Question about the Snap 4000

[jmar]

My tech level is good for a non pro but when it comes to servers I'm a noob, I've been reading through the thread and had couple questions I was hoping to get answered.

1. Overall how hard is it to have the server run large capacity HD? What wanted to use 4x250GB HDs.

2. Doe the OS for the server run in Linux?

3. What doe LBA48 refer to? Is this software/firmware that has to be installed?

Thanks for the help!!!!!

[blue68f100]

Phoenix32 is the 4000 expert on this forum. I just back him up.

The 4000 will run 250gig drives without much trouble. But it must have OS v3.4.805 or Greater, and 128meg of ram. The 4000 model is know to have weak power supplies. And if I recall you need HW version 3 or greater, these models use CS. There are fixes for both of these problems.

I think Phoenix32 may have one for sell, fully tested.

The SnapOS runs on BSD NOT Linux, so you can not read the drives with a pc.

LBA48bit addressing is required for any HD >137gig.

Check out the FAQ's Sticky at the top of the threads, it should answer most of your questions. Link below

[Phoenix32]

Why thank you David, you are too kind...

1. Yes, the 4000 will run 4 x 250 GB drives no problem.

2. No, it is not linux, it is a bastardized version of BSD, which itself is a bastardized version of unix.

3. LBA48Bit has to do with the addressing. Prior to LBA48bit, 28 bits was used instead, which limted hard disk sizes to < 137 GB (at least without some trickery going on). So in other words, a system needs to support LBA48bit to be able to address drives larger than 137 GB. Now support means the OS has to support it and so does/do the drives controller(s). In the case of the SNAP 4000, it's controllers do support LBA48Bit and SNAP OS revisions 3.4.805 and above also support it.


As for the revision required, well, any of the SNAP 4000 can do 4 x 250 GB, not just -003 and -004. When we say revision, we are talking about the -00x number on the end of the model number (-001 -002 -003 and -004). So don't wory about that to0 much.

What David was talking about is a little bug for RAID 5 (if you want to call it that) in the drive setup for revisions -001 and -002. These two revisions used a Master Slave setup while the -003 and -004 revisions used C/S (Cable Select) type setup. What difference does that make you ask? Well I will tell you here. (if your not interested, skip down 3 paragraphs)

In a Master Slave setup, if a drive fails, it might, not will, cause you to loose the whole RAID 5 array (which means all your data). There are two ways this can happen. 1) If you remove the bad drive and then power the unit on without installing a new drive (properly). 2) If the drive fails in the electronics in such a manner as to make the drive invisible to the controller (remember, most drive failures are disk and head related, but not all). If the drive does not disappear to the controller, -AND- you replace the drive properly without powering the unit up while the bad drive is remove, there should be no problem. What happens here is that when oen drive disappears or is removed (same thing), the controller gets confused and takes the other (good) drive on that controller and orphans it also. 2 Orphans in a 4 drive RAID 5 = bye bye RAID 5 and data.

In revisions -003 and -004, C/S is used and if a drive goes away on a controller, it still sees the other drive on that controler just fine, thus no problem. So the solution (work around) is to use C/S. But there is a catch to that too. For reasons I am not going to go into here (it is way too in depth), I will just tell you this. Most Modern drives that are ATA 100 and ATA 133 (that's about all of them these days), when put in C/S with a standard cable will have issues down shifting to the speed of the controller as they do so nicely in a Master Slave setup. So witht he older controllers in these SNAP 4000 units, guess what happens? Yup, you got it, things puke and drives disappear or are not seen at all (weird crap happens).

Now there were some key words there above. "With standard cables". The -003 and -004 for the most part use the same controllers and quite often even the same revision main boards, so how do they get away with doing C/S then when the -001 and -002 won't (with modern drives)? Damn good question, and I got your answer. They don't use a standard cable. If you look close at the cable on a -003 or -004 unit, you will notice that there is a cable lead cut going to the second drive on the chain. This little removal of that one elad makes all the difference in the world to the controller and hard disk(s), again, for reasons I won't go into here. So, the FIX for a -001 or -002 revision SNAP 4000 so it won't have this little bug/problem is to use C/S and to remove that one little lead on the ATA cables. That simple. And trust me, it is not hard at all.

So bottom line is that you can use 4 x 250 GB drives, and do it with any revision SNAP 4000, so long as you do the proper things needed. Like update the OS if needed and change the drive configuration if it is a revision -001 or -002.

Okay, David also mentioned the Power Supply. While I have been chastized for saying this before, it is still true and I will repeat it here. The SNAP 4000 power supply is just not designed for 4 modern larger drives. It is not so much the issue of running the drives, it is the issue of spinning them up on initial power up (the first couple seconds). According to spec, a Seagate 250 GB drive needs 12V @ 2.8A during spin up. Multiply that times 4 and you have 11.2A. Last time I checked, the SNAP 4000 power supply is rated at 6A on the 12V rail. You do the math.

Now, in fact, the SNAP 4000 does not have a weak power supply, it has a damn good power supply. Why? Becasue even under those peak loads, a SNAP 4000 power supply will usually handle the momentary load and do the job. BUT, and you knew there had to be a but, these SNAP 4000 units are getting older by the day, so it is not uncommon to have a power supply that just can't handle that anymore. It happens with age on power supplies. So be prepared for it.

By the way, replacement power supplies for the SNAP 4000 are hard to come by and are expensive when you do find them. I have come up with a MOD where you can use an inexpensive AT or ATX power supply as a replacement, but you need to know how to solder, understand wiring diagrams etc, and have a cutting tool like a dremel. It is not for the just anyone to do. Northwest Technical does have a replacement power supply they sell for $150 at http://www.northwesttechnical.com/

If you use larger drives, you will most likely need to upgrade the memory to 128 MB if it's not already, especially if you load JVM. If you don't, when you try to tansfer large amounts of continuous flow data (large files), you will get errors and the transfers can/will fail.

There, now you should be armed with the knowledge you need to make a 1000 GB (1 TB) SNAP 4000.

If you have questions or need help, just ask... I have 6 SNAP 4000 here and have done a ton of testing on them. Chances are, if it's hardare on a 4000 (and even on the 4100), I have seen it already. And if I don't know, I am sure David, Sam, Jontz, Hallis, or one of the other many good people here will. Note: I am a Hardware guy, not an IT, networking, or security guy.


Hey David, can you tell I took my happy pills today?

[Phoenix32]

Now, only because David mentioned it, I will put in a shameless plug...

Recently, I was able to get myself a SNAP 4500 Guardian unit. Now with having that unit, I no longer need some of my SNAP 4000 units.

I have SNAP 4000 units that have all been tested, have OS versions 3.4.805, 3.4.807, and 4.0.860 (the newest SNAP OS). Each of them can have JVM installed or not and even S2Sv1 if needed.

They all have working power supplies capable of the 4 x 250 drives as tested with 4 x Seagtae 250 GB drives. In fact, one of them has an upgraded MOD power supply as pictured elsewhere here on the forum. The others have stock power supplies.

They can have 64MB, or 128MB, or 256MB installed.

I have them without drives, with 4 x Quantum 30 GB drives, and with 4 x Seagate 250 GB drives (the Seagate Drives are new and were fully tested with Seatools prior to being installed). I could even do 4 x 80 GB drives (used) as well on one unit.

So, if you are looking for a SNAP 4000 unit, come talk to me. Otherwise, they are going to end up on eBay soon, and I am sure they will go for a higher price there.

There! So ends my shameless plug...

[blue68f100]

For LBA48bit you need v3.4.805 or greater.

3.4.803 does not support large disk.

Andy, Mine was the short version. And it's amazing what our drugs can do for 2 old handicapped retired persons.

[Phoenix32]

I will amend (edit) my post immediately then. As I said, I do not mess with OS revisions below 3.4.805, so.....



P.S. Ya know, someone should write all this down so I don't have to say (type) it all again later...

[blue68f100]

It is already in the FAQ's at the top of the threads.

I link to it in my signature now.

[rpmurray]

blue68f100, you may want to edit this statement in the FAQ:

3. What is the largest drive I can Install in a Snap 4100?
A. The 4100 DOES NOT SUPPORT HD's > 137gig

You may want to let noobs know that larger drives can be installed, but the 4100 will not access anything above 137gig on the drive. The way it reads now, it shoulds like you can't use an HD larger than 137gig.

[blue68f100]

Good point, I have 250gigs in mine right now. But only 130gig usable.

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by rpmurray

blue68f100, you may want to edit this statement in the FAQ:

3. What is the largest drive I can Install in a Snap 4100?
A. The 4100 DOES NOT SUPPORT HD's > 137gig

You may want to let noobs know that larger drives can be installed, but the 4100 will not access anything above 137gig on the drive. The way it reads now, it shoulds like you can't use an HD larger than 137gig.

Originally Posted by blue68f100

Good point, I have 250gigs in mine right now. But only 130gig usable.

Be careful with that one. Remember, some people have had trouble with drives over the 137GB limit, depending on the drive(s). Some work, some don't.

[deadsenator]

Well, I guess that's why I just popped 4-250s in this Snap 4100 and got what I got. Argh! That's such a waste of 250s, I'll hafta scrounge up some 160s and sell her.

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by deadsenator

Well, I guess that's why I just popped 4-250s in this Snap 4100 and got what I got. Argh! That's such a waste of 250s, I'll hafta scrounge up some 160s and sell her.

What drives (Make and Model) were you using? If my memory serves (and it doesn't sometimes), it seems like the last time someone was having trouble with drives over 137GB in a 4100, I think they were Maxtor 160's. Do you remember for sure David?

But, David is using 4 x 250 in his 4100 and getting 130GB each... So ????

Hmmm, That makes me wonder David. You know that issue you and I were talking about in e-mail about your 4100 and the drive config? I wonder if this plays into that...

[blue68f100]

deadsenator,

As andy mentioned I have 4 250gig WD (RE) in my 4100 right now. These were the best price cost/gig. I rather spend $10 more and get a 250gig over a 120 or 160 models. There were some Maxtors that have caused problem, due to the way they handle the EIDE (ATA133).

Do a factory reset, and see it you get the proper LED response. If so try installing another HD (non maxtor) you may have laying around, into the drive1 postion, with all other drives removed. Any size will do. It should do some kind of a LED light show during the boot process. On a clean HD, allow 10 min before tring to access it. Like all snaps if it sees a problem it will go into panic and/or blink a morse code using the sys & disk LEDs.

[deadsenator]

Two WD2500 drives. One Maxtor Maxline Plus II and one Seagate Barracuda 7200.9. Hey, I scrounge what I can scrounge. All reflect the same barrier size.

Do a factory reset from the menu? Also, I am not sure what the LED response is that I am looking for. Is it buried in this thread? I will look later if this is so. Didn't see it in the FAQ. Gotta run for now. Thanks for the tips, guys.

DS

[blue68f100]

It's in there. General FAQ #3

[Phoenix32]

Well there might be the problem...

Mix and match drives, all over the 137 GB barrier, and then some are Maxtors. 4100's can quite often be sensitive to those things.

[blue68f100]

The smallest cap will need to be in drive 1. But you talk about throwing your seak times for a loop. Snaps are picky even if your using identical drives.

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by blue68f100

Phoenix32 is the 4000 expert on this forum. I just back him up.

The 4000 will run 250gig drives without much trouble. But it must have OS v3.4.805 or Greater, and 128meg of ram. The 4000 model is know to have weak power supplies. And if I recall you need HW version 3 or greater, these models use CS. There are fixes for both of these problems.

I think Phoenix32 may have one for sell, fully tested.

The SnapOS runs on BSD NOT Linux, so you can not read the drives with a pc.

LBA48bit addressing is required for any HD >137gig.

Check out the FAQ's Sticky at the top of the threads, it should answer most of your questions. Link below

Well, now I can say yes for sure. Yes, I have two (2) SNAP 4000's with 1TB in them I will be selling on eBay as soon as I get a chance to take all the photos and do up an add.

They are SNAP 4000, with SNAP OS 4.0.860, and JVM (S2S installed if they want it). They both have 4 x 250 GB Seagte drives I bought as new from Ztronics on eBay. So, SNAP 4000 with 1TB and OS 4.0.860. What else needs to be said?

Why selling? Because I built them for a close friend of mine who has recently gone belly up money wise and can't afford to get them from me now. As simple as that.

Will they be cheap? Uh no. They weren't cheap for me to set up, but I can tell you it will be a lot less than any of the other 1TB units you see on eBay because I am just trying to recover my money, not make a profit.

If you're interested, send me an e-mail or PM. But don't wait too long or they will be on eBay and I can't stop it then (sometime this week I hope). And no, I do not plan on making this a common thing here on the forum. I just thought I would throw it up because I know some people here have been looking for soemthing just like this and figured I could maybe save us both some efforts.

[MarlboroMan]

I have 2 of the Snap Server 4000 series units. I have examined this thread and the messages in it at great length and I am a bit confused on a few things that have been said here, I hope that Phoenix32 can clear up some of the confusion for me.

I upgraded my first 4000 from 4x30GB to 4X250GB drives. The problem that I continue to have is that once the new drives are installed, the unit goes into disk check mode and when it gets done with that, it just works fine till I copy a few files to it and then it just reboots. I have the latest version of the SNAP OS version 4.0.860 if that matters.

My best guess based on the info here is now that I am going to be in need of both the power supply upgrade and the RAM upgrade to get the unit running.

What is your reccomendation as far as the RAM upgrade? What is the max RAM that you can put in it? What type of RAM specifically does it take or what works best?

The PSU question seems to be much more of a major issue than I first thought that it might be. It looks like the Northwest Technical solution for the PSU replacement looks good, but the $150 per PSU price tag is kind of steep with all things considered. I am not sure that I want to put $300 in these two Snap servers.

As for the hard drives, I have 4 Western Digital 250GB JB series drives to go into one unit and 4 160GB Seagate series 9 drives to go into the other unit. Do I have to have the replacement PSU to handle these drives?

I am also confused about the entire cable/master/slave/Cable select issues. Which mode should I be using?? Can you just replace the cable?? Why could you not just lock the hard drives down to a specific ATA mode to make it more compatible with the SNAP server? Western Digital does offer such a utility for use with their drives which allows you to lock the drive to specific ATA mode? Which mode does the 4000 series use??? I need some additional help understanding this issue on the impact of this on the performance of the 4000.

In the end, I would like to just use the two SNAP sservers as RAID 5 backup and file storage boxes. Traffic on them should not be that heavy.

Would like to hear all suggestions on the best way to tackle this project and get them stable like my SNAP server 1100 is with the 320GB Western Digital hard drive in it.

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

I have 2 of the Snap Server 4000 series units. I have examined this thread and the messages in it at great length and I am a bit confused on a few things that have been said here, I hope that Phoenix32 can clear up some of the confusion for me.

Well then, let's see if we can sort this out step by step...

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

I upgraded my first 4000 from 4x30GB to 4X250GB drives. The problem that I continue to have is that once the new drives are installed, the unit goes into disk check mode and when it gets done with that, it just works fine till I copy a few files to it and then it just reboots. I have the latest version of the SNAP OS version 4.0.860 if that matters.

This could be a number of things. Bad power supply, bad board, bad memory, bad OS load, etc... In other words, could be tough to sort out without more info, but let's continue since I think you cover more of it in your message.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

My best guess based on the info here is now that I am going to be in need of both the power supply upgrade and the RAM upgrade to get the unit running.

Either or both of those very likely candidates. If the power supply cannot handle the load of the drives during spin up, the SNAP 4000 can do all kinds of mysterious things that are difficult to track down. Usually, one or more drives will drop in and out as orphans to a RAID or say they are not present as a single share or whatever during boot up, but the symptoms can vary and be quite annoying.

I have found through trial and error that with the larger drives, especially if you are running JVM which will make matters even worse, you need 128 MB of memory for it to function properly. The normal problem will be that it will just cancel/abort large file transfers. I have not seen it cause a reboot, but this does not mean it couldn't.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

What is your reccomendation as far as the RAM upgrade? What is the max RAM that you can put in it? What type of RAM specifically does it take or what works best?

I recommend 128 MB of memory for a SNAP 4000 (and 4100) if you are going to use larger hard disks, JVM, or both. For simple home use, I have not found any advantage of going to 256 MB of memory during any of my testing. However, if the SNAP server will be under heavy loads (many users), using lots of JVM stuff, or things like that, then 256 MB of memory will be needed, or at least be of some help.

The maximum memory limit for the SNAP 4000 (reguardless of what one bozo keeps advertising on his auctions on eBay) is 256 MB. The chipset will support more, but the configuration of the board only allows 256 MB.

The SNAP 4000 uses Low Density PC 100 SDRAM. It can use High Density memory, but you will only get half of the memory on the DIMM. It can also use PC 133 memory, but most PC 133 memory is High Density. This does not mean PC 100 memory is Low Density either. There is a lot of High Density PC 100 out there also. BE SURE what you are getting before you buy it.

As for what works best, I have used various memory modules in my SNAP Servers and have no real preference. However, if you do a search here on the forum, some peple have posted memory brand and models numbers that have worked for them. The 4100 and 4000 use the same memory, so it is interchangable. The difference is the height. 4100's need lower profile memory to clear the casing.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

The PSU question seems to be much more of a major issue than I first thought that it might be. It looks like the Northwest Technical solution for the PSU replacement looks good, but the $150 per PSU price tag is kind of steep with all things considered. I am not sure that I want to put $300 in these two Snap servers.

Okay, this part of the message is going to get longer, but because I have posted this information on several occasions, I will try to keep it short and direct so as not to lengthen this message too much.

First, do not read this as a negative towards the NW Tech power supply. It is a good solution for what it was inteneded for. Yes, it is steep for price. But, it was intended for corp IT usage where time and easy installation were paramount and money not the issue. Their power supply is designed so that pretty much anyone can install it and not take a lot of time. The down sides are that it does require one small modification on the switch, it does not provide any more power than the original stock OEM power supply did, and it is expensive. Please take note that I said IT DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY MORE POWER THAN AN ORIGINAL STOCK OEM POWER SUPPLY. If you are a corporate user with a down SNAP 4000 or a home user who is desperate, this power supply is the answer and damn good to have available. If you are a home user on a small budget, then it may not be for you. Only you can answer that one.

Here is the short version of the issue. Larger hard disk take more power to spin them up initially (the first few seconds of each power up). This can be to the tune of 2.8A @ 12V per drive for a Seagate 250 GB drive as an example. So with 4 drives, during that initial spin up, it can take upwards of 11.2A @12V for that first few seconds. After initial spin up, it drops to around 3A to 4.5A @12V for those same 4 drives (depending on the drives being used). The SNAP 4000 power supply is only rated at 6A @ 12V. You can see the problem here I hope.

With that said, the SNAP 4000 OEM power supply was a decent power supply and usually can handle those momentary surges during spin up. Good on Quantum for that one (Notice I gave credit to Quantum, not Adaptec). But there is a down side here too. The SNAP 4000 units have been around a while and are getting older every day. Power supplies weaken with age and use. Some of the SNAP 4000 power supplies out there are getting weaker now and starting to fail, or will fail when put under the heavier load of larger drives. It just is what it is.

If you have this problem, the solution(s) are this. Get a new power supply, if you can find one (and you will pay dearly for it), get another used one and hope it is better/stronger, buy the one from NW Tech (keeping in mind it is not rated for any more than the stock OEM power supply was), or doing a power supply MOD yourself. I designed a power supply MOD a while back and it is documented elsewhere on this forum, but it is not for just anyone to do. You need to know how to solder, can read wiring diagrams, and have the tools for doing it. It is not really hard for a person who knows these things (pretty easy in fact), it is just time consuming, but for someone who doesn't know these things, it is just not a very good idea. Your only other option would be to get someone to do one for you. I have considered it, but right now my time is tied up pretty good, so it would take a while.

I know these may not be the answers you wanted to hear, but they are the answers. If you find other solutions, please share them, but with as many people as who have looked, I doubt it, but who knows.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

As for the hard drives, I have 4 Western Digital 250GB JB series drives to go into one unit and 4 160GB Seagate series 9 drives to go into the other unit. Do I have to have the replacement PSU to handle these drives?

I hope I answered this above. The answer is, it depends. Depends on how good your power supplies are (how strong or weak), which I cannot tell you here sitting on a forum. Each one is a little different.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

I am also confused about the entire cable/master/slave/Cable select issues. Which mode should I be using?? Can you just replace the cable?? Why could you not just lock the hard drives down to a specific ATA mode to make it more compatible with the SNAP server? Western Digital does offer such a utility for use with their drives which allows you to lock the drive to specific ATA mode? Which mode does the 4000 series use??? I need some additional help understanding this issue on the impact of this on the performance of the 4000.

For -001 and -002 revision models, they use Master/Slave. For -003 and -004 revisions, they use C/S.

You should use C/S if at all possible, or you may run into the bug described earlier if/when you have a failed drive, and lose your RAID 5 array, and thus all your data.

To use the C/S, you need to use a cable specific for this purpose, which came with the -003 and -004 models but not -001 and -002 models. The cabes from a -001 or -002 model can be modified easily. It just requires removing/cutting one lead.

Yes, you could lock the drive to a specific ATA mode, and this is always a good idea. WD does have a utility for this, but most other drives, like Seagte do not. I think Hitachi does also, not sure, but none of the others do that I am aware of.

When I write this information, I have to provide it for the largest group of people. -AND- I have not tested it with drives with the ATA set and cannot guaruntee the results. If you have large hard disks, with lots of your precious data on them, do you really want to risk it in hopes that it will be fine just because you locked the ATA mode, rather than make a simple MOD to your cables (if needed)? See my point? Put another way, this was a known problem to Quantum (and now Adaptec) and they resolved it with a cable modification. If their engineers felt this was the way to go, it was good enough for me.

Plus, I could never PROVE FOR FACT it was the ATA mode causing the problem for sure in C/S without the modified cable(s). I spoke with David at great length about this, but neither of us could prove it, but we both felt it was the problem. We are pretty sure, but can't prove it as hard cold fact. I can say for fact though, that without the modified cable, none of the drives I tested (several brands and models) would work in C/S mode other than the old Quantum 30 GB drives.

I did consider setting the ATA mode with a utility, but knowing this would not be a fix for most people, and considering how long it would take to run the tests, I didn't do it. Consider I would have to do it a number of times to be sure. Which would include, setting the ATA mode, formatting the drives, building the array, then failing a drive (and you have to try it in different drive positions to prove it), then see what happens, and let it rebuild, -if- it will rebuild. Say do this at least three times in each drive position to verify results because it doesn't always happen. Now keep in mind how long it takes to build or rebuild those arrays with large hard disks. You do the math. It would be a lot of time and work to prove out a method that MIGHT work for a minority of people and there is an easier solution available that engineers thought was best. Would you have done it, or wrote it up any differently? I am not trying to chastise you here, I am just trying tto help you understand why it is written as it is written. But note that I did give tthe information so that someone like yourself could try it if they wanted to.

Make more sense now?

As for what the issue is and the impact of what is has on the 4000, I thought I wrote all this up before several times, but I will give a short answer here again.

In the Master/Slave configuration, if/when you have a hard disk fail, if you power the unit without replacing the bad drive, or the drive fails in a manner that will keep the IDE controller from seeing the drivel, there is a very strong possibility that the SNAP 4000 will fail/orphan the other drive on that IDE controller (the paired drive). If this happens, then the RAID 5 has lost 2 drives now. If you lose 2 drives in a RAID 5, the array is broken and your data is gone (without some specialty recovery services). I would say that is a pretty big impact.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

In the end, I would like to just use the two SNAP sservers as RAID 5 backup and file storage boxes. Traffic on them should not be that heavy.

To that end, I hope I have answered your questions here and pointed you in the right direction(s). If not, keep asking and I/we will try to answer as best we can. Just remember, we are not paid tech support from Adaptec.

Originally Posted by MarlboroMan

Would like to hear all suggestions on the best way to tackle this project and get them stable like my SNAP server 1100 is with the 320GB Western Digital hard drive in it.

I think I gave some suggestions here and there throughout this message thread and this mesage. But, here are a few more.

- For your power supply question, the only thing I can suggest at the moment is to remove/disconnect (from the IDE and power), one drive, then two, etc... See if the unit starts working properly. If it does, that is a good indication the power supply is too weak to hanle all the drives.

- For the memory, maybe you have a bad stick of memory. Replace it with a different stick and see what happens. Preferably with a 128 MB DIMM.

- For the OS, go back to a KNOWN GOOD configuration, even if this means with one drive. And be 100% sure it is a good configuration (test things). Then do another OS update (reflash the OS). DO NOT do an OS flash if the system is not operating properly. You run the risk of corrupting the OS, which may be the problem here now.


I hope this helps. It took me long enough to type up.

David (or others), do you agree or disagree with what I have said here? Do you have anything to add? The more the better...

[blue68f100]

Phoenix32, you over did your self on this one.

I only fell a sleep twice.

If you upgraded the OS from v2 to v3 or 4 then had a HD failed, you may have a different problem. The starting point of the HD were calculated differently. If you have done this, you just need to reinit all of the drives.

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by blue68f100

Phoenix32, you over did your self on this one.

I only fell a sleep twice.

If you upgraded the OS from v2 to v3 or 4 then had a HD failed, you may have a different problem. The starting point of the HD were calculated differently. If you have done this, you just need to reinit all of the drives.

Yeah, that too...


And hey, I try to be thorough... When I don't, they blame me when they blow it up.

[ebkolb]

Great thread!

I recently picked up an Snap 4000 off eBay that I hope to upgrade with 4x 250GB HDs and this thread has tons of good advice and info.

Thanks!

[MarlboroMan]

WOW! - So good info in the reply. A lot to digest and understand.

Let's talk a bit more about the PSU issue. I am not really an electronics guy at the board level, while I understand what you are saying... I guess my question would be what options does one have if they want a bigger PSU for the 4000? Seems to me that you should be able to find some ATX PSU that would work that could be retro fitted to fit the 4000 without too much trouble. Considering that you have choices, it seems that you just need to find the right one that could work. Based on your comments, it just does not seem like a good idea to put new larger drives in there with the higher power requirements without a replacment of the PSU if you want it to be reliable long term.

You mentioned the modification or retro fitting a PSU. Can you provide a link to this info? As you suggest, I know that I can't do it myself, but I might be able to find someone who can do the work if I know what all is involved.

As for the memory, I agree that it needs to be upgraded and finding something that should work should not be an issue.

I am starting to think that I might just be better off selling the two 4000 units that I have and look for a couple of 2000 units or another Snap server that does not require the PSU to be replaced.

As for the cable modification, can you provide a link to this as well. I agree that it is logical that this might be the best way to go long term. I would agree that locking the drive mode would be more of a last resort option at best.

Again, thanks for all of your info! - I just wish that it would have been more positive.

[blue68f100]

You can run the 4000 with 2 raid 1's. The PS is not a difficult mod, just requires the skill to solder. Andy can provide you with the pin out.

Most all of the newer Guardian Snaps use a 250w 1U. If I recall the 2000's has a ~50w, 2200 ~45w (12vdc x 3.5A). If you run these 24/7 you minimise the highloads required to startup the drives. As you can see the newer models corrected the PS issues. But remember these were made when 30gig HD's were consided to be huge.