HDD HOT PULL????

[Devaraj.G]

Dear All,

Is it possible to hot pull the hard drives from any RAID when it is in working condidtion without showing any fault indication...We are aware that according to Hot Plug technology we can replace the faulty HDD by hot swap & we are not suppose to hot pull the HDD when it is not showing any fault indication. I request to share any relevant document or link which clearly describes about the funcnality of HOT PLUG.

[Blazhev_1]

Hi,

hot plug/pull simply means you can take the HDD out and insert new without powering down the server.

If the HDD is failed or not don't play a big role, however it is not recommended to take a functioning drive out.

If you take out a hot plug drive, the controller will mark it as failed(even if it isn't), because of no response from the HDD. When you plug it in again a rebuild will start.

[Devaraj.G]

Hi,

Thanks for your input.. I understand the technology behind this.I am looking for the documents which says the complete recommendations on hot plug & pull from HP or other standard vendors.. so that i can keep customer educated.

[Blazhev_1]

Hi,

check this document. It is very old , but technology is the same :

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01126854/c01126854.pdf

It is noted when you shouldn't remove a drive...

Hope this helps

[Roy Main]

You should read the current user guide for your smart array controller. There are other HP white papers around concerning raid technology. I believe if you look up the product page for your controller you can find a documentation link that will show you white papers and other guides.

I don't remember that any of the guides tell you not to remove a working drive. However, you are introducing a failure into your array when you do that. Not a good thing to do. It will not technically damage your drive. It's the status of the array that's at risk.