DL360 - Move disks from one server to another one

[lenard]

Hi,

I have two identical servers DL360G3 with the following configuration:
server 1: 2 x 36 Gb mirrored disks
server 2: 2 x 72 Gb mirrored disks

I though I would be able to swap both disk from server 1 into server 2, however when I move physically these 2 disks into the other server, the server will not boot and the server does not recognize any logical disk.

Is there a way to be able to move these disks ?

Thanks

[e4services]

This is refered to as "Disk Roaming" and is not supported by some controllers. The Netservers did support this, but I am aware that some Compaq controllers wish to initialize the array once created with no way to avoid it. With the NetRAID you could simple not initialize or format and you could do such a thing as long as you kept the IDs and order the same. SO the drives position in the hot swap bay and the IDs assigned there in, must be the same.
As for not booting, this could be how the drives are assigned in the relation to the OS (disk0Partition1). If this has change when move, the No OS error appears.
Here is what the SmartArray 532 controller's users guide says:
Moving Drives and Arrays
Drives can be moved to other ID positions on the same array controller. You may also move a complete array from one controller to another, even if the controllers are on different servers. Arrays on different controllers can also be combined into one larger array on a single controller.
NOTE: A drive array that has been moved from a battery-backed array controller to one that is not battery-backed (such as the Smart Array 532) will no longer be able to undergo RAID/stripe size migration, array capacity expansion, or logical drive capacity extension.
Before moving drives, these conditions must be met:
The move will not result in more than 14 physical drives per channel.
No more than 32 logical volumes will be configured for a controller.
No drives are failed or missing.
The array should be in its original configuration with no active spare drives.
Capacity expansion is not running.
Controller firmware is the latest version (recommended).
If moving an array, all drives in the array must be moved at the same time.
When the conditions have been met, follow this procedure:
1. Back up all data before removing drives or changing configurations.
Failure to do so could result in permanent loss of data.
2. Power OFF the system.
3. Move the drives.
4. Power the system ON.
A 1724 POST message should be displayed, indicating that drive positions were changed and the configuration was updated. If a 1785
(Not Configured) POST message is displayed, turn the system OFF immediately (it will now attempt to write over the drives) to avoid data loss, and return the drives to their original locations.
You can now check the new drive configuration by running ORCA (BIOS) or the
Array Configuration Utility

[lenard]

Thanks a lot for your reply,

I am using the embedded Smart Array 5i raid controller from the DL360. Is this one compatible with what you call "Disk roaming" ?

The boot partition is at the same place on both systems, so I do not think that this problem is coming from disk0Partition1

Thanks & Regards

[lenard]

I just found in the DL360G3 documentation that this model supports "Drive Roaming".

Do you think this this can can from support pack not up to date ?

Thanks