Swapping drives between blades?

[Matthew D]

We had a BL20p G2 server go down and it won't power back up, we think it's the system board. I have another BL20p G2 (identical config) and two BL20p G3's (nearly identical config) that are no longer being used. Can I take the drives (RAID10) from the down BL20p G2 and insert them into another blade and boot up okay? The system is running Windows Server 2003. I don't want to do anything that will risk corrupting data on the drives. Thanks!

[Steven Clementi]

Matt:

You can simply place the drives into the replacement G2 server and it should boot up no problems.

If you want to go to a G3, you will need to do a couple of things first...

1. Get it back up and running on a G2.
2. Download the latest PSP for the G3 and Win2k3 and store it on the local drives
3. Go here... " http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-ML-DL-SL/BL20p-G2-to-G3/m-p/3707082#M48994" and get the registry file to tell your server about the new Array Controller.

Without it, the server will not boot up and will just keep restarting.

4. Make a backup if you can, or pull a drive and swap in a new one.
5. Put the backup drive into the G3 and boot up. If you don't have a spare drive, you can just use the drive you pull. You only need 1 drive to boot up.
6. Let Windows detect the new hardware and reboot if necessary
7. Install the PSP and reboot.
8. You should not be at a point where you have migrated over to the G3 and the server is usable again.


Steven

[Matthew D]

Thanks, Steven! I have a backup of the system but because of the nature of the software running on it I'm in for a rough ride if we actually have to restore from backup.

I have tons of new unopened drives that match these. Would it be advisable to move one drive to the unused server, pair it with a new drive, and let the system rebuild the array? My thinking is that if something goes terribly wrong and the RAID controller on the unused server blows away my data I would still have one drive in the original server for when the system board is eventually replaced.

Or am I making this more complicated than it needs to be and there's no worry about loosing data? Thanks again!

[Steven Clementi]

It makes perfect sense to move just 1 disk.

The Smart Array does sometimes get confused. Not often, but it does.

You will get a message on the console about a disk failure and it will default to failing the drive and leaving the array "online" and it should boot up.

Once it is booted up, insert the new drive.


Check the ACU to make sure it is rebuilding...


Steven