stupid mdadm question: state removed

jonr79 · 09-10-2015, 01:35 PM

I'm new to linux and I have inherited a Red Hat server with 18 disk raid array.

Question about mdadm:
If a drive's state is removed does that mean it failed? I've seen in some forum posts the state "removed faulty". My details just say removed, if that's the case can I just re-add the "removed" drive to the array and get on with life? Or does it mean that something bad has actually befallen that drive?

Thanks

smallpond · 09-11-2015, 06:28 AM

If the drive is sdg, for example, do

Code:

grep sdg /var/log/messages

chrism01 · 09-11-2015, 08:27 AM

As a general rule, disks are marked 'failed' if they have failed, but 'removed' usually implies someone has done that (manually). Either way I'd suspect the disk is dead/dying.

Definitely check what kind of RAID you have - 18 disks in in one RAID array is a bit unusual unless its eg 5+1 (ie RAID 5 sets that are also mirrored or similar.
You really need to be clear on the setup BEFORE you mess with it.

jonr79 · 09-14-2015, 09:43 AM

SmallPond:

After looking at the log messages I found that 2 of the "removed" drives were automatically marked for removal. I believe the time stamps were inline with power failures. After some further googling I stopped the array and assembled it manually. The 2 "removed" drives are now functioning normally.

Thanks