T310 with CERC SATA 1.5/6ch - 1TB Drives

Hello

Data migration is dependent on the source controller and destination controller. I didn't notice the destination controller mentioned.

I don't think any controller supported on the T300/T310 supports data migration from a CERC 1.5/6ch. The next controller in that line is the CERC6i. The CERC6i does not support migration from previous controllers in that line of controllers.

If the CERC 1.5/6ch supports breaking mirrors down to non-RAID disks(Not RAID 0s) and the destination controller supports non-RAID disks then it may work. Storage controllers write descriptors on disks to define virtual disk characteristics. Migration is supported when the destination controller is capable of understanding descriptors from the source controller and has the same or similar enough of a feature set to support the volume. Some non-RAID volumes are just pass-through disks without descriptors, some controllers still write descriptors on non-RAID disks.

I'm fairly certain there is not a supported method to do this. I recommend that you backup any important data before trying. Even if there is a supported method, you should backup.

http://www.dell.com/storagecontrollermanuals/

Thanks

There isn't a destination controller.  The T310 uses software RAID.

It would have been easier for me to answer this myself and not use an engineer's time if the CERC 1.5/6ch controller manual was available from Dell.  A search at the link provided doesn't return any documents.  These links from the Dell site are broken:

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pes_hardrive&thread.id=25507 from page: https://www.dell.com/community/PowerEdge-HDD-SCSI-RAID/RAID-Techniques-Keeping-Your-Data-Safe/td-p/2372447

This other link is also broken:

http://lt.dell.com/lt/lt.aspx?CID=19374&LID=462234&DGC=IR&DGSeg=DHS&DURL=http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/RAID/CERCbest.pdf came from: https://www.dell.com/community/PowerEdge-HDD-SCSI-RAID/Dell-CERC-SATA-Best-Practice-Reference-Guide/td-p/2328074

It appears that the manual is no longer available from Dell.

Regards, Computer Rescue Center

If you are referring to the S-series controller, then no, you cannot migrate from a CERC SATA 1.5/6ch to any S-series controller.

If documentation is not available for a system then you can email to request documentation. The CERC6i page has a note under documentation with the email address.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/product-support/product/poweredge-cerc-6i/manuals

TL;DR: Drives in a RAID 1 (mirror) on a CERC SATA 1.5/6ch RAID controller in a PowerEdge 1800 can be removed at shutdown, mounted inside a PowerEdge T310, and read by the motherboard controller to transfer data to drives connected to the PowerEdge T310 motherboard controller.

After backing up the data on the CERC SATA 1.5/6ch - 1TB Raid 1 (mirror), I shut down the PowerEdge 1800, physically removed one of the mirrored drives, and mounted it inside the T310.  Booted up the T310 and was able to read the drive.  Transferred the data to the drives that are staying in the T310, and voila! I'm a happy camper.