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Rebuilding a Failed Drive

This section contains procedures for recovering from a drive failure with and without a standby drive. If for some reason these procedures do not start the rebuilding process, instructions are also provided for manually starting a rebuild after a drive failure.

CAUTION: Be sure to configure a local or global standby drive for each logical drive at the time of initial configuration. Depending on the type of RAID level used and archiving procedure implemented, significant data loss might occur in cases of single or multiple drive failures. Additionally, make tested spare drives readily available on site for immediate replacement if a malfunction occurs.

Automatic Rebuild Using a Standby Drive

When a drive associated with a fault-tolerant logical drive fails, and a standby drive has previously been installed and configured as either a global or local spare, the failed drive is automatically substituted and its data rebuilt using the designated spare drive. For this to occur flawlessly, the spare drive's capacity must always be equivalent to or larger than the failed drive that is being replaced.

The rebuilding process normally starts within one to two minutes. It is performed in the background and takes approximately eight minutes per Gbyte when there is no other activity on the controller.

During the automatic rebuild process, normal activity can continue, although performance might degrade. The degree to which performance degrades is determined by the rebuild priority set for the controller. To change the rebuild priority, see Changing Controller Parameters.

The progress of the rebuild process is displayed when you choose View > Array Admin Progress.

To Reestablish Automatic Rebuild Capability

  1. Replace the failed drive using instructions contained in the SANnet II Family Installation, Operation, and Service Manual for your array.
  2. Wait at least 60 seconds after removing the failed drive before inserting a new drive. Make sure the replacement drive is at least equal to the largest drive in the enclosure.
  3. After the rebuild process is complete and the logical drive is online again, back up the array controller configuration to a file on an external drive or diskette. See Saving the Logical Drive Configuration.

Device Rebuilding Without a Standby Drive

If there is no standby drive in your array, you need to replace the failed drive before the automatic rebuild process can start.

  1. To recover from a drive failure when there is no standby drive, replace the failed drive by using the instructions contained in the SANnet II Family Installation, Operation, and Service Manual for your array.

  2. Wait at least 60 seconds after removing the failed drive before inserting a new drive. Make sure the capacity of the replacement drive is at least equal to that of the failed drive. Install the replacement drive at the same address (drive bay) as the failed drive.

  3. Once the failed drive is replaced in the same slot, you need to scan it in.

  4. After the drive has been scanned, you need to manually rebuild it by choosing Array Administration > Rebuild.

To Check the Progress of the Rebuilding Process

  1. Choose View > Array Admin Progress or click the Progress Indicator icon in the upper right corner of the window.
  2. The Controller Array Progress window is displayed that shows the completion percentage of the rebuild. However, if there are array activities (such as initialization, rebuild, or parity check) occurring on multiple controllers, the Select Controller Progress window is displayed first.

  3. Select the controller whose progress you want to view and click OK. The Controller Array Progress window is displays that shows the array progress of the selected controller. For more information, see Array Administration Activities.

Manual Rebuild

In most cases, you do not need to use the manual rebuild process because replaced drives are automatically rebuilt.

If a spare is not present when the failure occurs, or for some reason the drive does not rebuild, you can use Rebuild to manually start the rebuild process. Also, if the rebuild process is interrupted by a reset, use Rebuild to restart the rebuilding process.

  1. Replace the failed drive using the instructions contained in the SANnet II Installation. Operation, and Service Manual for your array.
  2. Wait at least 60 seconds after removing the failed drive before inserting a new drive. Make sure the capacity of the replacement drive is at least equal to that of the largest drive in the enclosure.

  3. Choose Array Administration > Rebuild. The Rebuild window is displayed.
  4. Select the status record of the replacement drive.
  5. Click Rebuild to start the rebuild process.
  6. The rebuild process is performed in the background and takes approximately eight minutes per Gbyte when there is no other activity on the array controller. During a rebuild, normal activity can continue, although system performance may degrade. The degree to which performance degrades is determined by the rebuild priority set for the controller. To change the rebuild priority, see Changing Controller Parameters

  7. To check the progress of the rebuilding process, choose View > Array Admin Progress or click the Progress Indicator icon in the upper right corner of the window. The Controller Array Progress window is displayed that shows the completion percentage of the rebuild.
  8. If there are array activities (such as initialization, rebuild, or parity check) occurring on multiple controllers, the Select Controller Progress window is displayed first.

  9. Select the controller whose progress you want to view and click OK. The Controller Array Progress window is displayed and shows the array rebuilding status for that controller.
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