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Dell Server Store (STILL) does not understand hotspares?
This is a continuing irritation that has been going on for years and years and YEARS. The Dell Online Store does not offer any options to enable RAID array hotsparing, though it has been an integral aspect of all Dell RAID controllers going back nearly a decade.
Why are hotspare drives simply impossible to directly select and configure through the web store?
Just for the heck of it, I decided to see if anything has changed as of Dec 2013......... Nope, I see no options to enable hotsparing, other than "unconfigured, don't configure any RAID in advance before shipment".
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PowerEdge T620 RAID configuration choices:
No RAID for H310 (1-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 0 for H710P/H710/H310 (1-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 HDDs) [Included in Price]
RAID 5 for H710P/H710/H310 (3-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 6 for H710P/H710 (4-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 10 for H710P/H710/H310 (4-32 HDDs in pairs) add $0.00
RAID 50 for H710P/H710/H310 (6-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 60 for H710P/H710 (8-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 0+RAID 0 for H710P/H710/H310 (1 + 1-31 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 0+RAID 0 for H710P/H710/H310 (1 SATA + 1-31 SAS HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 0+RAID 0 for H710P/H710/H310 (1 SAS + 1-31 SSD HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 1 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 + 2 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 1 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SATA + 2 SAS HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 5 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 + 3-30 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 5 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SATA + 3-30 SAS HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 5 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SAS + 3-30 SSD HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 10 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 + 4-30 HDDs in pairs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 10 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SATA + 4-30 SAS HDDs in pairs) add $0.00
RAID 1+RAID 10 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SAS + 4-30 SSD HDDs in pairs) add $0.00
RAID1+RAID5+RAID5 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SAS + 3-27 SSD + 3-27 SAS) add $0.00
RAID1+RAID5+RAID5 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SATA + 3-27 SSD + 3-27 SAS) add $0.00
Unconfigured RAID for H710P/H710/H310 (1-32 HDDs) add $0.00
RAID 1+Unconfigured RAID for H710P/H710/H310 (2 SAS + 1-30 HDDs) add $0.00
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I want "RAID 1 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 HDDs)" but I actually want RAID 1 with a hotspare, so I select 3 drives.
Your Selections Contains: 1 Errors
Errors:
The Hard Drive Configuration you selected [1st] Raid set supports one Raid 1. The Raid 1 set needs exactly two hard drives with same size, speed and capacity. Please update your selection from the following: Hard Drive module.
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Eh, I'll just ignore this warning. It's not like I HAVE to do things the way the store demands, right?
Click: Continue, Continue, Add to Cart.
A box pops up: There are compatibility issues with your customized system. Please select OK and address the item noted to avoid delays in your order
View cart: Empty.
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Yep, the Dell Server Store is still broken and defective, now nearly a decade later.
To me, it's really sad that Dell does not try to actively champion every server with RAID having hotspares, but the online web store is combative and actively tries to prevent using hotspares, as shown above.
A hotspare is cheap insurance against array failure, even for the modern RAID-6 dual-redundant arrays.
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I don't think I even want to get into the topic of allowing of configuration of Global vs Dedicated hotspares, through the Dell Online Store.
The poor webstore programmers might suffer an aneurysm trying to comprehend such a concept. Though I do see they at least have finally grasped how to offer the choice of redundant memory / sparing, via the Online Store.
theflash1932
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December 3rd, 2013 08:00
I don't think there is any reason for Dell to "actively champion every server with RAID having hotspares" ... hot-spares aren't often used, not because people don't know what they are, but because they don't need them. That isn't to say that multiple drive failures won't ever happen, but with ever-increasingly reliable drives, near-instant disaster recovery, and environmental data redundancy that many people have in place, have made hot-spares almost a paranoid waste of money and space (space that would be much better utilized in a RAID 6, especially in large arrays).
Besides, if you are purchasing directly from the store, then you are paying way too much for your hardware. It is very easy for your Sales Rep/TAM to add a hot-spare to your order, and you'll get it for a much lower price than a "valid" configuration on the website.
Also, configuring RAID is easy ... just order the number of drives you need and configure it as you want when it arrives.
"I don't think I even want to get into the topic of allowing of configuration of Global vs Dedicated hotspares, through the Dell Online Store."
I think this is part of the problem ... as it is, RAID configurations available on the website represent a small portion of "possible" RAID configurations - they simply cannot all be options.
BTW ... I think adding the capability of memory sparing/mirroring was a huge waste of effort, given the extremely small number of people implementing it.