Advanced RAID 6 Layouts

(Available on Restorer Ultimate PRO and Restorer Ultimate PRO Network only).

Restorer Ultimate allows you to create and process very complex custom RAID 6 layouts

For example, let us create a RAID 6 with the following layout:

•	Five disks,

•	Block size: 64 KB

•

Offset: 0

•	Block order:

	A	B	C	D	E
1	RS	1	2	3	PD
2	4	5	6	PD	RS
3	8	9	PD	RS	7
4	12	PD	RS	10	11
5	PD	RS	13	14	15
6	PA	PA	PA	PA	PA

where

PD is parity of data;

PA is parity of all;

RS is Reed-Solomon;

Rows from 1 to 5 use two types of error correction: parity of data (xor) and Reed-Solomon. That is, row 1 uses blocks A1 and E1, row 2 uses blocks D2 and E2, and so on.

Row 6 is used for error correction for columns. That is, column A uses block A6, column B uses B6, and so on. Parity of all is used for error correction.

The RAID components are the images img1.bin, img2.bin, img3.bin, img4.bin, and img5.bin on the Device/Disk list.

To create such RAID 6 object

1	Click Create Virtual RAID on the Task List

>	A Create Virtual RAID wizard will appear to guide you through the process of creating a RAID or Virtual volume set.

2	Select Virtual Block RAID Volume from the Create Virtual RAID dialog box then click the Next button

Create Virtual RAID dialog box

3	Select the required drives from the Available disks list to the Selected disks list

Create Virtual RAID dialog box

RAID options

Available disks	List of disks available for creating virtual disk arrays
Show Partitions	If this check box is selected, Restorer Ultimate also shows partitions on hard drives
Show as:	Select the units in which you want to see object sizes. You may select, Bytes, Sectors, and Bytes and Sectors.
Selected disks	List of disks selected for creating virtual disk arrays
Buttons
Add	Click this button to add the selected disk from the Available disks list to the Selected disks list
Remove	Click this button to remove the selected disk from the Selected disks list
Remove All	Click this button to remove all selected disks from the Selected disks list
Move Up	Click this button to move the selected disk one level up in the Selected disks list
Move Down	Click this button to move the selected disk one level down in the Selected disks list
Add Missing Disk	Click this button to add a virtual disk into virtual disk array that will be created

Note: Components should be placed in the same order and the offsets should be specified as they were in the original volume set. If this order is incorrect, you must change it by using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

If a component from the objects is absent (due to hardware failure, for example), you can add a "missing disk" to re-construct the RAID. The missing disk should be placed in the same order as in the original RAID structure.

Turning Disks On-Line and Off-Line on-the-fly

You may turn the objects in the virtual RAID or volume set on-line and off-line by selecting/clearing the On checkbox on the Create Virtual RAID dialog box. It may be useful, for example, if you need to see which disk is non-actual in a RAID5 or 6.

Actually, when you turn an object off-line, Restorer Ultimate substitutes it with a Missing Disk or Empty Space object.

Note: Restorer Ultimate does not write anything real on the disk. A missing disk is a virtual object that does not affect actual data on the drive.

4	Specify the Block size and Offset parameters, and enter 6 to the Row count on the Create Virtual RAID dialog box

Disregard the Block order parameter.

Create Virtual RAID dialog box

5	Manually set Unknown for RAID type and enter 6 to Number of rows on the Parents tab

6	Enter the block order in the table on the Parents tab

You may enter either a block number, or an error correction block of the following types:

PD	Parity of data
PA	Parity of all
RS	Reed-Solomon
U	Unknown
I	Ignore

Note: You should specify an error correction block only when the correct sequence is selected on the RAID Sequences window.

Using the keyboard: arrow keys to navigate, digit, and rs, pd, pa, u, i keys to enter the block order.

Using the mouse: right-click the cell and select the number or parity from the shortcut menu. If the block table is too large, you better use the keyboard to enter the digits.

Create Virtual RAID dialog box

For the rows:

Select the required row sequence on the RAID Sequences window, select the cell on the RAID table, and enter the required value.

For the columns and arbitrary sequences:

You need to create those sequences and add the respective blocks to it manually.

To create a sequence: Click Add empty on the RAID Sequences window or select Create New Sequence on the shortcut menu on the Create Virtual RAID dialog box.

To add a block to a sequence: Right-click the respective cell and select Add To Sequence on the shortcut menu on the Create Virtual RAID dialog box..

To remove a block from a sequence: Right-click the respective cell and select Remove From Sequence on the shortcut menu on the Create Virtual RAID dialog box..

Corrections:

Restorer Ultimate will show if some digits are not correct by coloring their cells in red. Navigate to the required cell and enter the correct value. Use the Delete key to clear a cell.

Clear the table: Right-click the table and select Clear all on the shortcut menu.

6	When you finishes entering the information, click the Finish button on the Create Virtual RAID dialog box

Create Virtual RAID dialog box

>	The created RAID5 object can now be processed like regular drives/volumes

If Restorer Ultimate detects a valid file system on this RAID object, a partition object will appear on the Device/Disk list.

Note: You may check how correctly you have reconstructed the original volume set or RAID. Find a file and preview it. If the file appears correct, you have created a correct RAID layout. The file should be large enough. For example, it should have size equal or larger to Block size*(Number of disks-Number of parity disks) for RAID 5 or 6.

The Description Files for RAID Configurations topic shows the RAID description file for this RAID configuration.