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I have this PE2950 server with 5 disks, configured as RAID 5( 1 VD, no Hot Spare). Since last week, it seems that 1 of the HDD's is not being accessed, as the activity LED is not blinking at all, ( unlike the LED's of other 4 disks) only the Power ON LED glowing steady green. I restarted the machine, and the POST issued the message "Foreign Configuration found on controller...." .however the machine booted and it working fine as of now. Please let me know whether in PD management (Ctrl-R) I should choose "Clear Foreign Configuration" OR "Import Foreign Configuration".....
theflash1932
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Posted September 11th, 2010 08:00
Once the drive is rebuilt, it is a fully participating member of the array. Once the rebuild starts, it is no longer a HS. You can configure another HS if you have another disk, and up to two HS's at a time. There is a Global HS and a Dedicated HS ... Global will take over for any failed drive in any VD, if there is more than one VD; a Dedicated HS can be assigned to a specific VD. In OMSA, there is a column when viewing individual physical disks labeled Hot Spare. Only HS's will show YES.
theflash1932
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Posted September 6th, 2010 09:00
So long as the system is still running and only one drive is showing foreign, then you need to Clear it. When the drive went offline then the controller picked it up again, it detected the array settings on the drive that were out of date compared to the current array and flags it as foreign until you tell it what to do with it.
You can also clear it from OpenManage Server Administrator - Storage, PERC, Information/Configuration (link at the top of page), Foreign options.
Thanks TheFalsh1932 for your timely help. Please let me know, what actually happens to the disk which was rebuit by choosing the option "Hot Spare". After rebuild, is it again a part of the VD as it was before going offline , or , is it now just a hot spare which will serve its pupose of providing data for rebuld for any unlikely event of other disk going OFFLINE...
I have this PE2950 server with 5 disks, configured as RAID 5( 1 VD, no Hot Spare) - However the RAID config says all drives are Optimal but none of the LED lights on the front of drives are on or flashing - I would really appreciate some help on this one.
Is the server still working?...If its still working make a backup of your application database/package..a preparation for a worst case scenario of HDD crash. Try re-booting....and if it rebbots ...u r safe..... Do not try to pull out any HDD out of the array, you might lose the info of the array. If you pull out any one that will not be a part of the array anymore, unless it is inculded in the configuration again. And if you pull out the second disk ...you lose all data...
Here's the crazy thing - everything is working fine - Just the LED lights on the drives do no light up at all - when you first boox the server they all flash once - I have upgraded the firmware or drives, server and backplane - same result - they are all Maxtor drives , same size and speed - I'm just reaching out for some more help if there is anything you can think of
theflash1932
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Posted September 8th, 2010 09:00
You will probably need to assign the drive as a hot spare in order for the rebuild to start. You can do this in the CTRL-R BIOS utility or install OMSA and do it from Windows.
OMSA (download and run to extract files, then run C:\Openmanage\windows\setup.exe. Choose Custom install and make sure Storage Management (and all sub-features) is installed):