Glossary 21
Glossary
activity
See
task.
array
A logical disk created from available space and made up of one or more partitions on one or
more physical disks. Arrays are typically used to provide data redundancy or enhanced I/O
performance. See also
container
,
volume
,
spanned volume
, and
RAID signature
. Also known
as a container.
array initialization
See
initialize
.
automatic failover
See
failover drive
.
available
space/partition
Unused space on an initialized disk from which logical devices (arrays) are created. When an
array is deleted, the space that is used is returned to the available space pool.
background
consistency check
Consistency check performed as a background process. See also
consistency check command
.
bad partition
Partition that is in an unknown state.
bootable array
Array configured as the boot device.
build
Background initialization of a redundant array. The array is accessible throughout. In a RAID
1 array, the contents of the primary drive are copied to a secondary drive. See also
clear
.
bus
See
channel
.
cache
Fast-access memory on the controller that serves as intermediate storage for data that is read
from, or written to, drives.
capacity
Total usable space available in megabytes or gigabytes.
channel
Any path, or bus, used for the transfer of data between storage devices and a RAID controller.
chunk
See
stripe
.
clear
Foreground initialization of a fault-tolerant array. A clear operation zeros all blocks of the
array. The array is not accessible until the clear task is complete.
concatenation
Joining of physical or logical rives in sequential order.
consistency check
command
The controller continuously performs a verification on a redundant array to confirm data
integrity. In the case of RAID 1 or RAID 10 arrays, consistency checks assure that the data
between like blocks match. In the case of a RAID 5 array, consistency checks assure that data
in the stripe and the calculated parity for the stripe match.
container
See
array
.
dead partition
See
failed
.