Solved: unity disk swap procedure

rvincent · ‎12-10-2008

unity is on a mcs7825-h2 server. Will be upgrading unity and want to remove a drive and replace with a new spare drive before starting, keeping the removed drive on shelf in case of total failure.

Have been reading the links on this but am still unsure of the procedure to follow;

first step - which drive do I remove, 0 or 1?

is this done while server is running or off?

is the new, spare drive added in place of the removed one, while server is running or down?

How do I determine when mirroring is done? do i need to install HP array software?

In event of upgrade failure, what is procedure to return to old version?

which drive do I add the original disk to, 0 or 1?

Do i leave a drive in the other bay or bring up server with just the one drive?

when 2nd drive is added, is server running or down?

thanks

Rob

Tommer Catlin · ‎12-10-2008

Here is what I do:

Shutdown the server.

Pull drive 0 out and label it Drive 0

Pull drive 1 out and label it Drive 1

Insert Drive 1 into Slot 0 where drive 0 came from.

Let Unity boot up. If it works, then your backup drive is drive 1.

Shut down the server, remove Drive 1 from Slot 0.

Insert Drive 0 back into Slot 0 and boot up Unity. If Unity boots correctly, insert your spare drive into Slot 1. Let the Mirror rebuild itself (HP utility will tell you it has completed, usually in about 40 minutes)

Now you can start your upgrade process.

If the upgrade fails, you can shut down the server, pull both drives, insert the backup drive into slot 0 and you are back in business.

Remember, you must run through the tests to make sure the drive mirrors have been working. I have seen Unity servers where the Mirror was never setup to begin with.

cheers!

View solution in original post

Tommer Catlin · ‎12-10-2008

Here is what I do:

Shutdown the server.

Pull drive 0 out and label it Drive 0

Pull drive 1 out and label it Drive 1

Insert Drive 1 into Slot 0 where drive 0 came from.

Let Unity boot up. If it works, then your backup drive is drive 1.

Shut down the server, remove Drive 1 from Slot 0.

Insert Drive 0 back into Slot 0 and boot up Unity. If Unity boots correctly, insert your spare drive into Slot 1. Let the Mirror rebuild itself (HP utility will tell you it has completed, usually in about 40 minutes)

Now you can start your upgrade process.

If the upgrade fails, you can shut down the server, pull both drives, insert the backup drive into slot 0 and you are back in business.

Remember, you must run through the tests to make sure the drive mirrors have been working. I have seen Unity servers where the Mirror was never setup to begin with.

cheers!

rvincent · ‎12-10-2008

great point about testing the mirroring first. never thought of that.

one question on if the upgrade fails part;

once the backup drive is in slot 0 and unity is working - can i add one of the 2 upgraded drives to keep the 2 mirrored drives or would i need to get another new drive?

thanks

Rob

Tommer Catlin · ‎12-10-2008

You can add a drive anytime after the unit.

The basic premise is that the Mirror was established before and built. You removed a drive and the mirror is still ""looking" for it's partner. Once in insert the drive, HP RAID will start the rebuild process.

littledavewhite · ‎02-12-2009

hi question please, at the stage when you insert drive 0 back into system and you boot can drive 1 be installed while the system is running ?