[Techtalk] hot-swap RAID

[Rudy Zijlstra]

Joana Botto wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I want to copy an image from a Sun Fire X2100 to another one and I'll be
> using hot-swap RAID to do that.
>
> <snip>
>
> Could this be because I'm not doing it in the right order? Is there a
> different procedure for this?
> Could this be because the purpose of hot-swap RAID disks is to replace a
> faulty disk without turning off the system and not copying servers?
>
>   
The target of hot-swap RAID is to replace a faulty disk without 
data-loss, without service loss and without turning off the system.

If the implementation is such that you can do that copy, that is just 
luck...

What you could do, is put the disk you removed in a separate slot in a 
3th system, and do a block copy (dd comes to mind) to a second disk, 
which actually are a RAID pair. Then move the RAID pair to the new 
server. The controller should recognize them as an existing RAID pair 
and work with them.

Most RAID controllers will wipe a disk set when you tell them you have a 
new raid set. In general, your method may work, if you can do something 
like:
- insert only the single disk in the new server
- tell the raid controller you have an existing raid, with a missing disk
- let it boot
- insert the empty blank disk that belongs to the raid pair. This will 
then be synchronised

good luck

Rudy