Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Volibrawl
Volibrawl

asked on

RAID Array failed, system won't Boot.

First, I know very little about this situation, and I am the most knowledgeable one in our company.  I am the "IT" guy.   My (third party) hardware installers seem to know not a whole lot more, thus the questions.

We have a server with an adaptec scsi RAID system.  Last night there was a power failure and the system failed to boot when restarted this AM.  A call to the (3rd party) network guys brought them out, but we were unable to get the situation resolved.

Presumably we have a 3 array system.

Array 0 has 2 36g drives, RAID 1, mirroring the operating system.
Array 1 has 2 36g drives, RAID 1, mirroring (I think) our GP and SQL server installation
Array 2 has 4 36g drives, RAID 5, holding our DATA.

The adaptec software reports:
Array 0, shows 2 drives, Raid FAILED
Array 1, shows 1 drive, missing member
Array 3, shows 4 drives, optimal

When the system boots, the SCSI controller does its thing, reporting on the RAID, then ultimately the system arrives at:
NO OPERATING SYSTEM found

There are red light error indications on a couple of the drives.  We moved the Array 0 and 1 drives around somewhat to different slots, in the hope that a "slot" was bad.

I would appreciate any help on what NOT to do as well as what TO DO at this point.  Some of my concerns:

1. Would moving the drives "ruin" any data on the drives.
2. Given that the RAID is not working right, can we somehow use the drives to get our systems back?
3. Is it likely that our RAID controller is faulty?  If so, could we replace it and still get our data from the existing drives?






Obviously, our concern is to get back up and running ASAP.




ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of AdamRobinson
AdamRobinson

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
SOLUTION
Avatar of Davis McCarn
Davis McCarn
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of Volibrawl
Volibrawl

ASKER

Thanks, I am guessing that we (as you put it) blasted our data away on the first Array (operating system).  In our zeal to get the thing to boot, I think we "switched" the position of the drives in the bay.  I don't think we ever changed any IDs, however.  We did get an I/O disk error message a time or two, and several red light indicators on the drives in the bay.

We ordered a replacement (identical) RAID controller card.  When it arrives, we will see if anything can be salvaged.

In the meantime, I am looking for a failsafe system to protect / preserve our operating system and server configuration.  I am posting another question re: is the RAID 1 system the best alternative?





ps  .. in what TA did you 'find' this question.  If I have other RAID / backup questions, I want to know the best area to post.