Adding 4th drive to raid 5 array with different firmware

darknite · 29 Sep 2015 at 12:33

Ok so I currently have an array of 3 Seagate ST4000VN000 drives. I have just purchased a 4th drive as space is getting low. However the new drive has firmware SC46 installed the older drivers are SC43 firmware. According to seagate's download site there is no firmware to download for these drives.

So my question is am I going to have any problems adding this drive to the array because of the different firmware?

Armageus · 29 Sep 2015 at 12:37

Unlikely to be an issue, could be that the newer firmware just relates to a different component supplier on the newer drive, not all firmwares are necessarily bug fixes or performance tweaks.

darknite · 29 Sep 2015 at 12:56

That is my thought too. But wanted to throw it out to the big wide world before I start adding to the array

Redgie · 29 Sep 2015 at 13:34

I have a RAID5 array with at least 3 different models of WD 2TB green, never mind different firmware

darknite · 29 Sep 2015 at 13:51

Redgie said:
I have a RAID5 array with at least 3 different models of WD 2TB green, never mind different firmware

No performance loss from that?

I must admit sitting here with the drive I have the happy feeling of "i wont run out of space for a while" along with the feeling of how long it will take to add the drive to the array. Currently 6.2Tb on it....

russell664 · 29 Sep 2015 at 14:05

You should be fine, I have my Drives, different firmwares I think, and have no performance issue as well.

bledd · 29 Sep 2015 at 14:44

Can't see it being an issue. As always, take a backup of your data before adding this drive. If possible, hook it up to a UPS too.

I'm sure you already have a backup, but still..