Drive firmware controls the low-level operating characteristics of a drive. Periodically, the drive manufacturers release updates to drive firmware to add new features, improve performance, and fix defects.
There are two types of drive firmware upgrade methods: online and offline.
During an online upgrade, drives are upgraded sequentially, one at a time. The storage array continues processing I/O while the upgrade occurs. You do not have to stop I/O. If a drive can do an online upgrade, the online method is used automatically.
Drives that can do an online upgrade include the following:
Doing an online drive firmware upgrade can take several hours exposing the storage array to potential volume failures. Volume failure could occur in these cases:
During an offline upgrade, all drives of the same drive type are upgraded at the same time. This method requires stopping I/O activity to the volumes associated with the selected drives. Because multiple drives can be upgraded concurrently (in parallel), the overall downtime is significantly reduced. If a drive can do only an offline upgrade, the offline method is used automatically.
The following drives MUST use the offline method:
Each drive firmware file contains information about the drive type on which the firmware runs. You can download the specified firmware file only to a compatible drive. System Manager automatically checks compatibility during the upgrade process.