MR Storage Administrator Feature Support Matrix

The following tables outline the MR Storage Administrator feature support for HPE Smart Array MR Controllers with respect to software features and firmware features.

Table 1. MegaRAID Firmware Feature Support Matrix

Feature Name	MegaRAID Firmware
RAID Level	RAID 0, RAID 1,RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60.
Maximum Drives	240
Maximum Spans	8
Maximum Logical Drives	64
Maximum Media Errors	256
Drive-mixing Support	No.
Strip Size Support	64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1024 KB
Maximum logical drives per Array	64
Multipath	No
Controller Reset Support	Yes

Table 2. Software Feature Support

Feature Name	Description
Server Dashboard	The Server dashboard is the default landing page in the MR Storage Administrator. The Server dashboard displays the overall summary of the server and the devices attached to it. You can troubleshoot, configure, maintain, and monitor the controllers from the Server dashboard. For more information, see Server Dashboard.
Controller Dashboard	Allows you perform controller related actions and enables you to view all the information pertaining to a controller from the Controller dashboard. For more information, see Controller Dashboard.
Simple Configuration	Simple configuration is the quickest and easiest way to create a new storage configuration. When you select simple configuration mode, the system creates the best configuration possible using the available drives. For more information, see Creating a New Storage Configuration Using The Simple Configuration Option.
Advance Configuration	The advanced configuration option provides an easy way to create a new storage configuration. Advanced configuration gives you a greater flexibility than simple configuration because you can select the drives and the logical drive parameters when you create a logical drive. In addition, you can use the advanced configuration option to create spanned arrays. For more information, see Creating a New Storage Configuration Using The Advanced Configuration Option.
CacheCade - SSD Caching Configuration	The MegaRAID CacheCade read and write option eliminates the need for manually configured hybrid arrays by intelligently and dynamically managing frequently-accessed data and copying it from HDD volumes to a higher performance layer of SSD cache. Copying the most accessed data (hot spot) to flash cache relieves the primary HDD array from time-consuming transactions, which allows for more efficient hard disk operation, reduced latency, and accelerated read and write speeds. For more information, see Using the MegaRAID CacheCade Pro 2.0 Feature.
Foreign Configuration (Import/Clear)	A foreign configuration is a RAID configuration that already exists on a replacement set of drives that you install in a storage system. You can use the MR Storage Administrator to import the foreign configuration to the controller or clear the foreign configuration so that you can create a new configuration using these drives. For more information, see Importing or Clearing Foreign Configurations.
Clear Configuration	Allows you to clear all existing configuration on a selected controller. For more information, see Clearing the Configuration.
Update Firmware	Enables you to enables you to update the controller firmware. For more information, see Updating the Controller Firmware.
Online Firmware Update	Allows you to update the controller firmware. For more information, see Updating the Controller Firmware.
Controller Operations
Setting Consistency Check Properties	Consistency check operation verifies the correctness of the data in logical drives that use RAID levels 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60, configurations. For example, in a system with parity, checking consistency means calculating the data on one drive and comparing the results to the contents of the parity drive. For more information, see Running Consistency Check.
Scheduling Consistency Check	Allows you to periodically run a consistency check on fault-tolerant logical drives. For more information, see Scheduling Consistency Check.
Setting Patrol Read Properties	A patrol read periodically verifies all sectors of the drives connected to a controller, including the system reserved area in the RAID configured drives. You can run a patrol read for all RAID levels and for all spare drives. A patrol read is initiated only when the controller is idle for a defined period and has no other background activities. For more information, see Setting Patrol Read Properties.
Starting Patrol Read	Allows you to start Patrol Read. For more information, see Starting a Patrol Read.
Stopping Patrol Read	Allows you to stop an already started Patrol Read. For more information, see Stopping Patrol Read.
Managing Link Speed	Enables you to change the link speed between the controller and an expander or between the controller and a drive that is directly connected to the controller. For more information, see Managing SAS Storage Link Speed.
Setting Adjustable Task Rates	Allows you to change the Rebuild Rate, Transformation Rate, Patrol Read Rate, BGI Rate, and Consistency Check Rate for a controller. For more information, see Setting Adjustable Task Rates.
Discarding Preserved Cache	If the controller loses access to one or more logical drives, the controller preserves the data from the logical drive. This preserved cache is called Pinned Cache. This cache is preserved until you import the logical drive or discard the cache. As long as there is pinned cache, you cannot perform certain operations on the logical drive. For more information, see Discarding Pinned Cache
Downloading Serial Output Log	The Serial Output Log file contains the firmware terminal log entries for the controller. The log information is shown as total number of entries available on the firmware side. For more information, see Downloading Serial Output Log.
Background Operations	Provides information on Background Operations Support, such as Pause, Resume, Abort, and so on. For more information, see Background Operations Support.
Advanced Software Features
Fast Path	The MegaRAID FastPath software is a high-performance I/O accelerator for Solid State Drive (SSD) arrays connected to a MegaRAID controller card. This advanced software is an optimized version of MegaRAID technology that can dramatically boost storage subsystem and overall application performance; particularly those that demonstrate high random read/write operation workloads – when deployed with a MegaRAID SATA+SAS controllers connected to SSDs. For more information, see MegaRAID Fast Path Advanced Software.
CacheCade SSD	CacheCade is an advanced software option designed to accelerate the performance of HDD arrays with only incremental investments in SSDs. CacheCade helps enable SSDs to be configured as a dedicated pool of controller cache to help maximize I/O performance for transaction-intensive applications, such as data bases, websites, and so on. For more information, see MegaRAID Advanced Software.
CacheCade Pro	The MegaRAID CacheCade Pro 2.0 read and write software eliminates the need for manually configure hybrid arrays by intelligently and dynamically managing frequently-accessed data and copying it from HDD volumes to a higher performance layer of SSD cache. For more information, seeUsing the MegaRAID CacheCade Pro 2.0 Feature.
RAID 5 and RAID 6	RAID 5 Uses data striping and parity data across three or more drives (distributed parity) to provide high data throughput and data redundancy, especially for applications that require random access. RAID 6 Uses data striping and parity data across three or more drives (distributed parity) to provide high data throughput and data redundancy, especially for applications that require random access. RAID 6 can survive the failure of two drives.
Logical Drive Operations
Logical Drive Settings/Modifying Logical Drive Properties	Enables you to configure the logical drives. For more information, see Selecting Logical Drive Settings.
Start and Stop Locating a Logical Drive	If the drives are in a disk enclosure, you can identify them by making their LEDs blink. For more information, see Start and Stop Locating a Drive.
Erasing a Logical Drive	Allows you to erase data on Non SEDs (normal HDDs) by using the Drive Erase option. The erase operation is performed as a background task. For more information, see Erasing a Drive.
Initializing a Logical Drive	Allows you to select Fast Initialization or Full Initialization option to initialize a drive immediately under the Advanced Configuration wizard. For more information, see Initializing a Logical Drive.
Starting Consistency Check on a Logical Drive	Consistency check verifies whether all stripes in a virtual drive with a redundant RAID level have correct parity or mirror values. The consistency check involves mirroring data when an inconsistent stripe is detected for a RAID 1, and recreating the parity from the peer disks in the case of a RAID 5 and RAID 6. This mechanism applies to variants and secondary RAID levels based on RAID 1 and RAID 5. For more information, seeStarting Consistency Check on a Logical Drive.
Expanding the Online Capacity of a Logical Drive	Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) allows the capacity of a logical drive to be expanded by adding new drives or making use of unused space on existing disks, without requiring a reboot. For more information, see Expanding The Capacity of a Logical Drive While Online.
Deleting a Logical Drive	Allows you to delete a logical drive. For more information, see Deleting a Logical Drive.
Drive Operations
Assign Global Spare Drives	A global spare drive replaces a failed drive in any redundant array, as long as the capacity of the global spare drives is equal to or larger than the coerced capacity of the failed drive. For more information, see Assigning Global Spare Drives.
Remove Global Spare Drives	Allows you to remove global spare drives. For more information, seeRemoving Global Spare Drives.
Assign Dedicated Spare Drives	Dedicated spare drive drives provide protection to one or more specified arrays on the controller. For more information, see Assigning Dedicated Spare Drives.
Start and Stop Locating Drive	If the drives are in a disk enclosure, you can identify them by making their LEDs blink. For more information, see Start and Stop Locating a Drive.
Making a Drive online and Offline	Allows you to can change the state of a drive. For more information, see
Replacing a Drive	Allows you to replace a drive if the drive shows signs of failing. For more information, see Replacing a Drive.
Rebuilding a Drive	If a drive, which is configured as RAID 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, or 60 fails, the firmware automatically rebuilds the data on a spare drive to prevent data loss. The rebuild is a fully automatic process. You can monitor the progress of drive rebuilds in the Background Processes in Progress window. For more information, see Rebuilding a Drive.
Erasing a Drive	Allows you to erase data on Non SEDs (normal HDDs) by using the Drive Erase option. The erase operation is performed as a background task. For more information, seeErasing a Drive.
Converting Unconfigured Bad Drive to Unconfigured Good Drive	When you force a drive offline, it enters the Unconfigured Bad state. If a drive contains valid DDF metadata, its drive state is Unconfigured Good. For more information, seeConverting Unconfigured Bad Drive to Unconfigured Good Drive.
Make Unconfigured Good Drive	When you power down a controller and insert a new drive, and if the inserted drive does not contain valid DDF metadata, the drive status is listed as JBOD (Just a Bunch of Drives) when you power up the system again. When you power down a controller and insert a new drive and if the drive contains valid DDF metadata, its drive state is listed as Unconfigured Good. A new drive in the JBOD drive state is exposed to the host operating system as a stand-alone drive. For more information, see Make Unconfigured Good and Make JBOD.
Make JBOD/ Delete JBOD	Allows you to either create JBODs or deleted already created JBODs. Making JBOD.
Event Logs
Viewing Event Logs	The MR Storage Administrator monitors the activity and performance of the server and all of the controllers attached to it. For more information, see Viewing Event Logs.