Metadata Controller, inability to login to diagnose Xsan issue

Hi,

I'm trying to diagnose an issue with a small Xsan (1.x) we have here at the Uni.

The SAN volume isn't being mounted on the clients so I assume the finger points to the Xserve G5 metadata controller.

Now I can ping it OK, but not access it via ssh (remote host refused connection), ARD or any means I can think of - the Xserve doesn't have a VGA card btw.

What's the best way to proceed whilst (hopefully) preserving the SAN integrity?

PS - Before my intervention the SAN had been power recycled to no avail & I'm not sure the 'correct' procedure was followed; well it probably wasn't as you can't get in to gracefully shut each component down.

Cheers in advance for any thoughts!