Infortrend RAID Controller Manual

10.2 Fault Prevention
With the maturity of technologies like S.M.A.R.T., drive failures can be
predictable to a certain degree. Encountering drive bad block
reassignments may be the most common omen when a drive is about
to fail. In addition to the S.M.A.R.T.-related functions as will be
discussed later in this section, a system administrator can also choose
to manually perform “Clone Failing Drive” to a drive which is about
to fail. System administrators can decide when to replace a drive
showing symptoms of defects by a healthy drive. A system
administrator may also replace any drive at will even when a source
drive is healthy.
Usually, the “Clone Failing Drive” can be performed under the
following conditions:
1. Replacing drives about to fail either detected by S.M.A.R.T. or
notified by controller.
2. Manually replacing and cloning drive data on any drive to a new
drive.
10.2.1 Clone Failing Drive:
Unlike the similar functions combined with the S.M.A.R.T. setting, the
“Clone Failing Drive” is a manual function. There are two options for
cloning a failing drive: “Replace after Clone” and “Perpetual Clone.”
Replace after Clone:
Data on the source drive, the drive with predicted error (or any
selected member drive), will be cloned to a standby spare and
replaced later by the spare. The status of the replaced drive, the
original member drive with predicted error, will be redefined as an
“used drive.” System administrators may replace the used drive with
a new one, and then configure the new drive as a spare drive.
Locate the logical drive to which the specific member drive with
predictable error belongs. Select the “clone failing drive” function.
Select “Replace After Clone.” The controller will automatically start
the cloning process using the existing “stand-by” (dedicated/global
spare drive) to clone the source drive (the target member drive with
predicted error). If there is no standby drive (local/global spare
drive), you need to add a new drive and configure it as a standby
drive.
Advanced Configurations 10-17