Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
21 Posts
0
131758
Firmware Upgrade procedures for MD3000i
Hi there,
Although some questions have been mostly posted throughout this forum and on the internet, I would just like to double check some specific cases for upgrading the various firmware across a MD3000i.
At present we have scheduled downtime to upgrade two MD3000i from the older 1st generation firmware to the 2nd generation firmware. The MD3000i's are being used in a VMWare vSphere Cluster. Along with the RAID controller upgrade, we plan to do physical disk firmware upgrades while we have downtime. We also need to power down the MD3000i's for repositioning within the racks. The procedure I have researched is:
1) Backup all data on MD3000i
2) Power down all connected ESX servers to the MD3000i to stop all I/O.
3) Perform the upgrade of RAID firmware and NVSRAM using the cross generation firmware upgrade utility.
My questions are really:
1) Is it best to upgrade the physical disk firmware before or after the cross generation firmware upgrade?
2) In terms of powering down and powering up the MD3000i's, I have been told to ensure that there is no I/O activity to the MD3000i (by powering down all connected servers), then just flipping the power switch. Similarly with powering up, just flip the power switch and all should be fine. Note there are no MD1000 extension enclosures connected to these MD3000i's.
3) Is there any additional tasks that can be done to ensure a smooth upgrade, or in the worst case a smooth backup of all data. For example, is there any way to backup the MDSM configuration or the RAID Configuration.
Apologies if these questions seem trivial or obvious, however, it would be disasterous if we lost the data on these SANs (even if we have backed up everything), so I'm doing my best to mitigate any problems by doing my research.
Thanks in advance.
Gene
mrokkam
154 Posts
0
July 22nd, 2009 15:00
Hey Gene, ... let me take a shot at answering your questions...
1) I would think it best to update the physical disk firmware before you upgrade the controller firmware. This will ensure that you have the latest, most bug-free version of the firmware.
2) http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19267319/19460257.aspx#19460257 <-- this post should answer your question on the best way to shut down the MD3000i
(copying here for your benefit:
What's important is to ensure that all data is flushed to the array so that the data is consistent prior to powering off the MD3000i itself.
- Stop all activity to the array
- Flush all data to the storage array (e.g. shutdown the hosts or unmount the virtual disks)
- Power off the RAID Enclosure
- Power off any attached Expansion Enclosures
Dave)
3) YES! It is a best practice to gather support information before you perform any upgrades / changes to your system. (Support Tab --> gather Support Information --> Browse , select location and save the file). Other things to check and make sure - system is optimal and stable prior to upgrade (no blinking lights, no error messages, no incomplete virtual disks etc)
geneNZ
21 Posts
0
July 22nd, 2009 19:00
Thanks for the reply,
I have followed your advice and gathered the support information. Thanks again for your response.
Gene
mrokkam
154 Posts
0
July 23rd, 2009 09:00
You are very welcome Gene! Great question by the way:). Do let us know how the upgrade goes :)
jchavescr
1 Message
0
March 26th, 2015 16:00
Hello I have a very old MD3000i unit and I'd to update it to the latest version is there a step by step manual I can follow to acomplish this?
DELL-Sam L
Moderator
Moderator
•
7.1K Posts
0
March 27th, 2015 11:00
Hello jchavescr,
I am not sure which version of firmware that you are currently running on your MD3000i as you didn’t list it in your post. Here are the steps that is needed to be done.
Firmware upgrade from 06.xx.xx.xx to version 07.xx.xx.xx
Your unit is currently running version (Axx) and the current version is 7.35.39.64 (A11). While you are updating the RAID controller firmware and the NVSRAM (both are included in the download), you should also update the hard drive firmware. I have included links below for your convenience.
10. At this point, power down the array for a 2-3 minutes, then power back up, load MDSM to verify connectivity again, then close out.
11. Once at 06.70.17.60 A04 , use the “upgrade raid controller firmware” on the “devices” screen to upgrade to the latest Gen2 07.35.39.64 A11
12. The upgrade from GEN 1 to GEN2 will take around 45 minutes, do NOT interrupt this process.
13. Once complete, verify connection and data by loading MDSM.
14. Update the hard drive firmware if applicable.
15. Reboot stack and verify all is optimal.
Please allow for at least 60-85 minutes for the updates. Time may vary depending on how long each reboot takes.
If currently running version 07.xx.xx.xx firmware here is the process for upgrading that firmware:
Your unit is currently running version (Axx) and the current version is 7.35.39.64 (A11). While you are updating the RAID controller firmware and the NVSRAM (both are included in the download), you should also update the hard drive firmware. I have included links below for your convenience.
MD3000 SAS RAID controller firmware
07.35.39.64 - A11 - http://ftp.us.dell.com/SAS-RAID/MD3000-CFW-NVSRAM_07353964_A11_R315163.zip
MD3000/MD3000i Hard Disk Drive Firmware Updates
http://ftp.us.dell.com/firmware/MD3000_MD3000i-HDD_FW_A12_R310916.zip
Steps to update the firmware:
This update process will take 60-90 minutes but will vary depending on how long the reboots take to complete.
Please let us know if you have any other questions.