Document Number: OSUP1063
Product: Observer 12.1 and Lower
Date: 12/4/07
Title: What to do with a failed drive in a GigaStor unit

SYMPTOM:
The RAID Software is reporting a failed drive on a RAID 5 volume.

SOLUTION:

1. First while the unit is still turned on, remove and then insert the drive back into the unit. This should bring the drive backup online. If the drive does not come backup online, or fails again after the drive is reinserted, contact technical support for drive replacement and follow steps outlined in step 2.
   
   
2. When replacing a failed drive you should leave the unit powered on, then just hot swap the new drive with the failed drive. The new drive should be seen by the RAID controller and the rebuild of the degraded volume should take place automatically.

If you have already shutdown the unit, preferably you should turn the unit back on and then do the hot swap. But, if you have already shutdown the unit, swapped the drive, and restarted, you will now have to go into the RAID software and select the create a hot spare option. This hot spare drive will automatically be added to the degraded volume.

Note for GigaStor Expandable units:
When Powering off the unit make sure the head unit is completely shutdown before powering off the drive arrays. Not doing so can cause data loss.

When Powering on the unit make sure that all of the drive arrays are powered on before booting the head unit.