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MSA1000 D R

 
Gonzo78
Occasional Advisor

MSA1000 D R

I have 2 MSA1000s and 1 MSA1500cs. All 3 units have 2 controllers with same cache configuration. The 2nd controller is not installed on any of the MSAs.

1. Can I maintain an on the shelf spare controller and hot plug it and then remove it when ever the configuration changes?

2. Is there a documented disaster recovery procedure for a failed MSA1000 with a single controller?(is just like any other Smart Array controller where the configuration is stored on the drives and if you plug in a new controller it reads the config from the drives)

3 REPLIES 3
Steven Clementi
Honored Contributor

Re: MSA1000 D R

1. You should be able to hold the "backup" controller outside of the box. The only condition is that you keep it up to date with firmware. If you upgrade the production controller, make sure you swap in the backup beforehand to update the firmware. Remove it afterwards.

Suppport issue? Maybe. Though I understand the potential reasons why you would need to run this way, it would be best to have the second controller in, with a second HBA/SAN Switch/Multipath software/etc.

2. The MSA is based on the Smart Array Controller. The answer is yes. Array Config info is stored on the drives. If you move an array of disks to another MSA, the array stays intact.

Not sure about a document, but I am sure there is some reference to it, probably in the user guide or the admin guide.

Steven
Steven Clementi
HP Master ASE, Storage, Servers, and Clustering
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Mark Wibaux
Trusted Contributor

Re: MSA1000 D R

One other thing to consider is the cache. If the controller fails and there is data in the cache then you will need to move the cache modules to the replacement controller. If you don't then you could end up with corrupt data on your disks as the incomplete writes in the cache are lost when you stick in the replacement controller with its new cache modules.
Gonzo78
Occasional Advisor

Re: MSA1000 D R

Yes. I read the procedure for swapping the cache when replacing controllers. I guess that's when you find out if your cache batteries are any good. I supposed the thing to do would be disable the cache and replace the batteries based on their average life expectancy (whenever that is). Let├в s see if I understand the procedure. Right now I have two controllers in each MSA the right hand primary is operational and the left hand is un-seated. They both have the same firmware rev. and cache configuration. I shouldn├в t have any issues with re-inserting the left hand controller which should sync the configs and then also upgrading the firmware to the latest active/passive version and them unseating the left hand controller again?