Dell PowerVault 725N (Rackmount NAS Appliance) - Manual (Page 32)

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Recovering and Restoring the System
Dell™ PowerVault™ 725N NAS Systems Administrator's Guide
Solutions to Try Before Reinstalling
Hard-Drive Failures
Software Failures
Replacing Hard Drives
Recovering From an Operating System Failure
Restoring System-State Data After Reinstallation
Restoring Initial System Setup
This section provides instructions on how to recover the NAS system if the operating system or a hard drive fails. Additionally, this section provides information
for possible solutions that do not require restoring the operating system or hard drives.
Because your NAS system is designed to have redundancy, it can recover from certain hardware and software failures. In some situations, it can recover
automatically, and in others, you must have administrator privileges and manually intervene to recover the NAS system.
Use the following methods in the order listed to restore your NAS system:
1. Check all of the items in " Solutions to Try Before Reinstalling ."
2. Follow the procedures described in " Booting From the Recovery Operating System Mirror Hard Drives ."
3. Reinstall the operating system as described in " Recovering From an Operating System Failure ."
Solutions to Try Before Reinstalling
This section provides checks and solutions that you should try before you reinstall your operating system or replace a hard drive. Some of the checks require
you to observe the LEDs on the front and back of the NAS system. For more information about the LEDs, see your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.
l Does the power LED show that the NAS system is turned on? If not, ensure that the power cable connected to the NAS system and a power source and
that the NAS system is turned on.
l Are the link LEDs on the back of the NAS system and any network switches to which it may be connected illuminated? If not, ensure that the Ethernet
cable is securely connected to the NAS system and a functioning Ethernet jack.
l Are you are using a standard Ethernet cable to connect to the network? Do not use the cable labeled "Ethernet Crossover Cable" that was shipped with
your system.
l Have you allowed enough time for the NAS system to boot? The NAS system typically takes several minutes to boot.
l Does the NAS system boot completely? Connect a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the NAS system, and observe the boot process.
l Are the LEDs for all four hard drives on the NAS system lit? If they are not all lit, you have a failed hard drive. See " Hard-Drive Failures ."
Hard-Drive Failures
Your NAS system has a mirror of the operating system on hard drives, which allows you to recover in most cases. Depending on which drive fails, use one of
the procedures in
Table 5 -1 to recover from a hard-drive failure.
Table 5-1. Hard-Drive Recovery Procedures
Software Failures
To recover from the following software failures, use one of the following procedures:
l If the main operating system files are missing or corrupt, you must manually boot from the recovery operating system mirror hard drives 2 and 3. For
instructions, see "
Booting From the Recovery Operating System Mirror Hard Drives ."
l If the main operating system mirrored partition fails, you must manually boot from the recovery operating system mirror hard drives 2 and 3 and restore
the original files to the main operating system hard drives 0 and 1. See "
Replacing Hard Drive 0 ." After the system is running, you can boot the system
back to the main operating system hard drives and then perform a system-state restore operation. See " Restoring System-State Data After
Reinstallation ."
Hard Drive That Failed Necessary Action
Hard drive 0 Replace the failed hard drive. See " Replacing Hard Drive 0 ."
Hard drive 1, 2, or 3 Replace the failed hard drive. See " Replacing Hard Drive 1, 2, or 3 ."
Two or more hard drives fail Replace the failed hard drives, and then follow the procedures in " Recovering From an Operating System Failure ."