Replacement HD for RAID1

Tan DJ · May 4, 2009

Hi all

I've had a hard drive failure in my RAID1 array (see threadhttp://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=92616 for more details

And I was looking around for a replacement drive. I can pick up a Seagate SATAII NCQ 500GB 7200RPM 32mb Cache(ST3500320AS) for $89 from umart.com.au but they're out of stock.

As the ST3500320AS is the same model as both drives in my RAID1, I figured that the same one would be a good choice. However, I have since seen a few comments on the web complaining about the reliability of Seagate drives.

Am I going to have a high disk failure rate if I replace the drive with another Seagate, or should I look at a different brand? If so how do I ensure that the different brand drive will be at least the same size as the remaining good drive, and that the RAID1 controller will actually work in RAID1 mode if the drives are different models. Or is the ST3500320AS a reasonably reliable drive?

Kenshai · May 4, 2009

The bricking they have is supposed to be something around 30%ish according to something I read, I don't believe it one bit. I've used these 7200.11 and .12 drives for a while haven't had a single dud.

Either way, you can update the firmware on it to avoid the bricking. That seems to be the issue everyone was complaining about.

Tan DJ · May 4, 2009

I'll see if I can update the firmware on the "failed" drive. Or is it too late to update the firmware once it's started being problematic?

I've been reading the info on the Seagate website. Lots of warnings about "this could destroy the drive..." etc..

But I'll only touch the "failed" drive and leave the other good one as is. I don't want to destroy my data...

Kenshai · May 4, 2009

From what I understand once the drive has failed, it's done. I know seagate was offering free data recovery because of this bricking issue. Just shoot them a call or email, should be able to get it worked out.

Tan DJ · May 4, 2009

Windows won't start if the drive is connected, and I tried the DOS SeaTools product, and it can't see the drive at all.

I'll try sending Seagate an email, and see what comes of that.

Tan DJ · May 7, 2009

Ok, I'm about to give up on this drive.

If I got an ST3500418AS drive, which is the Barracuda 7200.12, is that going to be OK to use in my RAID 1 array? (given that the existing drive is a ST3500320AS which is the Barracuda 7200.11)

It looks like it is exactly the same capacity as my existing drive, but has slightly better performance.

Kenshai · May 7, 2009

I'm still learning about raid, but from what I understand, it won't really matter, it's really a recommendation to use the same drives. The other drive has less platters (the newer one that is) Someone may correct me on this but I believe it will work.

Deleted member 3 · May 7, 2009

Identical drives is an ideal situation. It works fine with different drives though. I do recommend using drives with the same specifications (RPM, cache, etc) Though if really necessary you could even connect a completely different drive of the same size or larger. Performance might suffer slightly (not sure if it's actually something you'd notice) and the rest of the size of the drive will be a waste. Though many controllers can use that space to create a new array.

Tan DJ · May 8, 2009

Just heard back from Seagate. They said the broken drive is still under warranty... so now to find some packaging...

May as well get a replacement from seagate rather than forking out for a new drive

Tan DJ · May 15, 2009

Woohoo!

Seagate have just shipped my replacement drive! :toast:

It pays to have redundancy in your storage - even for a home setup!

Kenshai · May 15, 2009

Tan DJ said:
Woohoo!

Seagate have just shipped my replacement drive!

It pays to have redundancy in your storage - even for a home setup!

That's great to hear, hopefully you get the same drive you sent out to them.

Tan DJ · May 25, 2009

They sent the same drive and everything synced up fine.

Then just last weekend, the system suddenly stopped responding.

This time, on reboot, the nvraid controler complained that it couldn't detect any raid arrays. I could hear a sound that sounded like a HD trying to spin up.

So I unplugged my 80gb IDE drive that's currently unused, and the system then would not boot complaining about an invalid boot.ini file.

I unplugged the second SATA drive (the one that Seagate sent me) and the system booted just fine.

I think the age of my PSU is against me. I bought it for my previous system that only had a single core CPU, an 8xAGP card and a single HD.

I've ordered a new 650w Antec Earthpower PSU. I'll pick that up this arvo, and see how it goes.

Kenshai · May 25, 2009

Tan DJ said:
They sent the same drive and everything synced up fine.

Then just last weekend, the system suddenly stopped responding.

This time, on reboot, the nvraid controler complained that it couldn't detect any raid arrays. I could hear a sound that sounded like a HD trying to spin up.

So I unplugged my 80gb IDE drive that's currently unused, and the system then would not boot complaining about an invalid boot.ini file.

I unplugged the second SATA drive (the one that Seagate sent me) and the system booted just fine.

I think the age of my PSU is against me. I bought it for my previous system that only had a single core CPU, an 8xAGP card and a single HD.

I've ordered a new 650w Antec Earthpower PSU. I'll pick that up this arvo, and see how it goes.

Doesn't really sound like a psu, but it's probably better to replace it anyway, especially with capacitor aging.

Tan DJ · May 25, 2009

Picked up my new PSU this arvo, and now ALL the hard drives spin up, and the NVRAID contoller can see both drives and is rebuilding.

Now I'm beginning to think that my original HD failure was not actually a failed disk, but just a lack of power.

Kenshai · May 25, 2009

Tan DJ said:
Picked up my new PSU this arvo, and now ALL the hard drives spin up, and the NVRAID contoller can see both drives and is rebuilding.

Now I'm beginning to think that my original HD failure was not actually a failed disk, but just a lack of power.

Wow, how old was that power supply?

Tan DJ · May 26, 2009

it was about 4 1/2 years old. The panel on the side of the PSU said 450w, but the model number was DLC390. And it was a generic brand. Also, the AN52 MOBO, has an EPS power socket which the old PSU only had one of those 4pin sockets to connect to, not the 8pin EPS connector.

Kenshai · May 26, 2009

Wow yea, definitely needed to replace that. At least it treated you well in the time you had it :laugh:

Tan DJ · May 27, 2009

Last time I had a power supply die, the system just wouldn't power up.

Processor	AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
Motherboard	Abit AN52 nVidia NF 520 HT2000 Socket AM2 Motherboard
Cooling	Stock cooler, 1 rear 120cm fan, 1 front 120cm fan 1 side 80cm fan
Memory	DDR2 4G(2x2G)PC6400 800Mhz Heatspreader G.Skill
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Storage	SAMSUNG SP0802N 80Gb, 2 X Seagate SATAII NCQ 500GB 7200RPM 32mb Cache(ST3500320AS) - RAID1 (mobo)
Display(s)	Benq FP72G
Case	Thermaltake - Soprano
Power Supply	Antec EarthWatts 650w
Software	Windows XP Pro SP3
Benchmark Scores	3dMark6 - 4661

System Name	Current
Processor	i5 2500k @ 4.5
Motherboard	ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Cooling	Xigmatek Gaia
Memory	2x4G G-skill Sniper
Video Card(s)	GTX 680
Storage	128 Crucial M4, 1 TB Seagate Baracuda
Display(s)	Shimian Achieva 27"
Case	Corsair 400R
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsais HX-620
Software	Windows 7

Processor	AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
Motherboard	Abit AN52 nVidia NF 520 HT2000 Socket AM2 Motherboard
Cooling	Stock cooler, 1 rear 120cm fan, 1 front 120cm fan 1 side 80cm fan
Memory	DDR2 4G(2x2G)PC6400 800Mhz Heatspreader G.Skill
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Storage	SAMSUNG SP0802N 80Gb, 2 X Seagate SATAII NCQ 500GB 7200RPM 32mb Cache(ST3500320AS) - RAID1 (mobo)
Display(s)	Benq FP72G
Case	Thermaltake - Soprano
Power Supply	Antec EarthWatts 650w
Software	Windows XP Pro SP3
Benchmark Scores	3dMark6 - 4661

System Name	Current
Processor	i5 2500k @ 4.5
Motherboard	ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Cooling	Xigmatek Gaia
Memory	2x4G G-skill Sniper
Video Card(s)	GTX 680
Storage	128 Crucial M4, 1 TB Seagate Baracuda
Display(s)	Shimian Achieva 27"
Case	Corsair 400R
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsais HX-620
Software	Windows 7

Processor	AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
Motherboard	Abit AN52 nVidia NF 520 HT2000 Socket AM2 Motherboard
Cooling	Stock cooler, 1 rear 120cm fan, 1 front 120cm fan 1 side 80cm fan
Memory	DDR2 4G(2x2G)PC6400 800Mhz Heatspreader G.Skill
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Storage	SAMSUNG SP0802N 80Gb, 2 X Seagate SATAII NCQ 500GB 7200RPM 32mb Cache(ST3500320AS) - RAID1 (mobo)
Display(s)	Benq FP72G
Case	Thermaltake - Soprano
Power Supply	Antec EarthWatts 650w
Software	Windows XP Pro SP3
Benchmark Scores	3dMark6 - 4661

Replacement HD for RAID1

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