Missing VirtualDisk on bootup (RAID)

disaster-recoveryraid5windows-server-2008

I have a Dell PowerEdge 2950 with DAS storage attached (MD1000)
I rebooted the server to apply window updates (win2008), on restart BIOS detected a VirtualDisk was missing and wanted me to continue or raid Config and import conf …. I continued on.

After startup, there was storage missing… a volume (RAID5).
I opened Dell OpenManage and checked the status on the storage. Everything was fine. No failures, nothing degraded. There were no warnings, even no external hdd warning lights on the any drives. The missing virtualdisk is fine and "ready".

All physical disks for the missing raid array are marked as "foreign" EXCEPT for ONE disk. Which was the dedicated hot spare.

EDIT: Possible Answer: So I have more than one disk showing Foreign, I should go to Bios and Import the Foreign Config? There are 2 virtualdisks on that raid controller. If I import the Foreign Config will this effect the second working virtualdisk? Will changing the state from "foreign" to online lose my data?

Windows Event Logs right after the windows update reboot, only warning and errors that I could find…

  1. The current driver version 2.20.00.64 (percsas) is older than the required driver version 2.24.00.64 (percsas) for a controller of model 0x1F0C: Controller 0 (PERC 6/i Integrated)
  2. The current driver version 2.20.00.64 (percsas) is older than the
    required driver version 2.24.00.64 (percsas) for a controller of
    model 0x1F01: Controller 1 (PERC 5/E Adapter)
  3. The controller battery needs to be replaced.: Battery 0 Controller
    1
  4. Device failed: Battery 0 Controller 1
  5. Controller event log: VDs missing at boot: 00: Controller 1 (PERC
    5/E Adapter)
  6. Controller event log: Battery needs replacement – SOH Bad:
    Controller 1 (PERC 5/E Adapter)
  7. Controller event log: Current capacity of the battery is below
    threshold: Controller 1 (PERC 5/E Adapter)
  8. Controller event log: BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT:
    Controller 1 (PERC 5/E Adapter)

RESULT/ANSWER:
I did the "import" and it failed, unknown error. No side effects with the import. VirtualDisk is still "foreign".

Best Answer

If all drives but 1 for a VD are foreign, you should import. This should NOT affect the config on the remaining drives of the 2nd VD. Still, don't trust the RAID card 100% - make a note of exactly which drives are participating in the 2nd VD in case a "retag" does become necessary.

Recreating the config on the problem drives is possible too if the import fails, though you'll want help from support to be sure that doesn't get done wrong & data overwritten.

Retag = delete the VD, recreate (from the PERC BIOS, not inside the OS), and do NOT initialize. If data isn't seen at that point, consider restoring from backup.

Source: firsthand experience, 3rd tier support for this type of Dell system, specializing in storage.

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