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Re: Best practices for implementing, managing and maintaining HP Proliant RAID systems

 
MiguelC
Frequent Advisor

Best practices for implementing, managing and maintaining HP Proliant RAID systems

Would like to receive more information for managing maintaining and preventive diagnostics, about RAID for systems Proliant since g3 to last generations.
Controllers like older 641, P410 and others.
I´m almost adapted with raid creation and maintenance, but would like to prevent errors at disks and so on using sofftware to control it, I think HP have this tools without need to reboot server with SmartStart and run tools, it would be usefull to be advised about errors at one disk of the raid, before disk start´s failling with red led.
I tell this, as I had more than one situation with this unpleasant surprises, disk without red led, and read or write failures, with it and other failled disk, the raid 5 reconstruction is impossible. 
Can somebody help on it?
Thanks  for help

4 REPLIES 4
Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: Best practices for implementing, managing and maintaining HP Proliant RAID systems

The controllers read the SMART data from the disks, if there are too many r/w failures it will "prefail" the disks. But in case of "sudden death" there can't be a warning. The disk is healthy, then dead from one second to the next. This happens ...

Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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Johan Guldmyr
Honored Contributor

Re: Best practices for implementing, managing and maintaining HP Proliant RAID systems

Use a spare disk and monitor the server so that you can replace the broken disk as quickly as possible.
Johan Guldmyr
Honored Contributor

Re: Best practices for implementing, managing and maintaining HP Proliant RAID systems

Also, this post is a duplicate of: http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-ML-DL-SL/Best-practices-for-implementing-managing-and-maintaining-HP/m-p/6019309#M135665

 

If you want tips on which tools you can use to monitor the server - it would help if you mentioned which OS you are using.

 

With Linux you can use "hplog" or "hpacucli" to get information. In HP ACU you can run a diagnostics and get output that includes more details. "smartctl" is a non-hp tool that you can use to get SMART details out of disks behind a smart array controller. HP System Management Homepage, HP IRS and HP SIM are some more of HP's tools.

gregersenj
Honored Contributor

Re: Best practices for implementing, managing and maintaining HP Proliant RAID systems

If you are running a supportet opratingsystem, theres serveral nice tools.

 

If you install the support pack, these tools are installed for you.

 

Insight agents including system mamangement homepage (SMH).

Depending on how many servers you got, you can install insight manager (HP SIM), and get HW monitoring, and even remote support.

Remote support is available in IRS Standard and IRS Advanced (HP SIM needed).

 

Other tools:

Integratet Management log (IML) Viewer: HW failure log

Array Configuration Utility (ACU)

Insight diagnostics.

ILo management (Can't remember name).

 

You can run the Smart Start CD on-line as well.

 

Recommadation. Keep servers on supportet drivers and BIOS /FW = Current SPP and 2 previous.

 

Create a disaster recovery plan.

 

There's no way you can be sure that, you will not be struck by bad luck.

 

BR

/jag

 

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