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Dell PowerVault MD 32XX/36XX Series Storage Arrays CLI Guide

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Autoconfigure Storage Array

Description

This command automatically configures a storage array. Before entering the autoConfigure storageArray command, run the show storageArray autoConfiguration command. The show storageArray autoConfiguration command returns configuration information in the form of a list of valid physical disk types, RAID levels, virtual disk information, and hot spare information. (This list corresponds to the parameters for the autoConfigure storageArray command.)

The RAID controller modules audit the storage array and then determine the highest RAID level that the storage array can support and the most efficient virtual disk definition for the RAID level. If the configuration described by the returned list is acceptable, enter the autoConfigure storageArray command without any parameters. To modify the configuration, change a single parameter or all of the parameters to meet your configuration requirements. After entering the autoConfigure storageArray command, the RAID controller modules set up the storage array using either the default parameters or those you selected.

Syntax

autoConfigure storageArray [physicalDiskType=(SAS)] [raidLevel=(0 | 1 | 5 | 6)] [diskGroupWidth=numberOfPhysicalDisks] [diskGroupCount=numberOfDiskGroups]
                                 [virtualDisksPerGroupCount=numberOfVirtualDisksPerGroup] [hotSpareCount=numberOfHotSpares] [segmentSize=segmentSizeValue]
                                 [cacheReadPrefetch=(TRUE | FALSE)] [readAheadMultiplier=multiplierValue] [securityType=(none | capable | enabled)] [secureDrives=(fips
                                 | sed)] [dataAssurance=(none | enabled)]

Parameters

Parameter Description 
physicalDiskType
 Type of physical disks to use for the storage array. Valid physical disk type is Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). This parameter is not required if only one type of physical disk is in the storage array. 
raidLevel
 RAID level of the disk group that contains the physical disks in the storage array. Valid RAID levels are 0, 1, 5 or 6. 
diskGroupWidth
 Number of physical disks in a disk group in the storage array. For information about the number of physical disks that you can use in a disk group, see Enclosure Loss Protection. 
diskGroupCount
 Number of disk groups in the storage array. Use integer values. 
virtualDisksPerGroupCount
 Number of equal-capacity virtual disks per disk group. Use integer values. 
hotSpareCount
 Number of hot spares in the storage array. Use integer values. For information about hot spares, see Assigning Global Hot Spares. 
segmentSize
 Amount of data (in kilobytes) that the RAID controller module writes on a single physical disk in a virtual disk before writing data on the next physical disk. Valid values are 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512. For information about the segmentSize parameter, see Using the Auto Configure Command. 
cacheReadPrefetch
 The setting to turn on or turn off cache read prefetch. To turn off cache read prefetch, set this parameter to FALSE. To turn on cache read prefetch, set this parameter to TRUE. 
securityType
 The setting to specify the security level when creating the disk groups and all associated virtual disks.
  • none—The disk group and virtual disks are not secure.
  • capable—The disk group and virtual disks are capable of having security set, but security has not been enabled.
  • enabled—The disk group and virtual disks have security enabled.

Use the securityType parameter to specify the security settings for the storage array.

Before you can set the securityType parameter to capable or enabled, you must create a storage array security key. Use the create storageArray securityKey command to create a storage array security key. These commands are related to the security key:
  • create storageArray securityKey
  • export storageArray securityKey
  • import storageArray securityKey
  • set storageArray securityKey
  • start secureErase (drive | drives)
  • set PhysicalDisk securityID 
securePhysicalDisks
 Secure-capable physical disks can be either Self-Encrypting Disk (SED) drives or Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) drives. Use the secure PhysicalDisks parameter to specify the type of secure drives to use. The values you can use are fips and sed.
  • NOTE: The controller firmware does not support a mix of SED and FIPS drives within disk groups or disk pools.

Example command

autoConfigure storageArray securityType=capable securePhysicalDisks=fips; 

dataAssurance
The setting to specify that a disk group, and the virtual disks within the disk group, has data assurance protection to make sure that the data maintains its integrity. When you use this parameter, only protected physical disks can be used for the disk group. These settings are valid:
  • none - No explicit data assurance is defined. The disk group will be comprised of virtual disks that may or may not have data assurance, depending on the availability of data assurance enabled physical disks. Data Assurance is enabled on virtual disks created on disk groups that support data assurance. If only data assurance physical disks are available, the disk groups will be data assurance enabled.
  • enabled - The disk group has data assurance protection. The disk group supports protected information and is formatted with protection information enabled.
    • NOTE: This option is only valid for enablement, if the drives support DA.

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