storage Dashboard, see Viewing
Storage Space Usage in Chart View on page 127.

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The following table lists the categories and types of information provided on the Storage Dashboard
for each component in your storage space. All top-level nodes in the Enterprise View (System, Controller,
Arrays, Logical Drives, Physical Devices, and so on) include a Summary tab and Events tab.
Component

Categories/Tabs

ExamplesSystemSummary
Properties

System name and IP address
Operating system
Number and type of controllers
Alarm status (see Working with System Alarms)
Web Server settings
SMTP settings

Controller

Summary
Properties
Resources
Connectors
maxCrypto

Model, key features, manufacturing data, driver and firmware version,
controller mode, and status
Number of physical drives, arrays, logical drives, and status
Power management features
I2C address for PBSI interface (hex), I2C clock speed and clock stretchingstatusmaxCache status
maxCrypto status (see Checking maxCrypto Status on page 92)
Health and activity of flash backup module, if present ("Green backup" status)
Connector functional mode
Performance optimizations and other settings
Physical drive assignments by logical device (see Revealing More Device Information on page 31)

ArraysSummary
Resources

Total size and unused size
Spare rebuild mode
Logical drive RAID level, size, status

Logical drives
and maxCache
DeviceSummary
Resources

Raid level, segment and group (RAID 10 only), size, mount point, status
Member drives and sizes

Enclosure

Summary
Resources
Slots

Enclosure type, vendor, model and status
Fan, power supply, and temperature status (see Monitoring Enclosure Statuson page 126)
Speaker status
Slot allocation and usage

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Component

Categories/Tabs

Hard drives and Summary
SSDs
Resources
SMART Statistics

11.2.3.1

ExamplesDrive type (hard drive, SSD, SMR), interface type (SAS/SATA), vendor, andmodel
Drive state (Ready, Optimal, Hot Spare), mount point
Channel number and device ID
Transfer speed
Drive segment allocation
SMART statistics (see Viewing SMART Statistics on page 126)

Monitoring Enclosure Status
If your storage space includes an enclosure with an enclosure management device, such as a SCSI
Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosure (SAF-TE) processor, maxView Storage Manager displays temperature,fan, and power module status on the Storage Dashboard, as shown in the figure below.

11.2.3.2

Viewing SMART Statistics
You can use the Storage Dashboard to view various indicators of reliability for the SATA hard drives and
SSDs in your storage space. maxView Storage Manager displays SMART statistics for the drives using
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology available on most contemporary hard drives andnon-spinning storage devices. You can use this information to verify the health of your hard drives and
SSDs and to predict drive failures.
To view the SMART statistics for a hard drive or SSD, select the drive in the Enterprise View, then click
the SMART tab on the Storage Dashboard. For SSDs, the statistics include wear-level and longevity

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indicators, as shown in next figure. Refer to your drive vendor's data sheet for a description of individual
report items.

SSD wear-level andlongevity indicators

11.2.4

Viewing Storage Space Usage in Chart View
Chart View provides a visual representation of the free and used space for a system, controller, array,or your entire storage space (all systems and controllers). Located on the right side of the Storage
Dashboard in the maxView main window, Chart View displays a pie chart of storage space usage.
To view storage space usage in Chart View, simply select a component in the Enterprise View (a system,
for instance); the chart view is updated immediately.

11.3

Notifying Users by Email About Status and Activity
You can set up maxView Storage Manager to send email messages (or notifications) to one or moreemail addresses when an event occurs on a system, such as the creation of a logical drive or the failureof a disk drive. Email notifications can help you monitor activity on your entire storage space from any

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location, and are especially useful in storage spaces that include multiple systems running the maxView
Storage Manager only.
Only the users you specify receive email notifications. You can specify which types of events generate
email messages (Error, Informational, Warning). You can also specify if you want to be notified instantly
when an event occurs to ensure that urgent issues receive immediate attention from the right people.
Alternatively, you can specify that you want events “coalesced” and receive only one email message
for each event type.
Follow the instructions in this section to:
•
•
•
•
•

11.3.1

Set up email notifications (see Setting Up Email Notifications on page 128).
Send a test email (see Sending a Test Message on page 130).
Modify or remove an email recipient (see Modifying or Removing an Email Recipient on page 131).
Modify email server settings (see Modifying Email Server Settings on page 132).
Disable email notifications (see Disabling Email Notifications on page 132)

Setting Up Email Notifications
This section describes how to set up email notifications for one system. If you want to monitor multiple
systems by email, you must complete the tasks in this section for each one separately.
Before you begin, note this information:• The address of your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server (host name and domain, or TCP/IP
address)• The email address of each person who will receive email notifications
To set up email notifications:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

3. When the System settings window opens, click the SMTP tab.
4. Select Enable Email Notifications.
5. Enter the IP address of your SMTP server and the server's port number (or use the default port).

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6. If authentication is enabled on your SMTP server (that is, the server requires authentication details
before it will send messages to users), select Use Secure Mail Server, then enter the SMTP server's
login credentials (username/password) in the space provided.
7. On the System settings window, click the Email tab.
The Email Notifications Manager opens.

8. Click Add Email. When the Add Email window opens, enter the recipient's email address, select thelevel of events that will trigger an email notification for that recipient (Error, Error/Warning,
Error/Warning/Informational), then select the notification type—Instant or Coalesced. To include a
support archive file with the email, click Attach Support.zip, then click OK. (For more information
about event levels, see What Do the Event Status Icons Mean? on page 123; for more information
about the support archive file, see Creating a Support Archive File on page 148.)

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Repeat this step to add more email recipients.
Each recipient appears in the Email Notifications Manager, as shown below:

9. When you're done adding email recipients, click OK.
The email recipients and your SMTP server settings are saved.
10. Repeat the steps in this section for each system you want to monitor with email notifications, thencontinue by sending test messages to all recipients (see Sending a Test Message on page 130).

11.3.2

Sending a Test Message
To ensure that an email recipient is receiving event notifications, you can send them a test message.
To send a test message:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

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3. When the System settings window opens, click the Email tab.
The Email Notifications Manager opens.
4. Select one or more email addresses to send a test message to. To select all addresses, click the checkbox at the top of the list, as shown in the figure below.

5. Click Send Test Email.
If the test is successful, the email recipient(s) receive the test message. If the test fails:• Ensure that the recipient's email address is correct. (See Modifying or Removing an Email
Recipient on page 131.)• Ensure that your SMTP server address is correct. (See Modifying Email Server Settings on page132.)
• Try sending the test message again.

11.3.3Modifying or Removing an Email RecipientThis section describes how to modify a recipient's email address, change the types of event notifications
the recipient receives, or stop sending email notifications to a recipient from a selected system.
To modify recipient information or to stop sending email notifications to a recipient:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

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3. When the System settings window opens, click the Email tab.
The Email Notifications Manager opens.
4. Select the email recipient you want to modify or remove, then:• Click Modify Email, change the recipient information, as needed, then click Modify to save yourchanges.
Or,• Click Delete Email to remove the recipient from the notification list.
The changes become effective immediately.
5. Click OK to close the Email Notifications Manager.

11.3.4

Modifying Email Server Settings
You can modify these email server settings, if required:• Address and port of your SMTP server• ‘From’ address that will appear in email notifications• Secure server login credentials
To modify email server settings:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

3. When the System settings window opens, click the SMTP tab.
4. Edit the SMTP server settings as required, then click OK to save your changes.

11.3.5

Disabling Email Notifications
This section describes how to disable email notifications on a selected system.
Note: If you disable email notifications, events continue to be generated but email messages
won't be sent.
To disable email notifications:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

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3. When the System settings window opens, click the SMTP tab.
4. Clear the Enable Email Notifications check box.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

11.4

Monitoring Advanced Statistics about Activity in Your Storage SpaceYou can set maxView Storage Manager to log advanced I/O and usage statistics about the RAID controllers,
hard drives, SSDs, and logical drives in your storage space, including maxCache caching statistics.
Follow the instructions in this section to:• Enable statistics logging on a controller (see Setting up Statistics Logging on page 133).
• View the advanced statistics for a controller, hard drive, SSD, logical drive, or maxCache Device(see Viewing Advanced Statistics on page 134).
• Reset the statistics counters (see Resetting the Statistics Counters on page 135).

11.4.1

Setting up Statistics Logging
To set up statistics logging for the controllers in your storage space:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. In the Advanced Statistics drop-down list, select Enabled.

4. Click OK.

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11.4.2

Viewing Advanced Statistics
Use the Statistics Viewer to view the advanced statistics for the controllers, hard drives, SSDs, logicaldrives, and maxCache Devices in your storage space. To view the statistics for a component, select it in
the Enterprise View then, on the Storage Dashboard, click the Advanced Statistics tab. See Advanced
Statistics Descriptions on page 174 for a complete list of Advanced Statistics descriptions.

The statistics listed vary, depending on which type of component you select. The following example
shows the advanced statistics for a controller (on the left) and the maxCache statistics for a logical drive,
including cache hits and misses and a histogram of cache hit distribution.

Controller Statistics

maxCache Statistics
for a Logical Drive

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11.4.3

Resetting the Statistics Counters
In maxView Storage Manager, advanced statistics are cumulative. That is, the statistics continue toaccumulate until you reset the counters for a controller to zero.
To reset the statistics counters for a controller:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select the controller you want to reset.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Set Properties.

The Set Properties window opens.
3. Click the Reset Now button, then click Apply.

The statistics counters are reset.

11.5

Changing an Operating System's Event Log Setting
In addition to the maxView Storage Manager event log, all Warning- and Error-level events on a system
are recorded in its operating system event log. You can select the type of events that are recorded, or
you can disable operating system event logging.
To change or disable operating system event logging on a system:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

The System Settings window opens.
3. In the Save Events to OS Log drop-down list, select the type of events that you want to log, thenclick OK.

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4. Restart maxView Storage Manager to apply the new setting.

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12

Managing Your Storage SpaceThis section describes the advanced features in maxView Storage Manager that help you manage yourstorage space. You can:
•
•
•
•
•

12.1

Deploy servers with a server template file
Manage remote systems and auto-discovery tasks with the Remote System wizard
Clear a controller configuration
Change the Web Server port
Grant Standard users Admin Privilege

Deploying Servers
maxView Storage Manager helps you deploy servers in your storage space without configuring eachserver manually. You can select an optimally configured server in your storage space, save its configuration
to a sever template file, then duplicate the configuration on servers throughout your network.
The basic procedure works like this:
1. Choose the system you want to use as the model for other servers in your storage space.
2. Save the configuration to a server template file.
3. Log in to each remote system in your storage space and restore the configuration from the server
template file.
The following sections provide details on each of these steps.

12.1.1Creating a Server Template File
This procedure saves the configuration of a system that you want to use as a model for other servers
in your storage space. It creates a server template file in XML format, which defines the controller
type(s), operational settings, physical drive size, logical drive size, RAID level, and more. The default
name of the server template file is ControllerConf.xml.
To create a server template file:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click Manage Configuration.

The Manage Configuration wizard opens.
3. Select Save Configuration, then click Next.

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4. Review the Summary information, then click Finish.
5. When the File Download window opens, click Save File, then click OK.
Note: The procedure for downloading and saving the template file may vary, depending on
the Web browser.
6. Continue with Duplicating the Server Template to deploy the same configuration on multiple systems
in your storage space.

12.1.2

Duplicating the Server Template
When you are ready to duplicate the server template on other systems in your storage space, you canrestore the configuration from the server template file.
Keep in mind that:• The server template file (default, ControllerConf.xml) is editable. For example, you may needto change the disk drive capacity or logical drive size to accommodate the differences on eachmachine.
• Drives from the same vendor with slightly different capacities (147 GB vs. 150 GB, for instance) areconsidered interchangeable. If the logical drive capacity changes as a result of the size difference,
it is scaled accordingly. For example, if the new drives have 4% more capacity due to vendor ormodel changes, then all logical drives are increased in size by 4%.
To duplicate the server template on another system:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click Manage Configuration.

The Manage Configuration wizard opens.
3. Select Restore Configuration, then click Next.

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4. In the Configuration File panel, click Choose, navigate the file system to your server template file,then click Open. When the file name appears in the "selected file" area (circled in blue in figure
below), click Upload, wait for the upload to complete, then click Next.

5. In the Restore Options panel, choose a Force option if a controller does not support all of the featuresof the template controller, or if the drive capacity on the new system does not match the configurationin the server template file. The default is Force None. You can choose to:
Options
Description
Force All

To force deployment of all features

Force Size

To force deployment of just the logical drives

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6. To apply the configuration based on SlotID rather than DeviceID, click the Slot ID check box.
7. Click Next, review the summary information, then click Finish.
maxView Storage Manager duplicates the system configuration on the new controller.

12.2

Managing Remote Systems
maxView Storage Manager has a wizard to help you manage the remote systems in your storage space.
The wizard simplifies the process of connecting to remote systems from the local system and adding
them to the Enterprise View.
When you start maxView Storage Manager, an “auto-discovery” task runs in the background, continuously
searching your network for systems running the maxView Redfish server. The wizard presents a list of
discovered systems (see figure below). You can select systems to add to the Enterprise View when you
start maxView Storage Manager; add systems manually if they are not discovered automatically; andremove systems that you no longer want to manage.

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Adding Remote Systems with the Wizard
For basic instructions for adding remote systems with the wizard, see Logging into Remote Systems
from the Local System. Once you add a system in the wizard, it automatically appears in the Enterprise
View each time you start maxView Storage Manager. You can work with a remote system's controllers,
disk drives, and logical drives as if they were part of your local system.
Note: The wizard adds all selected systems to the Enterprise view even if login fails on somesystems. For those systems, try running the wizard again with different login credentials.

12.2.2

Manually Adding a Remote System
You can add a remote system manually if auto-discovery fails to find the system on your network.
To manually add a remote system:
1. On the ribbon, in the Home group, click Add System.

2. When the Add System window opens, click System Not Present.
The Add System Manually window opens.
3. Enter the system name and login credentials in the space provided. Select the Management Protocol
from the drop-down list and specify the Port number, then click Add.

The window closes and the system appears in the discovered systems list in the Add System window.
4. Select the system, then click Add.
maxView Storage Manager connects to the remote system and adds it to the Enterprise View.

12.2.3

Removing a Remote System
If you no longer want to manage a remote system, you can remove it from the Enterprise View.
Note: Removing a remote system from the Enterprise View does not take it off-line.
To remove a remote system:
1. On the ribbon, in the Home group, click Delete System.

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Managing Your Storage SpaceThe Delete System window opens.
2. Select the system(s) you want to remove. To select all systems in the list, click the checkbox at the
top of the window.

3. Click Delete.
maxView Storage Manager removes the remote system(s) from the Enterprise View.

12.2.4

Changing the Auto-Discovery Settings
Auto-discovery, in maxView Storage Manager, is enabled by default. The auto-discovery task runs in
the background each time maxView Storage Manager is started. You can disable auto-discovery if
desired, and configure the auto-discovery settings described below.
To change the auto-discovery settings on a system:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

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Managing Your Storage SpaceThe System Settings window opens for that system. The auto-discovery settings appear at the bottom.

3. To enable/disable auto-discovery, select Enable Auto Discovery. (This option toggles between
enabled and disabled.)
4. Update the auto-discovery settings. In the Auto Discovery Interval field, enter the number of seconds
between each auto-discovery check. This number determines how often maxView Storage Manager
checks for changes in remote system resources.
5. Click OK to save the changes.

12.3

Clearing the Controller Configuration
You can clear the configuration of a controller to accommodate changes in your storage space. For
example, you may want to clear a controller if you upgraded your hardware or if you plan to move thecontroller to another machine. Clearing the configuration destroys the controller meta-data, including
array and logical device information, partition information, maxCache information, and so on. Once you
clear the controller configuration, your online data is no longer accessible.
Caution: When you clear a controller configuration, you lose all data stored on that controller.
Be sure you no longer need the data on the controller before proceeding.
To clear the controller configuration:
1. In the Enterprise View, select a system, then select a controller on that system.
2. On the ribbon, in the Controller group, click Manage Configuration.

The Manage Configuration wizard opens.
3. Select Clear Configuration, then click Next.

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4. Review the Summary information, then click Finish.

12.4

Changing the Web Server PortYou can change the port used by the maxView Storage Manager Web Server, if needed, to accommodatechanges in your network or IT requirements. The Web Server can use any open port for communication.
The default port is 8443. If you change the port, you must restart maxView Storage Manager for thechange to take effect.
To change the Web Server port:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

When the System Settings window opens, click the Web Server tab.

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3. Enter the new Web Server port. Optionally, click Secured Protocol to enable/disable securecommunication over https.
4. Click Apply.
5. Restart maxView Storage Manager.

12.5

Granting Standard Users Admin Privilege
Normally, Standard users have restricted access to your storage space, with limited ability to perform
non-destructive operations in maxView Storage Manager (see Working in maxView Storage Manager
on page 25). You can grant Standard users Admin Privilege to accommodate changes in your system
policies or IT requirements.
To grant Admin privilege to Standard users:
1. Select the Enterprise View node.
2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click System Settings.

The System Settings window opens.
3. Click the Allow Standard User as Admin check box, then click Apply.
4. Restart the webserver.

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13

Solving Problems
This section describes how to troubleshoot the components in your storage space.

13.1

General Troubleshooting Tips
If you experience problems installing or using maxView Storage Manager, try these troubleshooting tips
first:• Ensure that all managed systems are powered on and that you are logged in to any remote systems
that you want to manage. (See Logging into Remote Systems from the Local System on page 35
for more information.)• Check all cable connections.
• Try uninstalling and reinstalling maxView Storage Manager.
• Check the Release Notes for compatibility issues and known problems.

13.2

Identifying a Failed or Failing Component
When you receive notice of a Warning- or Error-level event, use maxView Storage Manager's rapid fault
isolation feature to quickly identify the source of the problem.
For instance, in this example, a disk drive has failed. To find the failed disk drive, expand the tree in theEnterprise View, look for the orange and red warning and error icons, then continue tracing the problem
to its source.

Error is on local system...

...on Controller 2...affecting two Logical Drives...and a physical device in Slot 2 in Enclosure 0.
Click Slot 2 to check the device status on the Storage
Dashboard and continue tracing the fault to its source...

...a disk drive failure.

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13.3

Recovering from a Disk Drive FailureThis section describes how to recover when a disk drive or SSD fails:• If the logical drive is protected by a hot spare, see Failed Disk Drive Protected by a Hot Spare on
page 147.
• If the logical drive is not protected by a hot spare, see Failed Disk Drive Not Protected by a Hot
Spare.
• If there is a disk drive failure in more than one logical drive simultaneously, see Failure in Multiple
Logical Drives Simultaneously on page 147.
• If it is a RAID 0 logical drive, see Disk Drive Failure in a RAID 0 Logical Drive on page 148.
• If multiple disk drives fail within the same logical drive, see Forcing a Logical Drive with Multiple
Drive Failures Back Online on page 148.

13.3.1

Failed Disk Drive Protected by a Hot Spare
If a disk drive in a logical drive fails and that logical drive is protected by a hot spare, the hot spare is
automatically incorporated into the logical drive and takes over for the failed drive.
For example, if a disk drive fails in a RAID 5 logical drive, the logical drive is automatically rebuilt, withits data reconstructed using the hot spare in place of the failed drive. You can access the logical drive
while it's rebuilding.
To recover from the failure:
1. Remove and replace the failed disk drive, following the manufacturer's instructions.
2. If the logical drive is protected with a dedicated hot spare, data is moved back to its original location
once the controller detects that the failed drive has been replaced. Once the data is copied back,the hot spare becomes a permanent part of the array on failure of array. No further action isnecessary.
If the logical drive is protected with an auto-replace hot spare, the spare becomes a permanent partof the array. You must designate a new hot spare to protect the logical drive(s) on that array.
See Protecting Your Data on page 51 for more information about managing spares.

13.3.2Failed Disk Drive Not Protected by a Hot Spare
If a disk drive in a logical drive fails when the logical drive is not protected by a hot spare, remove andreplace the failed disk drive. The controller detects the new disk drive and begins to rebuild it. You canaccess the logical drive while it's rebuilding.
For example, when one of the disk drives fails in a RAID 1 logical drive, the logical drive is not automaticallyrebuilt. The failed disk drive must be removed and replaced before the logical drive can be rebuilt.
If the controller fails to rebuild the logical drive, check that the cables, disk drives, and controllers areproperly installed and connected. Then, if necessary, follow the instructions in Rebuilding Logical Drives.

13.3.3

Failure in Multiple Logical Drives Simultaneously
If a disk drive fails in more than one logical drive at the same time (one failure per logical drive), andthe logical drives have hot spares protecting them, the controller rebuilds the logical drives with theselimitations:• A hot spare must be at least as big as the smallest disk drive in the array that it might replace.
• Failed disk drives are replaced with hot spares in the order in which they failed. (The logical drivethat includes the disk drive that failed first is rebuilt first, assuming an appropriate hot spare isavailable—see the previous bullet.)
Note: If the number of disk drive failures exceeds the number of hot spares, see Failed Disk Drive
Not Protected by a Hot Spare..

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13.3.4

Disk Drive Failure in a RAID 0 Logical Drive
Because RAID 0 volumes do not include redundancy, if a disk drive fails in a RAID 0 logical drive, thedata cannot be recovered.
Correct the cause of the failure or replace the failed disk drives. Then, restore your data from backup,
if available. To protect the RAID 0 logical drive, set the spare activation mode to "predictive".

13.3.5

Forcing a Logical Drive with Multiple Drive Failures Back Online
If multiple disk drives fail in the same logical drive, you may be able to recover the data by forcing the
logical drive back online. For instance, if two drives fail in a RAID 5, forcing it online may allow you toaccess the data, depending on which disk drives failed.
Caution: This procedure is not guaranteed to successfully recover your logical drive. The surest
way to recover your data is to restore the failed logical drive from backup.
To force a logical drive online:
1. In the Enterprise view, select the failed logical drive (see Identifying a Failed or Failing Component
on page 146).
2. On the ribbon, in the Logical Device group, click Force Online.

3. Click Force, then click OK.

13.4

Rebuilding Logical Drives
A hot-swap rebuild occurs when a controller detects that a failed disk drive in a logical drive has been
removed and then reinserted.
Note: You can use the Heal Array operation as an alternative to a hot-swap rebuild if you have asufficient number of Ready physical drives of the same type in your storage space. See Healing
an Array on page 75.
To start a hot-swap rebuild:
1. Following manufacturer's instructions, gently pull the failed disk drive from the server without fully
removing it, then wait for it to spin down fully before continuing.
2. If there is nothing wrong with the disk drive, reinstall it, following manufacturer's instructions.
If necessary, replace the failed disk drive with a new disk drive of equal or larger size.
3. The controller detects the reinserted (or new) disk drive and begins to rebuild the logical drive.

13.5

Creating a Support Archive FileYour support representative might ask you to create a support archive file to help diagnose a problem
with your system. Saved information includes device logs, drive logs, event logs, error logs, controller
logs, history logs, and SMART statistics.
To create the support archive file:
1. In the Enterprise View, select the system on which the problem is occurring. (Look for the orangeor red error icons in the Enterprise View.)

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2. On the ribbon, in the System group, click Archive Management.

The Archive Management window opens.

3. Select the logs you want to save.
4. Click Save.
5. When the File Download window opens, click OK.
6. In the Archive Management window, click Clear All Logs to clear, or Cancel to exit.

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Silent Installation on Windows and LinuxThis appendix describes how to complete a silent installation of maxView Storage Manager on Windows
and Linux systems. A silent installation uses command line parameters to complete an installation
without messages or user interaction.
Note: Silent installation on Linux is supported on Red Hat, CentOS, and SLES only.

A.1

Completing a Silent Installation
This section describes the silent installation process for Windows and Linux.

A.1.1

Windows Silent Installation
To complete a silent installation on Windows:
1. Open a command prompt window, then change to the directory where you downloaded the Windows
setup program (see Downloading the Installer Package for details).
2. Run the silent installation from the command line:
Options
Description
Windows 64-bit

setup_asm_x64.exe /s /v"/qn <properties>"

where <properties> is one or more of the options listed in Switches, Properties, and Values on page
151.
Separate properties with spaces and enclose all properties after /v in quotes, with NO leading space.
Separate feature names for the ADDLOCAL property with commas.

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A.1.1.1

Switches, Properties, and Values
This section describes the command line options for Windows silent installation. These options are notsupported on Linux.
Switch or Property

Description/s (required)Suppress dialog boxes.

/v (required)

Pass command line parameters to the setup program.

/qn

Suppress progress bar during installation.

/qb

Show progress bar during installation.

/lv* <path> (optional)

Generate verbose installation log at <path>.
Example: /lv* c:\pmc.log

INSTALLDIR (optional)

Specifies the installation path. If specified, the installation path must be enclosed
in escaped quotation marks.
Example: INSTALLDIR=\"C:\Program Files\Adaptec\maxView
Storage Manager\"Note: The default installation path is "C:\Program Files\Adaptec\maxView
Storage Manager".

ADDLOCAL (optional)

•

•
•
•

ALL (default)—Installs the maxView Storage Manager Console (GUI and Redfish
server), and ARCCONF (CLI). If you specify ALL, do not specify any of the following values.
ARCCONF—Installs the Command Line Interface tool (ARCCONF)
RestfulServer—Installs the maxView Storage Manager Redfish Server
Console—Installs the maxView Storage Manager GUI
Note: Use commas to separate multiple values.

A.1.2

Linux Silent Installation
To complete a silent installation on Red Hat Linux, CentOS, or SLES:
1. Open a shell window, then change to the directory where you downloaded the Linux installer package(see Downloading the Installer PackageDownloading the Installer Package for details).
2. Run the silent installation from the command line using one of these commands(x.xx-xxxxx=version-build number):
Options
Description
Linux 64-bit./StorMan-X.XX-XXXXX.x86_64.bin --silent

Note: Linux systems also support silent upgrade and silent removal. See Example Command
Line Installations on page 152.

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A.2

Example Command Line Installations
This section shows typical command line installations for Windows and Linux. In the Linux examples,<x.xx>-<xxxxx>=version-build number.
• Normal Windows Installation:
setup_asm_x64.exe /s /v"/qb /lv* c:\pmc.log"• Install to Specific Location on Windows:
setup_asm_x64.exe /s /v"/qb INSTALLDIR=\"C:\Program Files\Adaptec\maxView Storage
Manager\""• Install Specific Feature on Windows:
setup_asm_x64.exe /s /v"/qb ADDLOCAL=ARCCONF /lv* c:\pmc.log"• Normal Linux Installation:./StorMan-<x.xx>-<xxxxx>.x86_64.bin --silent• Linux Software Upgrade:./StorMan-<x.xx>-<xxxxx>.x86_64.bin --upgrade• Linux uninstallation (removal):./StorMan-<x.xx>-<xxxxx>.x86_64.bin --remove

Alternative: rpm –e StorMan

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B

Using the maxView Plugin for VMware vSphere Web Client
The maxView plugin for VMware vSphere Web Client is a monitoring tool that lets you explore yourstorage resources directly from the vSphere Web client, without using maxView Storage Manager as aseparate Web GUI. It replicates most of the information on the maxView Storage Manager Dashboard(see The Storage Dashboard) for the controllers, logical devices, physical devices, enclosures, and systems(hosts) in your storage space. It offers a vSphere "look and feel" and native navigation.
Note: The maxView plugin is a monitoring tool only. To modify your storage space, such as creating
or deleting a logical drive or designating a hot spare, you must use the maxView Storage Manager
GUI or CLI (ARCCONF).

B.1

Installing the maxView Plugin for vSphere Web Client
Follow the instructions in this section to install the maxView plugin for vSphere Web Client on a Windows
x64 system.
Note: Before you begin, ensure that VMware vSphere Web Client is already installed on the
Windows host. You need administrator privileges to install the maxView plugin.
1. Download the setup program for the maxView vSphere plugin from the Web site (see Downloading
the Installer Package).
2. Double-click the setup program:
Options
Description
VMware ESXi 6.0 setup_maxView_VWC6_Plugin_x64.exe
client
VMware ESXi 6.5 setup_maxView_VWC65_Plugin_x64.exe
clientThe Installation wizard opens.
3. Click Next to begin the installation, accept the terms in the license agreement, then click Next.
4. Enter the following configuration settings for your VMware ESXi server, then click Next:a) Hypervisor IP addressb) Hypervisor user namec) Hypervisor password

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5. In the Features screen, ensure that maxView VWC Plugin is selected. Optionally, select CLI Tools.
Then click Next.

6. Click Install to begin the installation.
When the installation is complete, you receive a confirmation message that the plugin is installed.

B.2

Starting the maxView Plugin for vSphere Web Client
1. Launch the VMware vSphere Web Client: double-click the vSphere desktop icon, then enter yourlogin credentials.
2. In the Monitoring section on the vSphere Home screen (on the right), click the maxView icon; theController information screen opens.

3. Alternatively, in the Navigation pane (on the left), click vCenter, scroll down to the maxView tree,
then select a resource category, such as Controller, Logical Device, Physical Device, or Enclosure, toopen the information screen for that item.

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B.3

Monitoring maxView Resources in vSphere Web Client
For each maxView resource in your storage space─controller, logical device, physical device, and soon─you can view summary information about the resource (or "object") and view its related resources,
such as the physical devices in a logical drive, the logical drives on a controller, or the controllers on ahost.
For example, the figure below shows the summary information screen for a logical drive, with expandable
information fields containing general information about the logical drive, its settings, and resources.
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Click on the Related Objects tab (next to the Summary tab) to show the physical devices comprising
the logical drive, the logical drive's controller, or a filtered list of events for that logical drive.
Button bar provides quick accessto related object information

To drill down further, click on any item in the related objects table, below the button bar. For example,
click on a physical device in the table shown below to view summary information for that device, its
related objects, and so on.

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When you're ready to monitor a different resource, click the resource category in the Navigation pane
(on the left). Or click on the History window one or more times (in the upper-left corner of the vSphereclient) to return to the vCenter top-level screen; then select a resource in the maxView tree.

Once you return to the top-level screen or choose a resource in the Navigation pane, the procedure forviewing the resource summary and drilling down for more detail is identical for all maxView resourcesin your storage space.
For more information about the types of information provided on the summary screen and related
objects screens for each maxView resource, see Viewing Component Status in the Storage Dashboard.

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C

Using maxView Storage Manager with HBAs and Non-RAID ModeControllers
maxView Storage Manager allows you to manage storage resources on Microsemi Adaptec Host Bus
Adapters (HBAs) and RAID controllers operating in HBA mode (see Changing the Connector Operating
Mode on page 114). In the Enterprise View, maxView Storage Manager displays HBAs and non-RAID
mode controllers in the controller list. Drives on the HBA are surfaced to the OS as Raw devices; thatis, storage devices without Microsemi Adaptec RAID meta-data.
Note: maxView Storage Manager identifies the drive as a Raw device even if it has an OS partition.

Controller 1 is an HBA...disk drives and SSDs
on the HBA are surfaced
as Raw devices

With HBAs and non-RAID mode controllers, maxView Storage Manager limits access to features thatare not used to configure and maintain RAID volumes (see table below). For example, on the Ribbon,
you can use the options in the Controller group to manage your controller, but not options in the Arraygroup or Logical Device group (because HBAs don't support logical volumes); similarly, you can use
options in the System group to upgrade the controller firmware, but not the Spare Management option
in the Physical Devices group (because HBAs don't support spares); and so on.
RibbonOptions for HBAs / Non-RAID Mode Controllers

System Group

Firmware Update

Controller Group

Rescan, Properties (non-RAID mode controllers only)

Array Group

None

Logical Device GroupNone

Physical Devices Group

Force Offline, Uninitialize, Locate

maxCache GroupNone

The Storage Dashboard provides detailed information about the HBAs and non-RAID mode controllers
in your storage space (similar to its function for RAID controllers), including the enclosures, disk drives,
and SSDs connected to them (for more information about the dashboard, see Viewing Component
Status in the Storage Dashboard).

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Tabs on the dashboard provide quick access to summary information, controller properties, resources,
and the connector configuration. The Events tab shows filtered events for the device (see Viewing
Activity Status in the Event Log on page 122).
The following table lists the categories and types of information provided on the Storage Dashboard
for HBAs and connected devices.
Component

Categories

ExamplesController

Summary
Properties
Resources
Connectors

Model, WWN, key features, firmware version, controller mode, status, number
and type of physical devices.
Slot, driver version, bus type and speed, number of ports, settings (mostly
disabled)
Physical drive assignments by connector, including protocol, state, free andused space
Connector name, number of devices, functional mode

Physical Devices Summary(node)

Physical drive assignments by connector, including protocol, state, free andused space

Connector

Summary

Functional mode, number of devices

Enclosure

Summary

Enclosure type, vendor, model, ID, channel, firmware version, status
Fan, power supply, and temperature status (see Monitoring Enclosure Statuson page 126)
Slot allocation and usage

Hard drives and Summary
SSDs
Resources
SMART

Drive type (hard drive, SSD), vendor, interface (SAS/SATA), and model
Block size, total size, rotational speed
Boot type
Firmware version, WWN, transfer speed
Free space, used space, reserved space
SMART statistics (see Viewing SMART Statistics on page 126)

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D

Selecting the Best RAID Level
When you create logical drives in maxView Storage Manager, you can assign a RAID level to protect
your data.
Each RAID level offers a unique combination of performance and redundancy. RAID levels also vary by
the number of disk drives they support.
This section provides a comparison of all the RAID levels supported by maxView Storage Manager, andprovides a basic overview of each to help you select the best level of protection for your storage system.
Note: Not all RAID levels are supported by all controllers. See the Release Notes for supported
RAID levels on specific controller models.

D.1

Comparing RAID Levels
Use this table to select the RAID levels that are most appropriate for the logical drives on your storage
space, based on the number of available disk drives and your requirements for performance and reliability.
RAID Level

Redundancy

Disk Drive

Write Performance

Built-in Hot
Spare

Minimum

Usage

Read Performance

Disk Drives

RAID 0

No

100%

***

***

No

2

RAID 1

Yes

50%

**

**

No

2

RAID 1(ADM)

Yes

33%

**

**

No

3

RAID 1E

Yes

50%

**

**

No

3

RAID 10

Yes

50%

**

**

No

4

RAID 10(ADM) Yes

33%

**

**

No

6

RAID 5Yes

67 – 94%

***

*

No

3

RAID 50

Yes

67 – 94%

***

*

No

6

RAID 6

Yes

50 – 88%

**

*

No

4

RAID 60Yes

50 – 88%

**

*

No

8

Disk drive usage, read performance, and write performance depend on the number of drives in the
logical drive. In general, the more drives, the better the performance.

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D.2

Non-redundant Logical Drives (RAID 0)
A logical drive with RAID 0 includes one or more disk drives and provides data striping, where data is
distributed evenly across the disk drives in equal-sized sections. However, RAID 0 logical drives do not
maintain redundant data, so they offer no data protection.
Compared to an equal-sized group of independent disks, a RAID 0 logical drives provides improved I/O
performance.
Drive segment size is limited to the size of the smallest disk drive in the logical drive. For instance, anarray with two 250 GB disk drives and two 400 GB disk drives can create a RAID 0 drive segment of 250
GB, for a total of 1000 GB for the volume, as shown in this figure.

Disk Drive 1

250 GB

Disk Drive 2

250 GB

Disk Drive 3

400 GB

Drive Segment Size
(Smallest Disk Drive)

Disk Drive 1

1 5 . . . 997

Disk Drive 2

2 6 . . . 998

Disk Drive 3

3 7 . . . 999
Unused Space = 150 GB

Disk Drive 4
Disk Drive 4

Disk Drives in Logical DriveD.3

4 8 . . . 1000

400 GB

Unused Space = 150 GB
RAID 0 Logical Drive = 1000 GB

RAID 1 Logical Drives
A RAID 1 logical drive is built from two disk drives, where one disk drive is a mirror of the other (thesame data is stored on each disk drive). Compared to independent disk drives, RAID 1 logical drives
provide improved performance, with up to twice the read rate and an equal write rate of single disks.
However, capacity is only 50 percent of independent disk drives.
If the RAID 1 logical drive is built from different- sized disk drives, the free space, drive segment size is
the size of the smaller disk drive, as shown in this figure.

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Drive Segment Size
(Smallest Disk Drive)

Disk Drive 1

Disk Drive 2

250 GB

400 GB

Disk Drive 1

1 – 250

Disk Drive 2

1 – 250
Unused Space = 150 GB
RAID 1 Logical Drive = 250 GB

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

D.4

RAID 1 (ADM) Logical Drives
RAID 1 Advanced Data Mirroring, or ADM, is similar to RAID 1, but creates fault tolerance by maintaining
redundant copies of data using three disk drives, rather than two. All three drives contain mirrored
duplicated user data.
If a drive fails, the remaining drives provide backup copies of the files and normal system operations
are not interrupted.

Drive Segment Size (Smallest Disk Drive)
Disk Drive 1

Disk Drive 2

Disk Drive 3

250 GB

Disk Drive 1

1 - 250

Disk Drive 2

1 - 250

Disk Drive 3

1 - 250250 GB

Unused Space = 150 GB

400 GB

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

RAID 1(ADM) Logical Drive = 250 GB

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D.5

RAID 10 Logical Drives
A RAID 10 logical drive is built from two or more equal-sized RAID 1 logical drives. Data in a RAID 10
logical drive is both striped and mirrored. Mirroring provides data protection, and striping improves
performance.
Drive segment size is limited to the size of the smallest disk drive in the logical drive. For instance, anarray with two 250 GB disk drives and two 400 GB disk drives can create two mirrored drive segmentsof 250 GB, for a total of 500 GB for the logical drive, as shown in this figure.

Disk Drive 1

250 GB

Disk Drive 2

250 GB

Disk Drive 3

Drive Segment Size
(Smallest Disk Drive)

400 GB

Disk Drive 1

1 3. . . 499

Disk Drive 2

2 4. . . 500

Disk Drive 3

1 3. . . 499
Unused Space = 150 GB

Disk Drive 4
Disk Drive 4

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

D.6

2 4

. . . 500

400 GB

Unused Space = 150 GB
RAID 10 Logical Drive = 500 GB

RAID 10 (ADM) Logical Drives
RAID 10 Advanced Data Mirroring, or ADM, is similar to RAID 10, but creates fault tolerance by maintaining
redundant copies of data using at least six disk drives. Data is striped across two or more sets of RAID
1 (ADM) drives for rapid access.
If a drive fails, the remaining drives provide backup copies of the files and normal system operations
are not interrupted.

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D.7

RAID 5 Logical Drives
A RAID 5 logical drive is built from a minimum of three disk drives, and uses data striping and parity
data to provide redundancy. Parity data provides data protection, and striping improves performance.
Parity data is an error-correcting redundancy that's used to re-create data if a disk drive fails. In RAID
5 logical drives, parity data (represented by Ps in the next figure) is striped evenly across the disk drives
with the stored data.
Drive segment size is limited to the size of the smallest disk drive in the logical drive. For instance, anarray with two 250 GB disk drives and two 400 GB disk drives can contain 750 GB of stored data and
250 GB of parity data, as shown in this figure.

Disk Drive 1

250 GB

Disk Drive 2

250 GB

Disk Drive 3

400 GB

Drive Segment Size
(Smallest Disk Drive)

Disk Drive 1

1 4

.. .

P

Disk Drive 2

2 5. . . 748

Disk Drive 3

3 P. . . 749
Unused Space = 150 GB

Disk Drive 4
Disk Drive 4

P 6. . . 750

400 GB

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

Unused Space = 150 GB
RAID 5 Logical Drive = 750 GB plus Parity

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D.8

RAID 50 Logical Drive
A RAID 50 logical drive is built from six to forty-eight disk drives configured as two or more RAID 5 arrays,and stripes stored data and parity data across all disk drives in both RAID 5 logical drives. (For more
information, see RAID 5 Logical Drives.)
The parity data provides data protection, and striping improves performance. RAID 50 logical drives
also provide high data transfer speeds.
Drive segment size is limited to the size of the smallest disk drive in the logical drive. For example, three
250 GB disk drives and three 400 GB disk drives comprise two equal-sized RAID 5 logical drives with 500
GB of stored data and 250 GB of parity data. The RAID 50 logical drive can therefore contain 1000 GB(2 x 500 GB) of stored data and 500 GB of parity data.
In this figure, P represents the distributed parity data.

RAID 50
Logical Drive=
1000 GBplus Parity

RAID 5A

Each RAID 5 Logical Drive has
500 GB Data Storage
250 GB Parity Data

1, 5, P3, P, 9P, 7, 11

Drive 1250 GB

Drive 2250 GB

Drive 3250 GBRAID 5
B

2, 6, P4, P, 10P, 8, 12

Drive 4400 GB

Drive 5400 GB

Drive 6400 GB

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D.9

RAID 6 Logical Drives
A RAID 6 logical drive—also known as dual drive failure protection—is similar to a RAID 5 logical drive
because it uses data striping and parity data to provide redundancy. However, RAID 6 logical drives
include two independent sets of parity data instead of one. Both sets of parity data are striped separately
across all disk drives in the logical drive.
RAID 6 logical drives provide extra protection for your data because they can recover from two
simultaneous disk drive failures. However, the extra parity calculation slows performance (compared
to RAID 5 logical drives).
RAID 6 logical drives must be built from at least four disk drives. Maximum stripe size depends on thenumber of disk drives in the logical drive.

Disk Drive 1

250 GB

Disk Drive 2

250 GB

Disk Drive 3

400 GB

Drive Segment Size
(Smallest Disk Drive)

Disk Drive 1

1 P1 . . . P2

Disk Drive 2

2 P2 . . . 449

Disk Drive 3

P1 3 . . . P1
Unused Space = 150 GB

Disk Drive 4
Disk Drive 4

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

D.10

P2 4 . . . 500

400 GB

Unused Space = 150 GB

Based on the drive segment sizes used:
RAID 6 Logical Drive = 500 GB plus parity(P1 & P2)

RAID 60 Logical Drives
Similar to a RAID 50 logical drive (see RAID 50 Logical Drives), a RAID 60 logical drive—also known as
dual drive failure protection—is built from eight disk drives configured as two or more RAID 6 logicaldrives, and stripes stored data and two sets of parity data across all disk drives in both RAID 6 logicaldrives.
Two sets of parity data provide enhanced data protection, and striping improves performance. RAID 60
logical drives also provide high data transfer speeds.

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Icons At-a-Glance
The following is a complete list of icons used in maxView Storage Manager. It contains the icons on the
ribbon, in the Enterprise View, and on tabs and dialog boxes.
See Overview of the Main Window for more information.

Ribbon Home Icons
Icon

Description
Remote system add
Remote system delete

Ribbon System Icons
Icon

Description
System settings
Manage configuration (save/restore)
Firmware update
Save archive fileRibbon Controller Icons
Icon

Description
Controller settings
Manage configuration (clear)
Controller rescan
maxCrypto settings

Ribbon Array Icons
Icon

Description
Array settings
Array modify

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9168

Icons At-a-Glance

Icon

Description
Array split/mirror
Array locate
Array delete

Ribbon Logical Device Icons
Icon

Description
Logical drive settings
Logical drive create
Logical drive expand/migrate
Logical drive locate
Logical drive delete
Logical drive force online

Ribbon Physical Device Icons
Icon

Description
Physical disk properties
Assign/unassign physical disk as spare
Force physical disk offline
Physical disk secure erase
Physical disk locate

Ribbon maxCache Icons
Icon

Description
maxCache Device create
maxCache Device set properties
maxCache Device locate
maxCache Device delete

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9169

Icons At-a-Glance

Icon

Description
maxCache Device disable

Enterprise View Icons
Icon

Description
Enterprise View
Local or remote system
Controller
Enclosure
Logical disk
Logical disks
Physical disk
Hard disk drive
Solid State drive
SMR drive
Physical disks
Enclosure
Connector or other physical device

Enterprise View Status Icons
Icon

Description
Enterprise OK
Enterprise errorEnterprise no accessEnterprise warning

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9170

Icons At-a-GlanceEnterprise View System Icons
Icon

Description
System OK
System error
System missing
System no access
System warning

Enterprise View Connector Icons
Icon

Description
Connector OK
Connector failed
Connector missing
Connector warning

Enterprise View Controller Icons
Icon

Description
Controller OK
Controller failed
Controller missing
Controller warning
Controller encryptedEnterprise View Enclosure Icons
Icon

Description
Enclosure Management OK
Enclosure Management failed

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9171Icons At-a-Glance

Icon

Description
Enclosure missing
Enclosure Management warning

Enterprise View Physical Disk Icons
Icon

Description
Physical disk OK
Physical disks OK
Physical disks failure
Physical disks missing
Physical disks warning
Physical disk encryptedEnterprise View MaxCache Device Icons
Icon

Description
maxCache Device error
maxCache Device missing
maxCache Device OK
maxCache Device warning

Tab Icons
Icon

Description
Summary
Properties
Resources
Events
Task

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9172

Icons At-a-Glance

Icon

Description
maxCrypto

Dialog Box Icons
Icon

Description
E-mail notification
Chart

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9173

Advanced Statistics Descriptions

F

Advanced Statistics Descriptions
The following table describes the advanced statistics properties by device type.
See Viewing Advanced Statistics on page 134 for more information.
Table 1 • Advanced Statistics Descriptions
Type

Property

Description

Controller

Average Dirty Cache
Lines

The average number of dirty cache lines that are waiting to
be flushed. Dirty cache lines that are in the process of being
flushed are not included in this count. Note that lines in theread-ahead cache may also be "dirty," so the number of dirty
cache lines may exceed the number of write cache lines.

Controller

Free Largest Transfer
Buffer Sectors

The average number of consecutive transfer buffer sectors
available in the controller's internal pool.

Controller

Average Free Total
The average number of transfer buffer sectors available inTransfer Buffer Sectors the controller's internal pool.

Controller

Average Free Logical
Requests

Controller

Average Free Processor The average amount of available processor RAM in kB availRAM in kB
able in the controller's internal pool.

Controller

Average Locked Stripes The average number of stripes that are locked. In this context,
a stripe is a group of physical sectors across a RAID groupthat is busy performing a write operation (other operations
to the same sectors are locked out during this process).

Controller

Average Locked Stripes The average number of requests that are stalled waiting to
Waiting
access stripes that are locked. A large value indicates random
writes over a small area of a RAID 5 array.

Controller

Average Write Cache
Sectors

The average number of 512-byte blocks that there is room
for in the write cache. Controller cache is currently organizedin 16 kB "lines," so divide this value by 32 to determine thenumber of available write cache lines.

Controller

Command List Count

Number of command lists submitted by the host.

Controller

Command List Latency Average command latency in hundredths of milliseconds.

Controller

Logical Request Count Number of logical requests submitted by the host.

Controller

Maximum DMA Trans- The maximum number of DMA transfer (WCXC bus master)fer Queue Depth
requests that have been queued up at any time since performance monitoring was started.

Controller

Maximum Outstanding Maximum number of outstanding command lists.
Command List

Controller

Percent Active

Units

The average number of logical request structures available
in the controller's internal pool.

Hundredthsof milliseconds

Percentage of time (in tenths of a percent) that at least one Tenths of alogical request is outstanding, including event-notification percent
commands.

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9174Advanced Statistics Descriptions

Type

Property

Description

Controller

Percent Busy

Percentage of time (in percent) that the controller's CPU is Percent
not just sitting in the "idle" task. Note that background activity such as surface analysis is not considered "idle" time.

Controller

Percent Time Waiting
For DMA

The percentage of time (in tenths of a percent) that the local Tenths of a
CPU has been stalled waiting for DMA (WCXC bus master)
percenttransfers.

Controller

Sample IntervalTime since performance monitoring was last cleared, in tenths Tenths of secof seconds.
onds

LogicalDrive

Average Queue Depth Average number of logical read and write requests queued.

LogicalDrive

Average Read Latency Average latency for logical read requests in hundredths ofmilliseconds.

Hundredthsof milliseconds

LogicalDrive

Average Write Latency Average latency for logical write requests in hundredths ofmilliseconds.

Hundredthsof milliseconds

Logical
Drive

Cache Hits

Number of cache hits (host-generated logical read requests
which could be serviced entirely by the cache without any
disk access).

Logical
Drive

Cache Misses

Number of cache misses.

Logical
Drive

Coalesced Requests

Number of host requests to this volume that were coalescedby firmware.

LogicalDrive

Flush Read Requests

Number of read-fill requests issued by the cache flush task.
The flush task generates read requests to make a dirty cacheline completely valid so that it can be flushed in a single write
request.

LogicalDrive

Flush Write Requests

Number of flush requests issued by the cache flush task.

Logical
Drive

Logical Reads

Number of logical read requests submitted by the host, excluding requests coalesced by firmware.

Logical
Drive

Logical Writes

Number of logical write requests submitted by the host, excluding requests coalesced by firmware.

LogicalDrive

Maximum Read Request Latency

Maximum latency for logical read requests to this volume inhundredths of milliseconds.

LogicalDrive

Maximum Write Request Latency

Maximum latency for logical write requests to this volume
in hundredths of milliseconds.

LogicalDrive

Non-Sequential Reads Number of non-consecutive or non-sequential read requests
from the host. A non-sequential request is defined as a logicalrequest with a starting logical block that is not equal to 1 plus
the ending logical block of the previously received logical request.

LogicalDrive

Non-Sequential Writes Number of non-consecutive or non-sequential write requests
from the host. A non-sequential request is defined as a logicalrequest with a starting logical block that is not equal to 1 plus

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

Units

Hundredthsof milliseconds

175

Advanced Statistics Descriptions

Type

Property

Description

Units

the ending logical block of the previously received logical request.
LogicalDrive

Posted Writes

Number of host write operations that were absorbed by theposted write cache.

LogicalDrive

Read Ahead Sector
Count

Number of sectors pre-fetched.

Logical
Drive

Sectors Flushed

Total number of sectors in all flush requests issued by thecache flush task.

Logical
Drive

Sectors Read

Number of logical blocks read from this volume by the host.
Does not include any internally generated read requests (suchas read-ahead, capacity expansion, etc.).

Logical
Drive

Sectors Written

Number of logical blocks written to this volume by the host.
Does not include any internally generated write requests(such as read-ahead, capacity expansion, etc.).

LogicalDrive

Unaligned Reads

Number of unaligned read requests from the host. An unaligned logical request is defined as one that spans multiple
physical drives but has a block count smaller than or equal
to the distribution factor.

LogicalDrive

Unaligned Writes

Number of unaligned write requests from the host. An unaligned logical request is defined as one that spans multiple
physical drives but has a block count smaller than or equal
to the distribution factor.

Physical
Drive

Average Request Laten- Average latency for physical read/write requests in huncy
dredths of milliseconds.

PhysicalDrive

Maximum Queue
Depth

PhysicalDrive

Maximum Request La- Maximum latency for physical read/write requests in huntency
dredths of milliseconds.

PhysicalDrive

Maximum Wait Time Maximum amount of time between completion of outstand- Hundredths
Between Completions ing requests (when multiple requests are outstanding), inof millisechundredths of milliseconds. A high value may indicate that onds
the drive is experiencing errors.

Physical
Drive

Read Requests

Number of physical (SCSI) read requests generated from hostand cache read-ahead logical requests (not counting internal
requests such as surface analysis, rebuild, expand, snapshot,
M&P, etc.).

PhysicalDrive

Write Requests

Number of physical (SCSI) write requests generated fromhost and cache-flush logical requests (not counting internal
requests such as surface analysis, rebuild, expand, snapshot,
M&P, RIS saves, etc.).

Physical
Drive

Aborted Commands

The number of times a drive was failed due to aborted commands that could not be retried successfully.

PhysicalDrive

Medium Errors

The number of times a drive was failed due to unrecoverable
media errors.

Hundredthsof milliseconds

Maximum number of physical (SCSI) requests in the queue
for this drive, including both those queued up on the drive
and those on the array controller's elevator queue.

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

Hundredthsof milliseconds

176

Advanced Statistics Descriptions

Type

Property

Description

Physical
Drive

Parity Errors

The total number of times that write memory errors weredetected on transfers to/from cache memory from othercomponents. This includes parity errors, ECC corrected errors,and ECC un-corrected errors, depending upon the controller.

PhysicalDrive

Hardware Errors

The number of times a drive returned a bad hardware status.

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

Units

177

Smart Controller Device Status

G

Smart Controller Device Status
The following is a complete list of the Smart Controller devices, their status, and their descriptions usedin maxView Storage Manager.

Status Details of an Array
StatusDescription

Ok

The array has all the logical device(s) in optimal state

Has Initializing Logical Device

One or more member logical device(s) has RPI in progress

Logical Devices Not Contiguous

The logical devices in this array are not in contiguous order. Perform consolidate space operation to consolidate all the free space to the end of the array.

Has Failed Physical Device

Array has a bad or missing physical device

Has Failed Logical Device

One or more logical device(s) in the array has failed

Status Details of a Logical Device
StatusDescription

OptimalThe logical device is healthy and is readily accessible by the host

Queued for Expansion

The logical device is queued for expansion

Expanding

The logical device is undergoing online capacity expansion

Ready for Recovery

The logical device is queued to be recovered from a failed physical device

Recovering

The logical device is rebuilding a physical device from fault tolerant data

Wrong Drive Replaced

A wrong physical device was replaced

RPI In Progress

Rapid parity initialization is currently in progress on this logical device

RPI Queued

Rapid parity initialization is currently queued on this logical device. It will
start once other progress tasks are completed.

Unsupported on The Controller

Logical device is unsupported on this controller. Host access to this volume
is denied. Logical device can still be deletd/reconfigured with data loss.

Encrypted Logical Device Without Key The encrypted logical device is exported from a foreign controller withdifferent master key. Please import the foreign master key to access thelogical device.
Encryption Migration

The logical device is being migrated between plaintext and ciphertext

Encrypted Logical Device Rekeying

The logical device is encrypted and all data is being re-keyed using thebackground 'online capacity expansion' transformation task. The cachememory is being used to keep track of progress.

Encrypted Logical Device With maxCrypto Off

The logical device is encrypted, exported from a foreign controller andcannot be accessed as the controller does not have encryption enabled/
not configured.

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Smart Controller Device Status

StatusDescription

Encryption Migration Requested

The logical device has received a request to migrate from plaintext to ciphertext. But this process has not yet started. The plaintext volume iscurrently online.

Encrypted Logical Device Rekey Requested

The logical device is encrypted and has received a request to re-key all
data with a new encryption key

Unknown

The status of logical device is unknown

Erase In Progress

The logical device is offline and has erase in progress

Ejected

The logical device is offline from being ejected. Reinstall the removed
physical devices.

Not Yet Available

An expand, shrink, or move operation on the array is in progress. This
logical device will remain in this state until all expand, shrink, or move
operations on this array are completed. All I/O requests sent to the logicaldrive in this state will be rejected.

Not Configured

The logical device is not yet configured

Interim Recovery

The logical device has a bad or missing drive. Logical device is operatingwith reduced performance and a further physical drive failure may resultin data loss depending on the fault tolerance. To correct this problem,
check the data and power connections to the physical drives or replace
the failed drive.

FailedThe logical device has bad or missing physical device(s).

Disabled From SCSI ID Conflict

A conflict with an existing SCSI ID exists. Check all SCSI components tomake sure they all have a unique SCSI ID.

Status Details of a Physical Device
Status

Details

Ready

The physical device is readily available for RAID configuration

OptimalThe physical device is part of an array/logical device

Waiting For Rebuild

The physical device is waiting to be rebuilt

Rebuilding

The data on the physical device is being rebuilt. The physical deice will beaccessible. But performance will be less than optimal during the rebuilding
process.

Queued For Erase

The physical device is currently queued for erase and the will not be
available for use until the erase operation is completedErase In Progress

The physical device is currently being erased and the will not be available
for use until the erase operation is completedErase CompletedErase process has been completed on the physical device and the physicaldevice is offline. The physical device may now be brought online throughthe initialize operation.

Erase Failed

The physical device erase process is failed and the is offline. The physicaldevice may now be brought online through the initialize operation.

Erase Aborted

The physical device is offline due to a aborted erase process

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Smart Controller Device Status

Status

Details

Predictive FailureThis physical device is predicted to fail soon. Backup all the data on thedrive and replace the drive.

Transient Data Drive

The physical device is in transition from being a member of an array tobeing an unassigned physical device as a result of shrink array/move array
operation

FailedThe physical device is bad or missing

Failed Due To Predictive Spare Activa- The physical device has been failed by the controller after completing ation
predictive spare activation
Unsupported

The physical device is not supported by the controller

Not Supported

The controller firmware version does not support this physical device.
Replace the physical device with the one supported by the controller.

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9180

IndexA
activity in storage space

30
event log 30
task log 30
activity on storage space, See monitoring
adapters, See controllers
Add System wizard 141
archive file 129, 148
arrays80
deleting 80
auto-discovery 140
auto-replace hot spares 51

Bbackground consistency check 65
boards, See controllers
bootable USB image 16, 23
build method
39, 43
Build 39, 43
Default 39, 43
building storage space
15, 34, 37, 40, 50, 63, 83
adding maxCache SSD caching 83
on existing array 40
on new array 37

Ccache optimizations 66
cards, See controllers
components
14, 101
defined 14
viewing properties 101
Configuration Event Detail window 123
configuring 36–37, 40
See also building storage spaceconnector modes 114
controller
31, 125, 143
clearing configuration 143
controller connector modes 114
controller performance optimization 113
controllers
92, 101, 112, 115, 119, 125

controllers (continued)
maxCrypto properties 92, 125
properties 101
rescanning 112
updating firmware 115, 119Ddedicated hot spares
51–52, 55
creating 51–52
removing 55
deleting logical drives 80
direct attached storage

13
defined 13
disk drive
115, 119
updating firmware 115, 119
disk drives
38, 63–64, 101, 107–110, 115, 147–148
conceptual graphic 63
different sizes in same logical drive 63–64
failed state 108
failure recovery

147–148
multiple disk drives 147–148
multiple logical drives 147
RAID 0 logical drives 147–148
with hot spare 147
without hot spare 147
identifying 101
initializing 110
locating 101
properties 101
replacing in logical drives 107
secure erasing 108–109
uninitializing 109
updating firmware 115
within logical drives 38
drives101
identifying 101
locating 101

Eemail notifications
122, 127–128, 130–132

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9181

email notifications (continued)
changing "from" address 128, 131–132
changing SMTP server 128, 131–132
disabling 128, 132
failed test emails 131
modifying recipient information 128, 131
recipient addresses 128
removing recipients 128, 131
setup 128
SMTP server settings 128
test emails 128, 130
Email Notifications Manager
122, 127–128, 130
opening 128
test emails 128, 130
enclosure
115, 120
updating firmware 115, 120
enclosures
31, 101, 125–126, 159
fan status 31, 125–126, 159
identifying 101
locating 101
monitoring 31, 125–126, 159
power status 31, 125–126, 159
status 31
temperature status 31, 125–126, 159
Enterprise View
26, 28
icons 28
event log 30, 122
event log (operating system) 135
events 30
See also monitoring
expander115, 120
updating firmware 115, 120
expanding logical drives 78

Ffailed disk drives

147–148
multiple logical drives 147
RAID 0 logical drives 147–148
without hot spare 147
failed logical drive

147–148force online 147–148
firmware 115, 119–120
Firmware Update wizard 115
force online 147–148
formatting logical drives 40, 43

G
Green Backup status 125

Hhard disk

14
hard disk drive

14
hard drive, See disk drive
help 32
hot spare activation 57
hot spares
51–53, 55
auto-replace 51, 53
creating dedicated 51–52
limitations 51, 53, 55
removing 55

I
icons

28, 122–123, 129
Enterprise View 28
event status icons 122–123, 129
identifying components 101
initializing disk drives 110

L
local systems 34
locating drives 101
logging in 25, 34–35
logging into remote systems 35
logging out 33
logical drives
36–41, 43, 63, 63–65, 77–80, 107–108,
147–148, 161–163, 165–167
build method 39, 43
building on existing array 40
building on new array 37
changing RAID levels 77
defined 63
deleting 80
different-sized disk drives 63–64
disabling background consistency check 65
enabling background consistency check 65
expanding 78
formatting 40, 43
hot-swap rebuilding 79, 107–108, 148
increasing capacity 78
non-redundant 161
options for creating 36

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9182

logical drives (continued)
partitioning 40, 43
RAID 1 161
RAID 1 (ADM) 162
RAID 10 163
RAID 10 (ADM) 163
RAID 5 165
RAID 50 166
RAID 6 167
RAID 60 167
rebuild priority 79
rebuilding 147
renaming 80
replacing disk drives 107
selecting disk drives 38
selecting RAID levels 37, 41
Shingled Magnetic Recording device 36
SMR drive36
Device Managed (SMR DM) 36
Host Aware (SMR HA) 36
Host Managed (SMR HM) 36
Perpendicular Magnetic Recording device(PMR) 36M
main window
26, 33, 122–124, 129
event details 123
event log 122
Logout button 33
monitoring activity and status 122
notification types
122–123, 129
event log 122
event status icons 122–123, 129
overview 26
status icons 122–123, 129
Storage Dashboard 124
task details 124
maxCache83, 85, 134cache hits and misses 134
limitations 83
write cache setting 85
write caching 83
maxCache Device
83, 85creating 83
deleting 85
selecting a RAID level 83
selecting SSDs 83
maxCache statistics 86, 133–134, 174

maxCrypto

87, 89, 92–93, 96–97, 99, 125
accounts 89
checking status 92, 125configuration 93
importing a master key 99
re-keying a logical drive 96
resetting 97
setup 87
maxView Storage Manager
15–16, 19, 21, 26, 28–29, 35, 122
beginning steps 15
Enterprise View 26
event log 122
icons 28
introduction 15
logging into remote systems 35
main window overview 26
maxCache devices 26
Redfish Server 15, 19
ribbon 29
Ribbon 26
system requirements 16, 21
monitoring
30, 101, 122, 122–124, 127–132, 136
device properties 101
email notifications
122, 127–128, 130–132
changing "from" address 128, 131–132
changing SMTP server 128, 131–132
failed test emails 131
modifying recipient information 128, 131
recipient addresses 128
removing recipients 128, 131
setup 128
SMTP server settings 128
test emails 128, 130
Email Notifications Manager 122, 127
event details 123
event log 30, 122
options 122
status icons 122–123, 129
Storage Dashboard 124
task details 124
task log 30

N
network requirements 19
non-RAID Mode controllers 158–159
non-redundant logical drives 161
notification types
122, 127
email notifications 122, 127

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9183online help 32
operating system event log 135
operating systems 16, 21

ribbon (continued)
overview 29
Rescan 112
Save support archive 149
Ribbon 26

PS

partitioning logical drives 40, 43
physical device error counters 105
power management 81
Properties tab 101
pure HBAs 158–159

secure erase 108–109
segments 63
Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology(SMART) 127
Server Template File 137
Shingled Magnetic Recording device 51, 53, 55
silent installation

OR

150–151

RAID

161–163, 165–167
non-redundant logical drives 161
RAID 0 161
RAID 1 161
RAID 1 (ADM) 162
RAID 10 163
RAID 10 (ADM) 163
RAID 5 165
RAID 50 166
RAID 6 167
RAID 60 167
RAID levels
37, 41, 77
changing 77
selecting 37, 41
RAW drive 109
RAW state 109
reactivating split mirror backup 74
rebuild priority 79
rebuilding (defined) 147
rebuilding logical drives 79, 107–108, 148
Redfish15, 19introduction 15, 19
remirroring split mirror backup 74
remote systems
34, 141
adding manually 141
removing 141
renaming logical drives 80
rescanning controllers 112
Resources View 31, 125
ribbon29, 35, 77–78, 80, 112, 149
Add system 35
Change logical device name 80
Expand or change logical device 77–78

switches, properties, and values 150–151
SMART statistics 127
SMR drive
51, 53, 55
Device Managed (SMR DM) 51, 53, 55
Host Aware (SMR HA) 51, 53, 55
Host Managed (SMR HM) 51, 53, 55
Perpendicular Magnetic Recording device (PMR)
51, 53, 55
SMTP server 128, 131–132
split mirror backup array 74
SSD IO Bypass 68
statistics counters

135
resetting 135
statistics logging
86, 133–135, 174
counters 135
enabling 133
viewing 86, 133–134, 174
Statistics Viewer 86, 133–134, 174
status 30–31
See also monitoring
enclosures 31
event log 30
task log 30
See also monitoring
status icons
122–123, 129
main window 122–123, 129
Storage Dashboard 101, 124
storage space
14, 17
examples 17
support archive file 129, 148
Survival mode 81
system requirements 16, 21
systems
34, 101

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9184systems (continued)
local systems 34
properties 101
remote systems 34

U

T

W

task log 30
temperature status 31, 125–126, 159
terminology 14

write cache 85
write-back 85
write-through 85

uninitializing disk drives 109–110
updating firmware 115, 119–120

Microsemi Smart Storage Controllers User's Guide Revision 9

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