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Replacing a drive in a Raid 1+0 array
I have an HP DL380 G6 server with a Smart Array P410i controller. The operating system is installed on a two disk raid 0+1 array. One of the hot swappable disks is generating a predictive failure alert.
I have a replacement drive on hand. Can I just eject the drive that is give me the error and put the new one in its place?
Or do I need to shut it down and boot it with the smart start CD and Break the array before exchanging the disk? If I break the array how do I specify which disk to use as the primary so I keep all the data on the disk?
I have a replacement drive on hand. Can I just eject the drive that is give me the error and put the new one in its place?
Or do I need to shut it down and boot it with the smart start CD and Break the array before exchanging the disk? If I break the array how do I specify which disk to use as the primary so I keep all the data on the disk?
never, never, NEVER take an online RAID and degrade it (remove redundancy) to replace a drive that hasn't failed. Murphy's laws dictate the other disk in that RAID1 pair will take the opportunity to die during the rebuild. That will result in 100% data loss.
Put that new disk in as a hot spare (if you want), then make a full bootable backup. Then and only then can you safely replace the drive. Do it with power on. Out with the old, in with the new in the same slot. It will automatically rebuild. You have a full backup just in case.
Also since the other disks all came from same batch and are all probably past warranty, best practice is to consider buying several replacement drives and keeping a hot spare in there.
Put that new disk in as a hot spare (if you want), then make a full bootable backup. Then and only then can you safely replace the drive. Do it with power on. Out with the old, in with the new in the same slot. It will automatically rebuild. You have a full backup just in case.
Also since the other disks all came from same batch and are all probably past warranty, best practice is to consider buying several replacement drives and keeping a hot spare in there.
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the drives are always going to be hot swappable, unless they are physically inside the enclosure or bolted down. ALL SAS, SCSI, Fibre channel, and SATA disks are hot swappable from the electronic signaling/power perspective. It is part of the spec.
ASKER
Unfortunately all the drive bays are full so I can not add a new drive as a hot spare. My only options are to do an online swap or break the array.
you have the drive light telling you it is bad.. unplug the carrier, change it, replace the carrier in your if you've enabled the raid controller to send notifications to the system tray you could open it and see the status.. it should say rebuilding.
ASKER
The drive light is still green. I am receiving events in the system log that the drive is in predictive failure.
Don't break the array for a predictive failure replacement when you have old disks. If disks are beyond factory warranty, best to either
- leave things as they are and wait for a real failure (and keep backups) -- remember costs for disks get lower every month, so no need to replace just because of a 'predictive' failure. Wait for a real failure.
- OR replace ALL of the old disks at once with a newer make/model that likely has better performance and higher capacity anyway. Do a full bare metal backup during downtime window.
- leave things as they are and wait for a real failure (and keep backups) -- remember costs for disks get lower every month, so no need to replace just because of a 'predictive' failure. Wait for a real failure.
- OR replace ALL of the old disks at once with a newer make/model that likely has better performance and higher capacity anyway. Do a full bare metal backup during downtime window.
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Given that you don't know for sure whether or not the drive is hot-swappable, I'd shut the computer down before attempting a replacement.