Using the create virtual disk command – Dell PowerVault MD3260i User Manual

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Using The Create Virtual Disk Command

The create virtualDisk command enables you to create new virtual disks in the storage array in three ways:

Create a new virtual disk while simultaneously creating a new disk group to which you assign the physical disks.

Create a new virtual disk while simultaneously creating a new disk group to which the MD Storage Manager

software assigns the physical disks.

Create a new virtual disk in an existing disk group.

You must have unassigned physical disks in the disk group. You do not need to assign the entire capacity of the disk
group to a virtual disk.

Creating Virtual Disks With User-Assigned Physical Disks

When you create a new virtual disk and assign the physical disks to use, the MD Storage Manager software creates a
new disk group. The RAID controller module firmware assigns a disk group number to the new disk group. The following
syntax is the general form of the command:
create virtualDisk physicalDisks=

(enclosureID0,slotID0...enclosureIDn,slotIDn)

raidLevel=(0 | 1 | 5 | 6)userLabel=

"virtualDiskName" [capacity=virtualDiskCapacity

owner=(0 | 1) segmentSize=segmentSizeValue]

[enclosureLossProtect=(TRUE | FALSE)]

NOTE: The capacity, owner, segmentSize, and enclosureLossProtect parameters are optional. You
can use one or all of the optional parameters as needed to help define your configuration. You do not, however,
need to use any optional parameters.

The userLabel parameter is the name to give to the virtual disk. The virtual disk name can be any combination of
alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. The maximum length of the virtual disk name is 30 characters.
Spaces are not allowed. You must put quotation marks (" ") around the virtual disk name.
The physicalDisks parameter is a list of the physical disks that you want to use for the disk group. Enter the
enclosure ID and slot ID of each physical disk that you want to use. Put parentheses around the list. Separate the
enclosure ID and slot ID of a physical disk by a comma. Separate each enclosure ID and slot ID pair by a space. For
example:
(0,0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4)

The capacity parameter defines the size of the virtual disk. You do not have to assign the entire capacity of the
physical disks to the virtual disk. You can later assign any unused space to another virtual disk.
The owner parameter defines the RAID controller module to which you want to assign the virtual disk. If you do not
specify a RAID controller module, the RAID controller module firmware determines the owner of the virtual disk.
The segmentSize parameter is the same as described for the autoConfigure storageArray command. See
Using The Auto Configure Command.
The enclosureLossProtect parameter turns on or turns off enclosure loss protection for the disk group. (For a
description of how enclosure loss protection works, see Enclosure Loss Protection.

Example Of Creating Virtual Disks With User-Assigned Physical Disks

client>smcli 123.45.67.89 -c "create virtualDisk

physicalDisks=(0,0 0,1 0,2) raidLevel=5 userLabel=

\"Engineering_1\" capacity=20 GB owner=0;"

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