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June 21st, 2023 09:00
Unable to import Foreign Config
hi
Have a Dell server and unable to import foreign config.
Server is using PERC 5 and has 6 disks and suspect 1 disk failed which crashed the whole server. My understanding of the RAID config was as follows:
3 x RAID 1 sets, then a RAID 0 across all 3 x RAID 1 sets
All disks are showing "Foreign..." except disk 5 (Last disk as they are numbered 0 - 5)
Trying to import foreign config with all disks plugged in says "Error Importing 2 of 2", when the suspected faulty disk is pulled out, then it gives error "Error Importing 1 of 1"
Is there any way to get this config in the controller again without losing data?
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DELL-Chris H
7 Practitioner
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June 21st, 2023 13:00
CZFan,
If you don't have a backup and the data is vital then I would HIGHLY recommend you look into a 3rd party data recovery option. If you do have a backup then you can try retagging the Virtual Disk, which is deleting and recreating the virtual disk exactly as it was before (raid level, stripe size, drive locations, etc) but you don't initialize it, as that will delete the data. In your case you would note the configuration settings, delete the VD, recreate the VD with a replacement drive in place of the failed one without initializing the VD, then before leaving the controller BIOS you MUST remove the replacement drive. The reason being is the replacement drive is empty and would corrupt the data. Then once you are able to boot and everything looks fine, then you can reinsert the replacement drive to rebuild.
All this I would only do if you have a backup as it can harm the data.
Let me know if this helps.
CZFan
2 Posts
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June 22nd, 2023 00:00
@DELL-Chris H
Thank you for your reply.
I will do some research on 3rd party backup tools, etc.
Not sure how this will work as the server does not start up at all, but will provide feedback a bit later.
Any 3rd party tools you can possibly suggest looking into?
Dell-Martin S
Moderator
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June 22nd, 2023 06:00
Hi CZFan,
thank you for your message we wait for your feedback with using 3rd Party tools.
Dylank
1 Rookie
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104 Posts
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June 22nd, 2023 06:00
I would imagine Chris is talking about sending the drives into a 3rd party data recovery service. If the raid controller isn't importing the foreign config or working after a retag it is unlikely there will be any easy recovery options for this. They would basically extract the data off the drives and reconstruct it for you on a new device.