Upgrade steps for 2000

[dgoodrich]

I have a newer 2000 that has been upgraded to 4.0.860. Currently it has 2 x 80-gig drives running Raid-1. Soon, I would like to upgrade to bigger disks (maybe 2 x 300-gigs or something similar). I know it should support large disk. I understand that this model has its OS in flash, so I should be able to just put the new drives in and it should format them etc., correct?

If I replace one drive at a time, will it rebuild the raid (and thus retain my data), or will I need to copy the data off to another drive in order to make the upgrade?

Also, does anybody have a recommendation for what drives to buy? Are there any ATA-100, 5400 rpm drives with large capacity available? This would seem ideal since they would have lower power consumption and generate less heat than 7200 rpm drives, and would probably perform just as well in this application.

Thanks,
Dave

[dgoodrich]

Would this drive work o.k.? Pretty good deal, it seems.

[blue68f100]

Question 1: Yes

Question 2: No, does not do it automaticly. And only likes the same size drives.

Question 3: Most have upgraded to 7200 rpm drives and installed a high capacity fan to handling the cooling. The newer drives actually run cooler than some of the 5400 rpm vintage drives. I think one user took the plunge with 2x400=800 gigs , or was it the new 2x500= 1T.
I think the 2000 only has a 50w power supply. Maybe it's a 120w

The easiest way to do the upgrade a 2000 to high capacity drives is:

1. Change your drive config from RAID1 to JBOD. This will put all data on the master.

2. Copy all data from the master back to the slave.

3. Shut down and remove all drives.

4. Install a new drive in the master position.

5. Startup the 2000 and let the snap format and install the snap OS. May take a while to format. Wait at least 10 min before trying to connect. Verify that you have full capacity - overhead.

6. Once complete shut down and re-install the Slave drive (your data).

7. Copy all data from the slave drive to the new master.

8. Shutdown and install the new Slave drive.

9. On reboot the snap will format the slave drive for use.

10. Once the format has completed, You can now set the RAID 1 backup. All data is on the master so it will be mirrored to the slave.

This way, you have your original drives intact with all Data for a backup.

If nothing has been changed your drive setup should be :
Master = End of the 40/80 Conductor cable. CS or M (front of case)
Slave = The Middle connector. CS or S (closes to power supply)

[dgoodrich]

Thanks for the great info. Exactly what I needed.

I'd love to find a higher capacity fan, especially if I could find a quieter one too. Has anyone found such a thing for the 2000?

Also, I have never opened my Snap. Does it have the 80-pin cable? If so, I should be able to use any ATA 100 or ATA 133 drive, correct?

Thanks again,

[blue68f100]

The early models do not like EIDE drives. ATA100 drives are backward compatable. So if you have a 40 cond it will drop back to the ATA66 speed.

My 2000 was a version 1. The fan was an odd ball fan size, 52x52x15mm. Sunon PN KD1205PHB3 , 4300rpm, 8.5 cfm, 22.5 dba, 12vdc, 7w. Since the fan is only mounted by 2 screws you can get by with a 50x50x15mm by expanding 2 mounting holes. I believe the v2 has the same powersupply and fan. I don't think they make a quiter fan. If the fan is good, I dought if you could hear it at 22 dba. Most fans are 26+ dba.

[dgoodrich]

I'm not sure if mine is a V1 or V2, here is the info:

Model Software Hardware Server # BIOS
2000 series 4.0.830 (US) 2.0.0 58328 2.0.282

So my 2000 should have a 40-pin connector, and as long as the new drives have 40-pin connectors, they should be o.k. (regardless if they are ATA 100 or ATA 133 etc.), right?

Thanks,

[blue68f100]

Looking at your snap spec you have a v2 cabable of supporting HD >137gig.

Yes on the connector, just avoid EIDE drives and you will be fine. A lot of EIDE are the ATA133 spec. So stick with ATA 100 only.

[dgoodrich]

Thanks again for the help, sorry to keep coming back with more ?s, but I want to make sure before I buy something.

If a drive is EIDE but 100 MB/s, (like this Western Digital 250 GB drive, would that work? Most of the larger capacity drives that are available now seem to be EIDE.

Another quick question: does the amount of cache make much difference in a Snap? I could pay about $40 more (for two drives) and get 8 mb cache instead of 2 mb cache. Would this be worth it?


Thanks,
Dave

[jontz]

I can't tell you for sure that an EIDE drive will or won't work. Different users have had different experiences. IDE always works though, seagate and hitatchi drives seem to be foolproof.

Don't spend the money on the 8MB cache. You are limited by the throughput on the NIC card in your snap, which is about 12MB/sec. That's waayyyy slower than the drive is capable of. More cache won't do anything to help you.

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by jontz

I can't tell you for sure that an EIDE drive will or won't work. Different users have had different experiences. IDE always works though, seagate and hitatchi drives seem to be foolproof.

Don't spend the money on the 8MB cache. You are limited by the throughput on the NIC card in your snap, which is about 12MB/sec. That's waayyyy slower than the drive is capable of. More cache won't do anything to help you.

I need to chime in here on one "possible" issue about the WD drives and/or EIDE drives issues etc... My appologies for not picking up on this issue some of you have had sooner. While the problems may in fact be from EIDE drives and the RAID controller, this sounds to me more like a common issue you can find on PC's with PATA RAID. There has been an issue where Hard Disks get dropped from a RAID array on PCs. This quite often has to do with Timeouts caused by idle acoustic features. I suspect this is the problem within the Snap Servers as well when drives keep getting dropped from a RAID Array. Timing is everything in a RAID array.

Go here for a little more information from WD

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1


If this massive link does not work, go to WD Knowledge Base Answer ID 913


The solution is to go in and turn off the acoustic feature of the drive. This has also been seen in other manufacturers drives. Sometimes those fancy features to make things "better" can cause issues with RAID arrays where timing is important.

I hope this helps and clears up some people's issues with their Snap Servers.



Yes, I am lazy and partialy quoted myself from another message thread. ;-)

[jontz]

Originally Posted by Phoenix32

Yes, I am lazy and partialy quoted myself from another message thread. ;-)

Sorry, couldn't resist pulling out one of my thread pics!!!

[Phoenix32]

[jontz]

LOL Come one, you know we wouldn't REALLY ban you...

[Phoenix32]

Originally Posted by jontz

LOL Come one, you know we wouldn't REALLY ban you...

I know... If you did, you would not have me around annoying you all with all these questions that make you think and look at new ideas...