Drive load order on rx3600

[Tim Medford]

We just received a new rx3600 server from HP. It was ordered with 5 internal drives and a P400 smart array controller.

In the installation guide there is a note that says "Drives are loaded in order, starting with number 1, and working from left to right and top to bottom".

For some reason the factory skipped over slots 1-3 and began loading the drives in slot 4, finishing in slot 8??

I'm not sure it really makes much difference, but I wondered if anyone else has seen cases where the installation guide differs from how HP builds them? We aren't using the server yet so I could delete the smart array config and move them around.

Thanks,
Tim

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

Shalom,

Makes no difference.

Move the drives to any position that makes you happy and then use the smart array utility built into the bios to set up the raid the way you want. I recommend mirroring the entire boot(vg00) partition.

SEP

[Torsten.]

Hi,

this document tells the opposite:

» Table of Contents » Index








There are eight hot-pluggable disk drives located in the front of the server. You can replace the hot-pluggable disk drives using the procedures in this section when server power is on or off.




CAUTION: A hot-pluggable device may require interaction with the operating system before you can safely remove it from or install it into the server. Verify that the operating system supports removing and replacing disk drives while the operating system is running. If the operating system does not support this feature, shut down the operating system before removing or installing disk drive. Failure to observe this caution can result in system failure.






NOTE: The replacement disk drive must have the same product number as the disk drive that you replace.




Removing a Hot-Pluggable Disk Drive


To remove a hot-pluggable disk drive, follow these steps:

Push the release tab away from the drive extraction handle and pull the extraction handle outward.

Pull gently until the hot-pluggable disk drive slides out of the chassis.

Figure 6-7 Removing and Replacing a Hot-Pluggable Disk Drive






NOTE: For cooling purposes, always leave disk drive fillers in slots that do not contain a disk drive.




Disk Drive Load Order


Disk drive are loaded in the following order:

1st drive load in Bay 8

2nd drive load in Bay 7

3rd drive load in bay 6

4th drive load in bay 5

5th drive load in Bay 4

6th drive load in Bay 3

7th drive load in bay 2

8th drive load in bay 1

http://docs.hp.com/en/AB463-9003B/ch06s11.html

I guess it doesn't matter if you start with 8 or 1.

[Tim Medford]

Odd that the User service guide says the exact opposite of the Server installation guide. Oh well, I'm leaving them as is.

Thanks

http://docs.hp.com/en/AB463-9003B/ch03s03.html#chdbcgfc


Installing a Hot-Pluggable Disk Drive
To install a hot-pluggable disk drive, follow these steps:

Use Figure 3-12 to determine the next available disk drive installation slot.




NOTE: Drives are loaded in order, starting with number 1, and working from left to right and top to bottom.




Remove the disk drive filler if required. See â Removing a Hot-Swappable Disk Drive Fillerâ .




NOTE: Save the disk drive filler for future use. For cooling purposes, always place disk drive fillers in slots that do not contain a disk drive.




Insert the hot-pluggable disk drive into the slot guides, and slide the drive into the slot until it seats into the socket on the disk backplane.

Close the drive ejector handle by pushing it inward until it clicks into place.

Figure 3-11 Installing a Hot-Pluggable Disk Drive

[rick jones]

Time - somewhere "near" the document that gives the wrong order there should be a feedback link. Please follow that link to provide feedback about how the document is in conflict with the other document and actual experience.

[Tim Medford]

I would be happy to do so, but I don't know which document is in error. I'll just point out that they are different and let HP figure it out.

[rick jones]

That would be fine. Thanks.

[mits]

Hi,

A new customer advisory for the SAS driver slot oder has been posted.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c01036567&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Also a new white paper, "Ignite-UX and SAS Devices - Explains how to use SCSI Attached Storage (SAS) disks with Ignite-UX installation and recovery" has been posted.
http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/docs/5992-0511.pdf

I hope this helps.

[mits]

New customer advisory on the SAS disk load oder has been posted.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c01036567&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Also a new white paper "Ignite-UX and SAS Devices - Explains how to use SCSI Attached Storage (SAS) disks with Ignite-UX installation and recovery"has been posted.

http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/docs/5992-0511.pdf

I hope this helps.