Dell Poweredge T320 Server RAID 1


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First the specs:

Computer:      Dell System PowerEdge T320
CPU:           Intel Xeon E5-2430 (Sandy Bridge-EN, C2)
               2200 MHz (22.00x100.0) @ 1200 MHz (12.00x100.0)
Motherboard:   DELL 0W7H8C
Chipset:       Intel C600/X79 (Patsburg)
Memory:        16339 MBytes @ 666 MHz, 9.0-9-9-24
Graphics:      Matrox G200eR2 Video Adapter [DELL]
               Matrox MGA-G200eR2, 16 MB SDRAM
Drive:         TOSHIBA MQ01UBD100, 976.8 GB, Serial ATA 3Gb/s @ 3Gb/s <-> USB
Drive:         HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GHA2N, DVD+R DL
Drive:         ATA TOSHIBA MG03ACA2, Disk drive
Drive:         DELL PERC H310, Disk drive
Drive:           RAID  DummyDevice, Unknown device
Network:       Broadcom BCM5720 NetXtreme PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Network:       Broadcom BCM5720 NetXtreme PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
OS:            Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (x64) Build 7601

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First let me say I have no experience in RAID.

This server runs 3 thin clients which connect via RDC and runs a point of sale system for an architectural retail paint store. I do have a full Macrium Server Edition backup with incrementals up yesterdays date. The backup runs nightly at 8PM CST. 

 

A few days ago,I installed a non RAID drive in the server with no issues.The server downloaded that out of band MS update and tried to reboot.The server would not boot and displayed a message saying OS not found, unplug any drive that may not contain an OS and reboot. Did this, still the same. I looked at the BIOS, The PERC H310 controller and various other functions of the preboot Cntr-R, F12, etc functions and found one of the drives in the RAID 1 array was degraded. The drive is also flashing lights indication "probable future failure" on the drive in question and threw the error code 2000-0142 in the bios test section. *wipes forehead* So I pulled the drive tried to reboot but receive the same no OS message as I was told with RAID 1 I could do this. I plugged the drive back in and there was no indication anywhere in the bios/controller/etc that there was a drive plugged in. I did this several times and finally the controller recognized the drive present and said it was rebuilding with 0% status for hours. I pulled the drive out again and reinserted and it actually started rebuilding. Took 4 hours to 100% rebuild. I rebooted, same no OS message. I then was going to use my latest backup and booted from the USB recovery stick I made with the Macrium Server edition software. I noticed while booted from said USb there was fixmbr function and I tried it. It worked. I was able to boot into the OS and enter all the handwritten invoices into the Point of Sale software. The "probable future failure lights are still blinking so I've ordered, from Dell two identical drives to the ones that are in the RAID 1 array Dell with the hope of replacing the "bad" drive. Here are the questions as again I am new to RAID and as this server runs the Point of Sale for this very busy paint store, I want to feel confident that I am doing it correctly. How do I replace the "bad" drive with the new ones. They just plug in. Do I unplug the bad drive and plug in the new and it will rebuild/boot into OS? Or what?

Thanks for any help...

Rob

 

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I only need to replace the one drive not both.I'm sorry, I did say "new ones". I just got 2 new drives to have one as a backup.The RAID 1 array positions are: Drive 1 -1:1:0 Drive 2 - 1:1:1 Drive 2 is the bad one. Can I just unplug the Drive 2/bad drive,plug new identical drive in? Then it should rebuild automatically and then boot like nothing was changed? I was also told I would need to go into the RAID controller and force degrade or force offline the Drive 2 to clear the error flag or it would pass the error flag onto the new drive.

Thanks.

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Generally when one drive fails in a RAID array the other one isn't far behind. I would either do what xendrome said or replace the bad one, let the RAID rebuild, once complete replace the other one and let it rebuild again. I would then buy at least 3 more drives, build a RAID-5, restore a backup to that, and remove the RAID-1 altogether.

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