Before a disk can be used in a disk array or as a hot spare
disk, it must be formatted for advanced function. Advanced function
disks are physical disks that are formatted to a block size that is
compatible with SAS RAID. The RAID block size is larger than a JBOD
block size due to the SCSI T10 standardized data integrity fields
along with logically bad block checking stored on each block with
the data. The SAS RAID adapters support disk blocks based on 512 Bytes
of data or 4K Bytes of data. The RAID block size for the 512 disks
is 528 Bytes per sector and the RAID block size for the 4K disks is
4224 bytes per sector.
The steps in this procedure result in a disk formatted for
advanced function.
- Run the iprconfig utility by typing iprconfig.
- Select Work with disk arrays.
- Select Format device for RAID function.
- From the list of eligible disk units, choose the disks
you want to format for advanced function and press Enter.
Attention: Continuing with this option will format the disks.
All data on the disks will be lost. Some disks require that their
microcode be updated to the latest level before being formatted for
advanced function. These disks will not show up on the list of choices.
In some cases, errors may be logged in the /var/log/messages file.
For more detailed information, view that log file.
- To proceed with the format, type c to confirm.
To return to the previous menu without formatting the disks, type q.
Notes: - After the formatting is complete, the disks are ready for use
in disk arrays. Resource names (such as /dev/sdb) might change when
the system is rebooted. This could affect kernel command line entries
and fstab entries. You might want to reboot the server now.
- This task requires rewriting data to the whole disk. The required
time varies depending on the disk capacities. For large disks, it
might take hours to complete.
