VA7100 Firmware Upgrade - Do You Lose Data??

[Jeanine Kone]

I have an HP9000 N Class with a VA7100 Raid Array. It was leased back in May of 2001. We have not done any upgrades since we got it.

I now need extra disk space and want to have HP install the frmware upgrade that allows for Raid5 (we can only do 0/1 now).

When I asked the tech if we would lose our data and need to restore from tape his response was "it's not supposed to...but it could happen".

Has anyone been through this? If so, did you lose your data, or did it remain intact? Also, how long did it take for the upgrade?

[NMCI Group]

I recently upgraded from HP02 firmware to HP15 and had no problems at all. No data was lost and the upgrade took the CE about 1 to 1.5 hours. There is always a possibility that you could lose data on an upgrade of this nature and that is why they have to warn you.

Hope this helps.

[Michael I. Odesanya]

No data was lost on Firmware Upgrade, we started on Test servers before going to Production servers.I always make sure I have my ignite tape ready in case of the unexpected.

[Vincent Fleming]

doo-doo occurs.

ALWAYS back up an array before a firmware upgrade.

The only exception I've seen to this rule is an XP array - it seems to be able to handle anything without losing data.

Good luck!

[Jeanine Kone]

When you apply this upgrade, will the array automatically switch from 0/1 to raid 5, or is that part a separate manual process?

[Vincent Fleming]

You will need to tell it to switch to AutoRAID mode. Then it will begin migrating data to raid5.

[Jeanine Kone]

Now that I have the firmware upgrades (thanks to the answers in the other thread) ...

How exactly do I tell it to switch to autoraid? And, more importantly, is this a "safe" thing to do?

Where will it put the "extra" space that RAID5 will give me? I have several file systems set up right now - will it just distribute it equally, or what??

Thanks, Jeanine

[Vincent Fleming · Accepted solution]

> How exactly do I tell it to switch to autoraid? And, more importantly, is this a "safe" thing to do?

This is in the Command View SDM Installation and User Guide, P/N T1001-96007 which can be found at http://h200005.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/lpg28818/lpg28818.pdf

You can set AutoRAID mode via the GUI or command line.

With the Command Line, use the armmgr command (/opt/sanmgr/commandview/client/sbin/armmgr) to set AutoRAID mode. It appears on page 108, and an example appears on pg 114.

armmgr -C hpautoraid /dev/rdsk/c?t?d?

is an example.

In the GUI, click the Management tab, then Array Settings button. There will be a radio button for RAID1 or AutoRAID. This is described around page 70.

Note that once AutoRAID is set, it cannot be reversed without deleting ALL LUNs and restoring data. So, be sure about it.


> Where will it put the "extra" space that RAID5 will give me? I have several file systems set up right now - will it just distribute it equally, or what??

The extra space will appear as free space that you can create LUNs with. The space of the array will be approx. 80% RAID5, and 10% RAID0/1. The array will decide where to use RAID 5 and where to use RAID 0/1. It will not tell you what is what. Most LUNs will actually be partially RAID0/1 and partially RAID5. (which is why it cannot easily tell you)

It will automatically balance the array between RAID levels in a continuous performance tuning exercise so you always get the best performance it can deliver with your workload.

Good luck!

[Jeanine Kone]

Thank you! You have been truly wonderful.

Just to clarify one thing (can you tell yet that I am not a sys admin - just a dba trying to manage the servers best I can?)... when specify the device c?t?d? - where do the numbers come from? Are they assigned for me somewhere, or am I just supposed to pull them out of a hat?

[Jeanine Kone]

Just for anyone else that may be reading this:

The comamnd can take the device name, alias, serial number, or unique id of the array. You get these by using armdsp -i.

And by the way, it only took a few seconds and the new free space was there waiting to be allocated!