EqualLogic PS 4100 with Flashing Drives

Question

Our team was given a 4100 with 24 300GB 10k drives.

I powered it up a while ago and Drive 0 had an amber light (i recall it was blinking)

We replaced the drive, and then saw a lot of activity as in,,

Drive 0 Right Side is Amber, Left side no light

Drive 2 Left Side Green, Right Side Amber

Drive 5 Left Side Green, Right Side Amber

After a day or so,

Drives 11 and 12 Left Side flashing Green, Right Side Green, then the same started for drives 8 and 20

Today, Drive 21 Left Side blinking green, Right Side Green

Drive 8 Left Side flashing green, Right Side Green

The EqualLogic PS Series Grp Mgr software is not installed, so I am not sure of the status or how it is configured.

i am wondering if I should start over and re-init the array to a RAID 5 or 6 ,,,

SJNAPL · Answer

Hi,

We don't have the grpadmin password. The admin of the lab said he was not sure how it was set up or if it was completely finished.

We don't even know the IP range that was used..

So, we need an original driver from Dell?

SJNAPL · Answer

thanks Don, I will give this a shot tomorrow.. With drive 0, 2, 5 showing amber, does this indicate 3 bad drives

SJNAPL · Answer

Don, I am having trouble locating a serial cable,,,and my guess is the admin has no clue where it may be, i only have a DB9 to RJ45.. I will try to track one down,,,

SJNAPL · Answer

I believe it is a Dell Switch  DB9 - RJ45. If i plug in the rj45 into the laptop and db9 into the san, what IP is the laptop set to?  I have putty on the laptop Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

I have used putty and console cables to connect to cisco and dell switches.

the link below seems to say it would work.. all i have is a Serial V2 console cable RJ-45 / DB-9

http://www.it-book.co.uk/dell/equallogic/setting-up-equallogic-via-serial-connection/

Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

hi Don,

i located a serial cable from a colleague with two female ends.

I connected to my laptop and used putty to connect to com1.

I got to the prompt and entered grpadmin for username and grpadmin for the password and it fails.

I guess it was changed,,,

I see there is a process rto enter at the login,,,recoverpassowrd and then speak to Dell?

I don't have access to a phone in the serve room .

What is the phone number for support?

Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

Don, It is on a closed network.   I don't know if I can set RDP up to access the laptop from the outside.   How long is the time out?  I may be able to stretch a phone near the door of the lab Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

I was able to reset the password.....did a restart but there are a few messages shown,,,

one is power supply failure and the other is an invalid drive is disabled. I assume we need a Dell drive?

not sure how to verify the power supply..

Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

Don, Will the below drive work,,,i pulled the part number from the service tag W6J6V Stan www.amazon.com/.../B0189E31HM

SJNAPL · Answer

Don, Can I still configure the array with the bad drive or does it need replaced? Looks like 1 of the 2 prw supplies is also bad Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

Don, When I login, a message is displayed saying that the array needs to be initialized, do you want to proceed? Do you have a link to a guide that steps through the initial process ? Stan

SJNAPL · Answer

Hi Don,

I will print out the link info to follow.

I ran a cable from eth0 on the active controller to the switch. Our default mgt segment is 192.168.1.0/24 in vlan 20. This is for vcenter, domain, etc.

From the other times I set up SANs, I have set the controller and mgt IPs to a different subnets and vlans, for instance

mgt ports would be set to an ip on the mgt segment, like 192.168.1.70 on vlan 20

controllers on a different segment storage vlan 30 on subnet, like 192.168.10.10

when i am working through the initial setup, should i set the controller IP on etho to our mgt segment or to the storage segment? If I set it to mgt segment iP, can i later change it to the controller segment?

Stan

Origin3k · Answer

eth0 must be in your Storage segment. The "MGMT" is optional and has to be initiated as one of the latest steps in the complete setup and configure process.

- The first EQL comes without MGMT (PS100 - PS5000)
- Than you have an option to reduce the storage ports to create ONE mgmt port.
- PS6000? and up comes with a dedicated mgmt port. But there is "no need" to use them

With this history in mind you dont have to wonder about not setting ip mgmt at first as you would do with everyother storage on this planet ;)

The setup process on the serial is a easy one and a straight forward if you pass it once in your lifetime. IP for et0, Group Name/IP and Password for user "grpadmin" and the group password as well. Thats it.

For all the other stuff you should configure by using your browser (java needed).

Regards,
Joerg

SJNAPL · Answer

ok,,,

In the initial screen, sounds like i need to set the eth0 IP to something like 192.198.1.110 which has it on our infrastructure mgt segment 192.168.1.0/24 in vlan 20. ?

vs putting eth0 it in something like 192.168.10.10

Origin3k · Answer

No! Based on your earlier Posts '... controllers on a different segment storage vlan 30 on subnet, like 192.168.10.10 ' - You have to configure eth0 with 192.168.10.xx- You have to specify GroupIP 192.168.10.10.xy thats all what to do on the serial (yes, you can do more but....) Switch to the Browser and connect to the GroupManager by using 192.168.10.10.xy and finishing the configuration by configure eth1 and all the other stuff.  Now you can think about to enable the dedicated mgmt which have to be in your 192.168.1.0/24 segment. You need at total 2 IPs from your mgmt subnet. After that you have to correct your URL in the browser because the 192.168.10.10.xy is not usable anymore and you have to use 192.168.1.xy. We dont use tagged VLAN on any EQL related switch ports. In our environment the ports a marked with untagged because there was no VLAN support when we start with EQL. Regards,Joerg

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EqualLogic PS 4100 with Flashing Drives

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