Solstice DiskSuite 4.1 User's Guide describes how to set up and maintain systems using Solstice DiskSuite 4.1.
If you want to begin using the DiskSuite product right away, use the information presented in this chapter. Organized as a "roadmap," this chapter serves as a high-level guide to find information for certain DiskSuite tasks, such as setting up storage capacity. It does not address all the tasks that you will need to use DiskSuite. Instead, it provides an easy way to find procedures describing how to perform common tasks associated with the following DiskSuite concepts:
This chapter also provides a complete listing of tasks organized by feature. See "DiskSuite Task Summary."
Table P-3 DiskSuite Roadmap
| DiskSuite Concept | Task Description | Go To ... |
|---|---|---|
| Storage Capacity | Set Up Storage Capacity You can create storage capacity that spans slices by creating a striped metadevice or a RAID5 metadevice. The stripe or RAID5 metadevice can then be used for a file system or any application, such as a database, that acesses the raw device. |
How to Create a Striped Metadevice (DiskSuite Tool) |
| Expand an Existing File System Increase the capacity of an existing file system by creating a concatenation then adding additional slices. |
How to Expand a Slice Containing Existing Data (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Expand an Existing Concatenation/Stripe Use DiskSuite Tool to create a concatenated stripe to expand an existing concatenation or stripe. |
How to Expand an Existing Concat/Stripe (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Expand a RAID5 Metadevice If you need to expand the capacity of a RAID5 metadevice, you can concatenate additional slices to it. |
How to Expand a RAID5 Metadevice (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Increase the Size of UFS
The |
How to Grow a File System (Command Line) | |
| Create a File System You can create a file system on a stripe, concatenation, mirror, RAID5 metadevice, or trans metadevice. |
How to Create a File System on a Metadevice (File System Manager) | |
| Availability | Maximize Data Availability
If you want maximum availability of your data,
use DiskSuite's mirroring feature to maintain
multiple copies of your data. You can create a
mirror from unused slices in preparation of data,
or mirror an existing file system, including
root ( |
How to Create
a Mirror From Unused Slices (DiskSuite Tool) How to Create a Mirror From a File System That Can Be Unmounted (DiskSuite Tool) How to Create a Mirror From a File System That Cannot Be Unmounted (DiskSuite Tool) |
| Add Data Availability With Minimum
Hardware Cost To increase data availability with a minimum of hardware, use DiskSuite's RAID5 Metadevice feature. |
How to Create a RAID5 Metadevice (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Add Increased Data Availability to an Existing
Mirror or RAID5 Metadevice To increase data availability for a mirror or a RAID5 metadevice, create a hot spare pool then associate it with a mirror's submirrors, or a RAID5 metadevice. |
How to Create a Hot Spare Pool (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Increase File System Availability
After Reboot
To increase overall file system availability after
reboot, add UFS logging (trans metadevice) to the
system. Logging a file system reduces the amount of
time |
How to
Create a Trans Metadevice for a File System That Can Be
Unmounted (DiskSuite Tool) How to Create a Trans Metadevice for a File System That Cannot be Unmounted (DiskSuite Tool) |
|
| I/O Performance | Increase Mirror Performance Adding additional state database replicas before creating the mirror helps improve a mirror's performance. |
How to Create Additional State Database Replicas (DiskSuite Tool) |
| Tune Mirror Read and Write Policies The read and write policies for a mirror can be specified to improve performance for a given configuration. |
How to Change a Mirror's Options (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Optimize Device Performance Creating stripes optimizes performance of devices that make up the stripe. The stripe's interlace value can be optimized for random or sequential access. |
How to Create a Striped Metadevice (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Maintain Device Performance Within an
Existing Stripe A concatenated stripe expands a stripe or concatenation that has run out of space. A concatenation of stripes is better for performance than a concatenation of slices. |
How to Expand an Existing Concat/Stripe (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Improve System Performance UFS logging (trans metadevice) helps performance by decreasing the number of synchronous disk writes. |
How to Create
a Trans Metadevice For a File System That Can Be
Unmounted (DiskSuite Tool) How to Create a Trans Metadevice For a File System That Cannot Be Unmounted (DiskSuite Tool) |
|
| Administration | Simplify Administration of Large Configurations The DiskSuite Tool graphical interface makes working with many disks quick and easy. It supports drag-and-drop operations and provides physical and logical views of the system. |
Solstice DiskSuite 4.1 Reference, Chapter 4, "DiskSuite Tool" | Graphically Administer Slices/File Systems DiskSuite is integrated with the Solstice Storage Manager graphical user interface. Use it to administer your disks and file systems, performing such tasks as partitioning disks and constructing UFS file systems. |
Appendix A, Using Storage Manager |
| Administer SPARCstorage Arrays The DiskSuite Tool graphical interface enables you to perform a number of maintenance tasks on SPARCstorage Arrays, such as starting and stopping trays of disks, and working with NVRAM. |
Chapter 6, "Managing the System" | |
| Reconfigure Metadevices
Administering metadevices is made easier through
the |
How to Rename a Metadevice (Command Line) | |
| Optimize Solstice DiskSuite 4.1 DiskSuite performance is dependent on a well-designed configuration. Once created, the configuration needs monitoring and tuning. |
How to Graph Device Statistics (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Plan for Future Expansion Because file systems tend to run out of space, you can plan for future growth by putting a file system into a concatenation. |
How to Expand a Slice Containing Existing Data (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Automate DiskSuite Monitoring Use DiskSuite's SNMP features to integrate alerts with SunNet Manager. |
How to Enable SunNet Manager to Launch DiskSuite Tool | |
| Troubleshooting | Replace a Failed Slice The situation could arise when a failing slice in a metadevice needs replacing. In the case of stripes and concatenations, you have to use a new slice, delete and recreate the metadevice, then restore data from a backup. Slices in mirrors and RAID5 metadevices might be able to be replaced and resynced without loss of data. |
How to Recreate a Stripe or Concatenation After Slice Failure (DiskSuite Tool) |
| Recover From Boot Problems Special problems can arise when booting the system, due to hardware problem or operator error. |
How to Recover
From Improper /etc/vfstab Entries (Command
Line)How to Recover From Insufficient State Database Replicas (Command Line) |
|
| Work With an SSA Disk Problem For the most part, using DiskSuite with a SPARCstorage Array is transparent. Some procedures, such as resolving disk problems, have slightly different steps. |
How to Replace a Failed SPARCstorage Array Disk in a Mirror (DiskSuite Tool) | |
| Work With Trans Metadevice Problems Problems with trans metadevices can occur on either the master or logging device, and they can eithere be caused by errored data or device problems. All trans metadevices sharing the same logging device must be fixed before they return to a usable state. |
How to Recover
a Trans Metadevice with a File System Panic
(Command Line) How to Recover a Trans Metadevice With Hard Errors (Command Line) |
The information in this section, organized by DiskSuite feature, serves as a quick reference for all DiskSuite tasks. Keyboard accelerators (if available) and the command line equivalents are given for each task.
Table P-4 DiskSuite Feature/Task List
| Feature/Task | DiskSuite Tool Menu or Action | Keyboard | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concatenations | |||
| Checking status | Object > Info | metastat(1M) | |
| Creating | Edit > Create > Concat/Stripe | metainit(1M) | Expanding | Drag an unused slice to the object | metattach(1M) |
| Recreating after slice failure | Delete and recreate metadevice | metaclear(1M),
metainit(1M) |
|
| Removing | Edit > Delete | metaclear(1M) | |
| Configurations | |||
| Renaming a metadevice | Use the Info window | metarename(1M) | |
| Restoring uncommitted configuration | File > Restore From File | ||
| Reversing all uncommitted operations | Edit > Undo All | Ctrl-A | |
| Reversing an uncommitted operation | Edit > Undo Last | Ctrl-L | Saving uncommitted configuration | File > Save To File |
| DiskSuite Tool | |||
| Collapsing an object | Object > Collapse | ||
| Committing an object | Object > Commit | metainit(1M) | |
| Configuration Log, viewing | Browse > Configuration Log | ||
| Deleting an object | Edit > Delete | metaclear(1M) | |
| Disks, viewing | Browse > Disk View | Ctrl-D | |
| Displaying entire object | Object > Expand | ||
| Duplicating an object | Edit > Duplicate | ||
| Evaluating an object | Object > Evaluate | ||
| Exiting | File > Exit | Ctrl-E | |
| Finding metadevices | Browse > Find | ||
| Metadevices, viewing | Browse > Metadevices | ||
| Object information | Object > Info | metastat(1M) | |
| Problems, viewing | Browse > Problem List | Ctrl-P | |
| Putting away an object | Object > Put Away | ||
| Reorganizing objects on the canvas | Edit > Cleanup Canvas | Ctrl-U | Slices, viewing | Browse > Slices | prtvtoc(1M), format(1M) |
| Hot Spares | |||
| Adding a slice to a hot spare pool | Drag an available slice to the hot spare pool object | metahs(1M) | |
| Associating a hot spare pool | Drag a hot spare pool object onto submirror or RAID5 metadevice | metaparam(1M) | |
| Changing the associated hot spare pool | Drag a replacement hot spare pool object onto submirror or RAID5 metadevice | metaparam(1M) | |
| Checking status | Object > Info | metahs(1M) | |
| Creating hot spare pool | Edit > Create > Spare Pool | metainit(1M) | |
| Enabling a hot spare | Use the Hot Spare Pool Info window | metahs(1M) | Removing a hot spare pool | Use the Hot Spare Pool Info window | metahs(1M) |
| Removing a hot spare pool | Edit > Delete | metaparam(1M), metahs(1M) |
|
| Replacing a component | Drag a replacement slice to the Hot Spare Pool Object | metahs(1M) | |
| Viewing a hot spare pool | Browse > Hot Spare Pool | metastat(1M) | |
| Mirrors | |||
| Attaching a submirror | Drag a submirror to a Mirror object | metattach(1M) | Changing options | Use the Mirror Info window | metaparam(1M) |
| Checking status | Object > Info | metastat(1M) | |
| Creating | Edit > Create > Mirror | metainit(1M) | |
| Detaching a submirror | Use the Mirror Info window | metadetach(1M) | |
| Expanding | Drag unused slices to the submirrors | metattach(1M),
growfs(1M) |
|
| Placing a submirror offline/online | Use the Mirror Info window | metaonline(1M),
metaoffline(1M) |
|
| Replacing failed components | Drag a replacement slice to the errored slice | metareplace(1M) | |
| Removing | Edit > Delete | metadetach(1M),
metaclear(1M) |
|
| Performance Monitoring | |||
| Displaying device statistics | Object > Statistics | iostat(1M) | |
| Displaying graphs | Browse > Statistics Graphs | iostat(1M) | |
| RAID5 Metadevices | |||
| Checking Status | Object > Info | metastat(1M) | |
| Creating | Edit > Create > RAID | metainit(1M) | Expanding | Drag an unused slice to the RAID5 object | metareplace(1M) |
| Replacing failed components | Drag a replacement slice to the errored slice | metareplace(1M) | |
| Removing | Edit > Delete | metaclear(1M) | |
| SPARCstorage Arrays | |||
| Checking status of fan and battery | Disk View > Object > Info | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Displaying controller information | Disk View > Object > Info | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Disabling NVRAM | Disk View > Object > Fast Write > Disable | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Enabling NVRAM | Disk View > Object > Fast Write > Enable | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Enabling NVRAM (synchronous writes) | Disk View > Object > Fast Write > Synchronous | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Flushing outstanding writes from NVRAM | Disk View > Object > Sync | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Purging fast write data from NVRAM | Select the object, display its pop-up menu and choose Purge NVRAM | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Reserving a Disk | Disk View > Object > Reserve > Disks | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Releasing a Disk | Disk View > Object > Release > Disks | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Starting a disk /tray/controller | Disk View > Object > Start Disks | ssaadm(1M) | |
| Stopping a disk/tray/controller | Disk View > Object > Stop Disks | ssaadm(1M) | |
| State Database Replicas | |||
| Adding more | Drag slices to the initialized Metadevice State Database object | metadb(1M) | |
| Attaching | Use the MetaDB Info window | metadb(1M) | |
| Checking status | Object > Info | metadb(1M) | |
| Creating initial | Drag slices to the uninitialized Metadevice State Database object | metadb(1M) | |
| Removing | Display the Metadevice State Information window and choose Remove | metadb(1M) | |
| Restoring | Display the Metadevice State Database Information window and choose Restore. | ||
| Viewing and modifying | Use the Metadevice State Database Info window | ||
| Stripes | |||
| Checking status | Object > Info | metastat(1M) | |
| Creating | Edit > Create > Concat/Stripe | metainit(1M) | |
| Expanding | Drag an unused slice to the object | metattach(1M) | |
| Recreating after slice failure | Delete and recreate metadevice | metaclear(1M), metainit(1M) |
|
| Removing | Edit > Delete | metaclear(1M) | |
| Trans Metadevices | |||
| Attaching logging device | Drag slice or metadevice to log rectangle of trans device. | metattach(1M) | |
| Checking status | Object > Info | metastat(1M) | |
| Creating | Edit > Create > Trans | metainit(1M) | |
| Detaching logging device | Drag logging device out of trans | metadetach(1M) | |
| Removing | Edit > Delete | metaclear(1M) | |
| Sharing a log among trans metadevices | Edit > Create > Trans; for the log, use the same slice already in use by another trans metadevice. | metainit(1M) | |