Adaptec Storage Manager Agent

Runs in the background on your system, monitoring and managing event notifications, task schedules, and other information about any direct attached storage on a system. It requires no user intervention and includes no user interface.

auto synchronization

Synchronization on RAID level-6, level-5, level-1, level-10, level-50, and level-60 drives that is automatically initiated when the logical devices are created. This type of synchronization works in the background.

available space

Space on a disk drive that is not being used by a logical device. When a logical device is deleted, its space becomes available. See also logical device.

background consistency check

A controller function that continually and automatically verifies your logical devices once they’re in use.

battery-backup cache

Buffer storage that protects data during write-back operations; in the event of a power failure, it preserves the data in the controller cache.

block

A data unit created when data is striped across physical drives.

bootable-CD mode

A way of running Adaptec Storage Manager, where the application is not installed but is run directly from a CD.

cache

A temporary, fast storage area that holds data from a slower storage device for quick access. Cache storage is normally transparent to the accessing device.

channel

Any path used for the transfer of data and the control of information between disk drives and a RAID controller.

command-line program

Command-line program that can be used to manage your controllers and enclosures. It can be used to configure your controllers, isolate and debug problems, recover from errors, and to copy configurations from one server to another.

compaction

The process by which a RAID level-5EE logical device utilizes the distributed spare drive in the event of a physical drive failure. After the data is reconstructed, the original pool undergoes compaction and the distributed spare drive becomes part of the new pool.

compression

The process by which a RAID level-5E logical device utilizes the distributed spare drive in the event of a physical drive failure. After the data is reconstructed, the original array undergoes compression and the distributed spare drive becomes part of the new pool.

controller

A hardware device that interprets signals between a host and a disk drive. Also known as an adapter or card. See also I/O.

copyback

Adaptec RAID controller feature that allows data that has been moved to a hot spare to be returned to its original location once the controller detects that the failed drive has been replaced.

decompression

The process by which a compressed array returns to its original striping scheme, after a failed drive is replaced in a RAID level-5E logical drive. Contrast with compression.

degraded state

The state of a RAID level-1, level-1E, level-5, level-5EE, level-6, level-10, or level-50 logical device that contains a failed drive. A RAID level-6 or level-60 logical device with two defunct drives is also in the degraded state. If a critical logical device sustains another drive failure the data cannot be recovered.  Note: A RAID level-6 logical device moves to the degraded state if one or two drives fail. To determine the number of drive failures, right-click the drive in the GUI, select Properties, then select the Status tab.

Direct Attached Storage (DAS)

A storage system, such as a disk drive or enclosure, that’s directly attached to a server or workstation, not connected by a storage network. Also one section of the Enterprise View tree in Adaptec Storage Manager.

distributed spare drive

In the RAID level-5E, the logical device designated as a spare drive. Because the spare drive is spread over several physical drives, it is described as distributed.

drive segment

See segment.

dual drive failure protection

Another name for a RAID 6 or RAID 60 logical device.

email notifications

Event messages about remote systems that are emailed to selected recipients.

enclosure

Also known as a JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks), storage enclosure, or disk enclosure.

event

Activity on your storage space, such as a disk drive failure or logical device verification.

expansion

The process by which a compacted pool returns to its original striping scheme, after a failed drive is replaced in a RAID level-5EE logical drive. Contrast with compaction.

failed state

A physical-drive state in which the controller cannot communicate properly with the drive.

fault tolerance

The ability of a system to continue to perform its functions even when one or more disk drives have failed.

firmware

A combination of hardware and software; software written onto read-only memory (ROM).

GB

GigaByte. 1,024 MB. See also MB.

GUI

Graphical User Interface. The window that opens when you start Adaptec Storage Manager. The GUI must be installed on at least one system.

host

A system that’s connected to a TCP/IP network. See also TCP/IP.

host bus adapter (HBA)

An adapter card that includes all of the I/O logic, software, and processing to manage the transfer of information between the host and the devices it’s connected to.

hot-pluggable

Pertaining to a system in which components can be added while the system is running.

hot-swap

Remove and replace a failed disk drive in a logical device without shutting down the server or disrupting activity on the logical device.

hot space

A RAID 5EE logical device.

hot spare

A spare disk drive which will automatically replace a failed disk drive in a logical device.

impacted

A RAID level-6, level-5, level-5EE, level-50, or level-60 logical drive moves to the Impacted state if a drive fails during initialization or the initialization process is stopped before it completes. This may occur during auto synchronization or background consistency check.. In an Impacted drive, the striping/synchronization process has not completed and you need to resynchronize. A RAID level-1, level-1E, or level-10 logical device moves to the Impacted state during its initial build. When the build is complete, it returns to the Optimal state.

initialize

Prepare a disk drive for reading and writing.

initialize logical device

To prepare a logical device for use by erasing the entire drive (Clear initialization method) or just the first 1024 sectors (Quick initialization method). Initialization prevents access to any data previously stored on the drive.

integrated RAID controller

An integrated controller with RAID capabilities, such as a HostRAID controller. It can be used to create a RAID level-1 logical device from two physical drives. You can configure one additional physical drive as a hot spare drive.

LAN

Local Area Network. A network of interconnected workstations sharing the resources of a single server, typically within the area of a small office building.

LED

Light-emitting Diode. An electronic device that lights up when powered.

local system

The computer (or system)  you’re working on. See also remote system.

logical device

One or more disk drives grouped together to appear as a single device to an operating system. Also known as a logical drive.

logical device migration

To add or remove physical drives to an existing logical device, to change RAID levels, change logical device size, or increase free space.

managed system

A computer (or system) in a storage space that’s being managed by Adaptec Storage Manager.

MB

MegaByte. Depending on context, 1,000,000 or 1,048,576 bytes. Also 1000 KB.

migrating state

The state of a logical device undergoing a migration. See logical device migration.

mirroring

In RAID technology, data protection that duplicates all data from one drive onto a second drive. In Adaptec Storage Manager, a feature that lets you create a copy of a volume. When a volume is mirrored, a second volume residing on second iSCSI Storage Appliance is used to duplicate the data on the volume. See also mirror manager, mirror plex.

offline state

A state in which a logical device is inaccessible.

online state

A physical-drive state in which the physical drive is functioning properly and is part of a pool.

optimal state

A logical drive state in which the logical device is functional.

parity

A form of data protection used by some RAID levels to re-create the data of a failed disk drive in a logical device. See also RAID.

partition

Divides the space of a disk drive into isolated sections.

physical drive

A hard disk drive.

port

A connection point to a controller, disk drive, expander, enclosure, or other device.

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks.

RAID 0

Two or more disk drives with striped data (data distributed evenly across the disk drives in equal-sized sections). RAID 0 does not provide data protection.

RAID 1

Two disk drives, where one disk drive is a mirror of the other (the same data is stored on each disk drive).

RAID 10

Built from two or more equal-sized RAID 1 logical devices. Data in a RAID 10 logical device is both striped and mirrored.

RAID 1E

Similar to RAID 1 except that data is both mirrored and striped, and more disk drives can be included. A RAID 1E pool can be built from three or more disk drives. Also referred to as a striped mirror.

RAID 5

A minimum of three disk drives, with data striping and parity data to provide redundancy. See also parity.

RAID 50

Built from six to forty-eight disk drives configured as two or more RAID 5 logical devices. Stripes stored data and parity data across all disk drives in both RAID 5 pools.

RAID 6

Similar to a RAID 5 logical device because it uses data striping and parity data to provide redundancy. However, RAID 6 logical devices include two independent sets of parity data instead of one. Both sets of parity data are striped separately across all disk drives in the pool. Also referred to as dual drive failure protection.

RAID 60

Built from eight disk drives configured as two or more RAID 6 logical devices. Stripes stored data and two sets of parity data across all disk drives in both RAID 6 logical devices. Also referred to as dual drive failure protection.

rapid fault isolation

The trail of yellow or red warning icons that leads from the high-level system view to the failed or failing component.

read-ahead cache mode

A controller setting that determines whether the controller transfers data from disk to its local cache in increments equal to the stripe size or system I/O requests.

read-ahead cache mode - Disabled

An option of the read-ahead cache mode. When the read-ahead cache mode is disabled, the controller transfers data from the logical drive to its local cache in increments equal to the system I/O request size. This optimizes performance when the workload is random or the system I/O requests are smaller than the stripe unit size.

read-ahead cache mode - Enabled

An option of the read-ahead cache mode. When the read-ahead cache mode is enabled, the controller transfers data from the logical device to its local cache in increments equal to the stripe size. This optimizes performance when workloads are steady and sequential.

rebuild

Re-create a logical device after a disk drive failure.

recurring task

A scheduled task, such as logical device verification, that occurs on a regular basis. See also Task Manager, scheduled task.

redundancy

The capability of preventing data loss if a disk drive fails. See also mirroring, parity.

remote system

In Adaptec Storage Manager, all other systems with direct attached storage besides your local system are remote systems. See also local system.

ROM Update wizard

A program that updates the BIOS and firmware codes on the controller. See also firmware.

S.M.A.R.T

A Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) event that announces that a physical drive is about to fail.

SAF-TE

A processor that manages small computer system interface (SCSI) accessed fault-tolerant enclosures.

SAN

Storage Area Network. A storage architecture that connects servers and disk drives across a network for enhanced reliability, scalability, and performance.

scheduled task

Activity, such as logical device verification, that is set to be completed at a specified date and time. See also recurring task.

SCSI

See small computer system interface.

segment

Disk drive space that has been assigned to a logical device. A segment can include all or just a portion of a disk drive’s space.

serial ATA (SATA)

A computer bus used to transfer data to and from a disk drive. SATA is the successor technology to the standard ATA interface (also called IDE). It uses a serial data transfer method and is characterized by a 150 MByte/s maximum transfer rate and a 7-wire data cable.

serial attached SCSI (SAS)

A computer bus used to transfer data to and from a disk drive or other peripheral device. SAS is the successor technology to the parallel SCSI interface. It uses a serial data transfer method and is characterized by a 3 Gbit/s maximum transfer rate and a 7-wire data cable.

small computer system interface

A standard hardware interface that enables a variety of peripheral devices to communicate with one another. Also called SCSI.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

snapshot

A frozen image of a logical device at a particular point in time.

stripe size

Amount of data written to one partition before the controller moves to the next partition in a stripe set.

striped mirror

A RAID 1 Enhanced, or RAID 1E, logical device.

striping

A method of enhancing performance by spreading data evenly over multiple disk drives. Provides no data protection.

Task Manager

A utility in Adaptec Storage Manager that allows you to schedule a specific activity, such as expanding a logical device, for a time that’s convenient. See also scheduled task, recurring task.

TB

TeraByte. Approximately one million-million bytes, or 1024 GB.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of communication protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet.

throughput

The speed at which data can be moved from one place to another, usually expressed in MB per second.

unattended mode

A controller setting that determines how the BIOS handles failures during system startup. The settings are enabled and disabled; the default value is disabled.

unattended mode -- Disabled

When unattended mode is disabled and the BIOS detects a failure, the system stops at the recovery option screen and waits for the user to respond.

unattended mode -- Enabled

When unattended mode is enabled and the BIOS detects a failure, the system waits for 30 seconds for the user to respond to the recovery options screen. Then, the BIOS automatically selects an appropriate option and continues the system startup process.

verify

Check a logical device for inconsistent or bad data. May also fix any data problems or parity errors.

write-cache mode

A controller setting that determines whether the controller writes data to the physical drive before or after sending a confirmation to the operating system. The settings are write back and write through.

write-cache mode -- Write-back

When the write-cache mode is set to write back and the operating system sends data to the controller, the controller sends a confirmation back to the operating system before actually writing the data to a storage device. This increases performance but, if a battery-backup cache is not used, increases the risk of data loss in the event of a power failure

write-cache mode -- Write-through

When the write-cache mode is set to write through and the operating system sends data to the controller, the controller writes the data to a storage device before sending a confirmation to the operating system. This mode decreases performance but does not risk data loss.