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PE2900 - Perc 6i 5 Drive RAID failed
I have a Perc6I in a 2900. The array went offline this AM, one drive orange, one drive foreign. I cleared the foreign state, but now one drive reads ready and the other is still missing (is lit in orange). The array sizes all look correct, but it is offline. The server went down during a migration to a new VM (data only). I have new drives to place into the array (which I have NOT done yet), but I'm stuck now trying to bring the array back online.
Suggestions anyone? This is a production server and needs to come back online as soon as I can.
theflash1932
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June 29th, 2015 12:00
You should have IMPORTED the foreign config, not CLEARED. I'm not sure we will be able to successfully bring it back online, but the only thing you can try is a "retag". You need to delete the VD, then recreate, but while recreating, ALL settings must be identical to the original, and you must not check the Advanced and Initialize options.
One other option: how POSITIVE are you that the amber drive was amber/offline at the exact same time as the other drive went to foreign? Could it have failed prior to the other drive going foreign?
If you need to call data recovery, you should do that now.
lfeldman
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June 29th, 2015 13:00
Forcing a drive online, replacing the failed drive and rebuilding is possible, but NOT recommended unless you have an up to data and VALIDATED backup of the data.
Are the VM's you migrated(and any other necessary data) validated to be in good condition?
KatoTech
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June 29th, 2015 13:00
I didn't get to that point yet with the complete migration. I'll attempt firmware update to see if I will be able to see the drives and keep everyone posted.
KatoTech
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June 29th, 2015 13:00
It would not let me import the single drive while it was in a foreign state. I'm going to try and flash the firmware and see if that makes a difference with the one drive listed as amber.
theflash1932
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June 29th, 2015 13:00
Then something is broken. That should have been your ONLY course of action. All others will yield corrupt data, with the "possible" exception of forcing online the amber/failed disk.
Import if the array is offline. Clear if the array is online.
This will not magically make the missing/failed drive online. In most cases, updating firmware when the array is in distress is dangerous and a bad idea.
lfeldman
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June 29th, 2015 13:00
That's a very good point Flash. You don't want to attempt anything if you've got a stale/inconsistent parity set as a result of a drive failing earlier.
Here's a list of currently supported Dell data recovery partners:
www.dell.com/.../EN Partners
Best Regards,
Leon
KatoTech
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June 29th, 2015 15:00
I can still see all of the RAID VD properties. What's the thoughts of clearing the array and recreating it with the same details? There are 5 disks in RADI5 (yes I know it's bad), and I can see four of them. The 5th is flashing amber and can't be seen by the array at all.
lfeldman
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June 30th, 2015 09:00
There's almost certainly a physical problem with on e of the 4 drives online or a problem with outdated parity. If you don't know the EXACT details of failure recreating the array with the same details will only cause more data corruption and possibly overwrite data.
KatoTech
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June 30th, 2015 19:00
So I did not mess up the data (any worse than it already is), I pulled them after consulting with Dell's techs and sent them to DriveSavers. I'll know more in a few days. I did not do any retagging so the drives could be seen as they were in the controller.