RAID1 - how to restore to the previous state

[tmzk]

hello everyone,

Let me show our base configuration at first:

Array A (RAID1):

3 disks (2 drives located in bay: 1 and 2) + one spare drive (bay 3) - all are physically the same disks (SFF 146GB).

By troubleshooting process we unplugged the drive from 1st bay then the array started rebuilding - employing the spare drive. After that we wanted to get back into the previous state to enforce the drive from bay 1st to be prmiary disk in the array so that to stop the spare drive from being active. The problem is that we do not know how to get back into the state from the spare drive to be active. We need the drives from bays 1st and 2nd to be active. After attaching the drive into bay 1 again, then this drive is seen as unassigned drive under ACU. 

We were facing problems with our storage. At first we needed to replace battery (e200i controller). After replacement we encountered further problems and the above array problem is a result of our troubleshooting activities.

Any suggestions are very welcomed. Great thanks to everyone for interests.

BR,

tmzk

[gregersenj]

Strange :/

Normal operation is:

If you got a hot spare, once a drive fail, the SA (Smart Array) will rebuild to the spare.

Once the failed drive is replaced, it will copy the data from the spare to the new drive, and the spare will become spare again.

If the drive you have removed, become unassigned when you put it back in, there might be / have been incorrect ID for taht disk.

If you look in the ACU, you will be able to see, the ID of the disk, and you will be able to see wich ID the Array is missing.

BR

/jag

[Vlad_T]

Hi ,

jag has described the normal operation of the SA controller whenever a hot-spare is assigned and the redundansy of an array is lost. However it's worth mentioning, that in order the controller to be able to rebuild back from the hot-spare to the replaced drive, the rebuild and the background initialization processes should finish first. Once that happens, the re-rebuild should start automatically.

Was that your case, or you tried to interrupt the process in any way?

Hope that helps.

Best regards,

Vlad

[Anonymous]

Hi In this case you have 3 rive 2 + 1 spare configuration.

So the moment you remove tha drive from bay 1, the Hot spare will Kick in and data reconstruction starts.SO we need to wait till it completes, means till the data has been stabilized across tyhe drive and the LUN or Logical drive to come back to Normal state.Once it completed, you can insert back the original drive to the Slot, so that the raid rebuild started to the Original Members, basically will move the data from teh spare drive to the replaced /reinserted origincal drive and once it completed,the spare drive will mark again as "SPARE"

Hope this helps..