Dell EMC Server Administrator Storage Management 9.3.1 User’s Guide

Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard

1. In the Server Administrator window, expand System > Storage.
2. Click Connector 0 (RAID).
   The Virtual Disk(s) on Controller <Controller Name> page is displayed.
3. Click Go to the Create Virtual Disk Wizard.
   The Create Virtual Disk Wizard (Step 1) <Controller Name> page is displayed.
4. Select the Express Wizard option and the RAID level from the drop-down list.
   • Depending on the controller, Concatenated enables you to combine the storage capacity of several disks or to create a virtual disk using a single physical disk. For more information about the number of supported physical disks when using Concatenated, see Number Of Physical Disks Per Virtual Disk. Concatenated does not provide data redundancy or affect the read/write performance.
   • Select RAID 0 for striping. This selection groups n disks together as a large virtual disk with a total capacity of n disks. Data is alternately stored in the disks so that they are evenly distributed. Data redundancy is not available in this mode. Read/write performance is enhanced.
   • Select RAID 1 for mirroring disks. This selection groups two disks together as one virtual disk with a capacity of one single disk. The data is replicated on both disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. This feature provides data redundancy and good read performance, but slightly slower write performance. The system must have at least two physical disks to use RAID 1.
   • Select RAID 5 for striping with distributed parity. This selection groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of (n-1) disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. This feature provides better data redundancy and read performance, but slower write performance. The system must have at least three physical disks to use RAID 5.
   • Select RAID 6 for striping with additional distributed parity. This selection groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n- 2) disks. The virtual disk remains functional with up to two disk failures. RAID 6 provides better read performance, but slower write performance. The system must have at least four physical disks to use RAID 6.
   • Select RAID 10 for striping over mirror sets. This selection groups n disks together as one large virtual disk with a total capacity of (n/2) disks. Data is striped across the replicated mirrored pair disks. When a disk fails, the virtual disk continues to function. The data is read from the surviving mirrored pair disk. This feature provides the best failure protection, read and write performance. The system must have at least four physical disks to use RAID 10.
   • Select RAID 50 to implement striping across more than one span of physical disks. RAID 50 groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-1) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span.
   • Select RAID 60 to implement striping across more than one RAID 6 span. RAID 60 Groups n*s disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of s*(n-2) disks, where s is the number of spans and n is the number of disks within each span. RAID 60 provides increased data protection and better read performance, but slower write performance.
5. Click Continue.