Getting Started

Dell™ OpenManage™ Server Administrator Storage Management is designed for system administrators who implement hardware RAID solutions and understand corporate and small business storage environments.

Storage Management enables you to configure the storage components attached to your system. These components include RAID and non-RAID controllers and the channels, ports, enclosures, and disks attached to them. Using Storage Management, you can configure and manage controller functions without accessing the BIOS. These functions include configuring virtual disks and applying RAID levels and hot spares for data protection. You can initiate many other controller functions such as rebuilds, troubleshooting, setting thresholds, and so on. Most functions can be configured and managed while the system remains online and continues to process requests.

Storage Management reports the status of storage components. When the status for a component changes, Storage Management updates the display for that component and sends an alert to the Alert Log.

In addition to status changes, Storage Management generates alerts for user actions such as creating or deleting a virtual disk and for many other events. Most alerts also generate SNMP traps.

Other than monitoring and reporting status, Storage Management does not automatically initiate actions independent of user input. (Automatic shutdown of enclosures that have exceeded a critical temperature is the only exception. See "Thermal Shutdown for Enclosures.") Storage Management actions are user-initiated using wizards and drop-down menus. Storage Management does, however, report the actions taken by the controllers, which include generating alerts, initiating tasks, such as a rebuild, and making state changes.

NOTE: Storage Management reports the change in state of disks and other storage components as viewed by the controller.

Launching Storage Management

Storage Management is installed as a Dell OpenManage Server Administrator service. All Storage Management features are accessible by selecting the Storage object in the Server Administrator tree view. For more information on starting Server Administrator, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User’s Guide.

Microsoft® Windows®

To start a Server Administrator session on a local Microsoft® Windows® system, click the Dell OpenManage icon on your desktop and log in using an account with Administrator privileges.

NOTE: Administrative privileges are required for configuration purposes.

Linux and any Remote System

To start a Server Administrator session on a Linux or any remote system, click the Dell OpenManage icon on your desktop and log in using an account with Administrator privileges.

Or, open a Web browser and type one of the following in the address field and press <Enter>:

https://<localhost>:1311

where <localhost> is the assigned name for the managed system and 1311 is the default port

or

https://<IP address>:1311

where <IP address> is the IP address for the managed system and 1311 is the default port.

NOTE: You must type https:// (not http://) in the address field to receive a valid response in your browser.

User Privileges

Server Administrator provides security through the User, Power User, and Administrator user groups. Each user group is assigned a different level of access to the Server Administrator features.

Administrator privileges are required to access all Storage Management features. Administrator privilege allows you to execute the drop-down menu tasks, launch wizards, and use the omconfig storage command line interface commands. Without Administrator privileges, you cannot manage and configure the storage component.

User and Power User privileges allow you to view storage status, but not manage or configure storage. With User and Power User privileges, you can use the omreport storage command but not the omconfig storage command.

For more information on user groups and other Server Administrator security features, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User’s Guide.

Using the Graphical User Interface

The following sections describe how to access the Storage Management features using the Server Administrator graphical user interface (GUI).

Storage Object

The Server Administrator tree view displays a Storage object. The Storage Management features are accessible by selecting the Storage object or expanding the Storage object and selecting a lower-level object.

Health Subtab

The Health subtab displays status information for the storage components. See "Storage Health" for more information.

Information/Configuration Subtab

The Information/Configuration subtab displays the property information for a storage object. The Information/Configuration subtabs also have drop down menus and buttons for executing storage tasks or launching wizards.

Drop-down Menus and Wizards for Running Tasks

Many of the storage objects displayed in the tree view have tasks. Examples of these tasks include creating virtual disks, assigning hot spares, reconditioning a battery, and so on. To access a storage object’s task, select the component in the tree view and then select the Information/Configuration subtab. The Information/Configuration subtabs have task drop-down menus or buttons for launching a task.

Using the Storage Management Command Line Interface

Storage Management has a fully-featured command line interface (CLI). See "Command Line Interface" for more information.

Displaying the Online Help

Storage Management provides extensive online help. This help is available from the Server Administrator graphical user interface when the Storage or lower-level tree view object is selected. See "Storage Object" for more information.

The online help is available as:

Context-sensitive Help. Each Storage Management screen has a Help button. Clicking the Help button displays context-sensitive online help that describes the contents of the displayed screen.
Table of Contents. The help screens for the context-sensitive (Help button) help contain links to the online help’s Table of Contents. To access the Table of Contents, first click a Storage Management Help button to display a help screen. Next, click the Go to Table of Contents for Storage Management Online Help link to display the Table of Contents. This link is displayed at the top and bottom of each help screen. Use the Table of Contents to access all topics covered in the online help.

Common Storage Tasks

This section provides links to information describing commonly performed storage tasks.

Create and configure virtual disks (RAID configuration). For more information see:
"Create Virtual Disk Express Wizard (Step 1 of 2)." This sub-section describes using the Express Wizard to create a virtual disk. Using the Express Wizard is the quickest method for creating a virtual disk. The Express Wizard is appropriate for novice users.
"Create Virtual Disk Advanced Wizard (Step 1 of 4)." This sub-section describes using the Advanced Wizard to create a virtual disk. The Advanced Wizard requires a good knowledge of RAID levels and hardware and is appropriate for advanced users.
"Virtual Disks." This sub-section provides detailed information regarding virtual disk management. This information includes controller-specific considerations that affect virtual disk creation and management.
"Understanding RAID Concepts." This sub-section describes basic storage concepts including "What Is RAID?", "Organizing Data Storage for Availability and Performance," and "Choosing RAID Levels and Concatenation."
Assign a hot spare to the virtual disk. When a virtual disk uses a redundant RAID level, then you can assign a hot spare (backup physical disk) to rebuild data if a physical disk in the virtual disk fails. For more information, see:
"Protecting Your Virtual Disk with a Hot Spare." This section describes hot spares and includes controller-specific information.
Perform a Check Consistency. The "Maintain Integrity of Redundant Virtual Disks" task verifies the accuracy of a virtual disk’s redundant data.
Reconfigure a Virtual Disk. You can add physical disks to a virtual disk to expand the virtual disk’s capacity. You can also change RAID levels. For more information see "Virtual Disk Task: Reconfigure (Step 1 of 3)."