Utility to check condition of Disks in Power Edge servers

[mlchris2]

I've got about six PowerEdge servers and I would like to verify if the disks in the array are in good condition. There are no blinking lights, the Array manager says the disks are functioning.

Does the OpenManage Array manager - diagnostic features tell me if the disks should be replaced or if they are functioning up to par?

Mark C.

 

[technome]

Well..
Basically the Dell diags incorporated into OpenManage ( or the standalone Dell disk diag) is the best you will get, without very expensive hardware based disk testing equipment. It works through the controller which most utils for checking disks will not. Diags which work via standalone SCSI/SAS/SATA interfaces will not pick up many disk errors, which running a diag through a raid adapters will. The OpenManage Array manager will inform you of probable disk issues, but is not fail-safe, nor will it inform you of firmware bugs at the controller/disk level.
At his point your best defense against raid failures is to insure you have "patrol reads" enabled full time or have a scheduled off hours "patrol reads" run. Patrol reads check the entire disk surface of all the disk members, a consistency check only tests the disk surface occupied by data. Most array failures are due to multiple disk errors found in a short period of time, on disk surface areas not occupied with data, as during a rebuild. If patrol reads do not run, multiple errors will build in the unused areas, as raid adapters only test areas where data resides during normal use.
Periodically go to the Dell support site and check for firmware upgrades for both the raid adapter and disks.

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