Sun StorEdge[TM] T3: Technical Instruction: T3+ - Solaris and Recognition of Larger-than-1TB volume.

Asset ID:	1-71-1010350.1
Update Date:	2009-02-18
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Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 1010350.1 : Sun StorEdge[TM] T3: Technical Instruction: T3+ - Solaris and Recognition of Larger-than-1TB volume.

Related Items


Sun Storage T3 Array
 Sun Storage T3+ Array
 Sun Storage 6020 Array
 Sun Storage 3910 Array

Related Categories


GCS>Sun Microsystems>Storage - Disk>Modular Disk - 3xxx Arrays
 GCS>Sun Microsystems>Storage - Disk>Modular Disk - 6xxx Arrays
 GCS>Sun Microsystems>Storage - Disk>Modular Disk - Other

PreviouslyPublishedAs
214194

Description
Sun StorEdge[TM] T3: Technical Instruction: T3+ - Solaris and Recognition of Larger-than-1TB volume.

Steps to Follow
The T3+ array now supports the 181GB disk drives. If a RAID5 volume is made with all available disks, the resulting volume size is much larger than 1TB (terabyte). If creating a greater than 1TB volume certain versions of Solaris will not be able to recognize the device. Solaris[TM] versions 6, 7, and 8 can only recognize volumes of up to 1TB. Solaris 9 4/03 and all future releases will have the additional capability to see multi-terabyte devices and filesystems.
If one creates two smaller RAID5 volumes on the T3+ (each under 1TB), they can be seen by Solaris, but in doing so, an extra disk would be lost due to parity for the second volume.

There are a few solutions to this problem:

1. Volume Slicing: The T3+ has a feature called volume slicing , which allows you to create a large volume and then 'slice' it up into smaller pieces. Each of these "pieces" is then seen by Solaris as a separate device.

For example, if you take all 9 of the 180GB disks and create a RAID5 volume with them, you will have a (approximately) 1400GB volume. Using the volume slicing feature, you can carve that volume into 2 separate "slices" of approximately 700GB each. Solaris will then be able to see both 700GB devices.

See the T3+ Administrators Guide to get familiar with the volume slicing feature.

2. SVM or VxVM and VxFS: If you really need to have a larger-than-1TB filesystem on the Solaris system, an option would be to use VxVM to concatenate slices together, thus making a larger than 1TB Veritas volume. Then use VxFS 3.5 or later to create a filesystem on the volume. Unfortunately, UFS has a limitation of 1TB on Solaris 9 and lower, so you would not be able to use it.

3. SAM-FS or SAM-QFS: This solution is similar to VxVM and VxFS. You would use the volume slicing on the T3+. Then use SAM-FS/QFS to create a device made from the disk devices presented to the OS. The only limitation for SAM-FS/QFS is the number of disk/tape devices that can be used to create the SAM-FS/QFS device, which is 252. Once created, mount the SAM-FS/QFS filesystem.

Product
Sun StorageTek T3 Array
Sun StorageTek 6900 Series
Sun StorageTek 3900 Series
Sun StorageTek T3+ Array
Sun StorageTek 6020 Array

T3, T3+, T4, 6120, 69x0, 39x0, Volume Slicing, Solaris, 1Tb, VxVM, VxFS, SAM-FS, SAM-QFS
Previously Published As
48821

Change History
Date: 2004-11-11
User Name: 7058
Action: Approved
Comment: Key words were all that were added.
OK to republish.
Version: 2
Date: 2004-11-11
User Name: 7058
Action: Accept
Comment:
Version: 0
Date: 2004-11-11
User Name: 12293
Action: Approved
Comment: Only added new product keywords that pertain to the document to keep it updated. Ok to re-publish!
Version: 0

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