You can fine-tune a new or existing logical device to meet your needs by adjusting the Advanced settings described in this section. The default settings in Adaptec Storage Manager are optimal for most users and storage spaces. Only advanced users should change the settings described here.
To change the advanced settings for an existing logical device, for instance, the stripe size, you must expand or migrate the logical device. Adaptec Storage Manager also allows you to quickly change the read cache and write cache setting without making further changes to the logical device.
Note! Not all advanced settings are available for all RAID levels.
Second-level devices—For RAID level-x0, the number of sub-logical devices in the logical device. This number determines the number of physical drives you need to create the logical device. For example, for a RAID-50 with three second-level devices, you need at least nine drives.
Stripe size—Determines the amount of data, in kilobytes (KB), written to one segment of a logical device before the next segment is used to store data. Depending on the controller, you can choose a stripe size from 16 KB to 1024 KB.
Write cache—Determines how data is stored in the controller's cache memory. You can choose from two available settings: write-through and write-back.
Read cache—Enables and disables read caching. When read-caching is enabled, the controller monitors read access to the logical device. If it detects a pattern, it pre-loads the cache with the data that seems most likely to be read next. The default is Enabled.
Initialize Method—Determines how a logical device is prepared for reading and writing, and how long initialization will take. Adaptec Storage Manager provides three initialization methods:
Build (slowest)
Build is the default setting for most logical devices. For RAID 1 logical devices, data is copied from the primary drive to the mirror drive; for RAID 5 logical devices, parity is computed and written.
Adaptec Storage Manager performs build initializations in the background; you can use the logical device immediately.
Every block in the logical device is overwritten, removing all existing data. You can not use the logical device until the initialization is complete.
Quick (fastest)
The logical device is made available immediately. Quick is the default setting for RAID 1, RAID 1E, and RAID 10 logical devices.
Initialize Priority—Determines the priority for the initialization of the logical device. The default setting is High, which means that the logical device is initialized as quickly as possible.