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[JoeHombre]

There seems to be some conditions where the 323 does not reestablish a RAID 1 when a HD is replaced.

In a RAID 1 format, does anyone know the 323’s assumption when a HD is replaced?

For example, if the Right HD fails or is just replaced with a different one -- does the 323 assume that the new HD will be inserted in the same (in this example) Right Slot?

What if the HD in the Left Slot that did not fail or is being replaced is moved to the Right slot and the new HD is installed in the Left Slot -- does this matter in terms of reconstituting the RAID 1 array?

Thanks for any insight.

JH

[gunrunnerjohn]

Moving the remaining drive will screw things up.  I've actually tried this...

[JoeHombre]

At one point I did move the HD not being replaced to the other slot.

After shuting-down the 323, I disconnected the power chord too so the 323’s circuit card would not be powered.  I considered this a safe practice procedure but maybe doing so caused the 323 to lose memory of the Slots were the HDs were located.

You'd think that DLink could find a way to allow relocating the HD’s Slot and/or removing the power chord without losing the info needed to reestablish a RAID1 array.  If this is in fact a no-no, DLink  should so state the proper procedure to be followed as dosborne asked.

Thanks, Gunrunnerjohn.

JH

[gunrunnerjohn]

We have a few "ought to be mentioned" things that have been talked about here.

[fordem]

At one point I did move the HD not being replaced to the other slot.

After shuting-down the 323, I disconnected the power chord too so the 323’s circuit card would not be powered.  I considered this a safe practice procedure but maybe doing so caused the 323 to lose memory of the Slots were the HDs were located.

You'd think that DLink could find a way to allow relocating the HD’s Slot and/or removing the power chord without losing the info needed to reestablish a RAID1 array.  If this is in fact a no-no, DLink  should so state the proper procedure to be followed as dosborne asked.

Thanks, Gunrunnerjohn.

JH

First - there is a specific process for replacing a failed drive in a RAID array - this can be found in the FAQ on D-Link's support web page.

Second - the serial numbers of the drives in a RAID array and the respective slot locations are stored, I believe on the drives themselves - this permits for example, a functional RAID array pair in a defunct DNS-323 to be transferred into a replacement DNS-323.  If you power the unit, off, swap the drives around and then power it back on, it will detect this and should ask you to insert them correctly, however, I don't think they catered for a situation where a drive would fail and the user would swap the drives around simultaneously.

Also I'd like to point out here, that in most environments using RAID, swapping physical drive locations is a NO-NO -

It's generally considered a "sure-fire" way to create a problem resulting in the loss of data.  Newer hardware RAID controllers do permit "disk roaming", older ones do not, and most support professionals will go to great lengths to ensure that disks are replaced in the poisitions they were removed from, because this is what they are taught to do.

[JoeHombre]

Thanks, Fordem.  This is very helpful info.  I'll go read the FAQ on replacing RAID1 HDs.

JH

[lozinthevilla]

there is a specific process for replacing a failed drive in a RAID array - this can be found in the FAQ on D-Link's support web page.

After many days of transferring my data back to my dns323 after a RAID1 failure, guess what? A disk has failed again in the left side, again! This was a brand new disk and the same breed as the other (Seagate ST31500341AS)

I have followed the FAQ to the letter just like last time and I think its behaving like it should!!!

I popped a WD HD in the left side, switched on, followed the prompts and it appears to be formatting it, instead of nuking my RAID1!

Fingers crossed it doesn't nuke my RAID1 after its formatted the WS HD!  

Having another failure so soon after the last one, (two weeks), does this me I may have a faulty DNS unit now?

Or could it be a faulty new hard disk?


l

P.S. Just checked my email : the dns323 is telling me the right hand side disk has failed!  I'm going back to tape!

[jamieburchell]

I'd be tempted to pop all these suspect drives out and insert them directly in a PC and run manufacturers diagnostics on them. That will help better determine the health of the drives.

If they're OK, and resetting the NAS to factory defaults and re-formatting doesn't help it sounds like a hardware issue with the NAS. Try reseating the drives, blowing dust off connectors etc.

If you can, backup your data before doing anything.

[lozinthevilla]

If you can, backup your data before doing anything.

Oh yes! I have learned my lesson well! After reading a lot of postings here, I have felt the pain of so many!

Thanks for the pointers jamieburchell I shall get these disks in a PC and give them a whirl!

I have a windows7 pc, these disks are formatted to ext3, will the disk utilities still work on them does anyone know?

[gunrunnerjohn]

You'll need a driver.  Here's a couple of the popular ones.

http://www.fs-driver.org/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd/

Three Ways To Access Linux Partitions (ext2/ext3) From Windows (http://www.howtoforge.com/access-linux-partitions-from-windows)

[jamieburchell]

Oh yes! I have learned my lesson well! After reading a lot of postings here, I have felt the pain of so many!

Thanks for the pointers jamieburchell I shall get these disks in a PC and give them a whirl!

I have a windows7 pc, these disks are formatted to ext3, will the disk utilities still work on them does anyone know?

As far as I know, you only need those Windows drivers if you need to read data off the disk or write data to the disk. You don't need them for running manufacturers diagnostics as tests are performed at a lower level. You can usually get bootable diagnostics too bypassing windows altogether.

If you do decide to use the drivers above to read data from the drives you should mount them as read only to avoid screwing up your drives and/or confusing your NAS.

[gunrunnerjohn]

Right, I assumed he'd want to recover any data first.

[jamieburchell]

think (hope) he's already got a backup

[gunrunnerjohn]

Never hurts to offer the option.

[lozinthevilla]

Hi everyone!

Just to let you know how the disk swap/format/RAID1 rebuild went...

Like a dream! I followed exactly the FAQ (like I did the first time around), and the new WD disk (HD2) was formatted and then the RAID1 rebuild kicked in straight after that.

Now the disk that I replaced has been tested with seatools and I can find nothing wrong with it at all!

Also the disk (HD1) that told me it had failed has stopped telling that it has failed and seems absolutely fine, although I am keeping an eye on it on a daily basis.

I also tested the disk that failed a few weeks ago -  and that comes back OK too! 

So now I have 2 x 1.5Gb HDs spare... How lucky am I? 

Thank you very much for all your help and directions - I would surely have lost my data without your help!

I still think the 323 is a great bit of kit!