[Klug-general] RAID OF DEATH!!!

[Stuart Buckland]

On Thu, 2004-12-02 at 14:54 +0000, Karl Lattimer wrote:

> !! WARNING !! Do not unplug disks without removing them from the array 
> first, and having your head switched on and in gear and knowing which 
> physical disk it is you want to unplug from the array.
> 
> I think i probably deserve 10 lashings with a cane for that
> 
> Thanks
>     Karl,


What can I say except D'OH!!!
The best way to learn is the hard way I always say at times like
these :)

One to add though...
If your disks are true hardware hotpluggable then you don't necessarily
need to remove them from the array prior to physically pulling it out.
After all this is basically what happens if a disk dies.  As it's RAID5
the system should notice and cope with the fact that a drive suddenly
vanishes off the bus whether it be intentionally yanked out or a genuine
fault.

In this particular instance if you had simply yanked out the (other)
drive without having removed one from the array in the first place then
chances are the system would have been fine.

The only time I can think raidsetfaulty is useful is when the system in
question isn't hotpluggable and you want to test what would happen
should a drive suddenly go offline.

Stu