Preparing disks for use in SAS disk arrays

Use this information to prepare disks for use in an array.

Before a disk can be used in a disk array, it must be a 528 bytes per sector Array Candidate pdisk. To create an Array Candidate pdisk and format it to 528 byte sectors, do the following:

Start the IBM® SAS Disk Array Manager by following the steps in Using the Disk Array Manager.
Select Create an Array Candidate pdisk and Format to 528 Byte Sectors.
Select the appropriate controller.
Select the disks that you want to prepare for use in the SAS disk arrays.
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 to 528 byte sectors.

A message will display asking if you want to continue.
To proceed with the format, select OK or press Enter to continue. To return to the previous menu without formatting the disks, select Cancel.

After the formatting is complete, the disks will be Array Candidate pdisks and will be ready for use in disk arrays. This operation will also zero all the data on the disks. The controller keeps track of the disks that have their data zeroed. These Zeroed Array Candidate pdisks can be used to create a disk array that will be immediately protected against disk failures, and they are the only disks that can be added to an existing disk array. An Array Candidate pdisk will lose its Zeroed state after it has been used in an array or is unconfigured. It will also lose its Zeroed state after the system has been rebooted or the controller has been unconfigured. To return an Array Candidate pdisk to the Zeroed state, follow the steps previously described in this section for preparing disks for use in disk arrays. For more information, see Disk arrays.