Replace external tape drive.

[Torsten.]

If the device is not hot-plug, then you need to open the bus, may produce a glitch and destroy the device or HBA or more...that's why the recommendation is to power off the whole server.

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] may produce a glitch and destroy the
> device or HBA or more... [...]

Lightning may strike you, too.

> Is it officially recommended?

Of course it's not officially recommended.

> Can we try that in a production setup?

How important is it to you not to power down
the system?

> It is a single tape drive whcih is attached
> externally.

With my weak psychic powers, that _still_
doesn't tell me _where_ this drive is
connected to the system.

> tape 0 0/1/1/1.3.0 stape [...]

That looks to me like the built-in external
SCSI port, and I don't see anything else on
that bus (disk bay "2" is empty?), so, if I'm
not missing anything important, then it looks
pretty safe to me.

Around here, I have a disk in bay "2", and my
tape drive has SCSI ID 4, so I see:
[...]
disk 3 0/1/1/1.2.0 sdisk [...]
[...]
tape 0 0/1/1/1.4.0 stape [...]
[...]

If I'm reading your report correctly, then
your tape drive looks like the only "0/1/1/1"
device, so I would not expect any real
trouble if you were to replace that device
(in a static/ESD-safe way) while the system
stays up. I just disconnected and
reconnected my tape drive, and nothing bad
happened. (My disk "2" has Debian GNU/Linux
on it, so HP-UX isn't using it, so everything
on that SCSI bus here was idle when I did that.)

Of course, I won't lose my job if you wreck
something.

[Lashin]

external tape drive is attached to controller at "0/1/1/1" and is on the LBA "0/1".there is no other devices on the same cntroller. but there is one more controller"0/1/1/0" attached to same LBA and there are disks connected in this controller. Will it be wise to replace the tape drive online when there are disks connected on same LBA on different controller? Is it officially recommented? the machine is rx2600 and OS is 11.23..We heared that there were cases of server hung when we do it online. Can anybody provide a valid proof/document to present the customer that it is recommended/not recommended?

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] Will it be wise to replace the tape
> drive online when there are disks connected
> on same LBA on different controller?

Wise? It depends.

> How important is it to you not to power down
> the system?

Are you reading this stuff? Do you ever
answer questions, or do you only ask the same
questions again (and again)?

> Is it officially recommented?

Did you find an official recommendation?
I doubt that you will find one.

> [...] We heared that there were cases of
> server hung when we do it online.

Heard where? When who did what, exactly?
And is that exactly what you wish to do?

> Can anybody provide a valid proof/document
> to present the customer that it is
> recommended/not recommended?

Are you reading this stuff?

> [...] I just disconnected and
> reconnected my tape drive, and nothing bad
> happened. [...]

If you want complete safety, then shutdown
the OS, and power off everything.

If you want an official statement from HP,
then ask HP customer support. This forum is
not HP customer support.