MegaRAID Storage Manager Online Help System

Monitoring Server Events and Devices > Monitoring Drives and Other Physical Devices > Running a Patrol Read

Running a Patrol Read

A patrol read periodically verifies all sectors of 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 hot spare drives. This operation is initiated only when the controller is idle for a defined time period and has no other background activities.

You can set the patrol read properties and start the patrol read operation, or you can start the patrol read without changing the properties.

To set the patrol read properties and then start a patrol read, follow these steps:

  1. Click a controller icon in the left panel of the MegaRAID Storage Manager main menu.
  2. Select Go To->Controller->Set Patrol Read Properties.
  3. The Patrol Read - Set properties screen appears, as shown in Figure 31.
    Figure 31 Patrol Read Configuration



  4. Select a mode for a patrol read. The options are:
    • Automatic: Patrol read runs automatically at the time interval you specify on this screen.
    • Manual: Patrol read runs only when you manually start it by selecting Start Patrol Read from the controller options panel.
    • Disabled: Patrol read does not run.
  5. (Optional) Specify a maximum count of drives to include in the patrol read.
  6. The count must be a number from 1 to 255.
  7. (Optional) Click virtual drives in the list under the heading Virtual Drives to include in the patrol read and click Add > or click Add All >> to include all of the virtual drives.
  8. (Optional) Change the frequency at which the patrol read runs.
  9. The default frequency is weekly (168 hours), which is suitable for most configurations. The other options are hourly, daily, and monthly.

    LSI recommends that you leave the patrol read frequency and other patrol read settings at the default values to achieve the best system performance. If you decide to change the values, record the original default value here so you can restore them later, if necessary:
    Patrol Read Frequency: ___________________
    Continuous Patrolling: Enabled/Disabled
    Patrol Read Task Rate: ___________________

  10. (Optional) Set Patrol Read to run at a specific time.
  11. The default is for the patrol read to start when you click OK on this screen. To change the default so that the patrol read starts at a specific time, follow these steps (otherwise, skip this step and proceed to the next step):
    1. Uncheck the box Perform Patrol Read when I click OK.
    2. Select the month, year, day, and time to start patrol read.
  12. Click OK to enable your patrol read selections.
  13. Patrol read does not report on its progress while it is running. The patrol read status is reported in the event log only.

To start a patrol read without changing the patrol read properties, follow these steps:

  1. Click a controller icon in the left panel of the MegaRAID Storage Manager main menu screen.
  2. Select Go To->Controller->Start Patrol Read in the menu bar.
  3. When prompted, click Yes to confirm that you want to start a patrol read.
Patrol Read Task Rates

You have the option to change the patrol read task rate. The task rate determines the amount of system resources that are dedicated to a patrol read when it is running. LSI recommends, however, that you leave the patrol read task rate at its default setting.

If you raise the task rate above the default, foreground tasks will run more slowly and it might seem that the system is not responding. If you lower the task rate below the default, rebuilds and other background tasks might run very slowly and might not complete within a reasonable time. For more information, about the patrol read task rate, see Changing Adjustable Task Rates.


DB09-000202-04  37857-02  Rev. E  October 2010
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