Policies file parameters

This section describes the parameters used in the policies file.

The Policy.name header and AppliesTo.1 entry are the only parameters required. None of the values are case-sensitive.

If you do not specify a value for any of the other parameters, they will be assigned a default value when applicable. If a parameter is not valid for a RAID controller, it will be ignored.

In addition to the examples in this reference guide, ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit also provides two example policies files that you can modify for your own use.

Table 1. Policy files
File name Description
RAID1-5.ini
  • Creates a RAID-1 array using the first two drives, and a RAID-5 array using the remaining drives.
  • Valid for:
    • ServeRAID-4H
    • 4Mx
    • 4Lx
    • 5i
    • 6i,
    • 6M,
    • 6i+,
    • 7k
    • 8i
RAID5HSP.ini
  • Creates a single RAID-5 array with a single hot-spare drive by using all available drives.
  • Valid for:
    • ServeRAID-4H
    • 4Mx
    • 4Lx
    • 5i
    • 6i
    • 6i+
    • 6M
    • 7k
    • 7t
    • 8i
template.ini Provides a policies file template that contains all parameters with details about each one.
syntax.txt Provides a syntax specification for the polices file.

The following tables lists the policy file parameters.

Table 2. Policy file parameters
Keyword Required? Default Description
Policy.name Yes None

This header designates the start of a new policy. See Policy.name parameter for additional information.

AppliesTo.n Yes None

Use this parameter to describe when the current policy should be chosen to configure the RAID controllers. See AppliesTo.n parameter for additional information.

ReadAhead No
  • ADAPTIVE (for ServeRAID 4H, 4MX, 4Lx, 5i, 6i, 6i+, 6M, and 7k)
  • ON (for ServeRAID-7t and 8i, 8k, and 8k-l)

Specifies the read ahead setting that should be applied to the RAID controller. See ReadAhead parameter for additional information.

RebuildRate No HIGH

Specifies the rebuild rate that should be applied to the RAID controller. See RebuildRate parameter for additional information.

StripeSize No
  • 8 (for ServeRAID 4H, 4Mx, 4Lx, 5i, 6i, 6i+, 6M, and 7k)
  • 64 (for ServeRAID-7t, 8i, 8k, 8k-l, 7e-SCSI, 7e-SATA, 8e-SATA, 8e-SAS, and LIS-IDEal-RAID)

Specifies the stripe-unit size in KB that the controller should use for its arrays. See StripeSize parameter for additional information.

Array_Mode No AUTO

Defines the array-creation policy to use when selecting physical disk drives to include in an array. See Array_Mode parameter for additional information.

Array_Defaults No
  • 0%:1 for ServeRAID-8e-SATA and 8e-SAS, LSI-SCSI-RAID when at least 3 drives are available
  • 0%:1 for ServeRAID-4H, 4Mx, 4Lx, 5i, 6i, 6i+, 6M, and 7k, when one or more arrays has 4 or more physical drives
  • 0%:0 for all other cases

Defines the default values to use for the variance and number of hot-spare drives when AUTO is specified for Array_Mode. See Array_Defaults parameter for additional information.

Array.letter No None

Lets you specify how many arrays are created and the physical drives that you would like in each array. See Array.letter parameter for additional information.

Hotspares No None

Defines a list of specific physical drives to designate as hot-spare drives. See Hotspares parameter for additional information.

Logical_Mode No AUTO

Defines the logical-drive creation policy to use when creating logical drives. See Logical_Mode parameter for additional information.

Logical_Defaults No FILL:AUTO:AUTO

Defines the default logical drive settings that should be used when creating logical drives. See Logical_Defaults parameter for additional information.

Logical.num No None

Lets you specify how many logical drives are created and the specific parameters for each logical drive. See Logical.num parameter for additional information.