RAID hot-swap chassis compatibility

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Del Rosso
  • Start date Start date
T

Tom Del Rosso

Can a SCSI RAID 1 set in a hot-swap chassis possibly be moved to a new
server? The one I'm thinking of migrating from is 4 year old Gateway 7400
server.

I have worked with Gateway, Dell, and Compaq RAID backplanes but I don't
know if they are made with standard dimensions. Since the drives all come
from Gateway I don't even know if they are standard SCSI interfaces.
 
Can a SCSI RAID 1 set in a hot-swap chassis possibly be moved to a new
server? The one I'm thinking of migrating from is 4 year old Gateway 7400
server.
Click to expand...

You sure you want to do this. They're probably slow and reaching
their service life anyway.

The hotswap canisters/rails are likely not compatible so you'll have
to unmount the drives from them and install them in the new server's
canisters/rails. Depending on controllers involved you may prefer to
redo the raid config from scratch.
I have worked with Gateway, Dell, and Compaq RAID backplanes but I don't
know if they are made with standard dimensions. Since the drives all come
from Gateway I don't even know if they are standard SCSI interfaces.
Click to expand...

Gateway, Dell, & others don't actually manufacturer drives. The
drives are standard, & the scsi interface is standard (It's not like
Avid & a few others). However the canisters or rails the drives mount
in for hot plugging are proprietary (for the most part) & change with
each generation.
 
Curious said:
You sure you want to do this. They're probably slow and reaching
their service life anyway.

The hotswap canisters/rails are likely not compatible so you'll have
to unmount the drives from them and install them in the new server's
canisters/rails. Depending on controllers involved you may prefer to
redo the raid config from scratch.


Gateway, Dell, & others don't actually manufacturer drives. The
drives are standard, & the scsi interface is standard (It's not like
Avid & a few others). However the canisters or rails the drives mount
in for hot plugging are proprietary (for the most part) & change with
each generation.
Click to expand...

Depends on how the chassis is designed. If the drive mounts are integral
then the rails probably need to be replaced. If they use a 5-into-3 card
cage such as the one made by Enlight then the whole assembly can be moved.
 
Depends on how the chassis is designed. If the drive mounts are integral
then the rails probably need to be replaced. If they use a 5-into-3 card
cage such as the one made by Enlight then the whole assembly can be moved.
Click to expand...

Good point. That is sometimes an option (& would be the preferable
one for his migration plan).
 
Curious George said:
moved.

Good point. That is sometimes an option (& would be the preferable
one for his migration plan).
Click to expand...

Thanks all. It wasn't a plan though. I was just curious if it was a
possibility. I think part of the cage is integral, and there is a power
connector to the backplane that might be proprietary too.

As for service life, the larger drives (there are 2 RAID sets) are less than
2 years old. Since they are standard interfaces then I might leave open the
possibility of moving them, but I would redo the RAID config from scratch
like you said.

Thanks again.
 
Back
Top