Sun Storage 3310 Array
 
Sun Storage 3510 FC Array
 
Sun Storage 3511 SATA Array
 
Sun Storage 3320 SCSI Array
 

PLA-Support>Sun Systems>DISK>Arrays>SN-DK: SE31xx_33xx_35xx
 

Applies to:

Purpose

The command sccli> show disks may report a disk drive with a FORCLONE status.  You will see this condition when a clone operation has taken place. In the following example, we can see the sccli> show disks output before and after a clone. This document describes how the status got there and how to administer such conditions.

Before a clone has occurred:

After the clone has occurred:

The event log also records some information about the clone:

Details

With the help of Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART), disk drive failures can sometimes be predicted before they happen. For such drive showing symptoms of impending failure, system administrators can decide when to substitute a functional drive, either manually or automatically. This substitute process is called cloning.

• Manual Cloning: System administrator can manually clone the failing drive, choosing a convenient time when system performance will not be adversely affected.
  • Initiating Cloning through RAID firmware application menu
  • Initiating Cloning using "sccli> clone" command (only "Replace after Clone")
    
    
• Automatic Cloning: The controller clones the failing drive automatically to a standby spare drive. This can be achieved by setting SMART drive parameters.
  
  • Setting the parameters through RAID firmware application menu
  • Setting the parameters through "sccli> set drive-parameters smart" command

Whether it is Manual Cloning or Automatic Cloning, there are two options while cloning a failing drive:

1. Replace after Clone:
   • Data on the source drive (the drive with the predicted error or any selected member drive) is cloned to a standby spare.
   • The spare drive then becomes the new source drive.
   • The status of the original source drive is redefined as a USED drive.
     

   Drive	Drive Status while Cloning	Drive Status after completion of Cloning
   Source Drive	Member Drive of a Logical Drive	USED
   Destination Drive	CLONING (in RAID Firmware Application display) IN-CLONE (under "sccli> show disks" output)	Member Drive of the Logical Drive

    

2. Perpetual Clone:
   • Data on the source drive (the drive with a predicted error or any selected member drive) is cloned to a standby spare.
   • The spare does not become the new source drive, the spare drive stays mirrored to the source drive until the source drive fails, or the perpetual clone is manually terminated.
   • The source drive remains a member of the logical drive.
   • Manual initialization of Perpetual Clone or Termination can only be performed by RAID firmware application menu.
     

   Drive	Drive Status while Cloning	Drive Status after completion of Cloning
   Source Drive	Member Drive of a Logical Drive	Member Drive of the Logical Drive
   Destination Drive	CLONING (in RAID Firmware Application display) IN-CLONE (under "sccli> show disks" output	CLONE (in RAID Firmware Application display) FORCLONE (under "sccli> show disks" output)

    

   While the spare drive is mirroring the source drive and no other spare drive is available, any drive failure in the same logical drive forces the CLONE drive to give up the mirrored data and resume its original role. It becomes a spare drive again and rebuilds the failed drive.

    

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