AndyB74
asked on
Esxi RAID question
Our Dell server recently reported a dead hard drive, in a RAID 10 configuration.
So we popped out the old one and put in the new one. All lights are green on the server - which looks like everything is good.
However, when I go into the VSphere client, I get:
Disk Drive Bay 1 Drive 3: In critical array - assert
Disk Drive Bay 1 Drive 2: In critical array - assert
Disk Drive Bay 1 Drive 0: In critical array - assert
I have Googled for what "in critical array - assert" means and can not find any explanation. Does this mean my RAID configuration is rebuilding? Or do I have a bigger issue on my hands?
So we popped out the old one and put in the new one. All lights are green on the server - which looks like everything is good.
However, when I go into the VSphere client, I get:
Disk Drive Bay 1 Drive 3: In critical array - assert
Disk Drive Bay 1 Drive 2: In critical array - assert
Disk Drive Bay 1 Drive 0: In critical array - assert
I have Googled for what "in critical array - assert" means and can not find any explanation. Does this mean my RAID configuration is rebuilding? Or do I have a bigger issue on my hands?
I added another 4TB replacement for our RAID-1 4TB array on a dell T620, ESXi 5.5 and had that alert for over 3 days. The Dell PERC controller verify's when the disk is low on activity, which with ESXI and swap, is never.
ASKER
Hi Andrew,
No - this is a custom install of ESXi 4.1 (ie. I installed it fresh myself, after having built the RAID 10).
We have some disk activity lights on 0 and 2, but not 1 and 3.
The disk was only inserted about an hour or 2 ago, so it SHOULD be rebuilding the RAID (that's what I am hoping it's doing), but I would like to know what "in critical array - assert" means.
I'll take a look at your article, but do you know what that error means?
I can just leave it a day or two and check back in on it, but it would help to know what the error means.
No - this is a custom install of ESXi 4.1 (ie. I installed it fresh myself, after having built the RAID 10).
We have some disk activity lights on 0 and 2, but not 1 and 3.
The disk was only inserted about an hour or 2 ago, so it SHOULD be rebuilding the RAID (that's what I am hoping it's doing), but I would like to know what "in critical array - assert" means.
I'll take a look at your article, but do you know what that error means?
I can just leave it a day or two and check back in on it, but it would help to know what the error means.
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ASKER
Ok - we Definately have activity on all drives so I am going to assume it's in the process of rebuilding. I'll post back the results when either it finishes, or fails! Might be a few days....
Hi,
being blind with RAID is really a bad thing, in fact for a production server.
Note that at the moment if you loose another drive, and with bad luck, you could loose data, maybe a lot.
Just in order to maintain pressure : )
Since you have the option of installing Dell Open Manage server on ESXi, I will strongly recommend to install it, maybe right now if actual Dell OM installation does not need an esx reboot, or even after your actual issue, for future needs.
being blind with RAID is really a bad thing, in fact for a production server.
Note that at the moment if you loose another drive, and with bad luck, you could loose data, maybe a lot.
Just in order to maintain pressure : )
Since you have the option of installing Dell Open Manage server on ESXi, I will strongly recommend to install it, maybe right now if actual Dell OM installation does not need an esx reboot, or even after your actual issue, for future needs.
ASKER
Hi all - OK, here's the fix: I physically removed, and then replaced the drive back into the machine. As soon as I did that, the drive went into "rebuilding" mode. So it seems that in this case, the drive wasn't seated properly in the first place! (Would have been handy if something could have told me that!!). Never mind......
Just an FYI Andy: You should install the OMSA agent on your vmware server and the OMSA Server portion on a windows guest. It will allow you to do remedial RAID tasks without having to reboot the host.
ASKER
Yes - I tried for about 5 hours with Dell to get that working, but there were all sorts of issues getting Open Manage to work - we couldn't get past this error.
Sometimes its just better to go to the site and sort it out.
Open-Manage-Error.png
Sometimes its just better to go to the site and sort it out.
Open-Manage-Error.png
It's often better, to ensure that all this is installed as part of the build, before production, and try not to lever it in in Production!
ASKER
Sure! I agree,
How long has it been since you inserted the disk? (the disk busy lights should stop after rebuild..)
I would check using either the RAID POST BIOS Setup, which will show it rebulding, or....
see my EE Article
HOW TO: Use Dell OpenManage Server Administrator to Create and Manage a Virtual Disk (RAID Array) on a Dell PowerEdge Server with VMware vSphere 5.0, ESXi 5.0 installed.