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7-1
Chapter 7
Integrated Mirroring and Integrated
Mirroring Enhanced
This chapter provides an overview of the Integrated Mirroring (IM) and Integrated
Mirroring Enhanced (IME) features. The chapter also explains how to create Integrated
Mirroring (IM) and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced (IME) volumes using the SAS BIOS
Configuration Utility (SAS BIOS CU), which is used to setup IR Mode.
7-1 Introduction
As a result of the shift towards Network Attached Storage (NAS), ISPs need a cost
effective, fault-tolerant solution to protect the operating systems on small form factor,
high-density, rack-mountable servers. The Integrated Mirroring (IM) and Integrated
Mirroring Enhanced (IME) features provide data protection for the system boot volume
to safeguard critical information such as the operating system on servers and high
performance workstations. The IM and IME features provide a robust,
high-performance, fault-tolerant solution to data storage needs, at a lower cost than a
dedicated RAID controller.
To provide fault-tolerant protection for critical data, the IM and IME features support one
or two mirrored volumes per SAS controller. The two volumes can contain up to twelve
disk drives total, plus one or two hot spare disks.
If a disk in an Integrated Mirroring volume fails, the hot swap capability allows you to
restore the volume by simply swapping disks. The firmware then automatically
re-mirrors the swapped disk. Additionally, each SAS controller can have one or two
global hot spare disks available to automatically replace a failed disk in the IM or IME
storage volumes on the controller. Hot spares make the IM/IME volume even more fault
tolerant.
The IM/IME feature uses the same device drivers as the standard based controllers,
providing seamless and transparent fault tolerance. This eliminates the need for
complex backup software or expensive RAID hardware. The IM/IME feature operates
independently from the operating system, in order to conserve system resources. The
BIOS-based configuration utility makes it easy to configure IM and IME volumes.
NOTE: You can also configure one IM or IME volume and one Integrated
Striping (IS) volume on the same SAS controller.