RAID 5 and hard disk failure

wijcc · 28 Jun 2011 at 19:42

I have a old HP server with 4 scsi hard disks which are setup as RAID5. One of the HDD is reporting that it will fail soon.. how is the easiest way to replace the failing HDD so as to continue as normal?
I have ordered an replacement hdd, what do I need to do next?
Thanks in advance guys

rpstewart · 28 Jun 2011 at 22:41

In theory it's just a case of yanking the failed/failing drive, slapping in the new one and letting the array rebuild.

Obviously you need to know which of the four disks to pull, hopefully the server either has identification lights or it's labelled correctly. The RAID controller should support online rebuilds but I'd check just in case you need to arrange downtime or anything like that.

wijcc · 28 Jun 2011 at 22:46

thanks, i know which of the hdd is failing. The array/RAID adapter is a HP smart array 6400

rpstewart · 28 Jun 2011 at 22:51

That's a pretty decent looking controller, the manual says just replace the disk and it'll rebuild automatically.