Dell PowerVault MD3000 - Manual (Page 64)

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Using the Snapshot Feature
• 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.