Configuring An Array; Introduction - HP 273914-B21 - Smart Array 6404/256 RAID Controller User Manual

Configuring an array

In this section

Introduction

..................................................................................................................................25
Comparing the utilities
Using ORCA ................................................................................................................................27
Using ACU ...................................................................................................................................28
Using CPQONLIN .......................................................................................................................28
Introduction
HP provides three utilities for manually configuring an array on a Smart Array
controller:
ORCA—A simple ROM-based configuration utility
ACU—A versatile, browser-based utility that provides maximum control
over configuration parameters
CPQONLIN—A menu-based configuration utility specifically for servers
using Novell NetWare
Whichever utility you use, the following limitations apply:
For the most efficient use of drive space, do not mix drives of different
capacities within the same array. The configuration utility treats all physical
drives in an array as if they have the same capacity as the smallest drive in
the array. The excess capacity of any larger drives is wasted because it is
unavailable for data storage.
The probability that an array will experience a drive failure increases with
the number of physical drives in the array. If you configure a logical drive
with RAID 5, keep the probability of failure low by using no more than 14
physical drives in the array.
.................................................................................................................26
NOTE: To copy a particular array configuration to several other servers
on the same network, use ACR or the scripting capability of ACU. ACR
is provided in the SmartStart Scripting Toolkit, available on the HP
website (http://www.hp.com/servers/sstoolkit).
25