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My system Admin suddenly took an emergency leave and I am not so good in system administration. Seeking your help.

I have a HP server running VMware. The server contain Hardware Raid 5 with three SAS HDD. One of the HDD showing warning sign and I have a new HDD with same specification.

Now, My question is, will it be ok just to replace the failed HDD with a new one or I need to make any change is BIOS setting?

user
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    You should contact your Administrator before you do anything yourself. – Ramhound Nov 25 '18 at 09:23
  • Although in theory you can pull the disk and insert the new one after which the RAID configuration will start restoring the disk, I agree with @Ramhound: consult your sys admin before you do anything. Or hire a consultant to fix it fore you. Depending on how important the data on the server is, you better spend some money on the consultant than losing lots and lots of money on data being lost. – Tommiie Nov 25 '18 at 09:45
  • Hi, please update the question with the server model and what you mean by warning sign, it will help to get an answer – yagmoth555 Nov 25 '18 at 12:14

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The RAID 5 can cope with one of the disks failing. I would advise that you check the front of the server and ensure the drive bay has a red or warning light lit up and pull the drive out with the light indicated and replace it.

If it would make you feel better to contact your sys admin or someone similar then that's okay but I would avoid leaving this an unreasonable amount of time as if the drive fails completely, then another does too then your array will catastrophically fail.

Additionally, in my experience (especially DL ranges) HP servers can have a tenancy to be fussy about the drive and kick it out after a few days leaving you back in the same situation. For the avoidance of any doubt I strongly advise using a HP certified or branded disk, this is usually indicated by the presence of a small square HP sticker with a small barcode on the top of the disk.

Timothy Frew
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