Topic: Dual Hard Drives

[Agent86]

I mean the DHCP keep running cause I keep internet, but all other server functions failed

Can't login to server-manager, then no access to the console basically in appearance to be froze, not root ssh access etc.

I have to restart then server if running fine for about 2-3 hours then starts to freeze again since the new hard drive was added.

I could be hard drive problem but not sure how to check for any other server problems ?

[Agent86]

After freezups the Disk Management now indicates this :

                                                                          │
  │ Current RAID status:                                                     │
  │                                                                          │
  │ Personalities : [raid1]                                                  │
  │ md1 : active raid1 hda1[0] hdc1[1]                                       │
  │       104320 blocks [2/2] [UU]                                           │
  │ md2 : active raid1 hda2[0] hdc2[2](F)                                    │
  │       19446592 blocks [2/1] [U_]                                         │
  │ unused devices: <none>                                                   │
  │                                                                          │
  │                                                                          │
  │ Only some of the RAID devices are unclean.                               │
  │                                                                          │
  │ Manual intervention may be required.                                     │
  │                                      

Something sounds wrong, but the the machine is not freezing up now.

Please advise what this means ?

[pfloor]

There is something wrong with the second drive you installed.  It is not syncing the second partition.

Did you install an identical drive? IOW are hda and hdc identical or are they just similar?

You may also have a bad IDE controller or cable.  Are the cables new? Are they both 80 wire cables?

[Agent86]

Yes to all

Both Drives the same make and model, and also cables are new and 80's,
This is probably  correct that one drive is not synced ?
What will is say if the drive failed ? or dead ?

I think that second hard drive has failed if that is what the (F) means ?

I have another drive I'll pop in there to see how it goes
That drive was working in another desktop, but now it seems to also make an occasional clunking noise which is typical when the armature is going bad.

I'm not positive, however I'll take the drive out and run some tests, and then also pop in another drive.

I was wondering what may happen if I sync a larger second drive, I know that it will only be used as the capacity of the smaller drive, but what if I then take out the smaller drive and add another identical drive to the larger drive ? will the capacity increase or does it always resort back to the initial small drive capacity ? even if the small drive is no longer present ?

[pfloor]

Was the second drive new or had it been installed before?  If it was ever installed on a Windows machine then you will need to clear the MBR first before installing it.  Search the forums or bug tracker for the correct commands.

You can install a larger drive and utilize the entire drive.  There is a way to do this and once again you will need to search for the correct steps but it goes something like this:

-CAUTION MAKE A FULL BACKUP!!!
-Shut down and install larger drive.
-Boot up and wait for drives to sync up properly.
-Shut down and remove smaller drive. (Don't loose or erase this drive, you might need it to start all over if something goes wrong.)
-Boot up and issue some commands to expand the partitions (this is what you need to search for)
-Install another new large drive and let it sync up the larger drives (if you want raid1)

This has been tested in the bug tracker and you might want to go there and read before you try anything.

[stephen noble]

This has been a great thread, I've copied parts to the manual
http://smeserver.sourceforge.net/sme70/sme70/Manual/Chapter4

a few commands need to be added, see the FIXME's

[Agent86]

Was the second drive new or had it been installed before?  If it was ever installed on a Windows machine then you will need to clear the MBR first before installing it.  Search the forums or bug tracker for the correct commands.

You can install a larger drive and utilize the entire drive.  There is a way to do this and once again you will need to search for the correct steps but it goes something like this:

-CAUTION MAKE A FULL BACKUP!!!
-Shut down and install larger drive.
-Boot up and wait for drives to sync up properly.
-Shut down and remove smaller drive. (Don't loose or erase this drive, you might need it to start all over if something goes wrong.)
-Boot up and issue some commands to expand the partitions (this is what you need to search for)
-Install another new large drive and let it sync up the larger drives (if you want raid1)

This has been tested in the bug tracker and you might want to go there and read before you try anything.

It was a used drive and did have a dual boot partition of windows and linux grub etc.

This is great I'll research and post back thanks

[Agent86]

This has been a great thread, I've copied parts to the manual
http://smeserver.sourceforge.net/sme70/sme70/Manual/Chapter4

a few commands need to be added, see the FIXME's

Where would one find these commands ?

Thanks

[Agent86]

One more question

When one drive fails in a mirrored system and the other takes over?

Is this what will happen ?I mean do I need to reboot, or replace anything or will the second drive automatically take over ?

[pfloor]

One more question

When one drive fails in a mirrored system and the other takes over?

Is this what will happen ?I mean do I need to reboot, or replace anything or will the second drive automatically take over ?

On a Raid1, data is simultaneously written to both drives.  That is why it is called a mirror.  During a read, it can read from either drive.  If a drive fails it will automatically stop reading from the failed drive, remove the failed partition(s) from the array and will email you that there is a problem.

The system will continue to work on 1 drive until you replace and re-sync the drives.

[Agent86]

One more question

When one drive fails in a mirrored system and the other takes over?

Is this what will happen ?I mean do I need to reboot, or replace anything or will the second drive automatically take over ?

On a Raid1, data is simultaneously written to both drives.  That is why it is called a mirror.  During a read, it can read from either drive.  If a drive fails it will automatically stop reading from the failed drive, remove the failed partition(s) from the array and will email you that there is a problem.

The system will continue to work on 1 drive until you replace and re-sync the drives.

Thanks
That what I figured but  i was not sure in the restart event how the server may treat the drive if the failed drive is IDE Primary Master and the Good Drive is Secondary Master ?

I was concerned that I would have to change channels or bios to boot from Secondary Master etc. ?

[bpivk]

Note that this is not windows with it's limitations (read: problems and requests).

[stephen noble]

>Where would one find these commands ?

you should be able to find them in the manual
until they get added you have to search bugzilla and the forums

[zi4]

I have 2 identical harddrives, but one of them has a few defect clusters since a while --not increasing amount.  Can I use it for Raid 1?

[pfloor]

I have 2 identical harddrives, but one of them has a few defect clusters since a while --not increasing amount.  Can I use it for Raid 1?

I would not use any hard drive with known problems.