Formatting a previously used RAID drive for re-use

Hello,
I had an odd request from a client. He has a XServe RAID with 2 RAID sets - one on each side - with all bays filled on each side. He purchased replacement modules for each side, and wanted to pull a working drive from each side, and put the new ones in. It was his thinking that he would know absolutely that he had two good drives on the shelf ready to use (the ones that were pulled). Having given reasons not to do this etc., and with many warnings, I complied (after conditioning the RAID sets and rebuilding parity.)
My question is, how do I format the drives that were pulled to prepare them for re-use if a drive modules fails? A simple format with disk utility? I'm worried that there is some signature on the modules that will, when inserted, think it is already part of the RAID, and mess things up.
So, will a re-partition and format in DiskUtility do it? I'll be using a drive dock with the disk out of the RAID chassis.
Thanks!

Hello, e2o, and welcome to the Apple Boards,
Your instincts are good because the RAID will see it as a previously used drive if/when you reinsert it. All you should need to do, however, is go into RAID Admin and use "Make Drive Available for Use" and the RAID should then run with it. This is a safety measure to keep the RAID from claiming drives that you stick into it without "asking". The only time this should be a problem is if the drive were intended to be used as a "hot spare" because the RAID wouldn't use it until you manually intervened.
You could blank the disk if you want to but it shouldn't be necessary as long as you're aware of the RAID Admin function.
=Tod

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