Texas Memory Systems 320 User Manual

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9.3   Hot Swapping Disk Drives 
The RamSan-320 includes three internal hard disk drives in a RAID 
configuration.  The RamSan-325 includes four internal hard disk drives in 
a RAID configuration.   
 
The RamSan’s internal disk drives are equipped with industry standard 
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART).  The 
RamSan uses SMART to track vital hard drive performance statistics, 
which helps it to diagnose imminent disk failures.  The RamSan system 
monitoring software queries the disks periodically about their SMART 
status.  If SMART indicates an imminent disk failure, the system 
monitoring software will display a warning message in the system log. 
 
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 if using Active Backup
TM
, 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. 
 
If all hard disks fail, the system automatically detects this and stays 
operational; however, the system remains volatile until all hard drives are 
functioning properly. When the new drives are replaced, the system 
rebuilds the drives from the system memory image. 
 
Use the following steps to replace bad disk drives: 
 
1.  Verify that disk synchronization is not in progress.  If one is in 
progress, then wait for the synchronization to complete before 
continuing. 
2.  Slide the hard disk eject latch to the right. 
3.  Remove the hard disk by pulling squarely on the handle. 
4.  Insert new hard disk squarely into the available slot.  Ensure the disk 
drive is completely inserted into the system and flush with the chassis.  
 
Warning: 
The system erases any pre-existing data on hard disk drives inserted into 
the RamSan-320/325 while the system is running.   
 
Important: 
TMS does not advise removing functional hard disks.  While the action 
should be perfectly safe, it may affect system performance or downtime, 
depending on the system mode, as the system synchronizes the new disk 
drive. 
 
RamSan-300/320/325 User’s Manual 
 
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