How to change hard disk array on HP Proliant ML 350?

Question

We have a hd damage and we need to replace this hd, How to change and add more hd to array to HP Proliant ML 350 G5 server ?

Have you consulted HP or examined operating procedures manual for the device? — mdpc, Dec 14 '12 at 22:51

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 14 '12 at 22:01

4

If you don't know what you're doing, call HP Support and they will walk you right through this. If you don't have support, get it. Here's some hints :

If you've checked the array management software and confirmed that only one drive in the array has failed, order a replacement for that drive. Pull the bad drive from the server. Put the new one in.

If you're not sure which physical drive corresponds with the failure, the software will let you make the light on the drive blink so you can identify it.

answered Dec 14 '12 at 22:01

mfinni

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+1 for asking for help if you're not sure. The last thing you want to do is pull the wrong drive, or something that will corrupt the array. – BillN Dec 14 '12 at 22:23
Even when you know what you're doing, they won't authorize a warranty replacement without some evidence (more than your say-so) that the drive has failed. They want a diagnostic dump, or at least a screenshot from HP SIM or the local management agent. – mfinni Dec 14 '12 at 22:25

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:14

If you're running Windows 2008 on this system, you will want to use the HP Array Configuration Utility in either its graphical or command-line form. For the purposes of this question, I'd recommend the command line utility.

Once installed, you will want to navigate to your Programs Menu and open the Array Configuration Utility (it may specify "command line").

Once inside the utility, run the following command: ctrl all show config

This will output something like:

Smart Array E200i in Slot 0 (Embedded)    (sn: QT8CMP3716     )

   array A (SATA, Unused Space: 1145787  MB)

      logicaldrive 1 (72.0 GB, RAID 1+0, OK)
      logicaldrive 2 (180.0 GB, RAID 1+0, OK)
      logicaldrive 3 (120.0 GB, RAID 1+0, OK)

      physicaldrive 1I:1:1 (port 1I:box 1:bay 1, SATA, 500 GB, OK)
      physicaldrive 1I:1:2 (port 1I:box 1:bay 2, SATA, 500 GB, FAILED)
      physicaldrive 1I:1:3 (port 1I:box 1:bay 3, SATA, 500 GB, OK)
      physicaldrive 1I:1:4 (port 1I:box 1:bay 4, SATA, 500 GB, OK)

If any of the output indicates failed or pre-failure, that's enough evidence for HP to send a replacement disk.

Once you've verified that there's a bad disk. You can identify the drive with its blue LED indicator. In this case, I would use the following command to identify the drive:

ctrl slot=0 physicaldrive 1I:1:2 modify led=on

This will blink the drive in question for one hour.

As for the mechanics of drive replacement, you need to identify the disk, press its release lever, open the drive handle, then remove the disk. Installation is done in the reverse order.

If you're interested in adding more disk space to the array, see these questions on Server Fault...

HP RAID array - hpacucli
What are the good ways to migrate a RAID array to bigger disks?
Repurpose spare drive in HP ProLiant RAID 5 array

How to change hard disk array on HP Proliant ML 350?

2 Answers2