Create and Configure a New Storage Array

Using the Storage page in the web console, Cockpit administrators can create a redundant array of independent disks.

Creating a storage array for system use involves the following process:

1. Create the RAID device.
2. Format the RAID device without partitions -OR- Partition the RAID device -OR- Format a RAID device part of a volume group.
3. Mount the RAID device.

What Do You Need?

• The Cockpit web console must be installed and accessible.

  For details, see these topics: Install and Enable Cockpit and Log in to the Cockpit Web Console.

• The cockpit-storaged package must be installed.

  Note:

  If the cockpit-storaged package isn't installed, see this section Install and Manage Add-on Applications.
• Physical drives (HDDs or SSDs) connected to the host system. Note that each RAID level requires either two or more drives. To determine the number of drives required, review the Software RAID Levels.
• Administrator privileges.

Steps

Follow these steps to create a storage array of independent disks on the host system.

1. In the Storage page, find the Devices table and then select Create RAID device from the hamburger icon menu (3 stacked horizontal lines).

   The Create RAID device dialog appears.

2. In the Create RAID device dialog, perform the following.
   1. Specify the following properties:

      Name	In the Name text box, specify a meaningful name to describe the storage array.
      RAID level	In the RAID level drop down list box, select the applicable software RAID level. For more details, Software RAID Levels.
      Chunk size	In the chunk size drop down list box, select the default predefined value (512 KiB). Note: The Chunk Size value specifies block size for data writing. If the chunk size is 512 KiB, the system writes the first 512 KiB to the first disk, the second 512 KiB is written to the second disk, and the third chunk is written to the third disk. If you have three disks in the RAID configuration, the fourth 512 KiB is written to the first disk again.
      Disks	In the Disks drop down list box, select checkboxes for the disks that you want to include in the RAID set. Note: The number of disks required depends on the RAID level assigned.

   2. Click Create.

      The newly created RAID device appears in the Devices table.

3. Perform one of the following to format and mount the newly created RAID device.
   • Partition and mount the RAID device:
     • Follow the steps in this procedure Create Physical Disk Partitions.

     -OR-

   • Format and mount the RAID device without partitions:
     1. In the Storage page, select the newly created RAID device from the Devices table.

        The Storage [RAID name] page appears.

     2. In the Storage [RAID name] page, in the Content table following the RAID device details click the newly created RAID device and then select Format.

        The Format dialog appears.

     3. In the Format dialog, specify the following properties and then click Format.

        Name	In the Name text box, enter a name for the newly created RAID file system.
        Type	In the Type drop-down box, select a file system format type, for example: XFS (recommended) – The default high performance scalable file system format for Oracle Linux systems disk devices. EXT4 – A scalable extension of the ext3 file system. No File system – Data is saved as one large body of data with no way to tell where any piece of data is found or how to later view and retrieve it.
        Overwrite	Perform one of the following: Clear theOverwritecheckbox. This option doesn't overwrite existing data, it only overwrites the header. Note: Overwriting the header only is considered a faster process but less secure because the deleted data might be recoverable. Select theOverwrite checkbox. When selected, the deleted data is overwritten with zeros, making the deleted data unrecoverable. Note: The Overwrite process is slower but is considered a more secure option as all the deleted data is overwritten with zeros.
        Mount point and mounting options	Perform the following: In the Mount point text box, specify the path to mount the RAID device. Select the check boxes for all applicable mounting options.
        Encryption (if available)	In the Encryption drop-down list box, select the appropriate encryption option. For more information, see Lock Disk Device With LUKs.

        Formatting can take several minutes depending on the file system type and RAID size specified.

        After the format process completes, the file system details for the newly formatted RAID device appears in the Filesystem tab.

        The RAID device is ready for system use (per the mounting options specified).

     -OR-

   • Format and mount a RAID device as part of a volume group:
     1. Add the RAID device to a new volume group, see Create a Volume Group.
     2. Create a logical volume from the RAID volume group, see Create a Logical Volume.
     3. Format and mount the logical volume within the RAID volume group, see Format and Mount a Logical Volume.