Getting Started Step 1: Introduction to Adaptec Storage Manager ● 16Getting Started ChecklistPart I of this Guide includes five special Getting Started chapters to help you install, start, andbegin to use Adaptec Storage Manager.D Step 1:Familiarize yourself with Adaptec Storage Manager and the Adaptec StorageManager agent (see the remainder of this chapter).D Step 2: Install Adaptec Storage Manager on every computer that will be part of yourstorage space, then start Adaptec Storage Manager—or the Adaptec Storage Manager agentonly—on those computers (see page 22).D Step 3: Explore the features of Adaptec Storage Manager (see page 33).D Step 4: Build your storage space (see page 39).D Step 5: Optional—Customize Adaptec Storage Manager and the Adaptec Storage Manageragent (see page 50).About Adaptec Storage ManagerAdaptec Storage Manager is a software application that helps you build a storage space for youronline data, using Adaptec RAID controllers and disk drives. With Adaptec Storage Manager,you can group disk drives into logical drives and build in redundancy to protect your data andimprove system performance. You can also use Adaptec Storage Manager to monitor andmanage all the controllers and disk drives in your storage space from a single location.About the Adaptec Storage Manager AgentWhen Adaptec Storage Manager is installed on a computer, the Adaptec Storage Manager agentis also installed automatically. The agent is like a service that keeps your storage space running.It’s designed to run in the background, without user intervention, and its job is to monitor andmanage system health, event notifications, tasks schedules, and other on-going processes onthat system. It sends notices when tasks are completed successfully, and sounds an alarm whenerrors or failures occur on that system.The agent uses less memory than the full application. If your storage space includes systemsthat won’t be connected to monitors (and therefore won’t require the user interface describedin this Guide), you can choose to run the agent only on those systems instead of the fullapplication (see page 16). You may want to do this if system resources are limited, or if youwant more system resources available for other tasks.You can manage and monitor systems running the agent only by logging into them as remotesystems (see page 51).You can also customize the agent settings to suit your storage space requirements (see page 56).
