disk failure on cluster array

We experienced a disk failure on the cluster array. It's a
active/passive SQL cluster. I was told by dell that we must powerdown
the passive before replacing the failed drive because otherwise both
servers will attempt to rebuild the array. Is this true? Can you
simply swap out the bad drive or will I need to power down the passave
node?
Dear Icemon,
It seems a bit much to me and I would guess that modern disk arrays (both
direct SCSI attach as well as any SAN implementation) would do a rebuild of
the RAID on the Array, with the host connected and online.
However my advice is to follow your vendors instructions.
I know this is probably not the answer you were hoping for, but it all
depends on your hardware vendor to provide support for replacing a hard
drive.
good luck and
rgds,
Edwin.
"icemon" <johnsitu@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1165899856.732197.284880@.79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
> We experienced a disk failure on the cluster array. It's a
> active/passive SQL cluster. I was told by dell that we must powerdown
> the passive before replacing the failed drive because otherwise both
> servers will attempt to rebuild the array. Is this true? Can you
> simply swap out the bad drive or will I need to power down the passave
> node?
>
|||"icemon" <johnsitu@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1165899856.732197.284880@.79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
> We experienced a disk failure on the cluster array. It's a
> active/passive SQL cluster. I was told by dell that we must powerdown
> the passive before replacing the failed drive because otherwise both
> servers will attempt to rebuild the array. Is this true? Can you
> simply swap out the bad drive or will I need to power down the passave
> node?
It really depends on the array and the controllers. Do you have PERCs in
each node and are the drives all SCSI attached? If so, then Dell seems to be
leading you the right direction.
Russ Kaufmann
MVP - Windows Server - Clustering
ClusterHelp.com, a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner
Web http://www.clusterhelp.com
Blog http://msmvps.com/clusterhelp
The next ClusterHelp classes are:
Denver starting Feb 12th
NYC starting Feb 19th
|||Let me guess? One of the Powervault 200/220 series arrays with PERC cards
in each host? Dell is correct. Unfortunately, SCSI arrays with no internal
controllers have a lot of limitations. You just found one the hard way.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"icemon" <johnsitu@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1165899856.732197.284880@.79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
> We experienced a disk failure on the cluster array. It's a
> active/passive SQL cluster. I was told by dell that we must powerdown
> the passive before replacing the failed drive because otherwise both
> servers will attempt to rebuild the array. Is this true? Can you
> simply swap out the bad drive or will I need to power down the passave
> node?
>
|||Since I didn't get any immiedate responses on this post, I decided to
call Dell once more. I spoke to another engineer who advised me
differently. Shouldn't they be more in sync with their knowledge base?
Anyway, this guy told me that it is not necessary since it's an
Active/Passive Node. He said that Since the Passive Node is not
running, it will not compete. I swap out the array and the drive is
rebuilt. It is running a PERC 3 on a powervault 220 array.
Geoff N. Hiten wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
> Let me guess? One of the Powervault 200/220 series arrays with PERC cards
> in each host? Dell is correct. Unfortunately, SCSI arrays with no internal
> controllers have a lot of limitations. You just found one the hard way.
> --
> Geoff N. Hiten
> Senior Database Administrator
> Microsoft SQL Server MVP
>
>
> "icemon" <johnsitu@.gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1165899856.732197.284880@.79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
|||I am not completely surprised either way. Level 1 tech support from Dell
isn't the most accurate in the universe, even on the Gold Support Queue. And
if you are running a cluster without at least Gold support, then you are
crazier than I am. The escalation techs are pretty good and the TAMs can
make things happen so I shouldn't be too harsh on Dell. I do wish they
would update their SCSI storage systems a bit, though.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"icemon" <johnsitu@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1165978456.551049.281650@.f1g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> Since I didn't get any immiedate responses on this post, I decided to
> call Dell once more. I spoke to another engineer who advised me
> differently. Shouldn't they be more in sync with their knowledge base?
> Anyway, this guy told me that it is not necessary since it's an
> Active/Passive Node. He said that Since the Passive Node is not
> running, it will not compete. I swap out the array and the drive is
> rebuilt. It is running a PERC 3 on a powervault 220 array.
>
> Geoff N. Hiten wrote:
>