Dell PowerVault MD3000 - Manual (Page 43)

Using Your RAID Enclosure
43
When you migrate a physical disk or a disk group from one MD3000 array to another, the MD3000 you
migrate to will recognize any data structures and/or metadata you had in place on the migrating
MD3000. However, if you are migrating from a non-PV controller, the MD3000 array will not recognize
the migrating metadata. In this case, the RAID controller will initialize the physical disks and mark them
as unconfigured capacity.
NOTE:
Only disk groups and associated virtual disks with all member physical disks present can be migrated from
one storage array to another. Dell recommends that you only migrate disk groups that have all their associated
member virtual disks in an optimal state.
NOTE:
The number of physical disks and virtual disks that a storage array supports limits the scope of the
migration.
Use either of the following methods to move disk groups and virtual disks:
• Hot virtual disk migration — Disk migration with the destination storage array power turned on.
• Cold virtual disk migration — Disk migration with the destination storage array power turned off.
NOTE:
To ensure that the migrating disk groups and virtual disks are correctly recognized when the target storage
array has an existing physical disk, use hot virtual disk migration.
When attempting virtual disk migration, follow these recommendations:
• Moving physical disks to the destination array for migration — When inserting drives into the
destination storage array during hot virtual disk migration, wait for the inserted physical disk to be
displayed in the MD Storage Manager before inserting the next physical disk.
NOTICE:
Without the delay between drive insertions, the storage array can become unstable and manageability is
temporarily lost.
• Migrating virtual disks from multiple storage arrays into a single storage array — When migrating
virtual disks from multiple, different storage arrays into a single destination storage array, move all of
the physical disks from the same storage array as a set into the new destination storage array. Ensure
that all of the physical disks from a storage array are migrated to the destination storage array before
starting migration from the next storage array.
NOTE:
If the drive modules are not moved as a set to the destination storage array, the newly relocated disk
groups might not be accessible.
• Migrating virtual disks to a storage array with no existing physical disks — When migrating disk groups
or a complete set of physical disks from a storage array to another storage array that has no existing
physical disks, turn off the destination storage array. After the destination storage array has been
turned on and has successfully recognized the newly migrated physical disks, migration operations can
continue.
NOTE:
Disk groups from multiple storage arrays should not be migrated at the same time to a storage array that
has no existing physical disks. Use cold virtual disk migration for the disk groups from one storage array.