Hot-Plug HDDs

[Zucarita9000]

Hey everyone,

I have a few questions about hot-plug hdd on a ProLiant ML150 G2 we have at the office.

I have a spare 250GB hdd that I'd like to add, but can't afford to shut down the server. Do I simple slide the thing and then activate it through the disk management console? Is it that simple or do I have to do something else before?

You can see a picture of the server here:
http://img.skitch.com/20080718...39gt1qj2uwrtanx8uk.jpg

Thanks a lot!

 

[Modelworks]

If the interface is SATA you can hot plug the drives.
Just connect and go into device manager and tell it to scan for hardware changes, it should find the drive.

 

[Zucarita9000]

Yes, it is SATA. Here's a pic of the PCI-X controller: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g...set-72057594089833046/

Which is actually a HostRAID adapter. It's an Adaptec HostRAID Sata AAR81xx.

BTW, I'm not doing RAID on that server.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

there was a time when Compaq (now HP) used to put a special firmware on their drives to "protect" the user for bad third party disks. When a non-Compaq drive was inserted the Smart-Array controller would flag it as non-standard and take it offline. I would hope that they have gotten away from that these days. If I were you, I'd just have a go, plug it in and see if the system recognizes it in the storage manager.

 

[Zucarita9000]

Originally posted by: Cr0nJ0b
there was a time when Compaq (now HP) used to put a special firmware on their drives to "protect" the user for bad third party disks. When a non-Compaq drive was inserted the Smart-Array controller would flag it as non-standard and take it offline. I would hope that they have gotten away from that these days. If I were you, I'd just have a go, plug it in and see if the system recognizes it in the storage manager.

Actually, the spare drives I have are HP branded Maxtor and Seagate drives. They both came in sealed packages with the hot-plug trays. They were specifically ordered to use with an ML150, so compatibility will not be an issue.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

OK, so that's a little different. You should be able to slip them in, and the array controller should recognize them, like putting a new USB drive on the system. Since you aren't using RAID, then you should just go to storage manager and it should show up....Format it and you will be good. I'm not sure if Windows still asks for a reboot when you format new drives, but if you are on a good Server version you might be fine.

 

[heymrdj]

Originally posted by: Cr0nJ0b
OK, so that's a little different. You should be able to slip them in, and the array controller should recognize them, like putting a new USB drive on the system. Since you aren't using RAID, then you should just go to storage manager and it should show up....Format it and you will be good. I'm not sure if Windows still asks for a reboot when you format new drives, but if you are on a good Server version you might be fine.

WinXP Home, Pro, Vista Ultimate, Win2k3, and Win2k8 have never asked me to reboot upon the formatting of a hotplugged drive. So it should work.

 

[Zucarita9000]

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[taltamir]

windows sometimes ask to reboot when inserting a new drive, sometimes even asks you to reboot when you insert a USB flash drive, that is an error and should be ignored.

SATA has an OPTIONAL hot plug capability... a drive may or may not support it, a controller may or may not support it. It remained optional for SATA2...
So just because it is SATA you are not gaurenteed that it is hot plugable.

 

[Zucarita9000]

Originally posted by: taltamir
windows sometimes ask to reboot when inserting a new drive, sometimes even asks you to reboot when you insert a USB flash drive, that is an error and should be ignored.

SATA has an OPTIONAL hot plug capability... a drive may or may not support it, a controller may or may not support it. It remained optional for SATA2...
So just because it is SATA you are not gaurenteed that it is hot plugable.

Well, the ML150 we have is supposed to be the hot-plug model. Someone told me that the hot-plug model has the red levers on the drive bays to pull them off.

I would suppose that the spare drives we have are also hot-plugable, as the have the exact same trays. Is there a way I can check this? Maybe with the drive model no.?