Raid firmware compatibility with the OS

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Raid firmware compatibility with the OS

We would like to update the firmware on a four year old xserve raid that is attached to Xserve running OS X 10.2.6. The OS will be left at its current level and we will just update the raid. The current raid firmware level is 1.0.1/1.16f. Our concern is with the compatibility of OS X 10.2.6 and the new raid firmware 1.5.

We have left versions as they are, because the server hosts millions of critical files and is used in a production environment. The raid is presented to the server as a software stripped raid 50 using all 14 drives. Because a software raid 50 is not portable we have been reluctant to tamper with the server environment.

Does anyone know of any compatibility issues or is raid firmware level independent of the operating system of the server to which it is attached>

Posted on May 10, 2007 6:21 AM

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Answer 1

May 10, 2007 8:44 AM in response to mondo36

The firmware on the RAID is totally independent of anything going on with the computer. You can update it to 1.5/1.5.1 and all should be fine. It doesn't matter what OS version you're running.

Be aware that if you're using LUN masking, that 1.5.1 removes that functionality from the GUI (so I'd recommend 1.5 in that case).

Also note the RAID 50 is portable -- if you moved the FC card and the cables to another machine it should show up properly.

In any case -- have a current backup before you upgrade that firmware -- that's best practice in any case.

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Answer 2

mondo36 Author

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May 10, 2007 9:24 AM in response to William Lloyd

We were told by Apple support that the stripping information for the software based raid 50 was kept on the server unlike the raid 5 metadata which resides on the raid drives themselves and that losing the server's OS would make the raid inaccessible. Is the raid 50's metadata also on the drives?

Since we have so much invested in our raid can you point to anything to buttress what you wrote?

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Answer 3

May 10, 2007 9:35 AM in response to mondo36

It's effectively RAID 0 across two volumes. The RAID set info is stored on the volumes, so if you move it, the data will move as well. I've done it and it has worked fine.

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Answer 4

mondo36 Author

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May 10, 2007 10:04 AM in response to William Lloyd

Thank you taking the time to respond.

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