Physical Disks/Devices - Revision history

Qadmin: Correct the udev rescan throttle wording: three scans for one device within a minute suppresses further events (QSTOR-12352)

2026-09-03T03:20:49Z

Correct the udev rescan throttle wording: three scans for one device within a minute suppresses further events (QSTOR-12352)

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:20, 3 September 2026
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	The scan itself rescans iSCSI sessions, writes a scan request to every SCSI host under {{Code\|1=/sys/class/scsi_host/}}, re-triggers udev, and then reconciles what the kernel reports against the QuantaStor database. The SCSI bus rescan is governed by {{Code\|1=device_rescan_support}} in the {{Code\|1=[device]}} section of {{Code\|1=/etc/quantastor.conf}}, which ships enabled.		The scan itself rescans iSCSI sessions, writes a scan request to every SCSI host under {{Code\|1=/sys/class/scsi_host/}}, re-triggers udev, and then reconciles what the kernel reports against the QuantaStor database. The SCSI bus rescan is governed by {{Code\|1=device_rescan_support}} in the {{Code\|1=[device]}} section of {{Code\|1=/etc/quantastor.conf}}, which ships enabled.

	'''You rarely need to scan manually.''' QuantaStor installs udev rules that call back into the service whenever a SCSI, SATA or NVMe block device is added or removed, so hot-plugged drives normally appear on their own within seconds. Repeated events for the same device are throttled ~~-- more than~~ three scans for one device inside a minute are suppressed -- so a flapping device does not spin the service. Independently of that, the disk manager reconciles its inventory once an hour. Neither the udev path nor the hourly pass rescans SCSI buses the way a manual scan does, which is why a LUN newly presented from a SAN, and a new hardware RAID unit, still call for an explicit scan.		'''You rarely need to scan manually.''' QuantaStor installs udev rules that call back into the service whenever a SCSI, SATA or NVMe block device is added or removed, so hot-plugged drives normally appear on their own within seconds. Repeated events for the same device are throttled: once three scans have run for one device inside a minute, further events for it are suppressed, so a flapping device does not spin the service. Independently of that, the disk manager reconciles its inventory once an hour. Neither the udev path nor the hourly pass rescans SCSI buses the way a manual scan does, which is why a LUN newly presented from a SAN, and a new hardware RAID unit, still call for an explicit scan.

	Disks behind a hardware RAID controller need the controller rescanned first, and the new disks combined into a RAID unit, before they appear here; see [[Hardware Controllers & Enclosures]].		Disks behind a hardware RAID controller need the controller rescanned first, and the new disks combined into a RAID unit, before they appear here; see [[Hardware Controllers & Enclosures]].

Qadmin: Rewrite from the product against QuantaStor 6.9.0: document the disk grid and all its columns, SMART/health, every right-click and toolbar action (identify, scan, format+shred, hot-spare, perf test, multipath, pass-thru, copy), SED, and the disk-list filter syntax; new screenshots. Corrections: Identify Disk DOES work on hardware RAID logical drives (dispatches to the controller unit-identify) -- the old page said it did not; the sector-0 activity pulse is only the fallback for disks with no...

2026-09-03T03:16:53Z

Rewrite from the product against QuantaStor 6.9.0: document the disk grid and all its columns, SMART/health, every right-click and toolbar action (identify, scan, format+shred, hot-spare, perf test, multipath, pass-thru, copy), SED, and the disk-list filter syntax; new screenshots. Corrections: Identify Disk DOES work on hardware RAID logical drives (dispatches to the controller unit-identify) -- the old page said it did not; the sector-0 activity pulse is only the fallback for disks with no...

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Qadmin: /* Formatting Disks */

2023-11-28T20:16:29Z

Formatting Disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:16, 28 November 2023
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	When a device is I/O fenced, a certain server/host has reserved it for write access. Consequently the server/host which has reserved the device can write to it, everyone else only has read access. When releasing the I/O fencing, all reservations on the device are released and the format can be done.		When a device is I/O fenced, a certain server/host has reserved it for write access. Consequently the server/host which has reserved the device can write to it, everyone else only has read access. When releasing the I/O fencing, all reservations on the device are released and the format can be done.


	'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Physical Disks --> Physical Disk --> Format ''(toolbar)''		'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Physical Disks --> Physical Disk --> Format ''(toolbar)''

Qadmin: /* Formatting Disks */

2023-11-28T20:16:14Z

Formatting Disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:16, 28 November 2023
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	When a device is I/O fenced, a certain server/host has reserved it for write access. Consequently the server/host which has reserved the device can write to it, everyone else only has read access. When releasing the I/O fencing, all reservations on the device are released and the format can be done.		When a device is I/O fenced, a certain server/host has reserved it for write access. Consequently the server/host which has reserved the device can write to it, everyone else only has read access. When releasing the I/O fencing, all reservations on the device are released and the format can be done.


	'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Physical Disks --> Physical Disk --> Format ''(toolbar)''		'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Physical Disks --> Physical Disk --> Format ''(toolbar)''

Qadmin: /* Formatting Disks */

2023-11-28T20:14:55Z

Formatting Disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:14, 28 November 2023
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	=== Formatting Disks ===		=== Formatting Disks ===
	[[File:Format ~~Physical~~ Disk.jpg\|thumb\|512px\|The format procedure will '''destroy all data'''. In addition, choosing the Shred Data option can significantly impact format time requirements.]]		[[File:Format Physcl Disk.jpg\|thumb\|512px\|The format procedure will '''destroy all data'''. In addition, choosing the Shred Data option can significantly impact format time requirements.]]

	Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk...''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.		Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk...''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.

Qadmin: /* Formatting Disks */

2023-11-28T20:14:22Z

Formatting Disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:14, 28 November 2023
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	=== Formatting Disks ===		=== Formatting Disks ===
	[[File:Format ~~Phys~~ Disk.jpg\|thumb\|512px\|The format procedure will '''destroy all data'''. In addition, choosing the Shred Data option can significantly impact format time requirements.]]		[[File:Format Physical Disk.jpg\|thumb\|512px\|The format procedure will '''destroy all data'''. In addition, choosing the Shred Data option can significantly impact format time requirements.]]

	Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk...''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.		Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk...''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.

Qadmin: /* Scanning for physical disks */

2022-12-06T17:14:49Z

Scanning for physical disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:14, 6 December 2022
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	=== Scanning for physical disks ===		=== Scanning for physical disks ===
	When new disks have been added to the system you can scan for new disks using the command. To access this command from the QuantaStor Manager web interface simply right-click from the tree view's "Physical Disks" and then choose '''Scan for Disks...'''. Disks are typically named sdb, sdc, sdd, sde, sdf and so on. The "sd" part just indicates SCSI disk and the letter uniquely identifies the disk within the system. If you've added a new disk or created a new Hardware RAID Unit you'll typically see the new disk arrive and show up automatically but the rescan operation can explicitly re-execute the disk discovery process.		When new disks have been added to the system you can scan for new disks using the command "Scan for Physical Disks". To access this command from the QuantaStor Manager web interface simply right-click from the tree view's "Physical Disks" and then choose '''Scan for Disks...'''. Disks are typically named sdb, sdc, sdd, sde, sdf and so on. The "sd" part just indicates SCSI disk and the letter uniquely identifies the disk within the system. If you've added a new disk or created a new Hardware RAID Unit you'll typically see the new disk arrive and show up automatically but the rescan operation can explicitly re-execute the disk discovery process.

	'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Physical Disks --> Physical Disk --> Scan ''(toolbar)''		'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Physical Disks --> Physical Disk --> Scan ''(toolbar)''

Qadmin: /* Identifying physical disks in an enclosure */

2022-12-06T17:13:20Z

Identifying physical disks in an enclosure

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:13, 6 December 2022
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	When you right-click on a physical disk you can choose '''Identify Disk...''' to force the lights on the disk to blink in a pattern which it accomplishes by reading sector 0 on the drive. This is very helpful when trying to identify which disk is which within the chassis. Note that technique doesn't work logical drives exposed by your RAID controller(s) so there is separate '''Identify''' option for the hardware disks attached to your RAID controller which you'll find in the 'Controllers & Enclosures' section.		When you right-click on a physical disk you can choose '''Identify Disk...''' to force the lights on the disk to blink in a pattern which it accomplishes by reading sector 0 on the drive. This is very helpful when trying to identify which disk is which within the chassis. Note that technique doesn't work logical drives exposed by your RAID controller(s) so there is separate '''Identify''' option for the hardware disks attached to your RAID controller which you'll find in the 'Controllers & Enclosures' section.

	'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> ~~Storage System~~ --> ~~Network Ports --> Modify Network Port~~ ''(rightclick)''		'''Navigation:''' Storage Management --> Controlers & Enclosures --> Identify... ''(rightclick)''

Qadmin: /* Formatting Disks */

2022-12-06T00:38:58Z

Formatting Disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:38, 6 December 2022
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	[[File:Format Phys Disk.jpg\|thumb\|512px\|The format procedure will '''destroy all data'''. In addition, choosing the Shred Data option can significantly impact format time requirements.]]		[[File:Format Phys Disk.jpg\|thumb\|512px\|The format procedure will '''destroy all data'''. In addition, choosing the Shred Data option can significantly impact format time requirements.]]

	Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk..''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.		Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk...''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.

	The format disk dialog does a quick format of the specified disk. It also clears all encryption settings and partitions from the specified device. Optionally one can scrub the specified device using a DoD or other multi-pass secure format process. This is done by selecting various ''Shred Data'' option from the 'Security Options'.		The format disk dialog does a quick format of the specified disk. It also clears all encryption settings and partitions from the specified device. Optionally one can scrub the specified device using a DoD or other multi-pass secure format process. This is done by selecting various ''Shred Data'' option from the 'Security Options'.

Qadmin: /* Formatting Disks */

2022-12-06T00:36:40Z

Formatting Disks

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:36, 6 December 2022
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	Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk..''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.		Sometimes disks will have partitions or other metadata on them which can prevent their use within QuantaStor for pool creation or other operations. To clear/format a disk simply right-click on the disk and choose '''Format Disk..''' or select '''Format''' from the "Physical Disk" toolbar.

	The format disk dialog does a quick format of the specified disk. It also clears all encryption settings and partitions from the specified device. Optionally one can scrub the specified device using a DoD or other multi-pass secure format process.		The format disk dialog does a quick format of the specified disk. It also clears all encryption settings and partitions from the specified device. Optionally one can scrub the specified device using a DoD or other multi-pass secure format process. This is done by selecting various ''Shred Data'' option from the 'Security Options'.

	When a device is I/O fenced, a certain server/host has reserved it for write access. Consequently the server/host which has reserved the device can write to it, everyone else only has read access. When releasing the I/O fencing, all reservations on the device are released and the format can be done.		When a device is I/O fenced, a certain server/host has reserved it for write access. Consequently the server/host which has reserved the device can write to it, everyone else only has read access. When releasing the I/O fencing, all reservations on the device are released and the format can be done.