Dell PowerVault MD3420 - Manual (Page 71)

Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk
The create snapshotVirtualDisk command provides three methods for defining the physical disks
for your snapshot repository virtual disk:
• Define each physical disk for the snapshot repository virtual disk by enclosure ID and slot ID.
• Define a disk group in which the snapshot repository virtual disk resides. Optionally define the
capacity of the repository virtual disk.
• Define the number of physical disks, but not specific physical disks, for the repository virtual disk.
When using the create snapshotVirtualDisk command to create a snapshot virtual disk, the
standard virtual disk name for the source virtual disk is the minimum information required. When you
provide only the standard virtual disk name, the storage management software provides default values for
the other required property parameters for a snapshot virtual disk.
NOTE: In some cases, depending on the host operating system and any virtual disk manager
software in use, the software prevents you from mapping the same host to both a source virtual disk
and its associated snapshot virtual disk.
An error message appears in the command line when the utility cannot distinguish between the
following:
• Source virtual disk and snapshot virtual disk (for example, if the snapshot virtual disk has been
removed)
• Standard virtual disk and virtual disk copy (for example, if the virtual disk copy has been removed)
If you are running a Linux operating system, run the hot_add utility to register the snapshot virtual disk
with the host operating system.
NOTE: The hot_add utility is not available for Windows.
Enabling The Snapshot Virtual Disk Feature
The first step in creating a snapshot virtual disk is to make sure the feature is enabled on the storage
array. You need a feature key to enable the feature. The command for enabling the feature key file is:
enable storageArray feature file="filename"
where, the file parameter is the complete file path and file name of a valid feature key file. Enclose the
file path and file name in quotation marks (" "). Valid file names for feature key files usually end with .key
extension.
Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk With User-Assigned Physical Disks
Creating a snapshot virtual disk by assigning the physical disks allows you to choose from the available
physical disks when defining your storage array configuration. When you choose the physical disks for
your snapshot virtual disk, you automatically create a new disk group. You can specify which physical
disks to use and the RAID level for the new disk group.
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