Hi Guys

If I'm running a server running RAID 10 across a set of identical disks. One of the disks fails and I need to replace it, what are the chances that replacing the drive with one that has a different version of firmware will cause any problems (all other specs seem the same).

I'm specifically talking about SATA II. So something like this:
http://www.serversupply.com/HARD%20D...31000340AS.htm

I don't know enough about that level of operation so perhaps someone could explain what the risks are and what challenges the RAID controller faces in these cases.

Thanks
Warrick

The performance may differ from the other drives with different firmware but it shouldn't be anything to be concerned about.

Thanks, but I guess I'm looking for a deeper technical understanding of the issue. Aka what role the firmware plays in the SATA II protocol implementation etc. I'm not saying your answer's wrong just that I'm looking to convince myself with a deeper understanding.

The firmware does not matter at all, as long as it is compliant to the SATA-II standard, which is the case for any modern drive. I have already run RAID 0, 1 and 5 with drives from different manufacturers without any problems.

Using different drive manufacturers will not yeild optimum performance. Random access will likely suffer the most. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just speaking from experience.

Sure, but firmware = software. If it was always perfect there would never be a need to updated the rev. of firmware right?

My thinking was that if SATA is implemented in a similar way TCP\IP, then you have a number of things that can change at the protocol level (Frame size etc)... sure, they both implement the same interfaces but if you have a client writing the same data to two different TCP\IP implementations in parallel and waiting for confirmation, you'd be as slow as the slowest server ..

As Tobi stated, the firmwares comply with the SATA II standard and that is all that matters.
As I stated, performance may vary.

Firmware updates on harddisks are normally only necessary if there is a bug in it or to prevent mechanical failures (I remember some IBM drives that had to move the heads from time to time or they would fail).

Wrong If e.g. a different controller in the HD is used, the FW will more than likely be different. And before you ask why they might want to use a different controller: they might no longer be produced.