Initializing/Synchronizing Logical Drives at the Same Time


Initializing/Synchronizing Logical Drives at the Same Time

Initializing a logical drive sets the drive to a predetermined state. The initialization process overwrites any data on the drive with zeros, and all existing data is lost.

The purpose of synchronizing logical drives is to compute and, if necessary, write the parity data on the selected RAID level 5 logical drive. If you did not initialize the logical drives when you defined them, you can now initialize multiple logical drives at the same time. However you can still initialize and synchronize multiple logical drives in separate steps (see below 'Initializing Logical Drives' and 'Synchronizing Logical Drives' for instructions).


To initialize/synchronize logical drives:

  1.  Select Initialize/Synchronize Log Drive from the Main Menu, then, press Enter.
  2.  Select Initialize/Synchronize Log Drive from the next menu, then, press Enter.
  3.  Use the Up Arrow (  ) or Down Arrow (  ) key to highlight the logical drive that you want to  initialize/synchronize, then, press the Spacebar to select the drive.  Continue doing this until you have selected all of the drives that you want to initialize/synchronize, then,  press Enter.
  4.  When the Confirm pop-up window appears, select Yes to initialize/synchronize the logical drive or drives,  then, press Enter.

     The initialization/synchronization process begins.  You can see the progress in the Pct. I/S. (percent initialized/synchronized) column of the Logical Drive list.

    Note:  Once the synchronization process begins, it cannot be interrupted.

  5.  Once you have completed initializing/synchronizing the logical drives, then you have completed the  required steps for creating a ServeRAID configuration.
  6.  Back up the disk-array configuration information to diskette.  See 'Backing Up the Disk-Array Configuration'  for instructions.

     If you have not already done so, use the information provided in the ServerGuide package to install the  operating system. then you have completed the required steps for creating a ServeRAID configuration.


Initializing Logical Drives: Initializing a logical drive sets the drive to a predetermined state. You can initialize multiple logical drives at the same time.

Note: The initialization process overwrites any data on the drive with zeros, and all existing data is lost.

If you did not initialize the logical drives when you defined them, you must use the following instructions to initialize the drives before storing data.


To initialize logical drives:

  1.  Select Initialize/Synchronize Log Drive from the Main Menu, then, press Enter.
  2.  Select Initialize Logical Drive from the next menu, then, press Enter.
  3.  Use the Up Arrow (  ) or Down Arrow (  ) key to highlight the logical drive  that you want to initialize, then, press the Spacebar to select the drive.  Continue doing this until you have selected all of the drives that you want to initialize, then, press Enter.

     The Confirm pop-up window appears.

       When you select Yes in the Confirm pop-up window, information in the logical drive will be  overwritten with zeros. All existing data is lost.

  4.  Select Yes to initialize the logical drive or drives, then, press Enter.

     The initialization process begins.  You can see the progress in the Pct. Int. (percent initialized) column of the Logical Drive list.

     You can pause the initialization at any time by pressing Esc.  Press Esc to stop the initialization and return to the previous menu.  Press Enter to continue initializing the drive.

    Note:  You do not need to synchronize RAID level 0 or 1 logical drives before storing data.

  5.  You must synchronize all RAID level 5 logical drives before storing data.  If you just initialized RAID level 5 logical drives, continue with 'Synchronizing Logical Drives'.  Otherwise, continue with step 6.
  6.  If you have completed initializing the logical drives and do not have to synchronize any RAID level 5  logical drives, then you have completed the required steps for creating a ServeRAID configuration.
  7.  When the initialization process completes, back up the disk-array configuration information to diskette.  See 'Backing Up the Disk-Array Configuration'  for instructions.

     If you have not already done so, use the information provided in the ServerGuide package  to install the operating system.


Synchronizing Logical Drives: The purpose of synchronizing logical drives is to compute and, if necessary, write the parity data on the selected RAID level 5 logical drive. Synchronizing a RAID level 1 logical drive copies the data from the primary disk to the mirrored disk.


RAID level 5 logical drives are automatically synchronized when you define them. You do not need to synchronize RAID level 0 or 1 logical drives before storing data. Also, the data scrubbing feature of the ServeRAID controller continuously reads all sections of RAID level 1 and RAID level 5 logical drives 'in the background' while the system is running. If a defective sector is found, it is automatically repaired. As a result, you no longer have to synchronize RAID level 1 and RAID level 5 logical drives on a weekly basis.


To synchronize logical drives:

  1.  Select Initialize/Synchronize Log Drive from the Main Menu of the ServeRAID Configuration program,  then, press Enter.
  2.  Select Synchronize Logical Drive from the next menu, then, press Enter.
  3.  Use the Up Arrow (  ) or Down Arrow (  ) key to highlight the logical drive that you want to  synchronize, then, press the Spacebar to select the drive.  Continue doing this until you have selected all of the drives that you want to synchronize, then, press Enter.
  4.  When the Confirm pop-up window appears, select Yes to synchronize the logical drive or drives, then,  press Enter.

     The synchronization progress appears in the Pct. Syn. (percent synchronized)  column of the Logical Drive list.

    Note:  Once the synchronization process begins, it cannot be interrupted.

  5.  Once you have completed synchronizing the logical drives, then you have completed the required steps  for creating a ServeRAID configuration.
  6.  When the synchronization process completes, back up the disk-array configuration information to diskette.  See 'Backing Up the Disk-Array Configuration'  for instructions.

     If you have not already done so, use the information provided in the ServerGuide package to install the  operating system.

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