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RAID1 - Failed drive?




Posted by coscip, 03-16-2011, 02:19 PM
Hi, I'm just starting to learn this linux voodoo stuff and I found out that my software RAID1 setup has a failed drive (I think). I would appreciate if someone could confirm this and give me some advice. This is what I get when I run the "cat /var/mdstat/" command: I googled around and found that the F indicates that there's a failure and also this [_U] should look like [UU]. Are there any commands/checks I can do to make sure it's the case? Also found this in logs dated a few days ago: So what do you think? Is a drive dead? Shouldn't I get an email when there's a problem (I run CentOS with Plesk panel)? I've received emails regarding other matters but nothing about a drive failing. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

Posted by Squidix - SamBarrow, 03-16-2011, 02:25 PM
It's failed for sure. Try the smartctl command if you want to double check. If you're not getting an email, check your config files, not 100% sure of the names off the top of my head but try /etc/smartctl.conf and /etc/mdadm.conf

Posted by coscip, 03-16-2011, 03:04 PM
I ran /usr/sbin/smartctl --all /dev/sdb and I got a lot of information about the drive and as much as I can tell everything is ok. But for sda I got: "A mandatory SMART command failed: exiting. ..." So I guess it's dead... What should I do? Should I panic? Cause I already did that. I have no idea what to do next.

Posted by Motiv, 03-16-2011, 03:11 PM
I'm not much help in resolving your issue but I would recommend a hardware RAID solution.

Posted by FastServ, 03-16-2011, 03:24 PM
dev/sda (first of the two disks) is failed based on the smartctl output. It'll have to be replaced, then you'll need to rebuild the array.

Posted by CrocWeb, 03-16-2011, 03:28 PM
Software raid 1 is perfectly fine. To the OP, I would suggest replacing the failed hdd as soon as possible. If you would like to do it yourself then this guide should help: http://www.howtoforge.com/replacing_..._a_raid1_array

Posted by Microlinux, 03-16-2011, 05:38 PM
Complete waste of money in this scenario.

Posted by any410pin, 03-16-2011, 05:59 PM
1 - never did have much success with SW RAID on production servers.

Posted by Squidix - SamBarrow, 03-16-2011, 08:04 PM
For simple RAID 1, software RAID is a better solution if you ask me. Cheaper and more flexible, and you don't have to worry about losing your data if your card breaks and you can't find an identical one. Panic for a couple more hours then remove the disk. Put in a new drive (which will now be sda) and copy the partition layout Re-add the partitions

Posted by coscip, 03-18-2011, 10:36 PM
Thanks for your help, guys. It didn't go as smooth as I hoped but at least everything ok now. I backed up my data, removed the failed drive from the array and contacted support to make the swap. Support told me the server didn't boot with the new drive (grub error) and the same without the failed one. So they asked for my details so they can have a look and managed to fix it. As for the hardware vs software raid.. my choice was made with budget in mind. It did what is supposed to, what more can I ask. Of course, it would have been better without the downtime but in my case the cost of 1 hour of downtime is far less than the cost of the hardware raid. Again, I appreciate your help. Last edited by coscip; 03-18-2011 at 10:41 PM.

Posted by net, 03-18-2011, 10:41 PM
Moved > Hosting Security and Technology .



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