Adaptec Storage Manager Network Card User Manual


 
Step 4: Building Your Storage Space 48
Selecting a Configuration Method
Adaptec Storage Manager has a wizard to help you build (or configure)
logical drives, and offers two configuration methods to choose from,
depending on your needs:
Express configuration (basic)—Automatically creates logical drives
by grouping together same-sized physical drives, and assigns RAID
levels based on the number of physical disk drives in the logical
drive.
Use the express method when you want to use all available disk drives
in the most efficient manner. For instructions, see page 48
.
Custom configuration (advanced)—Helps you group disk drives,
set RAID levels, determine logical drive size, and configure advanced
settings manually.
Use the custom method when you want to create specific logical drives
with any or all available disk drives. For instructions, see page 51.
Express Configuration: Building the Easy Way
When you use express configuration, Adaptec Storage Manager
automatically creates logical drives by grouping together same-sized
physical disk drives, and assigns RAID levels based on the number of
physical disk drives in a logical drive:
A logical drive with three or more physical disk drives is assigned
RAID 5.
A logical drive with two physical disk drives is assigned RAID 1.
A logical drive with only a single physical disk drive becomes a
simple volume, which does not offer redundancy.
Note: To create a logical drive with any other RAID level, you must use
the custom method, as described on page 51. See Understanding RAID
on page 163 for more information about RAID levels.
By default, logical drive size is set by Adaptec Storage Manager and
automatically maximizes the capacity of the disk drives. However, you
can choose to specify a size for a logical drive, if required.