Disk 1 of 4 failed on RN424, degraded - Rebuild Steps?

---

BJB wrote:

 

I am in the process of ordering another Seagate Ironwolf 10TBdrive same model and size of the one that failed. Although the model number varies a bit due to this being newer I assume? FWIW I had a ST10000VN0004 and now it is a ST10000VNA00. I think it relates to platter number and density but couldn't find definitively. I assume it is okay to use.  

 

---

It should be fine.

---

BJB wrote:

 

However there might be a few other files on there that are not on another backup.  Should I copy these somewhere before the rebuild or does that put stress on the remaining drives? Or can I copy during the rebuild or should I just let it rebuild first?

 

---

You can copy those off first.

Data blocks on the missing disk will be reconstructed on the fly from the others.  That is the same process that is done during the rebuild, but not as stressful because it uses a lot less data.

---

BJB wrote:

Today I got the dreaded email that Disk in channel 1 changed state from online to failed on my RN424.  The light on that drive was red, and when I logged into the NAS the main page said "healthy" but degraded.

 

Can you please tell me the correct way to rebuild?  My NAS is currently off. Just put the new drive in and turn on?  Or boot it up first and THEN take out the drive and replace?  

 

---

You can use either procedure - both hot swapping the drive when the NAS is running, or swapping when powered down will work.  The NAS detects the removal/insertion directly when hot-swapping, so there is no chance it will be confused.  On the other hand, if you were to accidently remove the wrong drive with the NAS running there would be a problem -so you need to be careful not to make that mistake.  That's not a concern with the NAS powered off (as long as correct drives are installed when you power up).  The NAS will still figure out what changed, as the new drive is blank/unformatted.

Though since you have some files you want to back up, I suggest 

• removing the failed drive while the NAS is powered down
• booting up with bay 1 empty, and copying off the files
• hot-insert the new disk into the empty bay.

No chance of accidentally hot-removing one of the remaining drives, since you are only hot-inserting.

Also, if you can connect the new disk to a PC (either SATA or with a USB adapter/dock) then I recommend testing it with Seatools before putting it into the NAS.  I generally run the full "long" test, and follow that up with the full "erase" test.  I've had a couple of new out-of-the-box disks that passed one of these tests and failed the other.  It will take some time (maybe two days to run both), but I like to be sure that the new disk is working ok before I put it into the NAS.  Don't format the drive in the PC - Seatools will find the drive and test it unformatted.