One of the disks (boot disk) on my array (Raid 5) has a red light, I have a spare disk, can I simply change it??

what OS?
what disk?
no raid card stated, no array stated, no type of array stated.
One can put 100s of RAID cards in this server.
both raid cards or HBA cards,(forJBOD)
i can fix any server, but first need to know what is in the box first
you meant the boot disk has errors, right,? boot.
that would tell me the disk IS BAD.
but if and ARRAY , that means you must run SMART tests
on the disks, 1 by 1 to find the bad disk.
if smart shows its bad, or weak its for sure BAD.
on real servers. the server sends you email, (set up right)
telling you disk 3 in a RAID 6 is bad, replace it now.

are you running hardware or software raid, or HBA or
fake raid cards, (4 classes there.!)

the base system new has.
4 port SAS 5/i integrated SAS controller (no RAID_
and optional, from DELL , news.
Optional PERC 5/i integrated SAS/SATA daughtercard controller with 256MB cache,
PERC 4e/DC, PERC 5/e adapter

or any of 1000s of other aftermarket cards there.
I run LSI 9361s (with MSM appl loaded)
this card will tell you what disk failed every time no kidding.
so will the PERCs setup correctly
the PERCs and my LSI and my HP raids
all have installed monitors for the RAID ,a program that runs full time all the time, and reports errors , many ways,
did you load that first and use it? seems not.
as no mention of SMART at all.
good luck.
Im not sure the names on DELL , MSM like software.
ah its OSA
never run a PERC lacking this APP. or you can not keep the server on line,.

http://www.dell.com/support/search/us/en/04#q=Dell%20OpenManage%20Server%20Administrator&sort=relevancy&f:langFacet=[en]

Do a ghost on the first hard drive install ghost on new hard drive and replace, I can provide more details on procedure just ask

When you restored to factory setting you have reset the RAID configuration & probably lost all the data

On many systems with RAID1 support built into the mobo chipset, that system includes some RAID management software in BIOS. You won't see it until you turn on RAID capabilities in the BIOS and add a drive. But you might find all the details you need in manuals on the matter from Dell, so look for those. They could have come with your machine, or you may have to search their website and download.

On systems I've seen you create and manage RAID arrays using that built-in software, NOT Windows tools. In fact, some RAID1 management tools would allow you to convert a single stand-along HDD to a RAID1 array by adding a matching HDD unit and then having the system copy all the data to the second drive. This is almost the same as the process to repair a damaged RAID1 array by replacing one faulty drive with a new one and rebuilding the array.

HOWEVER, Windows ALWAYS needs a RAID driver installed in it to use any RAID array. If you are simply booting from a "normal" stand-alone disk into Windows and then using a RAID array as a data storage system, the RAID driver installation can be done any time after Windows is running as you set up the new storage system. BUT Windows in ANY version cannot BOOT from a RAID array unless the RAID driver has been installed at the very beginning of the OS installation. This implies that, if you want to convert your single disk into a RAID1 2-disk array and use ONLY that as the HDD resource in the machine, you will need to re-install Windows, this time including the required RAID driver install at the beginning, in order to boot from that array.

I have read that there may be ways to convert a non-bootable RAID array into bootable by some complicated editing of Windows registry and boot files in order to force it to load the right driver at the right time from the right spot on a HDD, etc. But I am not SURE that would work. It's definitely for the adventurous knowledgeable techie.

So here's a quick guide to installing hardware RAID on a motherboard that features a RAID controller. These steps assume you are performing a clean Windows 7 install rather than an upgrade, and they might differ depending on your system set-up, but the general principles should be the same.

1. Download the RAID drivers for your motherboard from the manufacturer's website and save them to a memory stick.
2. Back up all your important data!
3. Turn your PC off and unplug it.
4. Install 2 hard disks preferably with identically capacity into your PC.
5. Turn on your PC, press the delete key or F2 key when prompted to get to the BIOS menu.
6. Find the option to select the RAID mode, save your settings and exit BIOS.
7. On reboot you should see a new menu option to enter the RAID controller settings. Enter the key combination when prompted to get to the RAID controller menu.
8. Create a new RAID array selecting either RAID 0, or RAID 1.
9. Select the disks that will form the array, save the settings and exit.
10. On reboot press the delete key or F2 key when prompted to get to the BIOS menu.
11. Check the boot sequence of your PC and ensure your optical drive is top of the list.
12. Insert your Windows 7 disk into the optical drive and exit the BIOS.
13. On reboot press any key when prompted to boot from the optical drive.
14. Windows 7 should start installing.
15. Select your localisation settings and click next.
16. Click "repair your computer" and click the "load drivers" button.
17. Insert your memory stick and browse to the correct driver and install.
18. Exit back to the Windows 7 install menu click "Install now" and on the next screen click "Custom (advanced)" to perform a clean install.
19. When you are asked where you want to install Windows 7 you should see that the 2 RAID hard disks are now visible as just 1 drive.
20. Add a partition to the new drive so Windows with be able to recognise it.
21. Continue installing Windows as normal.

Unfortunately, a three disk RAID 5 can only tolerate a single drive failure. Is it possible that disk 0 and disk 1 were reversed? If so, then you might be dealing with only one failed drive and might be able to rebuild the RAID if you get disks back where they belong.

Otherwise, you will need to send the disks off to a data recovery service and hope for the best. This is only viable if the data is very valuable as this will be very expensive. Typically more than $1000 just to evaluate and diagnose.

Form the info you provided, you have a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) disk array. RAID 0 (striped disks) distributes data across several disks in a way that gives improved speed and full capacity, but all data on all disks will be lost if any one disk fails. Apparently Diagnostics has determined that “Drive 2” is defective. You will have to replace the defective hard drive and reload the Windows operating system.


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Hi Foambob,

Try all means to get a smartstart CD.
Normally new version will be able to use on older hardware , but no guarantees.
I have always found it easier to use smartstart CD auto mode.
You can also do the install and then run ntssd to update all the drivers etc., but I don't recommend it for novices. Use the auto mode , it takes longer but safely and surely.

Good luck

You don't say whether or not your os is on the RAID 5 partition. Assuming that it is (for performance reasons, this is not recommended) then you should check to see if you have the option of configuring a separate raid configuration on your raid card (e.g. do you have a card with more then one RAID channel?) If this is so, I would create a separate RAID 1 array and install the OS just on that. Then you can mount the RAID 5 array with your data intact. Once you're up and running, you can remove the old OS partition, as it's no longer needed.

hi, you need not have to upgrade the BIOS,, set the SATA HD on the IDE channel in the BIOS, or what options r avilable for SATA controller, if it is set to RAID, you will need a raid utility to format the SATA, or it wont shoe in windows, let ,e know