Inherited Xserve Raid

I have an older Xserve G4 with OS 10.4.8 server. I just inherited an Xserve Raid that's about the same vintage. I can't seem to get the RAID Admin utility (1.5.1) to connect to it. It seems to see the hardware, but no info other than name show up in the Raid Admin window when I try to add a system, but never gives me any drive info - or much of any other info. It just says it's gathering info. the components and network lights are red (in the RAID Admin) and the drives-array light is yellow. All LEDs on the front and back of the RAID hardware are green, including the two fiber channel link LEDs. I tried to upgrade the RAID's firmware, but when I click upgrade, it just closes the upgrade window and goes back to RAID Admin which is still gathering info. no reboot. Is there a RAID utility that I need? Can't find one on Apples site.
Thanks in advance

Whether you need one or both ports depends on how the RAID was originally configured.
It may be that even with both ports connected you still won't be able to connect if it's setup with IP addresses that aren't valid on your network.
You could also try resetting the controllers using the instructions here.

Similar Messages

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?

Xserve raid midplane(?) troubleshooting help

Hi,
I just inherited an XServe RAID with 12 180GB drives. My question is thus:
If I put the single RAID controller in the top slot, It recognizes all drives on the left side of the RAID, which is expected
If I put the single RAID controller in the bottom slot, it does not recognize any drives in any slots even if I swap those drives from the left side to the right (to rule out 5 bad drives.
I have two empty sleds that are on the right side of the RAID as well.
I am guessing, having never owned one before, that this is likely a problem with the midplane. Is there a way to troubleshoot the midplane? I very quick inspection, didn't reveal anything that was obvious. I plan on doing a more thorough inspection over the weekend.
I am also making the assumption that I do not have to have a controller in the top slot for the bottom controller to work since the top controller works without having a controller in the bottom slot.
Any help/insight would be appreciated

LIttle Update in case it would help someone with more knowledge of this than I:
When the Controller is in the lower position:
or
which I find interesting since I don't have an upper controller installed and the cooling modules both show as missing even though they exist (though 1 is failed).
If I look at the other tabs:
Info: Shows only Name: XServe RAID and Power State: On
Arrays & Drives: Shows Not Installed for all drives on that side of the XServe RAID
Fibre Channel is blank as I don't currently have it connected to my XServe
Events shows nothing of significance to me other than all disks online
When the controller is in the upper position however:
I am curious as to why the RAID controller shows as present in both slots when it clearly is not however.
Hoping it was just a cable from the midplane to the unit, I swapped cables this morning hoping for a failure, but did not get such failure, so I have ruled out the cable. The Controller seems to work when it is in the top slot, so I think that the controller is likely good as well. So I guess I can sum it up as:
Power supplies: Good x2, shows a green light in either slot, swapped in testing
Batteries: Good x2; Swapped in testing, Swapped in testing, works in upper slot, does not in lower slot
Cooling Unit: Good x2; Swapped in testing, works in upper slot, does not in lower slot
Controller: Good x1; works in upper slot, does not work in lower slot
Which leads me back to the midplane as there isn't much else inside this unit that I can see that could go wrong. Does this sound like an accurate assessment? I ask because I want to be confident I have found the issue prior to ordering a new backplane.
Once again, thanks in advance for any information.

Finding replacement xServe RAID Drive Modules for sale

I've just started a new IT job and inherited an xServe (snow leopard) and xServe RAID
I'm not an expert on either. I've some experience with OS X Server, but I've never been a full on server admin.
One drive is dead. I believe they're 500GB units in the first six bays.
I also believe this is the most recent xServe RAID hardware. Purchased in 2008 or so.
So, first, where on earth would I buy a replacement?
And assuming that's possible, what are people's suggestions for buying drive modules for the other bays, and replacement parts for the xServe itself (power suppies, etc.).
Thanks!

first of all i don't have experience with proprietary Apple products, but typically i believe you can buy any hard drive so long as the interface is compatible (SATA or SAS for example) and the size is the same. there should not be a need to buy 'special Apple xserve hard drives'. if you buy a drive larger than 500 GB then the extra space beyond 500 GB will just be ignored depending on the type of RAID you have setup. definitely do not buy a disk smaller than 500 GB. pull out the disk that is bad and see what the make/model is. my xserve uses Seagate drives so you could probably just search eBay or whatever for the model number of the drive and use that. the hard drive should be able to be removed from the caddy so you don't really need a whole new "module".
as for power supplies those are proprietary and will need to be purchased thru apple or somewhere else like eBay, just search for the part number...

XServe RAID in Windows environment

First of all, I am not a Mac person so please bear with me.
I recently inherited a XServe RAID, a fiber channel card with two fiber channel cables and NO Mac computer. So everything I have is Windows based. I have a Dell Poweredge 2850 with Windows 2003 Server and Dell Windows XP workstations. Installed the fiber channel card on the server. I connected the ethernet of the XServe RAID on a netgear switch and connected the fiber channel straight to the fiber channel in the server. The server is connected on the same Netgear switch via ethernet. I was able to connect to the XServe RAID thru the fiber channels and ethernet connections.
Utilizing the Raid Admin 1.5, I was able to set the network settings. Assigned the IP 192.168.2.155, 192.168.2.154, subnet 255.255.255.0 and named it Xserve1. No router or DNS were entered. With the servers Disk Management, I NTFS formatted 2.7TB on each array and assigned M and N drive letters. I then created folders and files on each array to see if they will take and it did.
Now I'd like to share the Xserve RAID on the Windows network via ethernet only. Is that possible? I didn't want to use the Xserve RAID as a server share but as an independent machine instead. If so, how can I do it? Thanks...
Bernard

Hello, ulonggapo, and welcome to the Apple boards,
Data is actually only accessible from the RAID over fibre channel and the ethernet exists only for RAID administration and control. To share the space on the RAID over ethernet you would need to connect it via fibre to a computer that would then reshare the storage to clients.
The RAID is platform neutral and certainly can be used by Windows for data but only over fibre channel. If you're interested in pursuing it you should look at http://alienraid.org/ as a starting place for more non-Apple RAID information.
HTH,
=Tod

Xserve RAID Admin Tool 1.5.1 not quite working

I have an Xserve RAID that's currently at firmware 1.3.2/1.26a according to Xserve RAID Admin Tool 1.5.1. However, when I try to upgrade the firmware to 1.5.1 via the RAID Admin Tool 1.5.1, it just doesn't do anything--it accepts the .xfb file and then...nothing. Quitting out of the the Admin Tool and restarting still shows the firmware at 1.3.2/1.26a. Same thing if I shut down and restart the Xserve RAID from the RAID Admin tool. Any tips? There's nothing stored on the RAID system yet (the array hasn't even been created--it's a blank system) and nothing is attached to it either (I've just plugged in the ethernet links to format it first before I start attaching an Xserve G5 to it). Also, even though the lower controller is showing green and I have an ethernet cable plugged into it, I can't get any info out of it nor can I configure it with an IP address. Only the top controller seems to allow some configuration such as IP address.

Okay, I've solved the problem.
Basically, the issue was that the lower controller wasn't seated right despite it showing a green light in RAID Admin. When I went to visually inspect it, I noticed that despite what RAID Admin 1.5.1 claimed, its light wasn't even on, let alone green. And since the lower controller handles slots 8-14 of an Xserve RAID and my slots 8-14 are totally unpopulated (empty) at the moment, it was never noticed. Now that I've reseated the lower controller, everything is visually showing green across the board and the firmware upgrade is proceeding as expected and it has upgraded the firmware from 1.3.2/1.26a to 1.5.1/1.5.1c complete with autorestart of both upper and lower controller modules.
Basic lesson learned: RAID Admin lies. If possible, visually inspect the box itself!
Thanks to all who responded.

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.

Can I move Array from one Xserve RAID to another and keep the data

I'd like to move a set of disk with an existing Array from one Xserve RAID to another. Can I simply shutdown both Xserve RAIDs and move the disk over, assuming I put the disk back in the same order?

Yes, you should be able to do this.
BE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP FIRST.

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

Can't copy files to Xserve Raid

Hello,
I'm having serious issues copying files to my work's Xserve Raid. When I try to copy files to it, it stalls for several minutes trying to copy, but making no progress, before giving an error saying:
"The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "filename" could not be read or written. (error code -36)"
When I click ok, I get disconnected from the Raid.
Any thoughts as to what could be happening?

What do your logs say? I'd check your afp (or whatever sharing mechanism you're using) and I'd keep an eye out for any fibre channel or LUN messages that might indicate connection/communication problems with RAID itself. (These might show up as LIP messages.)
Sounds to me like an underlying communications issue rather than a file sharing issue but without more information it's hard to say.
Good luck,
=Tod

Xserve RAID lost RAID 5 array on right/bottom controller

I cleanly shut down an Xserve G5 with an Xserve RAID attached and then powered off the Xserve RAID this morning. I replaced a failing memory module in the Xserve and moved the rack 6". I then powered on the Xserve RAID, waited for a couple minutes until it was fully booted, and then booted the Xserve. When it came up, my RAID 50 volume failed to mount. Upon further investigation, it appears that the RAID 5 array on the right hand disks is "gone". In RAID Admin (Disks and Drives tab), the left side array is visible, but all disks on the right side list status as "OK" and Type: as "Spare".
Configuration: Xserve RAID with 14 250 GB disks. Each side was configured with 6 disks in a RAID 5 array and one spare. These were striped using Software RAID on the Xserve into RAID 50 and mounted as a single volume. The RAID firmware is currently 1.5 and the Xserve is running OS X Server 10.4.3.
To summarize today's activities: under Apple's guidance (as this entire system is covered under a Premium Support contract), I swapped the (bottom) controller for the right side, updated firmware (from v1.3/1.20a to 1.5/1.50), multiple resets of both controllers, repeated forced firmware updates, etc.
Also, I swapped the left set of disks for the right set, and the array from the left set now shows up on the right side, and the missing array from the right is still missing with the disks on the left side. I replaced the disks to their original positions with the same results.
RAID Admin's Utility "Recognize Array" will not perform any operations on the rigth side disks and Apple tells me that there's nothing further that I can do with it.
None of this has solved the problem or substantially changed the issue, and the disks on the right side are still missing their associated array. Apple is unable/unwilling to offer any further help except to refer me to 3rd party data recovery services.
Does anyone have any suggestion at all that might possibly recover the missing array? Is anyone aware of any tools that I might use to recreate the RAID 5 array on the right controller? I was hoping that there might exist some low-level tools with which the disks could be recreated into an array by hand? Are there any commercial products that would work on this? Any other ideas?
Many thanks for any suggestions.
- Martin
Xserve RAID (14 250GB disks) on Xserve G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Not sure why you swapped the controllers back and forth
William, I don't think I was clear on this. I swapped the controller with a new controller that I had in a spare parts kit. This was at Apple's request.
really, RAID is not a backup...
I'm well aware, but despite my incessant warnings, users will become lulled in to a false sense of security when something "just works" for a very long time. This array wasn't intended to store valuable data that couldn't be lost, but...
It may be possible for Apple to re-create the RAID set, did you ask AppleCare about the possibility?
Apple has told me more than once that there's nothing else that they can do for me...and yet I keep calling back.
I was surprised that this array was lost when there were absolutely no prior signs of a problem and the system was merely shutdown and restarted cleanly. I'm more surprised and quite disappointed to learn that Apple will do nothing else for me (under a Premium Support contract) to attempt to repair a damaged array. When I asked questions about where the RAID information is stored, I received the answers: "I can't tell you that" and "Apple doesn't release that information". I did not get the feeling that they were working with me, but rather holding my hand while they walked me through published documentation.
I expected that there would be utilities (analagous to filesystem repair utilities) such as RAID Admin's "Recognize Array" that could help repair and recover damaged array data. I think that the lesson that I've leanred today is that I was naive to have expected such a thing without actually having investigated it ahead of time.
Anyway, thanks for your input, William.

Configure Xserve RAID as a single RAID 5 array?

We just picked up a used Xserve RAID with 14x750GB drives, and we want to configure the entire unit as a single RAID5 array. RAID Utility will let us configure each side as a separate array, but not both sides in a single array. Is this not possible or are we just missing something simple?

No, each side of the RAID is logically separate so while you can create a RAID 5 on either side there is no way to create a single RAID5 of the unit. You can create a RAID 50 and make the 2 RAID5s into a single volume software RAID 0 by using Disk Utility to join the two 5s into a single volume but that's as close as it comes.
HTH,
=Tod

Repair Utility for xServe RAID?

We have an xServe with an attached RAID consisting of four 350 GB drives. The drives are set up as a RAID. Due to storms/hot weather (air conditioning failed) the server restarted and the RAID powered down. The xServe is fine but the RAID is not functioning. From RAID Admin the drives all show up and are OK but the array is not showing up. Is there any disk repair utility that would be useful on a RAID?
xServe RAID Mac OS X (10.4.6)
xServe RAID Mac OS X (10.4.6)

The fact that it's showing up as spares is a significant problem. The host won't recognize it until the RAID recognizes the array. There is no separate utility to help you with this, other than RAID Admin.
What firmware version is on the array? If it's 1.5, there's a "recognize array" option that you should try. If it's an older version, I'd tell you it would be nice if you could have gone back in time and upgraded the firmware. Since that's not possible, you should call AppleCare (assuming you have got APS&S for Xserve RAID, or the machine is < 1 year old) and inquire about your options.

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.

Added a 2nd Array on my Xserve RAID, Though it's not appearing in disk utilityt

I have an Xserve RAID unit. Up until now I have just been running 1 side of it with 7 drives on RAID 5 = about 4TB. I recently picked up another identical RAID unit with 7 drives to fill out the right hand bay of the unit doubling our capacity. I have installed these and initialised the array which took about 48 hours, it's now showing as online and green lights all the way.
Now I've gone to make use of the extra space but it is not showing as available in the mounted RAID icon on the desktop, nor will the new array appear in disk utility. When I access server admin however, on the overview screen it shows I have 8TB on offer. Contrary to this in the system profiler the 'Fibre Channel Domain 2' is not reporting any SCSI devices unlike 'Fibre Channel Domain 0' - Not sure this is related.
If anyone can help me gain access to the new found 4TB I would be greatly appreciative.

it is not showing as available in the mounted RAID icon on the desktop
It won't.
The XServe RAID is really built as two independent RAID controllers and drive sets in one enclosure.
The 7 left-most drives are connected to the top controller, and the 7 right-most drives are connected to the bottom controller. They are independent. There's no way to build a single 14-drive array - the best you can do is build two 7-drive arrays.
What you should find is that if you connect the bottom controller to your server, the second array should appear on the desktop, separate and distinct from your existing volume.
If you really need to expand your volume to cover all 14 drives then you'll need to use software RAID 0 (striping) on the server to meld both of the 7-drive arrays into a single logical volume.

Inherited Xserve Raid

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