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240 Glossary
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FlexRAID Power Fail Option—The FlexRAID Power Fail option allows a
reconstruction to restart if a power failure occurs. This is the advantage of
this option. The disadvantage is, once the reconstruction is active, the
performance is slower because an additional activity is running.
Formatting—The process of writing zeros to all data fields in a physical
drive (hard drive) to map out unreadable or bad sectors. Because most hard
drives are factory formatted, formatting is usually only done if a hard disk
generates many media errors.
GB—(gigabyte) 1,000,000,000 (10 to the ninth power) bytes. It is the same
as 1,000 MB (megabytes).
Host-based Array—A disk array with an Array Management Software in its
host computer rather than in a disk subsystem.
Host Computer—Any computer to which disks are directly attached.
Mainframes, servers, workstations, and personal computers can all be
considered host computers.
Hot Spare—A stand-by drive ready for use if another drive fails. It does not
contain any user data. Up to eight hard drives can be assigned as hot spares
for an adapter. A hot spare can be dedicated to a single redundant array or it
can be part of the global hot-spare pool for all arrays controlled by the
adapter.
Hot Swap—The substitution of a replacement unit in a disk subsystem for
a defective one, where the substitution can be performed while the
subsystem is running (performing its normal functions). Hot swaps are
manual.
Input/Output (I/O) Driver—A host computer software component
(usually part of the operating system) that controls the operation of
peripheral controllers or adapters attached to the host computer. I/O drivers
communicate between applications and I/O devices, and in some cases
participates in data transfer.
Integrated Device Electronics (IDE)— Also known at Advanced
Technology Attachment (ATA), this is a type of interface for the hard drive,
in which the controller electronics are integrated onto the drive itself. With
IDE, a separate adapter card is no longer needed; this reduces interface
costs and makes it easier to implement firmware.