It can be turned into a metavolume non-disruptively but it depends on what type of meta configuration you want. If you want a concatenated metavolume you can simply convert it into a concat meta with no host downtime. Specify the in-use device as the meta head. The member(s) that are to be added must be unbound and not have any masking records. This has been enabled in SE and Enginuity for well over a year or so. If you want a striped metavolume it has a few extra steps though. Converting a single volume into a striped volume is not possible directly without dataloss. You need to first convert the device into a concatenated meta and then you can convert that into a striped one with data protection. You will need to setup a identical concatenated meta (of type BCV) that is persistently allocated to store the current data in the background the concat to striped conversion is occurring.
Page 59+ outlines the process. You can also check out the Solutions Enabler Array Control Product Guide or Unisphere documentation for more specific details of the process.
Converting to a concatenated volume from a single device is very quick and is fine to do at essentially any time. Converting to a striped metavolume is a bit of a different story. Depending on the size and available resources on the array the conversion can take some time and somewhat affect I/O to the device so it is best to do this during a low-activity period on the device.
As for choosing concat vs striped concat is easier to convert to and much easier to expand. Striped is a bit more work to configure but improves performance over a concatenated metavolume.
codyhosterman
286 Posts
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Posted August 7th, 2013 13:00
It can be turned into a metavolume non-disruptively but it depends on what type of meta configuration you want. If you want a concatenated metavolume you can simply convert it into a concat meta with no host downtime. Specify the in-use device as the meta head. The member(s) that are to be added must be unbound and not have any masking records. This has been enabled in SE and Enginuity for well over a year or so. If you want a striped metavolume it has a few extra steps though. Converting a single volume into a striped volume is not possible directly without dataloss. You need to first convert the device into a concatenated meta and then you can convert that into a striped one with data protection. You will need to setup a identical concatenated meta (of type BCV) that is persistently allocated to store the current data in the background the concat to striped conversion is occurring.