what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

dear all,

a silly question here, but i'm just going through the disaster recovery
procedure....and what to do in case of harddisk failure.


i have a nice raid setup, and its no problem to recognize which
/dev/sdX has dropped out of the array, but how do you physically
identify for example /dev/sdf when opening the box and have 6 disks to
choose from?


i can't be the first with this question so i just wonder what "rules of
thumb" others use.


thanks for reading this anyway.

randall


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-isp-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 08:32:48PM +0200, randall wrote:
> dear all,
>
> a silly question here, but i'm just going through the disaster recovery
> procedure....and what to do in case of harddisk failure.
>
> i have a nice raid setup, and its no problem to recognize which
> /dev/sdX has dropped out of the array, but how do you physically
> identify for example /dev/sdf when opening the box and have 6 disks to
> choose from?
>
> i can't be the first with this question so i just wonder what "rules of
> thumb" others use.

Look at the SCSI ID selection jumpers on the drives. The lowest ID
(which may be 0, but isn't necessarily) is /dev/sda, the next in
sequence is /dev/sdb...

With more than one SCSI bus the lettering goes through all the
drives on the first bus before it starts on the second, etc.


--
Pigeon

Be kind to pigeons
Pigeon's Nest - http://pigeonsnest.co.uk/
Lucy Pinder Television - http://www.lucy-pinder.tv/
GPG key: http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x21C61F7F

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

randall wrote:

dear all,

a silly question here, but i'm just going through the disaster recovery
procedure....and what to do in case of harddisk failure.


i have a nice raid setup, and its no problem to recognize which
/dev/sdX has dropped out of the array, but how do you physically
identify for example /dev/sdf when opening the box and have 6 disks to
choose from?


i can't be the first with this question so i just wonder what "rules of
thumb" others use.


thanks for reading this anyway.




Back in the day when I used to use software RAID, I'd write on the drive
with sharpie or use a printed label somewhere obvious.


--
Seth Mattinen sethm@rollernet.us
Roller Network LLC


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-isp-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

Hi randall,

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 08:32:48PM +0200, randall wrote:
> i have a nice raid setup, and its no problem to recognize which
> /dev/sdX has dropped out of the array, but how do you physically
> identify for example /dev/sdf when opening the box and have 6 disks to
> choose from?

If the hardware has no means of identifying the disks (e.g. an
indicator LED) then you could for example do a SMART query to find
the serial number and physically label each disk with that. Then
even if one dies to the extent that it won't respond to SMART, you
can tell which it is without pulling disks out because you will know
what all the *other* ones are.

Bear in mind that the same physical disk can end up with a different
device node (/dev/sdX) under various circumstances, so it isn't
always that useful to say "this disk is /dev/sdf").

Cheers,
Andy

--
http://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting
Encrypted mail welcome - keyid 0x604DE5DB

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 08:42:46PM +0100, Pigeon wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 08:32:48PM +0200, randall wrote:
> > a silly question here, but i'm just going through the disaster
> > recovery procedure....and what to do in case of harddisk failure.
> >
> > i have a nice raid setup, and its no problem to recognize which
> > /dev/sdX has dropped out of the array, but how do you physically
> > identify for example /dev/sdf when opening the box and have 6 disks
> > to choose from?
> >
> > i can't be the first with this question so i just wonder what "rules
> > of thumb" others use.
>
> Look at the SCSI ID selection jumpers on the drives. The lowest ID
> (which may be 0, but isn't necessarily) is /dev/sda, the next in
> sequence is /dev/sdb...
>
> With more than one SCSI bus the lettering goes through all the drives
> on the first bus before it starts on the second, etc.

Or "smartctl -a /dev/sdf" (assuming the drive will still respond to SCSI
requests rather than being completely dead) will tell you the serial
number, which should hopefully be written on the drive as well.

J.

--
Nine times out of ten the statisticians are wrong.
This .sig brought to you by the letter X and the number 40
Product of the Republic of HuggieTag

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 09:10:21PM +0100, Jonathan McDowell wrote:
> Or "smartctl -a /dev/sdf" (assuming the drive will still respond to SCSI
> requests rather than being completely dead) will tell you the serial
> number, which should hopefully be written on the drive as well.

lshw will also map /dev/sdX to drive serial number.

THanks,
Ward.

--
Pong.be -( "Be strict when sending and tolerant when receiving." )-
Virtual hosting -( RFC 1958 - Architectural Principles of the Internet - )-
http://pong.be -( section 3.9 )-
GnuPG public key: http://pgp.mit.edu


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-isp-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

Jonathan McDowell wrote:

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 08:42:46PM +0100, Pigeon wrote:


On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 08:32:48PM +0200, randall wrote:


a silly question here, but i'm just going through the disaster
recovery procedure....and what to do in case of harddisk failure.

i have a nice raid setup, and its no problem to recognize which
/dev/sdX has dropped out of the array, but how do you physically
identify for example /dev/sdf when opening the box and have 6 disks
to choose from?

i can't be the first with this question so i just wonder what "rules
of thumb" others use.


Look at the SCSI ID selection jumpers on the drives. The lowest ID
(which may be 0, but isn't necessarily) is /dev/sda, the next in
sequence is /dev/sdb...

With more than one SCSI bus the lettering goes through all the drives
on the first bus before it starts on the second, etc.



Or "smartctl -a /dev/sdf" (assuming the drive will still respond to SCSI
requests rather than being completely dead) will tell you the serial
number, which should hopefully be written on the drive as well.

J.



thanks both,

really useful stuff

Device: ATA ST3500320AS Version: SD04
Serial number: 9QM00NKK
Device type: disk
Local Time is: Tue Jul 29 22:11:54 2008 CEST




--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-isp-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

Am 2008-07-29 20:10:19, schrieb Andy Smith:
> If the hardware has no means of identifying the disks (e.g. an
> indicator LED) then you could for example do a SMART query to find
> the serial number and physically label each disk with that. Then
> even if one dies to the extent that it won't respond to SMART, you
> can tell which it is without pulling disks out because you will know
> what all the *other* ones are.

Ich you have the 6 drives in your box how do you know which has which
Serial number or such?

I have three Sun-Blade with each 160 SCSI drives in 10 cages and to of
the cages are a little bit different so I have to made labels and stick
them on the front of 128 drives and for the other 32 on the topbeginning
of the drive.

This should be of course done before any drives will be installed,
because I am sure, no one like to play Hard-Disk-Jokey.

Thanks, Greetings and nice Day/Evening
Michelle Konzack
Systemadministrator
24V Electronic Engineer
Tamay Dogan Network
Debian GNU/Linux Consultant


--
Linux-User #280138 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org/
##################### Debian GNU/Linux Consultant #####################
Michelle Konzack Apt. 917 ICQ #328449886
+49/177/9351947 50, rue de Soultz MSN LinuxMichi
+33/6/61925193 67100 Strasbourg/France IRC #Debian (irc.icq.com)

what does /dev/sdf look like?
 

Hi Michelle,

On Sat, Aug 02, 2008 at 06:24:24PM +0200, Michelle Konzack wrote:
> Am 2008-07-29 20:10:19, schrieb Andy Smith:
> > If the hardware has no means of identifying the disks (e.g. an
> > indicator LED) then you could for example do a SMART query to find
> > the serial number and physically label each disk with that. Then
> > even if one dies to the extent that it won't respond to SMART, you
> > can tell which it is without pulling disks out because you will know
> > what all the *other* ones are.
>
> Ich you have the 6 drives in your box how do you know which has which
> Serial number or such?

"...and physically label each disk with that." :)

> I have three Sun-Blade with each 160 SCSI drives in 10 cages and to of
> the cages are a little bit different so I have to made labels and stick
> them on the front of 128 drives and for the other 32 on the topbeginning
> of the drive.

Wow, that's a lot of work. I would really hope that anything which
you can put 160 drives in would have the means to flash indicator
lights..

Cheers,
Andy

--
http://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting
Encrypted mail welcome - keyid 0x604DE5DB