Calculating the Number of Metadevice Names

You must calculate the number of Solstice DiskSuite metadevice names needed for your configuration before you set up the configuration. The default number of metadevice names is 128. Many configurations will need more than the default. Increasing this number before implementing a configuration will save administration time later on.

How to Calculate the Number of Metadevice Names

1. Calculate the quantity of metadevice names needed by determining the largest of the metadevice names to be used in each diskset.

   This requirement is based on the metadevice name value rather than on the actual quantity. For example, if your metadevice names range from d950 to d1000, Solstice DiskSuite will require one thousand names, not fifty.

2. If the calculated quantity exceeds 128, you must edit the /kernel/drv/md.conf file.

Set the nmd field in /kernel/drv/md.conf to the largest metadevice name value used in a diskset.

Changes to the /kernel/drv/md.conf file do not take effect until a reconfiguration reboot is performed. The md.conf files on each cluster node must be identical.

Refer to "Configuration Worksheets", for worksheets to help you plan your metadevice configuration.

The Solstice DiskSuite documentation states that the only modifiable field in the /kernel/drv/md.conf file is the nmd field. However, you can modify the md_nsets field as well if you want to configure additional disksets.