Texas Memory Systems RamSan-300/320 User Manual

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Chapter 8  – System Maintenance 
 
One of the main features of the RamSan is the ability to hot swap many of the 
system components.  You can hot swap the power supplies and disk drives, meaning 
that you can remove and replace these components while the system is running. 
8.1   Hot Swapping Power Supplies 
The RamSan-3xx series includes two power supplies.  The system only 
requires one functioning power supply to run.  Texas Memory Systems has 
taken special care to enclose the RamSan power supplies in a protective 
case to minimize the electrical risks for users; however, it is critical for 
users to follow the following steps when removing and replacing the power 
supplies: 
 
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Disconnect the power cord from the power supply.  
Wait 15 seconds. 
Remove the power supply that needs to be replaced from the RamSan 
chassis by pressing the release switch and pulling squarely on the 
power supply handle.  DO NOT REACH INSIDE THE PROTECTIVE 
ENCLOSURE AFTER REMOVING THE POWER SUPPLY

Insert the replacement power supply in the RamSan chassis.  Make 
sure to insert the power supply squarely and press firmly until the 
power supply is fully inserted into the system. 
Reconnect power to the new power supply. 
The new power supply begins to operate immediately. 
 
Important: 
Replace failed power supplies as soon as possible. 
 
8.2   Hot Swapping Disk Drives 
The RamSan-320 includes three internal hard disk drives in a RAID 
configuration.  The system can operate with all disks operational, one disk 
operational, or no disks operational.  Two drives are for striped data and 
the third is for parity information. 
 
If a single hard disk drive fails, the system continues to write to the 
available hard disk drives.  When this occurs, replace the malfunctioning 
disk with a new hard disk drive.  Once inserted, the system synchronizes 
the new disk.  While the restore degrades overall system write 
performance, read operations continue uninterrupted. 
 
Important: 
Do not remove disk drives during synchronization.  Removing disk drives 
may destroy data on all disks, which requires removing and replacing all 
drives for a complete synchronization with memory. 
 
RamSan-300/320 User’s Manual 
 
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