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Re: DL100 HDD failure - replacement options? Non-server tech, please help!

 
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Steven Raith
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DL100 HDD failure - replacement options? Non-server tech, please help!

First post, be gentle please.

Background: We use a DL100 G2 as our main storage server for user home drives, and one of the four SATA drives failed. My solution? Check warranty status, order HP replacement drive, and take as much time as required to make sure that when the drive goes in, it works and the RAID5 array rebuilds correctly.

My bosses solution: Whip the drive out [without even checking if the drive is hot-swappable] and then ask me if a Seagate [or is it Maxtor - one that isn't the supplied drive anyway] will work with it.

All I can say is thank god it's RAID5 or we'd all be in deep trouble with the Big Boss.

What I need to know, my good chums, is this:
Is the DL100 G2 a full Hot Swap system, IE can we just chuck a drive in and forget about it, or does it have to be to the *exact* HP spec, and require specific instructions to Windows/HP software to get the array to rebuild correctly and become rock solid stable again [as it has been for the last six months - lovely piece of kit in my inexperienced eyes].

Just to explain, I am aware of RAID/hotplug and hotswap tech, but haven't worked with it, or 'real' servers up till now [I'm the desktop monkey] and my boss, top bloke tho he is, is younger than me and while he is good with WinServer stuff software wise, really is a bit lacking in the hardware side of server support, in my humble opinion.

So if anyone can give me a straight answer on this, I'd *really* appreciate it.

I'm afraid I am at home right now so can't give you the exact model, but it's a DL100 G2 with a SATA RAID5 array [I'm assuming it's a SAS controller but don't quote me on that]. If anyone has replaced a failed hard drive on DL100 then the basic procedure [I am sure I am smart enough to work out the inbetween parts] you went through would be incredibly welcome, as the RAID5 array is now running on three disks, and so a secondary drive failure will destroy the array and render us in a position to be recieving our P45s...

Apologies for the rather laid back attitude of this post, the fact that the boss whipped the drive out without any sort of real research other than assuming the server could handle it has driven meto the off-license in search of a bottle of Cobra. The fact that he did it to *another* server [a SCSI equipped StorageWorks, I *think* - I'll check that tomorrow in the relevant forum] as well made me get a few...two down so far.

If anyone requires any further info on this kit, I can remote desktop the server and get it for you.

Thanks in advance of what I assume will be your helpful and understanding advice,

Steven R
Desktop and [seriously part time, but seriously interested] server tech.

PS: Yes, my CV has now gone out to several contract agencies following this incident....just in case...

PPS: Apologies again for the rambling post - I just really badly need some help as Google is useless for this sort of very, very specific question, and the beer helps. And I only skim read the Ts+Cs...
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Joshua Small_2
Valued Contributor
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Re: DL100 HDD failure - replacement options? Non-server tech, please help!

In general, the SATA controllers are not hot swappable, while the SAS and SCSI are.

Check now if you have the HP Storage Manager software installed. You will want this to rebuild the array.

You will need to shutdown, replace the drive, then use the HP Storage Manager software to rebuild the drive into the array. All you do in the software is right click the failed / replaced drive and click "rebuild".

The new drive must be at least as big as the existing drive. A common one I've seen is people have a (making up numbers to prove a point) Maxtor 80GB disk which is actually 79995MB, and then replace it with a Seagate 80GB disk which is actually 79993MB in size.

The mirror will not rebuild in this situation, and the error you will receive will be nondescript enough to leave you with no idea what happened.

This all goes away with the Smart Array series of controllers found on SAS and SCSI boxes, you'd just pull out and replace the drive. But then, you'd also need the exact part number so it would slide into the proprietry drive bay.
Steven Raith
New Member

Re: DL100 HDD failure - replacement options? Non-server tech, please help!

Bingo, that's *exactly* what I needed to know - confirmed most of the vague suspicions that I had, and that's what I needed. I knew building XW-workstations with RAID5 SATA arrays would come in handy for making this stuff easier to grasp at this level!

So, check the software, make sure the hard drive is *bigger* than the existing drives, and follow the prompts on the software to rebuild.

Beautiful.

Except that our remote desktop server doesn't actually seem to be working so I can't double check that we have the relevant HP server software on there. I expect we will.

Ten out of ten - update tomorrow if I get time [I'm a busy bunny as desktop monkey, y'see....]

I'll be rebuilding a StorageWorks 1200 NAS at some point soon [IDE drives rather than SATA] so lets hope that is as straightforward. Yes, I have the recovery disk for it...!

Steven R