3TB Storage - Alternative to Xserve RAID

Do anybody have any suggestions for alternative storage other than the Xserve RAID?
I'm looking to install an affordable 3TB RAID5 into a clients site, and they don't need a full Xserve RAID as of yet. Pricing and reliability is key also.
Any advice is appreaciated.
Thanks,
David

Hi
United Digital have something which may fit the bill:
http://www.united-digital.co.uk/index.php?pref=73
Hope this helps – Tony

Similar Messages

Expanding a XServe RAID and Striping

Greetings!
I have an XServe RAID with four 250 GB ADMs inside the 1-4 slots of the Upper or left controller. This one array totals 701.27 GB at RAID 5 showing up on my Desktop as one RAID.
I recently acquired two ADMs, a 750 GB and 500 GB, and I'd like to install them in my vacant second controller on the right, slots 8-9. I'm pretty sure I can create another array with these two drives setting them at RAID 5. Then what I'd like to do is stripe the two arrays, using Disk Utility, and create a software RAID that will show up on my desktop as one RAID. (I currently use this RAID as my Final Cut Pro media drive.)
My questions are: Am I on the right path?
If I stripe them together, I will lose my data on my existing array, correct? (I have the data backed up on another external drive so when I'm done I can copy it back)
I feel is best to have one RAID rather than several. Or should I consider having two RAIDs but being cognizant that I will have to stay on top of of my Final Cut Capture Scratch media folders as I edit? (ie, Two RAIDS = two separate Capture Scratch folders. So I'd have to choose what Final Cut media will be on what RAID, etc. rather than one folder where all the media can go)
My goal down the road is to completely populate the left/top controller with 250 GB ADMs. If I do, I would assume I can expand the side with the 250's by merely using the Expansion function? Would this "upset" the prospect of having a single RAID of two striped arrays?
Thanks in advance!
System: PowerMac G5 (June 2004), Mac OS 10.4.11
Xserve: Upper Controller, 4 ADMs, 250 each, 1 Array, 1 Slice, RAID 5, 701.27 GB Total

William Lloyd wrote:
This doesn't sound like a good idea. You're mixing stuff in a variety of configurations that don't match, and if you want to stripe the two sides, they should match for optimal performance.
As in: they should all be 250 GB ADMs, right?
With the 750 GB and 500 GB drives, your options are RAID 0 (with NO protection) giving ~ 1 TB of storage, or RAID 1 (mirror) giving ~450 GB of storage. The latter is probably preferable.
So I could install them into the right side controller and make an array of the two using RAID 1 (mirror) and end up with 450 GB of storage. I'll get the protection but losing the extra storage because it would defer to the smaller size 500 GB ADM. And I can't add them to the other side where the 250 GB ADMs are because you're not supposed to mix different size ADMs on the same controller. (This is the stuff that is not in Apple's fine print when they sell it to you. You find it out either through Discussion threads or Technical Articles.)
If you were to attempt to stripe this with the other side, you'd have either 1.4 TB or 900 GB of storage, respectively. In the former case, if one of the drives on the right side failed, you would lose 100% of your data on the entire volume.
My option(s) would be: install the two non-compatible sized drives into the right side controller, combine them as a RAID 1 array and then have two separate RAIDs on my desktop, with the second RAID being physically larger than the other but actually smaller because of the incompatible 750 and 500 GB sizes. Then, when editing with Final Cut, I'd have to choose which RAID that I wanted to store my media on.
So if I were you, I'd give up trying to make it look like one volume.
Agreed. But are there any other options I can explore? I purchased the 750 and 500 GB drives naively thinking I could expand the storage of my Xserve RAID by buying larger drives. Now I'm finding out I should have purchased only 250 GB ADMs-- but they weren't available from Apple when I was able to purchase additional drives and no one told me otherwise. Until now.
Thanks for your learned reply. I guess I should have consulted with you/Xserve RAID Discussions before buying anything.

Xserve Raid - use it as standalone storage?

hi there!
i have a small network with some pcs (3 running winxp, 1 win2000), 2 os9 macs and 2 g5s. i need big data storage in the size of 7-10TB. can i use the Xserve Raid as standalone storage in the network, or does it need the xserve as server?
do i need soomething else apart from the Xserve Raid to setup the storage bank?
is it a good idea to connect the pcs via ethernet and the g5s via fibrelink? (because our files we are working on are very big and need to have fast access on the storage drives)
thx for ur help
manuel

The XServe RAID needs a host system. That host system doesn't need to be an XServe, or even a Mac - people are using them quite happily on Solaris servers, Linux servers and even Windows servers.
However, it does need a system that had Fiber channel.
ALL disk activity happens over the fiber channel connection. The ethernet ports are not used for file activity, only for administering and monitoring the box.
If you hook the XServe RAID to a single host via fiber channel, that host can share the volume over the network to other clients so they get indirect access. Alternatively you can use a fiber channel switch to connect multiple systems, but care needs to be taken with regards to multiple clients reading/writing the same file at the same time (which is typically why you need SAN software to manage this kind of setup).

Expanding xServe RAID Array - updated info sought.

I don't want to have to reformat the RAID and I don't want to lose data because...
1) The organization will suffer extended downtime.
2) I don't have ready access to 3TB of empty storage to back up the entire contents of the RAID.
These and Apple's documentation are a few of the many different sources of info on this topic I've sought.
With apologies in advance to William Lloyd, who has answered many of these questions.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/3330193
https://discussions.apple.com/message/3643384
https://discussions.apple.com/message/4543149
My (familiar) situation.
I inherited administration responsibilities for an xServe RAID using the latest firmware (1.5.1).
The xServe is an intel xeon dual 2 GHz, running Mac OS X Server 10.6.8
The RAID had six (sigh) drives in the left controller. None in the right.
When I became admin, one of these six was dead. So I went on eBay and got three refurb ADM's.
--one to replace the dead drive.
--another to expand the RAID 5 to a full seven drives. (from 2.5T to 2.73T)
--a third to put on the shelf as a spare.
Now then.
The replacement drive rebuilt beautifully. Happy 6 drive RAID.
I put in the 7th drive and expanded. It took several days.
I'm at the point of "merging" slices that gives everyone pause about losing data.
Much discussion here about whether this can result in added capacity without destroying data relates to earlier versions of Mac OS X Server and G5 not Intel xServes. So that's a point that I think I could use some clarity on. Can Intel Macs can expand the file system with this slice-merging function without data loss whereas Power PC Macs cannot?
Next, my RAID as I inherited it was one slice. That is to say, one volume. One partition. In RAID Admin under "Arrays and Drives" all the little drives display a [1]. They did when the RAID was degraded to 5 drives. They did when I added the 6th drive replacement. They do now, having used the Expansion function under "Advanced" to add the 7th drive.
So, next question. WAS IT EVER SLICED?
That seems to be a deal-breaker for merging slices without data loss.
For this, I looked in RAID Admin to my Events tab which dates all the way back to 2008.
I see exactly zero mentions of slicing anywhere. Come with me on a journey, won't you?
You'll see my expansion and verification up top.
The drive failure in October 2013.
Other exciting things. But no slicing.
Upper Controller
02/23/14 02:35:56 AM
RAID Set 1 Verify Complete (0)
Upper Controller
02/22/14 10:32:15 AM
RAID Set 1 Verify Started
Upper Controller
02/22/14 02:29:21 AM
RAID Set 1 Expansion Complete (0)
Upper Controller
02/20/14 12:43:43 AM
RAID Set 1 Expansion Started
Upper Controller
02/19/14 09:57:18 AM
Disk 7 Online
Upper Controller
02/19/14 09:56:38 AM
Disk 2 Online
Upper Controller
02/19/14 09:56:20 AM
Disk 2 Failed
Upper Controller
02/19/14 09:53:06 AM
Disk 2 Offline
Upper Controller
02/12/14 03:57:13 PM
Disk 2 Online
Upper Controller
02/12/14 03:56:55 PM
Disk 2 Failed
Upper Controller
02/04/14 03:57:12 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
02/04/14 03:47:55 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
01/30/14 12:04:34 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/30/14 11:30:56 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Upper Controller
01/30/14 05:35:42 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/30/14 04:20:52 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
01/30/14 04:16:48 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
01/30/14 03:52:39 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/19/13 01:26:54 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/19/13 01:19:56 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Warning
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:53:21 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:53:21 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:53:20 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:53:20 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:53:01 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:53:00 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:52:59 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:52:59 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:46:49 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:46:49 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:46:49 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:46:49 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:46:25 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:46:25 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
11/19/13 08:46:23 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
11/19/13 08:46:23 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/17/13 11:05:27 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/17/13 10:18:06 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/17/13 06:52:08 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/17/13 06:37:37 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Warning
Upper Controller
11/14/13 07:27:36 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/14/13 07:27:36 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
11/14/13 07:27:36 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/14/13 07:27:36 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
11/14/13 07:27:17 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
11/14/13 07:27:17 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
11/14/13 07:27:15 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
11/14/13 07:27:15 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/04/13 04:07:31 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/04/13 03:59:53 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
10/29/13 02:27:01 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
10/29/13 02:19:08 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Warning
Upper Controller
10/20/13 09:17:30 AM
Disk 2 Failed To Recover After Reset. Retrying. RETRY COUNT:0
Upper Controller
10/20/13 09:17:30 AM
Disk 2 Offline
Warning
Upper Controller
10/20/13 09:16:11 AM
Disk 2 Failed To Respond. Retrying. RETRY COUNT:0 LBA:0x1B458
Upper Controller
10/19/13 10:16:20 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
10/19/13 10:01:02 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
09/10/13 11:16:31 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
09/10/13 11:09:49 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
07/02/13 03:30:07 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
07/02/13 02:52:22 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
06/02/13 07:36:14 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
06/02/13 07:15:46 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
06/02/13 12:29:10 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Upper Controller
06/02/13 11:53:54 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Upper Controller
05/30/13 02:27:02 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
05/30/13 02:18:54 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Warning
Lower Controller
01/31/13 02:16:04 PM
Coprocessor 2 Temperature Problem Occurred
Lower Controller
01/25/13 12:04:09 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/25/13 12:03:19 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/24/13 11:31:16 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Lower Controller
01/24/13 10:42:40 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Upper Controller
01/23/13 08:12:06 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/23/13 08:04:44 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
01/15/13 12:50:01 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/15/13 12:36:31 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
01/08/13 09:41:00 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
01/08/13 09:33:59 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
01/06/13 11:15:21 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
01/06/13 11:00:28 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
12/31/12 09:30:09 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
12/31/12 09:22:41 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
12/31/12 08:46:42 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
12/31/12 08:32:11 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
12/21/12 11:42:51 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
12/21/12 11:34:19 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
12/20/12 10:01:05 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
12/20/12 09:20:19 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Lower Controller
12/16/12 10:12:58 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
12/16/12 10:05:23 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
12/09/12 08:06:47 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
12/09/12 08:00:19 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
12/06/12 10:04:35 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
12/06/12 09:58:14 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/17/12 08:10:17 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/17/12 08:02:33 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/15/12 03:33:56 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/15/12 03:24:25 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/15/12 05:16:54 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/15/12 05:07:27 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/14/12 08:16:42 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/14/12 08:03:16 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/13/12 09:04:27 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/13/12 08:49:25 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/13/12 02:36:33 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/13/12 02:28:47 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/12/12 09:02:07 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/12/12 08:56:46 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/12/12 03:40:58 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/12/12 02:28:48 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Upper Controller
11/06/12 12:02:51 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/06/12 11:46:30 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/06/12 11:24:06 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/06/12 11:14:39 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:07 PM
RAID Controller 1 Online
Warning
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:06 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:06 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:03 PM
Disk 6 Online
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:02 PM
Disk 4 Online
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:02 PM
Disk 5 Online
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:01 PM
Disk 2 Online
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:01 PM
Disk 3 Online
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:35:00 PM
Disk 1 Online
Lower Controller
11/05/12 01:34:44 PM
RAID Controller 2 Online
Warning
Lower Controller
11/05/12 01:34:43 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/05/12 01:34:43 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:34:39 PM
Enclosure Powered On
Lower Controller
11/05/12 01:34:38 PM
Enclosure Powered On
Lower Controller
11/05/12 10:42:35 AM
Service ID Turned On
Lower Controller
11/05/12 10:42:24 AM
Service ID Turned Off
Lower Controller
11/05/12 10:32:12 AM
Service ID Turned On
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:43:41 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/05/12 01:38:27 AM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Lower Controller
11/04/12 03:06:10 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/04/12 02:42:15 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405571)
Upper Controller
11/02/12 05:54:11 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Lower Controller
11/02/12 05:51:38 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:53:19 PM
Coprocessor Offline
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:53:17 PM
RAID Controller 1 Restarted
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:53:17 PM
RAID Controller 1 Offline
Warning
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:53:17 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:53:17 PM
Coprocessor Restarted
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:52:51 PM
Coprocessor Offline
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:52:50 PM
Coprocessor Restarted
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:52:40 PM
RAID Controller 2 Restarted
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:52:40 PM
RAID Controller 2 Offline
Warning
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:52:40 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:51:08 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:51:08 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:50:30 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:50:30 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
11/14/10 01:31:48 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
11/14/10 01:31:10 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Lower Controller
10/21/10 03:16:53 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Lower Controller
10/21/10 11:57:57 AM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Upper Controller
10/16/10 04:25:11 AM
RAID Set 1 Expansion Complete (0)
Warning
Upper Controller
10/14/10 11:24:27 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
10/14/10 11:24:27 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
10/14/10 11:24:27 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
10/14/10 11:24:27 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
10/14/10 11:24:00 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
10/14/10 11:24:00 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
10/14/10 11:23:58 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
10/14/10 11:23:58 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
10/14/10 07:17:27 PM
Time Synchronization Failure with "time.apple.com" (7405570)
Upper Controller
10/14/10 02:55:08 PM
RAID Set 1 Expansion Started
Lower Controller
10/14/10 02:49:04 PM
Time Synchronized with "time.apple.com"
Warning
Upper Controller
05/18/10 05:48:00 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
05/18/10 05:48:00 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
05/18/10 05:47:41 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
05/18/10 05:47:39 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
05/18/10 05:38:38 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
05/18/10 05:38:38 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
05/18/10 05:38:19 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
05/18/10 05:38:17 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
05/18/10 04:01:45 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
05/18/10 04:01:45 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
05/18/10 04:01:26 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
05/18/10 04:01:24 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
05/18/10 03:52:22 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
05/18/10 03:52:22 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
05/18/10 03:52:03 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
05/18/10 03:52:01 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
01/05/10 07:28:30 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
01/05/10 07:28:30 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
01/05/10 07:28:12 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
01/05/10 07:28:10 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
01/05/10 07:22:29 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
01/05/10 07:22:29 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
01/05/10 07:22:10 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
01/05/10 07:22:08 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
12/18/09 05:58:08 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
12/18/09 05:58:08 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
12/18/09 05:57:49 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
12/18/09 05:57:47 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
12/18/09 05:52:36 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
12/18/09 05:52:36 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
12/18/09 05:52:17 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
12/18/09 05:52:15 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
12/03/09 07:28:01 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
12/03/09 07:28:01 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
12/03/09 07:27:42 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
12/03/09 07:27:41 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
12/03/09 07:22:52 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
12/03/09 07:22:52 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
12/03/09 07:22:34 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
12/03/09 07:22:32 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
11/05/09 06:52:35 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
11/05/09 06:52:35 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
11/05/09 06:52:16 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
11/05/09 06:52:14 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
11/05/09 06:48:11 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
11/05/09 06:48:11 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
11/05/09 06:47:52 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
11/05/09 06:47:50 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
10/19/09 11:07:54 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
10/19/09 11:07:54 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
10/19/09 11:03:57 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
10/19/09 11:03:57 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
10/17/09 03:16:47 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
10/17/09 03:12:54 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
10/08/09 06:25:37 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
10/08/09 06:25:37 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
10/08/09 06:25:17 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
10/08/09 06:25:15 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
10/08/09 06:21:56 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
10/08/09 06:21:56 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
10/08/09 06:21:37 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
10/08/09 06:21:35 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:09:41 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:09:41 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:09:06 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:09:04 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:07:58 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:07:58 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:07:39 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
08/20/09 06:07:37 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:07:17 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:07:17 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:06:42 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:06:40 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:05:35 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:05:35 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:05:15 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
08/20/09 06:05:13 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
05/22/09 06:08:32 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
05/22/09 06:08:32 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
05/22/09 06:08:31 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
05/22/09 06:08:31 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
05/22/09 06:08:01 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
05/22/09 06:07:59 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:33:57 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:33:57 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:33:28 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:33:26 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:33:12 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:33:12 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:32:43 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:32:41 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:32:32 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:32:32 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:32:12 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
04/23/09 04:32:10 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:31:47 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:31:47 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:31:27 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
04/23/09 04:31:25 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
04/08/09 01:05:56 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
04/08/09 01:05:56 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
04/08/09 01:05:29 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
04/08/09 01:04:47 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
04/08/09 01:04:47 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
04/08/09 01:04:20 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
01/09/09 10:16:41 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
01/09/09 10:16:41 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
01/09/09 10:16:22 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
01/09/09 10:16:20 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
01/09/09 10:13:10 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
01/09/09 10:13:10 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
01/09/09 10:12:51 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
01/09/09 10:12:49 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
12/22/08 02:59:03 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
12/22/08 02:59:03 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
12/22/08 02:58:36 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
12/22/08 02:55:02 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
12/22/08 02:55:02 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
12/22/08 02:54:35 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
08/14/08 05:09:32 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
08/14/08 05:09:32 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
08/14/08 05:09:13 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
08/14/08 05:09:11 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
08/14/08 05:02:01 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
08/14/08 05:02:01 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
08/14/08 05:01:41 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
08/14/08 05:01:39 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
07/08/08 01:13:28 PM
Error Status Cleared Using Service ID Button
Upper Controller
07/08/08 01:12:49 PM
Power Supply 1 Failed
Upper Controller
07/08/08 01:06:59 PM
Disk 5 Online
Upper Controller
07/08/08 01:06:52 PM
Error Status Cleared Using Service ID Button
Upper Controller
07/08/08 01:06:15 PM
Disk 6 Online
Lower Controller
07/08/08 09:06:57 AM
Error Status Cleared Using Service ID Button
Lower Controller
07/08/08 09:06:19 AM
Power Supply 1 Failed
Lower Controller
07/08/08 09:00:21 AM
Error Status Cleared Using Service ID Button
Warning
Upper Controller
06/22/08 02:35:46 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
06/22/08 02:35:46 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
06/22/08 02:34:32 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/22/08 10:29:38 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/22/08 10:29:38 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/22/08 10:28:24 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 01:07:37 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/18/08 01:07:37 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 01:07:37 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 01:07:30 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 01:07:29 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 12:59:35 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 12:59:34 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/18/08 12:59:34 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 12:59:28 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/18/08 12:59:26 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:58:35 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:58:34 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:58:34 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:58:26 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:58:24 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:50:32 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:50:32 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:50:32 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:50:23 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
06/18/08 12:50:21 PM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:43:50 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:43:50 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:43:31 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:43:30 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:37:20 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:37:20 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:36:52 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:36:50 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:35:51 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:35:51 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:35:31 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/09/08 12:35:30 AM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:34:30 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:34:30 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:34:11 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:34:09 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:27:59 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:27:59 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:27:32 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:27:30 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Warning
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:26:30 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre LIP
Upper Controller
06/09/08 12:26:30 AM
RAID Controller 1 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 09:01:38 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/08/08 09:01:38 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 09:01:19 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 09:01:17 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:24:35 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:24:35 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:24:14 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:24:13 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:17:06 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:17:06 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:16:42 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:16:40 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:14:13 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:14:13 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:13:52 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:13:50 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:05:42 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:05:42 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Up
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:05:23 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre Link Down
Warning
Lower Controller
06/08/08 08:05:21 PM
RAID Controller 2 Fibre LIP
Warning
Low

Here I am, at the precipice. Would you click Merge?

Problems with Xserve RAID

I have been having problems with Xserve RAID, which happened in a close time span, but may not be related. The Xserve RAID is set up with 7 disks with RAID 5, totaling to 1.3TB in storage capacity.
First, the first disk failed and the RAID system was degraded. Since I got a very similar 250GB harddisk (but without "Apple Firmware") I tried putting it as a replacement. It was recognized but it became a hot spare disk, even though I did not set the system to use hot spare.
Later Mac OS X reported that the Xserve RAID's 1.3TB volume was unmounted. I check with Disk Utility, and it reported a lot of errors. I ended up with about 70GB of files in lost+found, and I confirmed that many files were missing. Disk Utility could not really fixed it.
I put back the failed disk, and Xserve RAID successfully rebuilt the array. I did "Background Array Conditioning" to perform surface scan and mapping of bad blocks. It completed without error. I then did "Verify Parity Data", and it completed but with error, as follows:
Event:
Disk 5 Reported An Error. COMMAND:0x37 ERROR:0x64 STATUS:0x81 LBA:0x119E6880
Description:
The drive reported ATA error. This is a failure in the communication from the RAID Controller to the drive.
Any idea what is happening with this Xserve RAID? Bad disk? Bad controller? Or what? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Xserve RAID Dual G5 2.0GHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

After reading here and there on the net (including this forum), yes I realized that the "Apple Firmware" thing may be significant after all. But since I set the Xserve RAID to use RAID 5, a failure of one disk should not affect data integrity. And surface scan was successful, implyingthat all disks are now free from defects. So why did it lost 70GB worth of data? I experienced disk hardware failure often with Windows system but never experienced losing data while the hardware seems to be fine. Without knowing why this happened, I feel scared to put data on Xserve RAID, and this is ironic since this 1.7TB Xserve RAID is meant for storing data safely...

How to connect multiple Xserve Raid for Best Performance

I like to get an idea how to connect multiple Xserve Raid to get the best performance for FCP to do multiple stream HD.

Again, for storage (and retrieval), FireWire 400 should be fast enough. If you are encoding video directly to the external drive, then FireWire 800 would probably be beneficial. But as long as the processing of the video is taking place on the fast internal SATA drive, and then you are storing files on the external drive, FireWire 400 should be fine.
Instead of speculating about whether it will work well or not, you need to set it up and try your typical work flow. That is the only way you will know for sure if performance is acceptable or not.
For Time Machine, you should use a single 1.5TB drive. It is likely that by the time your backup needs comes close to exceeding that space, you will be able to buy a 3TB (or larger) single drive for the same cost. Also, I would not trust a RAID where the interaction between the two drives is through two USB cables and a hub. If your primary storage drive fails, you need your backup to be something that is simple and reliable.
Oh, and there should be no problem with the adapter, if you already have it and it works.
Edit: If those two external drives came formatted for Windows, make sure you have use Disk Utility Partition tab to repartition and reformat the drive. When you select the drive in the Disk Utility sidebar, at the bottom of the screen +Partition Map Scheme+ should say *GUID Partition Table*. When you select the volume under the drive in the sidebar, Format should say *Mac OS Extended (Journaled)*.

Need second Xserve RAID, need advice

We have 1 Xserve RAID with 14 x 400Gb Drives, It is RAID 50
we are rapidly using up the space and need to know the easiest method for adding capacity.
We want the two RAIDs to show up as a single volume, so when we buy the second Xserve RAID will it need to be the same capacity as the first i.e 14 x 400Gb drives?
Also what is the procedure for adding this second RAID, will it involve backing up the data, wiping and rebuilding both RAIDs as RAID 50. or is there a way to do this without wiping data?
Anyone who has been in this position I would be grateful of their advice

First off, ideally the arrays should be the same size. Mixing drive sizes in an array is never a good idea. Usually the RAID controller will base the array on the smallest volume in the set and just use whatever it needs from the others, leaving the rest of the space unused (and inaccessible). e.g. if you try to RAID a 500GB volume and a 750GB volume, the 750GB volume will be treated like a 500GB volume and you lose the extra 250GB.
By far the safest option is to do as you describe - backup the data, rebuild the array and restore the data.
There is one other option, though, that might work, but I'd still backup the data before trying it.
diskutil has an addToRAID option which allows the addition of an extra drive to a RAID set. I've only ever used it on RAID 1 mirrors, never on a RAID 0 stripe, so I don't know if it'll work, but it might be worth trying. You don't have anything to lose.
Note that this kind of expansion isn't really viable long-term. If you expect to do this frequently you might consider alternative options like XSAN which can add any sized volume to a virtual pool of storage, growing organically.

What happened to Xserve RAID?

Apple.com no longer lists the Xserve RAID - instead the page shows the Promise RAID device. Has Xserve RAID been killed?
Also, where are the differences between Xsan and the new Xsan 2 listed?
Danke!

Wow this is a big issue ... Xraid's loss means Xserve cant be far behind in terms of EOL since Xraid is the tie in complement of the Xserve , I am a an entreprise sysadmin and use these systems every day , few issues at all with the devices, the lack of 4GB connectivity in the updates was a hint that Apple may move out of the storage space but this spells a load of trouble as far as FC connectivity support on the Xserve and MacPro. What about os X server since it is a tie in product to the Xserve . Apple had a one stop lineup with Xraid XServe Fibre Channel MacosX Server does this mean Apple's presence in such domains is to become a thing of the past ?
Not all macs in use out there are imacs and pro markets is what drives performance up on the Mac platform wether it is IT , FCP , RDBMS or HPC oriented , Apple made reliable tools for such setup at a fraction of the cost of the competition with good performances (not stellar ones but stuff you could setup boot and don't look at again every other day).
I guess it is high time for pro users to look for alternatives not only for storage , unless Apple provides pros with updates on EOL's and doest not simply "pull the plug" on some pro hardware line this seems IMHO the prudent thing to do.

4 xserves + xserve raid setup?

Hello,
I have ben using xserves independently (no raid storage) for many years now.
Now, I would like to hook all my xserves (G4, G5, intel) to a xserve RAID and have the xserves all share the storage on the raid.
I know this is a broad question, but what do I need to set this up?
These servers are primarily web servers, so no user files are involved.
TIA for any tips/pointers given
P.S. Should I wait on the new RAID (rumored to have switch and sata drives)?
MaBook Pro 2.4 GHZ | 4GB RAM, 7200 HD Mac OS X (10.4.10)

First you have to look at the volumes. Are you planning/hoping to have all servers directly access the same files? If that's the case you're going to need some kind of SAN solution such as Apple's XSAN ($1000 per node, plus a dedicated controller server)
Then, in order to physically connect multiple servers to a RAID you will need a fiber channel switch. This will let the four servers connect to the two ports on the RAID.
All in all, you're probably looking at a $10K solution.
The alternatives are to:
a) divide the RAID into four separate slices and give each node its own slice of the array. This still requires a fiber channel switch, but doesn't need XSAN (you then have to work out synchronization between the different servers), or
b) Turn one of the servers into a NAS server (using either AFP or NFS) and have the other servers mount the XServe RAID over the network.
This solves the synchronization issue (there's one copy of the data that everyone sees), but isn't as fast as a fiber channel-based solution (everything has to go through that one server). It is, however, free.

Thoughts on xServe RAID replacement?

Hi everyone. Thanks for reading.
I am replacing an aging xServe RAID in a clients network. They currently use the xServe RAID as storage for their mobile home folders, company file shares (RAID 5 w/ 500GB storage), mailstore (RAID 1 w/ 250GB storage) and backup for other servers (RAID 5 w/ 3TB storage). This is hooked up directly via FC to an Intel xServe running 10.6.8 server. They would like to replace this simply because they need more storage for files, and the age (about 7 to 8 years old).
I would still use the existing xServe RAID as backup storage, however, we are looking for replacements. Right now I am pricing out a Promise VTrak E-Class with 8TB of storage (most likely will go RAID 10, so 4TB of useable storage) and a new 4Gbs quad fiber card. Total for both is around $8500. I am not convinced however they need that fast of storage for their use. They can get a Drobo 800i (bear with me here) with 8TB of storage (if dual drive redundancy is on the useable is around 3.6TB) and a dual 1GB PCI ethernet card for around $4300. In the past, we have only used the DroboPro, and think that particular unit is too slow for anything but archival data or backup. We have yet to use the 800i (nor the 1200i).
What does everyone think? Or is there another product we should also be looking at? Network is 1GB for around 40 users. Mobile accounts just sync at logoff, and useage of file shares is probably light to medium.
Thanks again.

The Promise range is what Apple originally recommended as a replacement for the discontinued XServe RAID. However you could also look at Active Storage, see http://getactivestorage.com/
They even have a 1U rackmount box that can act as an XSan metadata controller (instead of an XServe).

Switching to Xserver/Xserve RAID

Hi boys and girls...
I was looking for a little assistance in switching over to Xserve. Let me give you some background info first.
Were a small studio in London, with only 11 people in-house and the majority working externally whether free-lance, from home or from another country etc. Were mostly Mac based, though 4 machines are those little beige pc things all running XP 2002. At the minute its 1 G5 and a collection of G4 tower's and G4 power book's, G4 cube's and so on. Were all connected to a G4 server running Mac OS X Server 10.2.8 with a very small dual 120GB HD raid thing running Retrospect.
Our problem is, this system was set up some time ago and were starting to outgrow it.
What were looking for is a way to backup all of our current work and archive all of our old work. Most users like to work directly off the server as theres so much file sharing between the macs and pc's, directly updating files so there isnt any duplication etc.
First question, is it possible (and a good/bad idea ?) to have 10-15 users working directly from a Mac server, that stores the archived work for users to reference and also current work which is backed up to tape and duplicated (as we currently have) to another HD?
Secondly, Is the ideal way to be running things? Is there a more efficent way?
Finally, what kind of spec should we be looking at? There's such a huge difference between servers, while were willing to invest, we dont want to go crazy (maybe a little) on costs.
I look forward to your responses and thank you in advance
Marcus

There are certainly some drawbacks with your current setup that mean you should make some changes.
In general, there's nothing wrong with working with files directly off the server, however, 10.2.8 has some issues with multiple users accessing the same files at the same time, so you should look to move to 10.4 ASAP to address that issue, regardless of any other changes you make.
I am assuming that the remote users don't work this way - uploading/download files as appropriate - it would be painful to work off the server remotely.
The only real disadvantage with working with files directly off the server is that if a file is changed erroneously and saved, there's no easy backup.
If the file was copied to the local drive and saved, it's easy to roll back to the previous version by re-copying it from the server, but if that change is saved directly to the server the only rollback involves pulling out Retrospect.
The other change that would make a difference is installing a gigabit switch and connecting the server to it. Even if all the host systems don't have gigabit ethernet, the extra bandwidth to the server will definitely help.
As for a new server, 10-15 file sharing users are not likely to stress the server, do you don't need a top-of-the-line configuration.
You should first decide how much disk space you need. With 500GB drives, the XServe can handle up to 1.5TB on its own, without any additional XServe RAID. However, you might want to consider RAID (using RAID you're limited to 1TB of RAID 5 storage, or 500GB of mirrored storage in the box).
In addition to your current data usage, consider using an online disk backup where multiple copies of the data is stored on the server itself before (or in addition to) backing up to tape.
While tapes offer several long-term archive advantages, they really don't work so well for quick restores of a file or two. Having a snapshot of the last couple of days data online makes it trivial to step back a day or so without having to resort to tapes. This may mean, though, that your 100GB of data requires 200 or 300GB of disk space.
If you do decide than an XServe RAID is the right solution, consider getting it right-sized from the get-go rather than buying it small (e.g. 4 drives) and adding later. While it can be done, adding drives to an existing array is a PITA.
If you do opt for an XServe RAID, and you don't currently have any rack-mounted equipment, consider using a PowerMac G5 as your server rather than an XServe. While similar in terms of performance, the PowerMac can work out cheaper depending on configuration.

Clarification on how to use Xserve Raid and Fibre Channel without xsan.

First let me apologize for not responding earlier to your response, I tend to get busy and then forget to check back here.
Tod, the answer to your question is No, only one computer is accessing the xserve raid files at any one time and that is via Fibre Channel. However I do have the xserve raids set up as share points via ethernet.
Maybe I should turn that off and only access the files with the one computer that can connect via fibre channel.
I never thought of that. I will try that while I await for your answer, thanks again.
Todd Buhmiller
I have the following setup:
Xserve: 2x2Ghz Dual Core Intel Xeon, 5Gb of Ram, Running 10.5.8 Leopard Server
Xserve Raid with firmware version 1.5.1/1.51c on both controllers, and
Qlogic Sanbox 5600
Apple Fibre Channel Cards in Xserve, and Mac Pro Tower; Apple 2 Port 4Gbs Fibre Channel Card
Mac Pro Tower-Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.8Ghz, 16Gb of Ram, Running Snow Leopard 10.6.4
Here is the problem.
The directory for the xserve raids keep getting corrup, and I use disc warrior to rebuild them. Is there a way to keep the directories from getting corrupt? I am a few pieces of equipment before I can build an Xsan as that is the ultimate goal, but until then, I just need to be able to have the raids funciton as storage without having to rebuild the directories all of the time.
Anybody have any suggestions?
Thanks
Todd Buhmiller
Widescreen Media
Calgary, Alberta Canada
Tod Kuykendall
Posts: 1,237
From: San Diego
Registered: Oct 11, 2000
Re: Xserve Raid Mounts, Corrupt Directory tired of rebuilding directory
Posted: Jun 27, 2010 1:25 PM in response to: Todd Buhmiller
Are multiple computers accessing the same data on the RAID at the same time?
If so then NO. This is the source of your data corruption and I'm surprised if you were able to get all your data back every time if this is how you've been running your system. Each fibre channel assumes it has full and sole control of every volume it has mounted, no data arbitration is practiced and data corruption will occur if this assumption is wrong.
The only way this set-up will work is to use partitions or LUN masks so the volumes are accessed by one computer at any time. As long as one computer relinquishes control before another mounts it you will dodge arbitration issues but this is a dangerous game. If you screw up and mount an already mounted volume - and there is no easy way to tell if a volume is mounted - corruption will then occur. Sharing data simultaneous at fibre speeds is what XSAN does and to do this you need it.
HTH,
=Tod
Intel Xserve, G5 XServes, XRAID, Promise

+The xserve raids will mount automatically to any computer that I connect the qlogic fc switch to+
This is source of the corruption to your data. Any computer that attaches to a drive/partition via fibre channel assumes that it alone is in control of the drive and data corruption is inevitable.
+Is that the issue, should I disconnect the xserve from the fc switch and leave it connected via ethernet?+
Short answer: YES. The ethernet connections are fine because the server is controlling the file arbitration through the sharing protocol. Fibre channel connections assumes complete control over the partition and no arbitration of the file access is performed. It's like two people independently driving trying to drive the same car to different locations.
Depending on your set-up it is possible for the two machines to see and use different parts of the Xserve RAID storage but they cannot access the same areas without SAN doing the arbitration.
Hope that's clear,
=Tod

AFP and Xserve RAID very SLOOOOW

Recently we have been having problems with AFP pegging the Xserve RAID activity lights. Xserve RAID Disk access is very slow.
Machine Specs:
Dual 2.3 GHZ G5 Xserve
1GB RAM (recently downgraded because of memory problems after a power outage)
1x80GB Xserve drive module
3TB Xserve RAID 5
Xserve RAID has been upgraded to 1.5 FW and has both ethernet connections connected.
The whole story is we had a power outage last week. The servers all came back up fine. Throughout the day we noticed that the file server was acting strange. We checked server monitor and it said that RAM slot 3&4 had problems. We opened up System Profiler and it reported that modules 2&3 were only 256MB! (These are 512MB modules). We brought the machine down and pulled the modules. The machine is now at 1GB of memory with more coming. The next day the machine was incredibly slow and the RAIDs access lights were pegged. Also something was pulling all free memory into inactive memory. After trial and error I've found that if I turn off AFP the RAID is no longer pegged and the memory goes back to normal. I thought AFP was the problem and did a complete rebuild of the server last night. This morning the same thing is happening. Also the logs show nothing is wrong.
All of our Macintosh users are Mobile accounts over AFP. We have around 60 Macintosh users. All of our PC users connect using SMB. We have around 20 PC users. All of our network users work off of the file shares.
Thanks for any and all help,
-dustin

Check so that the Xserve RAID diskcache settings are not reset/off.
I have had to take apart the RAID controllers and putting them back togheter again to alleviate slowness/"malfunction" making a couple of RAIDs operating like normal again.
I use Helios Lantest http://www.helios.de/ and XRG to measure/stress disks locally and over the network to see if they are working correctly.

Connecting new Mac mini server to Xserve RAID?

Have an Xserve RAID and was looking in getting the MacMini server. How would I connect them since the Xserve only has Fibre connections?

Tod's correct. You currently can't, but the next revision of the Mac Mini will include ThunderBolt, and once that happens you'll be able to use a ThunderBolt-to-Fibre bridge that Promise is about to release:
http://www.promise.com/storage/raid_series.aspx?region=en-global&m=192&rsn1=40&r sn3=49
JM

Maximum size for Xserve RAID modules

What is the maximum storage size for an Xserve RAID module?
Years ago, an Xserve RAID was out of my price range. Now, I'm looking into getting one on eBay and playing around with it.
I have been making Mirrored RAIDS with Western Digital 3 TB My Books.
Can I put 3 TB drives in an Xserve RAID? It probably depends on the controller firmware or something.
Thanks for thinking about this.
Doc

Short answer is no, you can't.
The XServe RAID has IDE drives mounted in a carrier. The maximum size drive shipped by Apple, supported under 1.5.1 firmware on the controllers is 750GB, though finding these on the used market is farily difficult. Aside from that, any IDE drive can be put in the carriers. If your unit has 'blank' slots, these are indeed just blank slots - you will need to get carriers / drive modules if you want disks in the slot if that makes sense.
People on the Internet, myself included, have experimented down the route of using IDE to SATA bridges in the carriers with 2.5" SATA drives which are more freely available. This way you can utilise cheap drives in your drive modules, or even SSDs (which offer little benefit I have found). Some users have had success with 1TB 2.5" SATA drives in this method, but not with anything bigger it seems. Myself, I've had suceess with 500GB SATA and 256GB SSD with this hacky method.
Hope that helps.

3TB Storage - Alternative to Xserve RAID

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