MSA Storage Disks Upgrade

[rianui]

Hi Gurus,

I have this disk enclosule with seven disks populated and it connects to an rp3440 server (UX 11.11) through two SCSI cables at the back. I recently added two more SCSI disks to increase space to an existing volume. However when I ran ioscan i do not see the two new drives but only the older drives. On the front of the enclosure I can see "hp storageworks" written but I cannot really figure out what storage it is. It has two blowers at the back, same as those on an EVA 4000 disk enclosure. I concluded it is an MSA 1000 or 1500. I downloaded an Array Configuration Utility software and installed it on the server but it seems somewhat complicated to use. Is this the best way to find my new drives or is there a better way to go about this?

Regards,

Rianui

[Torsten.]

There are so many MSA's, like MSA30, MSA1000, MSA1500, etc ...


Could you please post your


# ioscan -fn


to figure out what it really is?

[rianui]

Hi Torsten,

Find attached.

Regards,

Rianui

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

Look at this:

ext_bus     4  0/4/1/0/4/0    ciss      CLAIMED     INTERFACE    PCI-X SmartArray 6404 RAID Controller
                             /dev/ciss4
target      7  0/4/1/0/4/0.0  tgt       CLAIMED     DEVICE
disk        3  0/4/1/0/4/0.0.0  sdisk     CLAIMED     DEVICE       HP      LOGICAL VOLUME
                             /dev/dsk/c4t0d0   /dev/rdsk/c4t0d0
target      8  0/4/1/0/4/0.7  tgt       CLAIMED     DEVICE
ctl         4  0/4/1/0/4/0.7.0  sctl      CLAIMED     DEVICE       Initiator
                             /dev/rscsi/c4t7d0
ext_bus     5  0/4/1/0/5/0    ciss      CLAIMED     INTERFACE    PCI-X SmartArray 6404 RAID Controller
                             /dev/ciss5
target      9  0/4/1/0/5/0.0  tgt       CLAIMED     DEVICE
disk        4  0/4/1/0/5/0.0.0  sdisk     CLAIMED     DEVICE       HP      LOGICAL VOLUME
                             /dev/dsk/c5t0d0   /dev/rdsk/c5t0d0
target     10  0/4/1/0/5/0.7  tgt       CLAIMED     DEVICE

Your enclosure is most likely a MSA30 connected to a smart array sa6400.

You probably know this from Proliant.

You need to create or extend the logical drives, the physical disks are not visible from the OS.

To get more information do

# sautil /dev/ciss4

# saconfig /dev/ciss4

# sautil /dev/ciss5

# saconfig /dev/ciss5

Since you cannot extend a physical volume in HP-UX 11.11, you should consider to create a new logical drive and extend the volume group in question.

I can guzide you, if you send the information above.

[rianui]

Hi Torsten,

Thanks. Find attached.

Just some background info about the system. When I first checked the server, I realized that one of the two SCSI cables to the enclosure had been disconnected. ioscan could only show fewer than the disks in the enclosure. But since the production databse was running no one noticed any problem so I guess the unavailed disks accessed through SCSI cable 2 did not have any serious application on them.

Regards,

Rianui

[Torsten.]

Well, you loose the mirrors of the logical drive (disconnected cable).


If a disk fails now, you loose your data !!!!


You should (if possible) connect the cable and reboot the server.


If no reboot possible, connect the cable and run the commands again. Send the status!


Note: one of your logical drives is already FAILED!

[Torsten.]

This is a very good example for very bad administration.

Let's see the details:

- all 4 cache batteries are failed, so you don't have write cache (slow writes)

- on ciss4 there are 3 missing disks in the RAID, so it isn't fully mirrored

- the RAID at ciss5 is completely FAILED, because 7 disks are missing

Your 2 new disks are detected, but you should first fix all the problems!!!

[rianui]

Hi Torsten,

- This is a very good example for very bad administration.

A. Totally agree! There is no inhouse admin and those on site avoid the system.....as long as the business runs.

- Well, you loose the mirrors of the logical drive (disconnected cable).

A. The SCSI cables are both connected but the client wouldn't allow that before end of working hours.

- You should (if possible) connect the cable and reboot the server.

A. Connected.

- If no reboot possible, connect the cable and run the commands again. Send the status!

A. Please find attached.

- Note: one of your logical drives is already FAILED!

A. I cannot physically identify the disk. After running the "hpacucli" command yesterday the disks went red (which I find happens all the time I run an array utility) but even after exiting the utility the disks are still displaying the red alert as though the utility is still on.

- all 4 cache batteries are failed, so you don't have write cache (slow writes)

A. May I ask where t6he batteries would be? The enclosure connects directly to the server and the only visible components are at the back (two blowers). It does not have any controllers. Correct me if these (batteries) are features within the enclosure.

- on ciss4 there are 3 missing disks in the RAID, so it isn't fully mirrored

- the RAID at ciss5 is completely FAILED, because 7 disks are missing

- Your 2 new disks are detected, but you should first fix all the problems!!!

A. As I have mentioned, the cables are connected. I have checked them again. Also, ALL disks are displaying the red light.

Regards,

Rianui

[Torsten.]

The batteries are on the smartarray controller HBA inside the server!

I will check your attachments.

[Torsten.]

All logs look like before.

Try again after a server reboot.


Regarding the tool:

hpacucli is indented to manage the MSA1000/1500, not this controller, but obviously it speaks to the controller.

Let's try to show something:

hpacucli> ctrl all show config

hpacucli> ctrl all show config detail



Here is an example for switching off the LEDs:

hpacucli> ctrl slot=0 ld 0 modify led=off

(not sure what is the correct value for "slot" here, hence the "show" commands)