DL380 G3 SCSI Errata

[Eric Schultz]

We have a DL380 G3 server configured with six 18.2GB drives in all the internal drive bays. Currently configured as two RAID arrays (Raid-1 for OS, and Raid-5 for data with stand-by spare).

We've been having a problem where about 5 drives have being marked off-line over the past couple of weeks. We didn't think anything of the first couple of drives. We've been testing the drives reported as BAD and they test good and clean on our bench system.

You can stand next to the server and at times you can hear some (not all) drives, click and spin up, like the SCSI BUS is being reset. Also drives are being marked BAD in multiple bays, not just one.

I suspect this is a backplane issue (which I've ordered a new one), but wanted to see if anyone else has seen this.

-Eric

[Rob Leadbeater · Accepted solution]

Hi Eric,

Yes I've had a very similar problem on a DL380 G4 a couple of weeks ago. There were 4 drives in the box configured as two RAID-1.

One drive in the first array appeared to have failed, followed an hour or so later by a drive in the second array, followed an hour later by the second drive in that array.

When the engineer came to site, he was fairly convinced that it was a backplane issue, although he replaced the system board as well, just in case something was wrong with the embedded SmartArray controller.

Cheers,

Rob

[Oleg Koroz]

Problem could be related to Firmware, SCSI backplane, Cabling, Array Controller, Drives Firmware ...

Use CUSTOMER NOTICE for extra help

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c00565126

Contact technical support from HP and ask them for assistance to review ADU report.

[Eric Schultz]

Thanks for the feedback..

I've been using several different drive types, and updated all firmware.

I'm replacing the backplane today with new cables. So if it continues, I would suspect a SmartArray controller issue. The system is out of warranty so I'm trying to get this done on my own.

Thanks for the troubleshooting article link. I'll post my final outcome.

-Eric