Hi folks, I need some help please, if anyone can give a hand I'd be very grateful. I have a Windows server2003 with a raid5 (3 drives) on a HPSA P212 card. Unfortunately, Windows is broken but I can see the files are still there. Despite trying to get it to boot, it's refusing. Is there a Live Linux distro that will see the data/raid? I've tried Puppy Linux but it can only see the dvd drive I'm a complete nub working with Linux. TIA.
You need something with the raid drivers installed. Can you install the raid drivers on the live distro? What error are you getting in Windows?
Use a slave drive and install a windows onto that, install raid drivers then get the stuff off the array you want. Might be easier than goofing around with linux.
Thanks for your replies, saspro and mrbungle. Aye, I've been trying to find a distro with ciss (I think?) built into the kernel. I've come across a post that says it has been built into 'a' kernel since Dec '09, but I can't find a live distro that specifically mentions it has it built in. The error in Windows is the registry hive files - at least system is corrupt, and copying the file from the repair folder in recovery console makes no difference. No safe mode, no last known. Of course, with it being a server, system restore isn't on by default so there's no _restore folder to copy a recent copy of the hive files from I'm just reinstalling Win2003server onto a slave drive atm, at least I'll be able to get the info off if nothing else, at least for the moment.
Cant you boot off the CD and do a windows repair over the top? You would probably need to put the HP drivers on a floppy though and hit F6 to install them when prompted. Having a server with out a dedicated full restore backup is dodgey
The trouble is, this is the dedicated backup server - it backs up to hdd, and just the data to tape. As we are transitioning to a centralised location, the info was moved from the normal production server over to the backup server. This was supposed to be temporary (it's been about 2 months now) and is a little out of my control (until things start going wrong, then it's my problem, natch). I tried a repair install, but the media I've found doesn't match the original installation media used by the ex-IT Manager of our parent company all those years ago
If you download Server 2008 R2 the P212 drivers are included. No need for an activation key as you will only be using it for a short time. You just need a spare box to install it on though. Drop your RAID card in and away you go. http://www.mydigitallife.info/free-...on-iso-and-vhd-for-hyper-v-official-download/
A little progress! I installed w2003server onto a separate hdd. The two failed hdd's of the three hdd raid-5 array came back online. Maybe the cables just needed a nudge. It turns out though, that with two drives failing that should be game over But! It's rebuilding the array from the looks of it. In the HP ACU, I can see that the 'Parity Initialisation Status' is 'In Progress (xx.xx%)' However, it gets through to 41% and ab-so-lutely slows to a crawl. It takes a fair bit of time to get that far, but as an example I managed to get the two 'failed' hdd's back onto the array so they all showed up as OK in ORCA/hpsa bios on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning the parity was at 41%, Wednesday last thing it was 41.41%. Hmmm. It could be some time. Maybe it's chewing through a large file and it'll whizz through the rest, who knows? There's nothing to show exactly what it's doing, other than this parity %age.
Having it be crawl isn't that much of a surprise since it's an entry level card with barely anything in the way of it's own intelligence. (Kind of wonder if it actually gives any real functional benefit in terms of R5 over basic mobo SATA/SAS)
It's not THAT bad - it has it's own dedicated cache, I don't think there are many or any basic mobo sata/sas options offer that...
A little more success. Having rebooted into safe mode so silly people aren't trying to access the shared files, it looks like it might be repaired in good time. Where it was previously struggling to get past the 41% complete 'hump', it's now already at 42.26% completed. Fingers crossed! I've never had to deal with a full-on raid failure before, can you tell? There's only been one I've had previously where it was just one drive and that was dead easy to fix.
Well - the fact that it's initialising parity info isn't a guarantee it'll actually succeed, so... If only caches actually helped in process offload for RAIDing...
Sounds like you got lucky if 2 drives were playing up. You could alway's have pulled out the network cable to stop them accessing the shares ;-) Once the array is rebuilt and the machine boots ok, invest in some decent backup software from the likes of acronis or symantec. Once you have a full system backup you can install a new RAID array (with new card and drives) and restore to it.
Indeed, that's the plan. This affected server had Backup Exec installed on it, so I'll have to hunt around for the key so I can use it on another machine. As soon as this one becomes salvageable, it's getting backed up. It'll be re-used with new hdds. The old hdds will be destroyed due to company policy.
Backup exec upsets me every single day. Not always the same site, but most days, one place on another, backup exec will be upsetting me.
LOL I see that a lot. I actually learned to use it unlike those complaining about it and it's OK. The amount of config required for 'normal person hands off' op is onerous tho.
