A system administrator is troubleshooting a critical internal file server configured with a hardware RAID 5 array consisting of four SATA SSDs. The storage console alerts that Drive 2 has failed and the array is operating in a degraded state. The administrator hot-swaps Drive 2 with a brand-new drive of identical manufacturer, capacity, and specification. However, upon insertion, the hardware RAID management utility flags the newly inserted disk as 'Foreign' or 'Unconfigured Drive' and fails to initiate the rebuild automatically. Which of the following is the most appropriate immediate action to rebuild the array while preserving existing data?
- Import or clear the foreign drive configuration through the RAID utility and manually assign the replacement disk to the array to begin the rebuild.Answer
- BPerform a full high-level format on all active array drives to clear controller metadata before re-adding the replacement disk.
- CConvert the degraded RAID 5 array into a RAID 0 configuration to bypass parity validation and force synchronization with the new drive.
- DHot-swap Drive 0 and Drive 1 while online to trigger an automatic controller factory reset and auto-assign the new drive.
Answer
Import or clear the foreign drive configuration through the RAID utility and manually assign the replacement disk to the array to begin the rebuild.
When a replacement drive contains existing RAID configuration headers or metadata from manufacturing/prior use, the hardware RAID controller flags it as 'Foreign'. Importing or clearing this configuration metadata via the controller BIOS/management interface transition the drive into a usable state ('Ready/Unconfigured'), allowing it to be assigned to the degraded RAID 5 array to safely execute the parity-based rebuild process.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Handling Foreign Disk Configurations during RAID Rebuilds
Estimated Time:2m 0s