topic Re: Faulty raid controller, can I exchange it? in Disk Enclosures

Faulty raid controller, can I exchange it?

MartinKSFT — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:00:29 GMT

I had a server that was working with 4 Drives and a controller P410i. The 2nd processor was not working, so i decided to buy a new motherboard (the same). I put the new motherboard with all old hardware. The screen remained black, but no errors on any leds.

I decided to put back the old motherboard, but it was the same ! The screen remained black even if this configuration was working fine before. I have absolutly no idea.

If i take those 4 drives on another server that have the same Controller P410i, will it work fine ? Can i also take those 4 drives within another controller, let says a 120i ?

Please help, that's urgent.

Re: Faulty raid controller, can I exchange it?

ChrisTinker — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:12:16 GMT

The controller determines the raid stripe algorithm. Therefore, changing controller models could, and will most likely, have disaster results. However, maintaining the controller model and version is not a problem. The only requirement would be that the drives be placed in the exact same slot order.

Re: Faulty raid controller, can I exchange it?

MartinKSFT — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:29:43 GMT

Thank you for the quick reply!

Is there any other configuration we might need to keep in mind if we exchange the card?

It seems a bit too good if it would work out of the box by just putting the old drives on the new card! Or do we need to think about something when/if any initialization of the raid-setup is needed?

Re: Faulty raid controller, can I exchange it?

ChrisTinker — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:45:07 GMT

Always have a backup ready! Always!

Regarding other configurations .. no, nothing else. However; the drive order is essential – when it prompts to wipe the drive because you have the wrong order, please select NO or ABORT. Please reference aforementioned comment on backup.

It would be the same if you had to replace the array controller in the existing server. When the controller initializes, it performns an inquiry of LUNS then reads metadata off the disks. This metadata informs the controller of the layout. The reason for the order is that all the drives know about the other drives in the raid set. They look for the order (SCSI SCAN ORDER) and the signature on the drive. This information is what allows the controller to resume activity.