Foreign Configurations in Cable Pull and Drive Removal Scenarios

If one or more drives are removed from a configuration, by a cable pull or drive removal, for example, the configuration on those drives is considered a foreign configuration by the RAID controller.

The following scenarios can occur with cable pulls or drive removals. Use the Foreign Configuration Preview dialog to import or clear the foreign configuration in each case.

NOTE  If you want to import the foreign configuration in any of the following scenarios, you must have all of the drives in the enclosure before you perform the import operation.

Scenario #1: If all of the drives in a configuration are removed and re-inserted, the controller considers the drives to have foreign configurations.

Import or clear the foreign configuration. If you select Import, automatic rebuilds will occur in redundant virtual drives.

NOTE  Start a consistency check immediately after the rebuild is complete to ensure data integrity for the virtual drives. See Running a Consistency Check for more information about checking data consistency.

Scenario #2: If some of the drives in a configuration are removed and re-inserted, the controller considers the drives to have foreign configurations.

Import or clear the foreign configuration. If you select Import, automatic rebuilds will occur in redundant virtual drives.

NOTE  Start a consistency check immediately after the rebuild is complete to ensure data integrity for the virtual drives. See Running a Consistency Check, for more information about checking data consistency.

Scenario #3: If all of the drives in a virtual drive are removed, but at different times, and re-inserted, the controller considers the drives to have foreign configurations.

Import or clear the foreign configuration. If you select Import, all drives that were pulled before the virtual drive became offline will be imported and will be automatically rebuilt. Automatic rebuilds will occur in redundant virtual drives.

Scenario #4: If the drives in a non-redundant virtual drive are removed, the controller considers the drives to have foreign configurations.

Import or clear the foreign configuration. No rebuilds will occur after the import operation because there is no redundant data to rebuild the drives.