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ReadyNAS NV+ disc replacement failure using identical disk type
My ReadyNAS NV+ is equipped with 4 identical 2 TB drives. Seagate Model ST2000DM001. I am running XRAID. Was receiving notices of increasing bad sectors, in increasing numbers on Drive 4. Purchased a...
GeorgeYYZ wrote:
The Ultra 4 is currently running under X-RAID2. I assume that this is equivalent to X-RAID...
Yes. On the Sparc NAS (NV+, etc) they called it X-RAID, then with Ultra/Pro they rebranded it to X-RAID2. With OS-6 they went back to XRAID.
In all cases it is "expandible raid", the details on expansion vary, depending on which platform you have.
GeorgeYYZ wrote:
but I will revise my upgrade plans to 4x4TB, since that is a suitable match for my Synology DS918+ .
It'd be sensible to match their capacities. You can then use one to back up the other (I use my older-but still working ReadyNAS as backups).
Thanks for this information. My NAS is running 4.1.16 firmware, as you suspected. Are there later firmware versions for the NV+ that allow greater capacity than 2 TB per drive? That would also be welcome news to me.
I should say that I've had a good experience with these 4 Seagate DM drives until very recently, with over 5 years of use in 4 different locations. Nevertheless, I have just gambled on your advice and ordered a WD20EFRX online. I will report back with results after it has been installed.
In te meantime, do you have any advice on "drive preparation" when it arrives, or should I just put it in "hot" and pray for sync to begin? I have been unable to locate any advice on drive prep on the Netgear site, or in the Community pages. Thanks again for your help!
GeorgeYYZ wrote:
Are there later firmware versions for the NV+ that allow greater capacity than 2 TB per drive? That would also be welcome news to me.
Unfortunately not. The hardware design goes back to ~2007 or so, and simply wasn't designed to handle >2 TB drives .
GeorgeYYZ wrote:
I should say that I've had a good experience with these 4 Seagate DM drives until very recently, with over 5 years of use in 4 different locations.
The 3 TB version has a rather poor reputation ( https://www.backblaze.com/blog/3tb-hard-drive-failure/ ) and I've quite a few issues with that particular model posted here. In general, I recommend either NAS-purposed or enterprise-class drives for RAID. Years ago, desktop-class drives made sense, but NAS purposed drives are similar in price, and have the right features for RAID.
GeorgeYYZ wrote:
In te meantime, do you have any advice on "drive preparation" when it arrives, or should I just put it in "hot" and pray for sync to begin? I have been unable to locate any advice on drive prep on the Netgear site, or in the Community pages. Thanks again for your help!
The disk is formatted by the NAS when you insert it, so no prep is needed. You should probably test it with Western Digital's lifeguard utility in a PC before you use it though. For Seagates, you'd use Seatools.
I recommend hot-insertion of the new drive (with the NAS running).
Hello Stephen,
It has been about two weeks since our last communication. Since then I ordered the drive you recommended (WD20EFRX), installed it, and tried to get my NAS back to redundant status. Long story short, it didn't work, and the new drive cannot be initialized using Windows and gets a WD Lifeguard "Fail". Here is a log of my attempts:
Boot without Disk 4. NAS runs OK but not redundant
Insert Disk 4 HOT
Disk 4 activity light and Main activity light both flashing intermittently.
(A good sign? I don't know.)
LCD says "Disk 4 inserted"
Cannot ping, no RAIDar or Frontview access.
Wait ....... 4 ......... days
No result. Tired of waiting. Power button does not respond.
Perform "Improper shutdown" (pull plug).
Boot without Disk 4. Runs OK but not redundant
Insert Disk 4 HOT again.
LCD says "Disk 4 sync"
Email says "RAID sync started on volume C."
Disk 4 activity light flashing. Main activity light not flashing (???)
Can ping but no RAIDar or Frontview access.
Wait ....... 6 days, 1 hour, 20 minutes.
No result. Tired of waiting. Power button responded for shutdown.
Still shows IP address and "Disk 4 sync" on LCD, even though power is OFF (???)
Restart with Disk 4 installed.
LCD says "Booting Please Wait ...."
Power light goes from fast to steady flash. Does not boot beyond steady flash.
Power button does not respond for shutdown. Pull plug.Restart with Disk 4 installed.
Power light goes from fast to steady flash. Does not boot beyond steady flash.
Pull Disk 4 HOT
Power light goes to slow flash, booting commences.
LCD says "Booting"
Re-insert Disk 4 while "Booting" underway.
Disk 4 activity light and main activity light blinking
Quota Check begins
RAIDar access show Disk 4 with Red X
Quota Check complete
LCD shows IP address, Total/Free space.
Frontview says disk is dead.
Pull Disk 4 HOT.
Lose Frontview connection
Lose IP ping.
LCD says "Kernel panic"
Perform "Improper shutdown" (pull plug).
Restart with no Disk 4 installed.
Disk 4 activity light and main activity light blinking
Quota Check begins
RAIDar access shows Disk 4 with Red X
Quota Check complete
LCD shows IP address, Total/Free space.Boot without Disk 4. NAS runs OK but not redundant
Insert Disk 4 HOT
Disk 4 activity light and Main activity light both flashing intermittently.
LCD says "Disk 4 inserted"LCD clears, then says "Kernel panic"
End of tests. End of log.
I hope these notes are helpful to someone.
GeorgeYYZ wrote:
and the new drive cannot be initialized using Windows and gets a WD Lifeguard "Fail".
Then you should exchange it with the seller, as the drive you received was dead-on-arrival.
That happens sometimes (with disks from all manufacturers).
I realize it's been almost 5 months since I last responded to your suggestion that I replace the failed (brand new) WD20EFRX 2 TB disk that I had previously purchased with a new one for my 4-disk ReadyNAS NV+ . I followed up on your advice immediately with the seller, and they replaced the failed drive within a few days at no expense whatsoever.
In the meantime, I had copied all its critical files to my ReadyNAS Ultra 4 (also a 4-disk model), which uses the Seagate ST3000DM001 3 TB drives that you warned me about. Sure enough, one of them failed almost immediately after copying the files from my NV+ so that now I had TWO non-redundant ReadyNAS servers!
Given the severity of your warning, and the higher capacity of the newer NAS, I expedited the replacement of the 3 TB Seagate drive with a newer model (ST3000DM008), which survived the sync process without complaint. My intention now is to go about replacing all of those drives, one by one, and I am hoping you can confirm that the ST3000DM008 is a better, more durable 3 TB drive than its predecessor, or recommend a superior 3 TB drive, (WD30EFRX ?) since 12 TB is the upper limit of the Ultra 4.
As for my NV+, although I had acquired a new 2 TB drive fairly quickly, I had already been through two very lengthy (5-days each) unsuccessful attempts at resyncing and didn't want to postpone migration of critical files until after a third (possibly failed, possibly very lengthy, and, should a second drive fail, possibly disastrous resyncing attempt.
But then, since the Ultra 4 was newly redundant and all the files had been copied from the NV+, I procrastinated and didn't attempt resyncing the NV+ until last night.
The good news is that is came off without a hitch, starting from a "Power Off" condition, and I am now planning to replace all the 2 TB drives in the NV+ with WD20EFRX drives.
I am planning to do the same for my Ultra 4, but not until I've got your recommendations for a solid-performing 3 TB drive. (My suspicion is that you'll recommend the WD30EFRX :)
As a postscript, I should mention that while all of this was going on, I went out and purchased yet another NAS - a Synology DS916+ - which I have populated with WD40EFRX drives!
Lastly, I want to thank you very much for your help and advice in getting my NV+ back to its original status, and I invite you to make any additional suggestions regarding backup processes, drive replacements, or any other issues that I might overlook in the future. You have been an immense help, and I appreciate your input very much!
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