Novell server - Continuously beeping

[DFisk]

I just took over at a location that has a Novell server. It's mounted in a CUBIX 1210 rack and has apparently been continuously beeping for several months. I know absolutely nothing about Novell. I've done some searching and did try to use the "Set bell sound alerts=off" I receive confirmation that they're off but the beeping continues. I've also done a Restart Server and the beeping stay on through the entire process. Can anyone suggest commands or a process that I can use to silence the beeping? Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!!

 

[bill1055]

I once had a beeping server. The beep was due to a failed drive in the RAID. Nothing to do with the OS. Rebuilt the array using the drive utilities, beep was gone.
Something to look at...

 

[goombawaho]

I would agree with the above - probably a RAID controller-based alarm for a hard drive gone bad which means the array may be in "degraded" or critical" state depending upon brand and the terminology they use.

You'd better become and expert on which controller they have and what it's problem is and FAST.

I'm kind of surprised that you're in charge of a server and you're posting here with a question like that and also that you've allowed the situation to go for "several months". No offense, but are you "over your head" in terms of hardware support skill set? I'm not picking on you, but if the it's too much for you, you should tell someone rather than risking data loss and potentially JOB LOSS.

If that data goes bye bye, how secure is your job?? Get on it man - ASAP or sooner.

 

[DFisk]

I've not been here for several months, just a week. I was told the Previous IT guy had the beeping going on for months. I'm just trying to determine what is causing it. What i'm looking for is a direction to start with.

Thanks

 

[goombawaho]

I understand, but...... FOR ME, I would have been worried about it like if my daughter was turning blue - a critical event that should be analyzed immediately.

Look for a key combination on bootup that shows in the BIOS of the controller card to get you into the RAID utility so you can see what's going on.

Or, get a bootable CD from the manufacturer that will have all the options available for configuring/managing the RAID controller.

Do we even know that it's RAID yet? We need more information - server brand/model, RAID controller brand/model.

 

[DFisk]

The only indication that this is a critical event is the beeping. The users are not being affected in any way right now. I've been with this facility for about a week now.

There is a sticker on the front of the unit which says "NDS Raid Array" No other information is available on the outside of the unit. It does appear that two separate servers connect to it.

 

[fredericofonseca]

I STRONGLY advise you to get the help of a professional.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE at

http://www.redjuju.com

may be able to at least point you to someone on your area that can help you.

If you do not get help. it may well happen anyday that your servers stop working. You wont be happy and your users will go mad on you, not to speak on your managers.

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[goombawaho]

Agreed with above. If you're not able to act on this soon, data may go bye bye. Believe me, I've been there and things normally go from bad to worse when a disk has gone bad in an array. The reason: all the disks have been spinning for the same amount of time (wear and tear) AND/OR if that particular model has a known defect that causes premature failure, all of them will have it.

What you may have there is a server connected by fibre channel to a Networked Attached Storage, but we can't tell from here.

 

[goombawaho]

I think you should repost this in the server hardware forum with all the pertinent information you can gather since it has nothing to do with Novell. It's a hardware-based issue.

 

[sstoppel]

There are any number of things that make a server beep. IPX Router issues (wrong network id), hardware, etc. Marv is right, if this is a critical system don't go monkeying around with it.

 

[alpha9er]

Before you run out and spend hundreds of dollars on a professional, check to see if all of your chassis fans are spinning; and if the PSU has multiple power inputs, that all are getting power. These are two common causes of 'beeps' with Chenbro chassis, which I work with.

 

[goombawaho]

Okay - $5 bet says it's RAID alarm. Anyone want a piece of that action?? This would, of course, be fake money.

We still need more info on the hardware to proceed here or there (hardware forum). Maybe the OP has already gone over there or maybe a worse fate has done him in.

 

[marvhuffaker]

If you can't find anything in the log files or you don't see continuous messages on the server console indicating an error, AND you have turned off the Sound Bell For Alerts anyway, it must be something hardware. But don't make that assumption immediately unless you have reviewed the log files for errors. I have seen servers beep even when Sound Bell for Alerts has been disabled, that seems to only quiet SOME error conditions.

If you do suspect a RAID error, I'd be for taking quick action to get a solid backup.

On another note, you could spend a few hundred bucks to have someone correctly diagnose and repair this problem, or you could spend thousands in professional fees to recover from a disaster situation after the server has a complete failure. And how much more does it cost in downtime and lost productivity that can't be easily measured?

The decision is ultimately yours, you have to determine your risk level and act accordingly. Here are a couple of real world situations I have dealt with.

1) Imminent hard drive/raid failure - Diagnose & resolve, correct issue and stablize server PRIOR to catastrophic failure - 3-4 hours and roughly $650 or so.

2) Server RAID failed, all data lost, required emergency server recovery and then migration to new server. Flew to location Sunday afternoon under emergency terms. 3 days working round the clock to recover everything and get system fully functional. I believe that the total cost to the customer was about $12,000. This customer was lucky because downtime was minimized and everybody was functional on server Monday morning, and we were able to hobble along on old server during Monday and then do an emergency migration to new server after production hours had winded down. Had we not been able to be in production Monday morning, 200 users would have been unable to conduct business and they would have essentially been out of business.

Not trying to pimp my services (fredericofonseca already did that for me <grin>)... But you have a real situation that needs to be resolved fast. You should find someone in your local area that can handle this type of critical issue. You can check here:

http://www.novell.com/partnerlocator

for someone that should be qualified. Note that even if this is a RAID problem, a Novell expert should be able to handle it.. On the contrary, bring any hardware guy in for the RAID, and most likely they won't know squat about NetWare and could cause more damage because they don't understand how NetWare works.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[goombawaho]

Marv is 100% correct and what he said was exactly what I said a few replies above. I think the OP has gone underground.

By the way, I'll do it for half whatever Marv quotes you. He's too expensive. (Don't kill me Marv).

Somebody needed to be shot for spending $12,000 for a server restore - no blame being placed on Marv. I mean, someone in the area could have done it cheaper, right?!?!?!?! The mind boggles.

 

[marvhuffaker]

One thing that we do that a lot of people won't... We'll jump on a plane on Sunday to help someone. A lot of local companies (generally speaking) don't have any kinds of after hours support, so when this type of thing comes up, companies have no choice but to look far and wide for someone that will come onsite at strange hours. Yes it costs more, but downtime is not cheap either. We're also very good at this type of thing -- unlike a lot of less experienced people I've seen, we go onsite and fix the problem, we don't spend 4 hours looking up tids hoping to find a fix and then guessing and fumbling through stuff. Not trying to sound arrogant either.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[fredericofonseca]

Goombawaho,

As Marvin said, not all locals do have the knowledge. As Marv I also do remote support, and many times need to travel to get to the clients instalation. aint cheap, but its worthwhile for all companies I have done it so far. And its not uncommon for me to be at a customer site, and have other clients call me for help. Many times solution can and is given by phone. but not always. But many so called "experts" cant to it over the phone.

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[goombawaho]

I wasn't panning you "to the rescue/hired gun" guys, just thinking around here (Detroit area) you could get a ton of people to help you out that are local. I've never really understood the idea of remote support. I know it works for lots of things, but I always felt you absolutely had to have someone on site that could touch the server, look at the lights and push the buttons. With that said, lots of companies cheap out and have their central IT staff manage remote servers and I've been there. It's all great until something major happens and then it's like pulling teeth to talk one of the locals through identifying a bad server hard drive and changing it successfully. I'm glad I'm out of that business.

If you're in north nowhere, it gets more difficult to find someone local. And more power to you working all those hours over the weekend. I'd rather sip a beer and watch some football as opposed to being the big IT hero that slaves away to fix a client from their own stupidity. My glory years are past, hence the self-medication.

In short - glad you have the hours to burn and the job to burn them on and make the big money.