# Creating logical drives

Complete the following steps to create logical drives:

1. Start the custom configuration wizard and complete all previous steps.

2. Click the appropriate Array tab.

3. Select a RAID level from the drop-down list.
   Notes:
     1. RAID level-5E and RAID level-5EE allow only one logical drive per array.
     2. If you are configuring a spanned array, you can set the RAID level only for the first logical drive you create.
     3. If you plan to use "Change RAID level," you must assign the same RAID level to all logical drives within a single array.
   Attention:
     Before assigning a logical drive RAID level-5E or RAID level-5EE, consider the following. If a physical drive fails during a post-failover resynchronization, the logical drive will enter the blocked state. Data might be lost or damaged.
4. If you do not want to use the maximum size for the logical drive, type the size in the Data (MB) field.
   Notes:
     1. You can define up to eight logical drives per controller. There are two exceptions:
        - If an array contains a logical drive assigned RAID level-5E
        - If you want to use the logical-drive migration feature
        In these cases, one logical drive slot must be left free; therefore, you must define no more than seven logical drives.
     2. Some operating systems have size limitations for logical drives. Before you save the configuration, verify that the size of the logical drive is appropriate for your operating system. For more detailed information, see your operating-system documentation.
     3. A logical drive cannot exceed 2 terabytes (TB); the minimum size is nMB, where n equals the number of drives in the array.
     4. Typically, the first logical drive defined on the first ServeRAID controller found by system BIOS during startup will be your startup (boot) drive.
     5. The actual logical-drive size might be slightly different from what you select. The RAID level and the number of physical drives determine the size of the logical drive. For example, an array consisting of three, 1 GB physical drives with a requested RAID level-0 logical drive of 1000 MB will actually contain only 999 MB because the data is striped across all three drives, with 333 MB on each drive.
5. If you have free space available and want to create additional logical drives, click .
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each logical drive that you want to define in this array.
7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 for each additional array that you want to configure.
8. Click Next. The "Configuration summary" window opens.

To return to the "Create arrays" window, click Back.
To leave the Configuration wizard, click Cancel.

## More information

- Example: Logical drive configurations
- Selecting the RAID level by array capacity
- Selecting the array size
- Understanding physical drive capacity and unusable capacity

Glossary | Contents

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