Choosing an appropriate physical disk type
You can create disk groups and virtual disks in the storage array. You must select the capacity that you want to allocate for the virtual disk
from either unconfigured capacity, free capacity, or an existing disk pool available in the storage array. Then you define basic and optional
advanced parameters for the virtual disk.
With the advent of different physical disk technologies, it is now possible to mix physical disks with different media types and different
interface types within a single storage array.
Physical disk security with self encrypting disk
Self Encrypting Disk (SED) technology prevents unauthorized access to the data on a physical disk that is physically removed from the
storage array. The storage array has a security key. Self encrypting disks provide access to data only through an array that has the correct
security key.
The self encrypting disk or a security capable physical disk encrypts data during writes and decrypts data during reads.
You can create a secure disk group from security capable physical disks. When you create a secure disk group from security capable
physical disks, the physical disks in that disk group become security enabled. When a security capable physical disk has been security
enabled, the physical disk requires the correct security key from a RAID controller module to read or write the data. All the physical disks
and RAID controller modules in a storage array share security key. The shared security key provides read and write access to the physical
disks, while the physical disk encryption key on each physical disk is used to encrypt the data. A security capable physical disk works like
any other physical disk until it is security enabled.
Whenever the power is turned off and turned on again, all the security enabled physical disks change to a security locked state. In this
state, the data is inaccessible until the correct security key is provided by a RAID controller module.
You can view the self encrypting disk status of any physical disk in the storage array from the Physical Disk Properties dialog. The status
information reports whether the physical disk is:
•
Security capable
•
Secure—Security enabled or disabled
•
Read/Write Accessible—Security locked or unlocked
You can view the self encrypting disk status of any disk group in the storage array. The status information reports whether the storage
array is:
•
Security capable
•
Secure
Table 11. Interpretation of security status of disk group
Secure
Security Capable - Yes
Security Capable - No
Yes
The disk group is composed of all SED physical
disks and is in a Secure state.
Not applicable. Only SED physical disks can be in a Secure
state.
No
The disk group is composed of all SED physical
disks and is in a Non-Secure state.
The disk group is not entirely composed of SED physical
disks.
The
Physical Disk Security
menu is displayed in the
Storage Array
menu. The
Physical Disk Security
menu has the following options:
•
Create Key
•
Change Key
•
Save Key
•
Validate Key
Disk groups, standard virtual disks, and thin virtual disks
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