Hard Drive replacement on MXe-III with Sata Raid

[kwbMitel]

3300 MXe-III 7.1 Software

I have a drive failure on a system that is in a remote location. (7 hour round trip for nearest contractor)

My experience with this says that I need to flush the raid cache before the system will accept a new drive
i.e. boot the system without drives inserted until it fails on drive detection

The THB says I simply have to insert the new drive and the Mirroring process will start automatically.

Does someone have some recent experience with this?

REPLACE ONE HARD DRIVE IN AN MXE III

Replace one hard drive in a RAID configuration if only one hard drive is
defective and the system is no longer under warranty.
To replace one hard drive in an MXe III:

1. Release the retaining screw securing the hard drive carrier to the
controller.
2. Slide the defective hard drive out of the hard drive carrier.
3. Remove the four screws securing the hard drive to the hard drive carrier.
4. Slide the (replacement) hard drive or SSD into the drive carrier.

- Install and tighten both side mount screws
- Tighten both drive top mount screws​

5. Slide the hard drive carrier into the controller.
6. Push to seat the hard drive carrier into the hard drive backplane.
7. Tighten the thumb screw.
8. The rebuild process starts automatically. Mirroring is indicated by the
HD LEDs. The source drive LED flashes quickly (indicating that the
disk is being accessed) while the destination drive flashes slowly. The
rebuild is complete when the destination drive LED no longer flashes
slowly (approximately 80G per hour).

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[sarond]

I believe the new SATA RAID controllers are automatic in their repair process.
There are no buttons to push on the controller from memory.

I cannot confirm but from my knowledge it is a matter of removing the faulty drive and replacing it. The RAID should recognize a different drive and start to rebuild the RAID. No buttons to push just rip it our and replace it.

Maybe wait for others to confirm though.

Are you talking about a single drive failure in a RAID?
I thought you only had to clear the sockets/cache if you wanted to use an existing drive and not have it think it was part of a broken RAID.

 

[kwbMitel]

So,

For the record, replacing a single failed drive in a Raid cannot be done by simply inserting the new drive.

The Raid Cache does need to be cleared.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[sarond]

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of RAID

 

[augustD2]

I always change the hard drive by following these

step:1. If the hard drive is already off-line (normally or faulted) go to step 5.
2. Take the hard drive off-line by using a small pointed object (paper clip).
- Press the mirror control (ctrl) button, for less than five seconds, of
the hard drive to be removed.
- Release the button when the Access LED starts flashing once
per second.
Note: You must obtain the 2-pack kit, even if you intend to replace only one
hard drive in the controller.
Tip: Refer to Table 72 on page 369 for a complete description of LED activity.
235
Install and Replace Units
3. Hard drive is off-line when the Access LED is off and the fault LED is
orange.
4. Release the retaining screw securing the hard drive carrier to the
controller.
5. Slide the defective hard drive out of the hard drive carrier.
6. Remove the four screws securing the hard drive to the hard drive carrier.
7. Install the new hard drive in the hard drive carrier with the four screws.
8. Slide the hard drive into the controller.
9. Push to seat the hard drive into the hard drive backplane.
10. Tighten the thumb screw.
11. To copy data onto the new drive, press and hold down the Mirror Cntrl
button of the new hard drive for between 6 and 10 seconds and then
release. Release the button when the Access LED starts flashing twice
per second.
12. The rebuild process is indicated by the Access LED solid green and
the Fault LED flashing green.
13. The rebuild is complete when the Fault LED is off (approximately 20G
per hour).

 

[kwbMitel]

@augustD2

Those steps are for the IDE drives. There is no mirror control button for Sata drives

@Sarond - Defeat purpose? not quite as the second drive did a fine job of keeping the system running. It isn't terribly hard to clear the Raid Cache but it does require down time and raised blood pressure when the site is 8 hours away.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[sarond]

I understand the remaining HDD did keep the system going but I would think being hot swappable it should allow for no downtime at all.
The Tech Handbook does indicate that this should be the case as well. It doesn't state powering down the system at any stage.

 

[yeahbutno]

Maybe this will help on SATA Raid controller information.

 

[kokolino23]

I'd guess you know already that you can't replace a faulty hdd unless if it's EXACTLY the same as the faulty one.
If you decide to replace both of them:
take a backup
turn the controller off
take both hdd's out
turn the controller on until you clear the sockets (monitor this on rs232)
install the first hdd and the software manually
license the controller and restore the DB
install the 2nd hdd and the mirror will start automatically as there is no button anymore to do so on MXe III

 

[kwbMitel]

I'd guess you know already that you can't replace a faulty hdd unless if it's EXACTLY the same as the faulty one.

By exactly the same, I believe it would need the same serial number.

I originally asked this question because there seemed to be a disconnect between what the manual says and what is required.

I have never been able to replace a drive without clearing the raid cache.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[kokolino23]

According to the manual for MXeIII SATA RAID controller:
Mirror operation works with dissimilar drives (different models or manufacturers). However, the replacement drive capacity must be equal to or larger than the RAID size. (Use "SHOW STATUS RAID" to determine RAID size.)

Clearing RAID Controller Sockets
The RAID controller stores the model number and a serial number of the disks in what is called sockets. This information is used to detect when a disk has been changed. When a RAID controller is shipped, this socket information is clear. There are times this information must be cleared, for example, when you want to install a hard disk that already has a different version of software or configuration, or if you start up the system with one drive installed and that drive is defective.

 

[kwbMitel]

I know what it says

It doesn't work that way in reality. Thus the question.

If you have evidence that it does work other than what the manual says, I'm listening, otherwise, not so much

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[kokolino23]

I did replace a defective hdd but only with a matching one: same manufacturer and model, the serial number was different if I remember right (as can't be the same for 2 hdd's). I had to clear the sockets though, then plugged only hdd 1, let the system to boot up from it then when I had everything up and running, I plugged the 2nd drive in and mirrored it.
I had issues where I had to reinstall the sw even though the 1st hdd was just removed... so looks like it's a hit and miss