# Creating a New Storage Configuration Using the Simple Configuration Option

Simple configuration is the quickest and easiest way to create a new storage configuration. When you select simple configuration mode, the system creates the best configuration possible using the available drives.
Note:

When a physical drive is in the Prepare for Removal state, you cannot create a virtual drive using that physical drive. To create a virtual drive when the physical drive is in the Prepare for Removal state, you must manually undo the operation by navigating to the Undo Removal option.

Perform the following steps to create a simple storage configuration:

1. On the Server dashboard or on the Controller dashboard, select Configure > Simple Configuration.
   The Simple Configuration window opens.
   Figure 1. Simple Configuration Window
2. Select a RAID level for the drive group from the drop-down box.
3. (Optional) – Click Compare and Select to view the detailed information on each RAID level.
   When you use simple configuration, the RAID controller supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and PRL-11 (RAID-1E). The window text gives a brief description of the RAID level that you select. The RAID levels that you can choose depend on the number of drives available.
4. Select the number of virtual drives you want to create.
5. Select the capacity of the virtual drives.
   Each virtual drive has the same capacity.
6. Select the Assign Hotspare check box if you want to assign a dedicated hot spare to the new virtual drive.
   If an unconfigured good drive is available, that drive is assigned as a hot spare. Hot spares are drives that are available to replace failed drives automatically in a redundant virtual drive (RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, or RAID-1E [PRL-11]).
7. Click Finish.

   A message appears stating that the configuration is successfully created.

Parent topic: Configuration