Dell EMC PowerVault MD 34XX/38XX Series Storage Arrays Administrator's Guide

Recovering from unidentified storage array

1. Make sure that the network connection to the storage management station is functional.
2. Make sure that the controllers are installed and that the power to the storage array is turned on. Correct any existing problems before continuing.
3. If you have an in-band storage array, use the following procedure. Click Refresh after each step to check the results:
   1. Make sure that the Host Context Agent software is installed and running. If you started the host before the host was connected to the controllers in the storage array, the Host Context Agent software is not able to find the controllers. If so, make sure that the connections are tight, and restart the Host Context Agent software.
   2. Make sure that the network can access the host by using the ping command in the following syntax: ping <host-name-or-IP-address-of-the-host>
      If the network can access the host, continue to step c. If the network cannot access the host, skip to step d.
   3. Remove the host with the unresponsive status from the MD Storage Manager, and add that host again.
      If the host returns to optimal status, you have completed this procedure.
   4. Make sure that the power to the host is turned on and that the host is operational.
   5. If applicable, make sure that the host bus adapters have been installed in the host.
   6. Examine all external cables and switches or hubs to make sure that you cannot see any damage and that they are tightly connected.
   7. If you have recently replaced or added the controller, restart the Host Context Agent software so that the new controller is found.
      If a problem exists, make the appropriate modifications to the host.
4. If you have an out-of-band storage array, use the following procedure. Click Refresh after each step to make sure of the results:
   1. Make sure that the network can access the controllers by using the ping command. Use the following syntax: ping <controller-IP-address>
      If the network can access the controllers, continue to step b. If the network cannot access the controllers, skip to step c.
   2. Remove the storage array with the unresponsive status from MD Storage Manager, and add that storage array again.
      If the storage array returns to optimal status, you have completed this procedure.
   3. Make sure that you cannot see any damage and that they are tightly connected by examining the Ethernet cables.
   4. Make sure that the applicable network configuration tasks have been done—for example, the IP addresses have been assigned to each controller.
5. Make sure that the controller firmware is compatible with MD Storage Manager on your management station. If the controller firmware was upgraded, the MD Storage Manager may not have access to the storage array. A new version of MD Storage Manager may be needed to manage the storage array with the new version of the controller firmware.
   If this problem exists, see Getting Help.
6. Look to see if there is too much network traffic to one or more controllers. This problem corrects itself because the MD Storage Manager tries to re-establish communication with the controllers in the storage array at regular times. If the storage array was unresponsive and a subsequent attempt to connect to the storage array succeeds, the storage array becomes responsive.
7. For an out-of-band storage array, look to see if management operations are taking place on the storage array from other storage management stations. The type of management operations being done and the number of management sessions taking place together establish the number of TCP/IP connections made to a controller. When the maximum number of TCP/IP connections have been made, the controller stops responding. This problem corrects itself because after some TCP/IP connections are complete, the controller becomes responsive to other connection tries.
8. If the storage array is still unresponsive, problems may exist with the controllers.
   If these problems persist, see Getting Help.