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G4 xserve has died

Our G4 xserve has finally died, is there a way of mounting the RAID without the xserve to be able to access the data?

sxerve G4-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jan 12, 2015 6:51 AM

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Posted on Jan 13, 2015 8:09 AM

Yes.


Although you may have a problem finding a mac you can install the HBA card into? IIRC Fibre Channel Cards for that model were PCI based and not PCI-X as for later models. It's possible you have other G4s (Quicksilver, Mirrored Door etc) you're using elsewhere or are not being used but are still working? If that's true uninstall the Fibre Channel PCI card from your dead XServe and install it into any working G4 you have. Connect the XRaid using the FC cables and hopefully the volumes should show up on that mac's desktop.


Transfer the data to something more convenient or whatever you're planning to use now. A large USB or firewire externally attached hard drive for example.


If the above is not an option and assuming you have newer macs such as G5s or Intel based MacPro with a Fibre Channel PCI-X card installed then you should be able to simply connect the fibre channel cables to that card and the volumes should show up on that mac's desktop.


If you don't have a compatible PCI-X HBA for a G5 or Intel-based MacPro you look here:


http://www.hds.com/assets/pdf/data-sheet-qlogic-qla2462-dual-port-4gbps-fibre-ch annel.pdf


The mac does not have to be another XServe and neither does it need to have server software installed.

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Question marked as Best reply

Jan 13, 2015 8:09 AM in response to TCC1985

Yes.


Although you may have a problem finding a mac you can install the HBA card into? IIRC Fibre Channel Cards for that model were PCI based and not PCI-X as for later models. It's possible you have other G4s (Quicksilver, Mirrored Door etc) you're using elsewhere or are not being used but are still working? If that's true uninstall the Fibre Channel PCI card from your dead XServe and install it into any working G4 you have. Connect the XRaid using the FC cables and hopefully the volumes should show up on that mac's desktop.


Transfer the data to something more convenient or whatever you're planning to use now. A large USB or firewire externally attached hard drive for example.


If the above is not an option and assuming you have newer macs such as G5s or Intel based MacPro with a Fibre Channel PCI-X card installed then you should be able to simply connect the fibre channel cables to that card and the volumes should show up on that mac's desktop.


If you don't have a compatible PCI-X HBA for a G5 or Intel-based MacPro you look here:


http://www.hds.com/assets/pdf/data-sheet-qlogic-qla2462-dual-port-4gbps-fibre-ch annel.pdf


The mac does not have to be another XServe and neither does it need to have server software installed.

Jan 14, 2015 12:26 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

Thanks for your help, I tried to install the Fibre channel card into an old G5 Mac tower, but it wasn't compatible. Thankfully the RAID was backed up, so there isn't any data loss and it has all now been transferred onto a new server, its just frustrating because the drives are obviously perfectly fine and I can't get access to them!


We are also running a windows server which has fibre channel inputs so I might try attaching it to this if I don't need the Xserve software running on it to access the drives.

Jan 19, 2015 11:20 AM in response to TCC1985

Hi TCC1985,


If you're running an Xserve RAID then you can quite easily get hold of an Apple Fibre card for the G5 or a newer one for a Mac Pro/Intel Xserve.


If you're based in the UK then I have one that would work in a G5 which you could have if you paid the postage or you could collect it.. Otherwise they're pretty cheap on Ebay.. Here's a part number for a PCI-E card that's compatible with the G5 tower the G5 Xserve is PCI-X 661-4054


Intel based Mac's need a newer PCI-E card (2port version is 661-5006, 4port is 661-5007)

Although the Xserve RAID will work with Windows if you need any data from it then Windows won't read the RAID without using additional software like HFS+ from Paragon (if you don't need any data then you can format it for use with Windows)


Hope that helps
Beatle

G4 xserve has died

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