Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Additional Information for Windows – Dynamic Disks

Use this procedure when you create on a running the Windows operating systems using . Failure to complete the steps listed might result in an inaccurate point-in-time image of the .

For a process over view of the flashcopy logical drive creation process, refer to the Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Process Overview – Windows Operating System online help topic.

You can reuse flashcopy logical drives for frequent backups or nightly backups. You can create flashcopy logical drives for one-time usage, such as speculative change or upgrade testing. For instructions about how to reuse a disabled flashcopy logical drive, refer to the Reusing FlashCopy Logical Drives online help topic.


Attention:

Risk of application errors – Windows operating systems traditionally support a Master Boot Record (MBR) disk partition format. The 64-bit version of the Windows Server 2003 operating system supports the GUID Partition Table (GPT) disk partition format. The 32-bit version of the Windows Server 2003 operating systems does not support this partition format and does not know how to correctly access a GPT disk. When a base logical drive mapped to a 64-bit Windows Server 2003 host is with the GPT disk partition format, any flashcopy logical drives created from this base logical drive must also be mapped to a 64-bit Windows Server 2003 host. If you map the flashcopy logical drive to a 32-bit Windows Server 2003 host, the operating system does not recognize the partition format of the flashcopy logical drive. Alternatively, you can initialize the base logical drive on the 64-bit Windows Server 2003 host with the older MBR disk partition format, and any flashcopys of that base logical drive are accessible by other 32-bit Windows hosts.

  1. Stop all activity to the base logical drive, or suspend data transfer before starting the procedure. Stopping all I/O activity makes sure that an accurate point-in-time image of the base logical drive is captured. Close all applications, including Windows Explorer, to make sure that all I/O activity has been stopped.
  2. Start the storage management software.
    The Enterprise Management Window appears.
  3. Launch a Subsystem Management Window by selecting Tools >> Manage Storage Subsystem .
    The Subsystem Management Window opens in a separate window.
  4. In the Logical pane of the Logical/Physical tab, select a , and create a flashcopy logical drive by using one of these methods:

    create snapshotVolume
    

  5. Disable the flashcopy logical drive by using these methods:

    disableSnapshot volume
    

  6. Assign a between the flashcopy logical drive and the host that will access the flashcopy logical drive. Define the mapping by using one of these methods:

    create mapping volume
    

    For command reference-specific information about creating a mapping, refer to the online help topics in the Enterprise Management Window.

  7. Run the utility to flush all the write buffers from the new disk drive. At the host prompt, type this command, and press Enter:

    SMrepassist -f <filesystem-identifier>

    In this command, <filesystem-identifier> is the drive letter assigned to the base logical drive.

    Example:

    If the new disk drive for the base logical drive was assigned drive letter “E” using the Create Partition Wizard, type this command, and press Enter:

    SMrepassist -f e:
    

    The write buffers for the disk drive are flushed.

  8. In the storage management software, re-create the flashcopy logical drive by using one of these methods:

    recreateSnapshot volume
    


    Important:

    If you stopped I/O activity to the base logical drive or suspended data transfer, either resume I/O activity to the base logical drive at this time, or start data transfer.

  9. Make sure that the host operating system recognizes the flashcopy logical drive by performing one of these actions:
  10. Run the utility to associate the LUN with a host operating system and to make sure that the flashcopy logical drive is recognized by the host.After you have created logical drives and defined mappings, run the SMdevices utility to make sure that the logical drive name and the operating system storage subsystem name that is assigned by the operating system correlate.
  11. Open the dialog.
    1. Select Start >> Settings >> Control Panel .
    2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and double-click Computer Management.
    3. In the console tree under Storage, select Disk Management.
  12. Perform one of these actions:
    The Disk Management dialog appears with a graphical representation of all the physical disk drives connected to the host and their associated partitions.
  13. Locate the disk drive and logical drive definition that represents the flashcopy logical drive that you re-created.


    Note:

    The flashcopy logical drive’s LUNs appear with the disk type foreign.

  14. Select the flashcopy logical drive LUNs, right-click, and select Import Foreign Disks.The Import Foreign Disks dialog appears.
  15. Select the appropriate disk, and click OK.
    The flashcopy logical drives and the LUNs are imported.
  16. From the Disk Management main menu, select Action >> Rescan Disks .
    The manual re-scan verifies that the disk information is correct.
  17. In the Disk Management dialog, locate the disk and logical drive definition that represents the flashcopy logical drive that you re-created, and make sure that a new disk drive letter has automatically been assigned.
  18. You can reuse the flashcopy logical drive with your backup application, or you can use the flashcopy logical drive one time for speculative change testing or upgrade testing.For information about how to reuse a disabled flashcopy logical drive, refer to the Reusing FlashCopy Logical Drives: Additional Information for Windows – Dynamic Disks online help topic.
  19. After the flashcopy logical drive is no longer required, disable or delete the flashcopy logical drive.If you disable the flashcopy logical drive instead of deleting it, you can retain the flashcopy logical drive and its associated . Then, when you must create a different flashcopy of the same base logical drive, you can re-create the disabled flashcopy logical drive. This action takes less time than creating a new flashcopy logical drive and stops any reduction in performance that might occur if the flashcopy logical drive remains available.

    For more information, refer to the Disabling a FlashCopy Logical Drive online help topic and the Deleting a Logical Drive online help topic. For command reference information about disabling or deleting a flashcopy logical drive, refer to the online help topics in the Enterprise Management Window.

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