Question

Difficulty: MediumStorage Drives and RAID Array Issues

A system technician receives an automated alert indicating that a single drive has failed within a server's hot-swappable hardware RAID 5 array, causing the array to operate in a degraded state. Place the necessary steps for replacing the faulty drive and restoring array redundancy in the correct sequential order from first to last.

  1. 1Identify the faulty drive bay using the RAID controller management utility and physical LED status indicators.
  2. 2Release the drive bay lever and safely remove the failed drive assembly from the active chassis.
  3. 3Insert a new replacement drive of identical or greater capacity into the drive bay until fully seated and latched.
  4. 4Open the RAID management software to monitor and confirm that the automatic volume rebuild process completes.

Answer

The proper sequence begins with identifying the specific faulty drive via the controller software and chassis lights, followed by removing the failed drive, inserting a replacement drive of equal or greater capacity, and finally verifying that the automated RAID rebuild completes.
Correct RAID servicing requires identifying the exact failed disk first to prevent removing an active member disk. Once confirmed, the hot-swappable drive carrier is unlatched and removed. Inserting a qualified replacement drive triggers the hardware controller's automated parity reconstruction, which must be monitored until completion to confirm full redundancy has been restored.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate the specific failed disk drive using status LEDs and hardware controller software.
The exact physical bay containing the faulted drive is verified without disrupting healthy operational drives.
Removing an active healthy drive from a degraded RAID 5 array will result in total array failure and data loss.
2
Disengage the drive latch mechanism and extract the failed disk from the hot-swap enclosure.
The failed physical media is separated from the backplane connector.
Hot-swappable hardware allows disengaging drive carriers while the system remains powered on.
3
Slide the replacement drive into the empty bay and lock the retention lever.
The new drive establishes physical and electrical connection with the RAID controller backplane.
The controller requires a functional physical disk of equal or greater storage capacity to write reconstructed parity data.
4
Access the RAID controller management interface to check rebuilding status.
The controller parity reconstruction process completes, returning the volume state from Degraded to Optimal.
Verifying completion ensures full fault tolerance is successfully restored.

Key Concept

Hot-Swappable RAID 5 Failed Drive Replacement Sequence
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