HP 353803-B22 - StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 1000 SAN Starter User Manual

Installation procedures—All deployments26
Striping methods
A storage array combines the capacity of several physical hard drives into one virtual unit called an
array. These arrays are then presented to the operating system as a single disk device. The physical
layout of an array can be one of two configurations:
• Vertical striping—Offers ultimate fault tolerance and performance, but at the price of storage
efficiency.
• Horizontal striping—Allows for the creation of large arrays and efficient use of storage capacity,
but at the price of I/O performance and less fault tolerance.
In a vertical configuration, an array uses hard drives from separate storage enclosures and different
SCSI buses. In a horizontal configuration, the array uses multiple drives contained within the same
storage enclosure.
RAID levels
In conjunction with the striping method, the assigned RAID level also determines the fault-tolerance,
I/O performance, and storage efficiency of the LUN.
See Table 4 below for a comparison list of the different RAID levels.
When selecting a RAID level for a LUN, consider the type of data that will be stored on the array.
For example:
• For transitional data: you may want to use RAID 0, which provides no fault tolerance, but
provides rapid storage and access of large amounts of data.
• For critical data: use a fault-tolerant RAID level such as RAID 1, RAID 1+0, RAID 5, or RAID 6.
Choose the RAID level that offers the desired combination of fault-tolerance, I/O performance,
and storage efficiency.
Depending on the assigned RAID level, one or more drives within a LUN can fail without bringing
the drive sub-system down.
Table 4 RAID level comparison
RAID level Alternative name I/O
performance
Fault tolerance Storage
efficiency
RAID 0 Data striping Highest None Highest
RAID 1
RAID 1+0
Drive mirroring
Data striping plus drive mirroring
High * Highest * Low
RAID 5 Data striping, with one set of
distributed parity data
Medium Medium High

HP 353803-B22 - StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 1000 SAN Starter Specifications

General

Brand	HP
Model	353803-B22 - StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 1000 SAN Starter
Category	Disk array system
Language	English

Summary

1 Installation procedures—All deployments

Step 1: Review and confirm your plans

Planning phase including firmware selection, worksheets, and best practices review.

Step 2: Prepare your site

Ensuring proper physical space, ventilation, and power requirements for the MSA installation.

Step 3: Install MSA option kits

Step 4: Rack the MSA and the storage enclosures

Guidance on safely mounting the MSA and storage enclosures into server racks.

Step 5: Install the hard drives

Instructions for inserting hard drives into the MSA drive bays.

Step 6: Prepare your servers

Verifying server compatibility and configuring operating systems for MSA integration.

Step 7: Install the HBA in your servers

Installing the Host Bus Adapter (HBA) required for MSA connectivity in servers.

Step 8: Prepare your switches

Step 9: Connect the cables

Connecting SCSI, Fibre Channel, and power cables according to best practices.

Step 10: Power on the devices

Step 11: Configure your MSA

Finalizing MSA setup by customizing server and storage configurations.

Storage Configuration Utilities

Determine which storage configuration utility to use

2 Configuration procedures—Windows environments

3 Configuration procedures—Linux environments

Installing MSA-specific components on the servers

Installing necessary drivers and utilities (HBA, ACU) on Linux servers.

4 Configuration procedures—HP-UX environments

Installing the ACU-CLI on the servers (optional)

5 Configuration procedures—OpenVMS environments

Obtaining World Wide Port Names

Installing the current Fibre_SCSI patch on the servers

Assigning ID Numbers to the controllers and LUNs

6 Configuration procedures—VMware environments

VMware-specific tasks

Configuring host mode and selective presentation for MSA in VMware.

7 Configuration procedures—Other environments

Prerequisites

NetWare environments

Updating MSA controller firmware (if necessary)

Configuring the storage

Steps for creating arrays (LUNs) and setting storage parameters in other OS environments.

8 Powering off and powering on the MSA

Powering off the MSA

Step-by-step instructions for safely powering down the MSA array.

Powering on the MSA

Step-by-step instructions for safely powering up the MSA array and verifying status.

B Electrostatic discharge

Prevention methods

Grounding methods