Hi Djcc,

It might not work as there will be meta data conflict.

The Flare will write some internal data on the disk so that it can be recongnised and to be used in accordance to the specific array it belongs.

If the same drive is inserted in different array, flare will read the same data and will reject the same as it already has metadata(info) of other array.

Hence a drive needs to be formatted of all meta deta before being reused in different array. I think this is done at the vendor/OEM factory

Rgds,
Vivek

Hi,

My sincere apologies if thats not how it goes but i do feel that metadata will create issue.

Rgds,
Vivek

I hope that is not the case entirely as we have a stock room full of drives that would then become redundant! Thank you for your replay.

I think it may affect the types of array rather than the specifics. Have done some testing today and that does look like the cause. Thanks again for your suggestion.

Ur welcome djcc, happy to know i was helpful

That makes more sense to me DGM.

I was aware of the FLARE version issues, but didn't really think to mention it. I know we have a bunch of CX series arrays that all have FLARE 26 on them, but only 3 of them can use the new 600GB FC drives. The rest were upgraded the FLARE 26 prior to the patch level that supports them.

Metadata (configuration information) stored on a drive used in one array, will not prevent it from being used in another array.

A key thing to check is the revision of FLARE code running on the "new" array; is it at a rev level that supports the drive type in question, as drive support is controlled much more by the software than the hardware. Also make sure that ATA and FC drives are not being mixed together within a single enclosuse.

Further investigation would depend on what specific error condition is being reported, etc.

Regards,
DGM

I'm a bit surprised at this, as we have successfully moved drives from one array to another in the past. We moved two entire DAEs full of 320GB ATA drives from one CX700 to another and there were no issues at all (and yes, we knew we would lose the data before we moved).

Also, data in place upgrades allow for a new SP to be put in and array with the same drives in it, so for example a CX500 could be upgraded to a CX700 without wiping the data (or Metadata I would assume).

I'm not trying to argue, just confused.

600GB FC drives ...ohh, when did those become available ?

Not sure, but the latest CX4 we ordered is coming with them. I checked on the CX3 compatibility and you have to be VERY up to date on FLARE 26 (can't remember the patch version off the top of my head) to use them.

We finally have a good use case for RAID 6. We are going to use the 600GB drives in an 8+2 config for file server capacity. And before you ask... no we don't have NAS (don't get me started).

You can check on PowerLink for the flare version that supports each disk:

http://powerlink.emc.com/km/live1/en_US/Offering_Technical/Technical_Documentation/014003111.pdf


glen

I usually use the Disk and FLARE OE Matrix for each array type (different matrix doc for CX3 & CX4). I find them under the documentation for the various array families.

Just noticed that there is a different version by clariion family - I normally don't use this too much - lucked out that I linked the one for CX300 and CX500

glen

I think the variation is fairly new. Before the CX4 was released I seem to remember one doc for all arrays. I went looking about a month ago and that was the first time I saw the different versions as well.