Hi Linc_1,

Sounds like you have 2 problems here & to be honest, if you are "not a server guy" you will have your work cut out for you resolving this issue yourself, even with the assistance of this Forum. 

Ultimately it sounds like you have a failed disk in your RAID array, leading to a Degraded RAID5. It's probably a combination of this & the continious crashing of the server that has cuased the 2nd problem, a corrupt Active Directory (AD) store.  The "Indices" make up the overall structure of AD & the reason you are getting the current message is either becuase the AD store is corrupt & Windows is trying to repair it, or because certain blocks of data (indices) were lost/corrupt due to the failing disk & constant crashes.

From experience, the fastest way to repair AD is to restore it from a backup, assuming that you have a current backup. However you also need to address the failing disk issue - try pressing F8 before Windows starts to load & select the "Directory Services Restore Mode". This should allow you into Windows, but with AD services placed offline, so this should stop the Indices rebuild message. You can then use Array Mgr to address the failed disk, provided that you have a replacement one.  If you manage to get the disk rebuilt back into the array, then run a Consistency Check on the RAID5 from within Array Mgr, then reboot the server as normal & allow the Indices to rebuild again - otherwise you will have to either manually repair the AD database or else restore from a backup

If I was in your position, I would ring your local Dell Support Centre & get help troubleshooting what you can over the phone.

Thanks Gary,  I will give this a try and see what happens. To be honest I should clarify, that I WAS a server guy but that I left that field as 2000 came on the scene. So NT 3.5, 4, Novell, not a problem... but I have been away for a while and now am the lead cisco tech. So the main reason for that statment was I don't want a person explaining something to assume I know something. It will save us both time.

Thanks

Linc     

Well the array manager is not installed and will not let me install

it while in safemode because it states 'administrator has set policies

to prevent this action' my guess is because there is no active

directory running.  Am I sunk? 

I wouldn't go so far as to say that you are sunk, but it does mean that you will have to try reair the array from the PERC3/Di BIOS - unless maybe you try log into Safe Mode as a local administrator & see if the policies are still set.

If you are sure that the single failed disk has a hardware fault, then just remove it & get a replacement - if the new disk doesn't rebuild into the existing array, then you might need to initialize it first (only initialize the replacement disk & no others). The option to initialize is found under the Container Configuration Utility -> Initialize Drives. The drive should then rebuild into the array. If it doesn't try either a Format of the drive under Disk Utilities or else you might have to force it into the array using from the Manage Container section.

If the original disk is not faulty, but merely failed, then try to force it back into the array using from the Manage Array section.

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/RAID/PERC3di/index.htm

Once the array is back optimal, you can run a Consistency Check, but this can only be kicked off from Array Mgr & not from the controller BIOS. Another option would be to run "CHKDSK -r" on the file system - combining both of these options could be enough to allow AD to repair itself. Otherwise you will need to investigate other means of repairing AD (Microsoft Support Site)

Failing all this I still think that reverting to the original Plan B of re-creating the array, re-installing the OS & then restoring from backup might be the quickest means of resolving this.