Moving Physical and Virtual Disks from One System to Another
This section describes how to move physical and virtual disks from one system to another.
Required Conditions
This section applies to PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, PERC 5/E and PERC 5/i, and SAS 5/iR Controllers
After some planning and preparation, it is possible to migrate physical and virtual disks from one controller, enclosure or server to another. You can perform physical and virtual disk migration on PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, PERC 5/E and PERC 5/i, and SAS 5/iR controllers as long as the following conditions are met.
General Conditions for SCSI and SAS Controllers
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Virtual disks can only be migrated to a controller that is using the same technology. For example, virtual disks on a SCSI controller must be migrated to a SCSI controller and virtual disks on a SAS controller must be migrated to a SAS controller. For more information, see RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS.
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When moving an enclosure, both SCSI and SAS controllers require that you power down the enclosure and the server before moving the enclosure.
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SCSI Controller Conditions
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PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di virtual disks cannot be migrated to a PERC 2/SC or PERC 2/DC controller. PERC 2/SC and PERC 2/DC virtual disks can be migrated to a PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, or 4e/Di controller.
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NOTE:
The current version of Storage Management does not support the PERC 2, 2/Si, 2/SC, or 2/DC controllers.
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A virtual disk cannot be migrated between the CERC SATA1.5/6ch and CERC SATA1.5/2s controller family and the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controller family.
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On SCSI controllers, a virtual disk cannot be migrated from one controller to another unless the receiving controller's configuration has been cleared.
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When moving the physical disks on a SCSI controller from one enclosure to another, the SCSI ID for each disk must remain the same. For more information, see RAID Controller Technology: SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS.
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When moving the physical disks from one enclosure to another or when moving an external enclosure from one server to another, the enclosure must be connected to the same connector number on the controller as in the original condition.
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In the case where a virtual disk consists of physical disks on multiple connectors, each physical disk must be migrated to an enclosure that is connected to the same connector number that the physical disk or enclosure was originally connected to.
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SAS Controller Conditions
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On SAS controllers, you can migrate a virtual disk by moving the physical disks from one controller to another and then importing the foreign configuration on the receiving controller. For more information, see Foreign Configuration Operations.
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When moving an enclosure on a SAS controller, you can move the enclosure to any connector number and then import the foreign configuration on the receiving controller. For more information, see Foreign Configuration Operations.
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Migrating SCSI Virtual Disks to Another System
This section applies to the PERC 4/SC, 4/DC, 4e/DC, 4/Di, 4e/Si, and 4e/Di controllers
The following describes how to migrate virtual disks and volumes from one system to another. Completing the migration requires the following activities:
Moving the Disks
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Turn off the system that the physical disks are being moved from.
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If the receiving controller has a preexisting virtual disk configuration on attached physical disks, use the following procedure for clearing the configuration:
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Turn off the receiving server.
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Remove all the physical disks from the controller.
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Start up the receiving server and clear the configuration from the controller BIOS. After making the changes, power down the server when it indicates to reboot the system.
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If the receiving controller does not have a preexisting virtual disk configuration, then turn off its server.
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Place the physical disks into the new enclosure.
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Start up the system connected to the receiving controller. When the system connected to the new enclosure comes up, use the BIOS access <Ctrl+M> to update the controller configuration with the information saved on the physical disks. Exiting the BIOS access requires one more reboot of the system.
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The migration is complete. The virtual disk is now manageable through Storage Management.
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Saving the New Controller Configuration
Use the following procedure to enter the controller BIOS configuration screens to save the new configuration.
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Reboot the PowerEdge server.
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Enter the PowerEdge RAID Controller BIOS by pressing <Ctrl+M> when prompted during the power on self test (POST) of the controller during the bootup sequence.
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Select the Configure menu option and press <Enter>.
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Select View/Add Configuration and press <Enter>.
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This reads the data on the physical disks to restore the RAID controller's proprietary configuration information. Press Esc and save the new configuration when prompted.
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Press the Esc key and save the new configuration when prompted.
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Reboot the system.
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Migrating SAS Virtual Disks to Another System
The following describes how to migrate virtual disks and volumes from one system to another.
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Turn off the system that the physical disks are being moved from.
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If the receiving controller does not have a preexisting virtual disk configuration, then turn off its server.
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Place the physical disks into the new enclosure.
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Start up the system connected to the receiving controller.
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Use the Foreign Configuration Operations task to import the migrated virtual disks on the receiving controller.
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NOTE:
The Foreign Configuration Operations are not supported on PERC S100 and S300 controllers.
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The migration is complete. The virtual disk is now manageable through Storage Management.