Removing a Unit

Removing a unit through software (also known as 'array roaming') keeps the data intact on the unit. It allows you to move the unit to another controller or to store the drives for safekeeping purposes.

Removing a unit is different than deleting a unit. Deleting a unit will destroy the data on the unit.


	Warning: It is important to remove the unit through software, before removing it physically. Failure to do so could result in a system crash or hang and may even corrupt the data and the unit configuration from being reassembled later. Power-down your system before physically removing any drive that is not in a hot swap bay.


	Note: You can also remove a drive, if you want to force a degrade on a redundant unit, or if you want to remove a drive from the “Available Drives” list so that you can then remove it from the system. For more information, see Removing a Drive.

To remove a unit through 3DM2


	Note: If your drives are not in hot swap bays, you do not need to remove a unit via 3DM2. Simply power down the system and remove the applicable drives. Refer to your system’s user guide for details on removing fixed disks. If your drives are in hot swap bays, follow the steps below.

1	Make sure the operating system is not accessing the unit you want to remove.

For example, make sure you are not copying files to the unit, and make sure that there are no applications with open files on that unit.

If you are not successful at removing your unit, usually this is because there is currently I/O going to that unit, a message informs you that the unit is busy. In that case, you should stop any I/O first.

2	Unmount the unit.

Make sure the unit is not mounted and not in use. You need to follow the specific operating system guide on how to unmount the volume before you remove a unit.

This step is very important. If a unit is not unmounted and you remove it, it is the equivalent of physically yanking a hard drive out from under the operating system. You could lose data, the system could hang, or the controller could reset.

Under FreeBSD, you can unmount the unit with this command: umount <mount location>

Under Linux, you can unmount the unit with this command:
umount <mount location>

Under Mac OS, launch the Macintosh Disk Utility, select the unit, and click the Unmount button the toolbar, or select the icon for the unit on the desktop and drag it to the trash.

Under OpenSolaris, please consult your system documentation and the LSI KnowledgeBase for more information.

Under Windows, go to Start >> Administrative Tools >> Computer Management, and select Disk Management. Remove the logical drive letter for the unit. (under Windows it is not necessary to unmount the device before deleting the unit, because the API code correctly does this for you.)

Under VMware, please consult your system documentation and the LSI KnowledgeBase for more information.

3	In 3DM2, choose Management >> Maintenance.

4	In the Unit Maintenance table on the Maintenance page, select the unit you want to remove and click Remove Unit.

5	When a message asks you to confirm, click OK.

The unit number and information is removed from the Maintenance page in 3DM2.

The operating system is notified that the unit was removed. In Linux the device node associated with this unit is removed. In Windows the Device Manager will reflect the changes under the disk drives icon.

You can now physically remove the drives and move them to another controller. If the drive is in a hot swap bay, you can do this without shutting down the system. If the drive is not in a hot swap bay, power-down the system and ground yourself before making changes to the hardware.

If you change your mind before physically removing the drives and want to reuse the drives and unit on the current controller, just click Rescan Controller.