Estimated time to create a 100 Gb Volume Group

[Carter Jay]

Hello,

I'm actually creating a 100 Gb (96 in fact) VG on a HP 11.0 UX, 9000, L2000 on all the array disks (8*18.6 Gb Hot spare), no mirroring. I've created 1 D/V with the array console of 96 Gb (seen as LUN 96 Gb disk) then launched the VG creation in SAM, with 2 48 Gb LV (and mount points). This is a 1 processor 433.
I've launched the process 2 days ago, but it is not yet finished.
As I've never created so big VGs (just created smaller, then extended), could someone give me an estimation of the time I have to wait (I've heard lots of versions ....).

Thanks in advance for your help

Cheers

Jerome

[T G Manikandan]

I have not seen this task taking huge time.

Did you check your /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log for any messages for hint?


Revert.

Thanks

[T G Manikandan]

I am not sure whether you are running lvmcommands in parallel.

If one lvm command is working with the disks and then you issue another command before it ends then there is a deadlock.
for ex. This could happen like when you run the lvcreate and lvdisplay command together.

Also check for any POWERFAILED messages in your /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log file.

Please check for the latest LVM patches for your system.


Thanks

[Carter Jay]

The fact is that the launched processe is still a vgcreate (using sam)and its state is sleeping (S). I can't check for the log file today (not at work).

[Carter Jay]

I've also checked in /dev/vg/groups, the folders are created, the lv* file is effectivly locked, as I've tried to view existing vg (vgdisplay). Do you think it could be linked with the size of the physical disk created with array (96 Gb), should i have created more slices (ex:10+20+20+.....=96) and include them in one VG instead of this big 96 Gb. I don't know the patch level of the box (I've received it on friday).
Thanks for your help again

[Carter Jay]

Hello again,

Where can i find this patch and what does it correct?
Is the install a "patch" like?

Cheers

Jerome

[T G Manikandan]

I maxsize of a logical volume
is around 16TB.

That should be fine.
I problem could be due to a bad disk in that bunch which you can check using the syslog messages.

The other reason could be duplicated SCSI ID's.

These are the patches I have

Versions
on my system Latest version

PHCO_24437 27369
PHKL_24268 27178
PHKL_23939
PHKL_24004

Thanks

[Carter Jay]

Thanks a lot for your help.

The fact that the operation is taking so much time could be due to a bad disk. Is there a command to check for bad disks on the raid...
How can i check for the scsi ids (certainly with the raid console, but i prefer to be sure.).
I can install the patch then with a:
swlist
swinstall

Thanks in advance

Cheers

[Bill Hassell]

Creating a several hundred gigabyte volume group should require less than one second so you likely have a bad array. I've created 500Gb and 1000Gb volume groups in just a couple of seconds. Since there are dozens of array products (and none of them are quite the same) you'll need to check with the manufacturer of the array for information on diagnostics.

Note that arrays remove the concept of individual disks in order to maximize throughput and allow for transparent replacement of defective disks units. So, while you could run dd against each LUN, if a problem developed, you still would have a difficult time determining what is the problem (it might be array electronics and not any disk problems).

As far as patches, there will be several hundred needed to bring your machine up to date. They are found on the Support Plus CDROM that should be included with your system. The latest is June 2002 and if you don't have the CD, you can download it from the ITRC, specfically:

http://us-support2.external.hp.com/common/bin/doc.pl/screen=commonExtensionSW/sid=719ce2970fba4e9be1

or the easier way to remeber: http://itrc.hp.com then click on the yellow "maintenance and support" bar, then Support Plus patch bundles. You will have to run swinstall and point it to the patch bundle. swinstall will select the appropriate patches for your system.