Physical Disk Failure Detection; Using Persistent Hot Spare Slots; Physical Disk Hot Swapping; Using Replace Member And Revertible Hot Spares - Dell PowerEdge H730P User Manual

Physical Disk Failure Detection

Failed physical disks are detected and rebuilds automatically start to new disks that are inserted into the
same slot. Automatic rebuilds can also occur with hot spares. If you have configured hot spares, the
controllers automatically try to use them to rebuild failed physical disks.

Using Persistent Hot Spare Slots

NOTE: The persistent hot spare slot feature is disabled by default.
The PERC H730P card can be configured so that the system backplane or storage enclosure disk slots are
dedicated as hot spare slots. This feature can be enabled using the Dell OpenManage storage
management application.
Once enabled, any slots with hot spares configured automatically become persistent hot spare slots. If a
hot spare disk fails or is removed, a replacement disk that is inserted into the same slot automatically
becomes a hot spare with the same properties as the one it is replacing. If the replacement disk does not
match the disk protocol and technology, it does not become a hot spare.
For more information on persistent hot spares, see the Dell OpenManage documentation at dell.com/
support/manuals.

Physical Disk Hot Swapping

NOTE: To check if the backplane supports hot swapping, see the Owner's Manual of your system.
Hot swapping is the manual replacement of a disk while the PERC H730P card is online and performing
their normal functions. The following requirements must be met before hot swapping a physical disk:
• The system backplane or enclosure must support hot swapping for the PERC H730P card to support
hot swapping.
• The replacement disk must be of the same protocol and disk technology. For example, only a SAS
hard drive can replace a SAS hard drive and only a SATA SSD can replace a SATA SSD.

Using Replace Member And Revertible Hot Spares

The Replace Member functionality allows a previously commissioned hot spare to revert to a usable hot
spare. When a disk failure occurs within a virtual disk, an assigned hot spare (dedicated or global) is
commissioned and begins rebuilding until the virtual disk is optimal. After the failed disk is replaced (in the
same slot) and the rebuild to the hot spare is complete, the controller automatically starts to copy data
from the commissioned hot spare to the newly-inserted disk. After the data is copied, the new disk is a
part of the virtual disk and the hot spare is reverted to being a ready hot spare. This allows hot spares to
remain in specific enclosure slots. While the controller is reverting the hot spare, the virtual disk remains
optimal.
NOTE: The controller automatically reverts a hot spare only if the failed disk is replaced with a new
disk in the same slot. If the new disk is not placed in the same slot, a manual Replace Member
operation can be used to revert a previously commissioned hot spare.
NOTE: A Replace Member operation typically causes a temporary impact to disk performance.
Once the operation completes, performance returns to normal.
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