Expanding the media file system by bandwidth – Grass Valley K2 Summit Storage Area Network v.7.1 User Manual
Page 444
26 October 2009
K2 Storage Area Network Installation and Service Manual
444
Expanding the media file system by bandwidth
Expanding the media file system by bandwidth
If you want to retain your media file system and yet expand the bandwidth of your K2
SAN, you must use the following procedures for dynamic bandwidth expansion. This
process allows you to add RANKs to the stripe group, thereby expanding its width,
without reinitializing the file system. This keeps the existing media intact. The
additional RANKs can be made up of new disks in existing RAID chassis, disks in
new Expansion Chassis, or disks in new primary RAID chassis.
After the file system is expanded, existing media is still striped across the original
narrower stripe group, so it can not take advantage of the increased bandwidth. Also,
if there is a significant portion of the storage pool occupied by this existing media, its
presence reduces the extent to which new media can use the increased bandwidth. For
this reason the dynamic bandwidth expansion process provides the Restripe Utility,
which restripes the existing media across the new wider stripe group. This enables
both the existing media and new media to get full benefit of the increased bandwidth.
Refer to
“Managing the Restripe Utility” on page 448
for more information.
If the media on your file system has a high turnover rate and you know existing media
is to be deleted soon, you have the option of disabling the Restripe Utility. This saves
the system resources and time required to restripe media.
The expansion chassis that you add to your K2 SAN must have unbound, unlabeled
disks. If it currently has disks bound or labeled, connecting it to your system can cause
errors.
Dynamic bandwidth expansion is supported only with K2 system software version 3.2
and higher.
NOTE: Adding RAID storage devices changes your system design and must be
specified for your K2 SAN by Grass Valley. Do not attempt to add RAID storage
devices without support from Grass Valley.