Specifying Logical Drive Parameters

Use the Create Logical Drive - Specify Logical Drive Parameters dialog to specify logical drive name, usage, desired capacity, controller ownership, and storage partition mapping preference.

Important: If you select a Free Capacity node when invoking the Create Logical Drive option and there are no valid logical drive candidates, an error message is displayed and you are returned to the Management Window.

Logical Drive Parameters Summary Area

The information displayed in the Summary area varies according to the choices you have previously made during this logical drive creation operation.

If you selected...

The Summary Area displays...

The Unconfigured Capacity node in the Logical View

-AND-

the Automatic Method in the Select Array dialog
  • Automatic method icon
  • RAID level you selected for the array
  • Maximum capacity (taking into account the RAID level)
The Unconfigured Capacity node in the Logical View

-AND-

the Manual method in the Select Array dialog
  • Manual method icon
  • RAID level you selected for the array
  • Maximum capacity (taking into account the RAID level)
A Free Capacity node in the Logical View
  • Free Capacity icon
  • RAID level of the selected Free Capacity Node
  • Maximum capacity (taking into account the RAID level)

How to Specify Logical Drive Parameters

1

Specify the capacity units and logical drive capacity.

Use the spinner box to indicate capacity units (in MB or GB) and list box to indicate the specific numeric capacity. The maximum value, shown by default, is the Maximum capacity shown in the Summary Area.

Important:

  • You can type up to three decimal places for the capacity.

  • If you enter a capacity larger than the maximum, the value will default to the maximum capacity when you move to another area on the dialog or when you select Finish.

  • If you enter a capacity that is less than the maximum, make sure you leave enough remaining capacity to allow you to create one or more additional logical drives that meet your application needs.
2

Specify the logical drive name.

Choose a unique, meaningful name that helps you identify the logical drive. Generally, a meaningful name describes the data that will be stored on the logical drive.

  • There is a 30 character maximum
  • If you choose the name of a logical drive that duplicates the name of another logical drive in the Storage Subsystem, an error message is displayed and you are prompted to choose another name
  • Any leading and trailing spaces in the name are deleted
3 Specify the expected usage of the logical drive based on your application needs.

The expected logical drive usage that you specify is used by the controller firmware to indicate an appropriate default logical drive segment size and cache read-ahead multiplier. The choices available for expected logical drive usage include file system (the default), database, and multimedia.
4 Select an appropriate segment size for your application. You can choose the default (based on expected usage), 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256 K.

Note:
You can change the logical drive segment size later using the Change Segment Size option. See Changing Segment Size.
5 Specify controller ownership (a preferred controller).

Note: This option is only available if you are using dual active controllers. Choices include either the controller in slot A or the controller in slot B.

If you are creating this logical drive from: Then...
An Unconfigured Capacity node The Storage Subsystem controller firmware automatically selects a preferred owner.

You can change the preferred owner by selecting the alternate controller radio button.
A Free Capacity node The preferred owner is automatically set by determining the owner of the other logical drives in the array.

Important: You cannot change controller ownership because all logical drives in the same array MUST be owned by the same controller.
6 Specify whether the logical drive should have a default mapping or be left unmapped. For more information, see Introducing Storage Partitions.

Mapping Description
Default Mapping The logical drive will be available to all host groups or hosts that don't have specific logical drive-to-LUN mappings. (All hosts or host groups in the Default Host Group can access the logical drive.)

You can change the default mapping at a later time using the Storage Partitions Definitions Window. See Changing a Logical Drive-to-LUN Mapping.
No Mapping (map later) The logical drive cannot be accessed until you make a specific logical drive-to-LUN mapping using the Storage Partitions Definitions window. See Defining Logical Drive-to-LUN Mappings.

Important: This option is not available if you do not have the Storage Partitions premium feature enabled.
7 Select Finish.

Result: If the logical drive is successfully created, the Logical Drive Successful dialog is displayed. If there are any errors, an error message is displayed.
8 Select OK.

Result:
A logical drive (or array/logical drive) is created with the specified RAID level and parameters. You are returned to the Subsystem Management Window. The Logical View is updated to reflect the addition of the new array and/or logical drive and the subtraction of capacity from either the Free Capacity or the Unconfigured Capacity node.

Note: To change other logical drive parameters, see Specifying Logical Drive Properties.
9 Perform any operating system modifications necessary on the application host so that the applications can use the logical drive. See the Installation and Support Guide specific to your operating system.