Battery Nearing Expiration
The causes and resolutions refer to the Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager recovery guru. Launch Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager to diagnose and fix the recovery failure as follows:
Open Start >> Programs >> Dell >> MD Storage Manager >> Modular Disk Storage Manager Client.
If the MD Storage Array is already being managed by MDSM, you can proceed with the Causes and Resolution sections.
From Edit -> Add Storage Array, provide the IP address of the MD Storage Array and Add it to the discovered devices configuration in order to manage it.
Select the MD Storage Array and follow the steps specified in this recovery guru.
A battery is nearing the end of its useful life. The Recovery Guru Details area provides specific information you will need as you follow the recovery steps.
Caution: Electrostatic charges can damage sensitive components. Always use proper antistatic protection when handling components. Touching components without using a proper ground may damage the equipment.
Caution: Risk of Data Loss. If you remove a battery while it is in a Battery Nearing Expiration state and write caching is enabled on a virtual disk, you risk the chance of losing cached data if power to the storage array fails. If power fails before the storage array can detect the removed battery and write all cached data to the disks, you will lose cached data. Typically, it takes approximately 2 minutes to write all cached data (with a maximum of 10 minutes).
Important Notes
Contact your Technical Support Representative if you do not have a replacement battery available.
The purpose of the battery is to preserve cached data in the event of a power failure.
Refer to the Smart battery field in the Details area to determine if this battery is SBD (Smart Battery Data)-capable.
Since the battery is SBD(Smart Battery Data)-capable, write caching will not be affected when the battery reaches its expiration date provided that it can still hold sufficient charge to preserve cached data in the event of a power failure. If the battery can NOT hold sufficient charge to preserve cached data, then 1) write caching will be disabled and 2) a "Battery Replacement Required" problem will be reported in the Recovery Guru Summary area.
To see how many days remain until replacement is required, select the Hardware > Enclosure > Change > Battery Settings... menu option, and then select the battery that is listed in the Details area.
The battery replacement procedure varies depending on the type of storage array you have. Some batteries are directly accessible while some batteries are inside the RAID controller module which require you to remove the RAID controller module first before servicing the battery. Consult the appropriate hardware manual if you need details on locating and replacing the battery.
A "Battery Nearing Expiration" problem may still occur if you do not reset the battery age after you replace the battery. Make sure you reset the battery age for the replacement battery.
You can resolve this problem in the following ways:
Replace the battery now and assume the risk of losing cached data as outlined in the caution, below. As long as you have the replacement battery readily accessible, the replacement procedure should take less than a minute to complete.
Ensure that write cached data is preserved before replacing the battery by disabling write caching for all virtual disks in the storage array.
Wait until the battery reaches its expiration date before you replace it. If you choose this option, you do not need to continue with the recovery steps, but the storage array will 1) remain in a Needs Attention condition, 2) continue to display this problem in the Summary area, and 3) continue to log MEL event every 24 hours.
To ensure a complete configuration restore (both disk pool and traditional disk group), it is highly recommended that storage array configuration data is backed up prior to executing this procedure. This is especially important for simplex storage arrays, and RAID controller modules that operate without the use of batteries. To save your configuration, open either the Command Line Interface (CLI), or the Script Editor from the Enterprise Management Window (EMW), and execute the following command:
save storageArray dbmDatabase sourceLocation=onboard controller[0] contentType=all file="hostfile.zip";
Refer to the Component requiring service field in the Details area to determine which recovery steps you need to complete.
If... | Then... |
The component requiring service is the battery | Go to ' Recovery Steps for a Directly-Accessible Battery. ' |
The component requiring service is the RAID controller module that contains the battery | Go to ' Recovery Steps for a Battery Inside a RAID Controller Module. ' |
Recovery Steps for a Directly-Accessible Battery
1 |
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2 | Remove the affected battery. Note: The Service Action Allowed status in the Details area is always NO for this problem because the component is not yet expired or failed. In this situation, it is acceptable to remove the component even though the Service Action Allowed is NO. | ||||||||||||||||||
3 | Insert the new battery securely into place. | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty). | ||||||||||||||||||
5 | Select the Hardware > Enclosure > Change > Battery Settings... menu option. | ||||||||||||||||||
6 | Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero. Note:
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7 |
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8 | Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your Technical Support Representative. |
Recovery Steps for a Battery Inside a RAID Controller Module
If... | Then... |
Your storage array has one RAID controller module | Go to 'Procedure for Storage Arrays with One RAID Controller Module.' |
Your storage array has two RAID controller modules | Go to 'Procedure for Storage Arrays with Two RAID Controller Modules.' |
Procedure for Storage Arrays with One RAID Controller Module
1 | Stop all I/O from all hosts to this storage array.When the Cache Active LED on the RAID controller module is no longer active (up to 5 minutes), proceed to step 2. Caution: Risk of Data Loss. You must wait for the Cache Active LED to stop blinking to ensure that all cache has been written to the physical disks in the storage array. |
2 | Click the Save As button in the Recovery Guru dialog to save the remaining steps to a file. These steps may no longer be accessible from the Recovery Guru dialog after you complete step 3. |
3 | Remove the RAID controller module that contains the affected battery. |
4 | Replace affected battery with a new replacement battery. Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure. |
5 | Insert the RAID controller module (containing the new battery) securely into place.After the RAID controller module appears on the Hardware tab of the AMW, go to step 6. |
6 | Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty). |
7 | Select the Hardware > Enclosure > Change > Battery Settings... menu option. |
8 | Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero. Note:
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9 | Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your Technical Support Representative. |
Procedure for Storage Arrays with Two Controllers
1 | If there are any hosts connected to this storage array that are NOT running a host-based, multi-path failover driver, stop I/O to the storage array from each of these hosts. | ||||||
2 | Place the affected RAID controller module offline.
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3 | Click the Save As button in the Recovery Guru dialog to save the remaining steps to a file. These steps may no longer be accessible from the Recovery Guru dialog after you complete step 4. | ||||||
4 | Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. There should be an "Offline RAID Controller Module" problem reported in the Summary area. | ||||||
5 | Follow the "Offline RAID Controller Module" recovery steps until you have removed the RAID controller module. After you have removed the RAID controller module, do not continue with the "Offline RAID Controller Module" recovery steps until you are instructed to do so later in this procedure. | ||||||
6 | Replace affected battery with a new replacement battery. Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure. | ||||||
7 | Complete the remaining "Offline RAID Controller Module" recovery steps, then go to step 8. | ||||||
8 | Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty). | ||||||
9 | Select the Hardware > Enclosure > Change > Battery Settings... menu option. | ||||||
10 | Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero. Note:
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11 | Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your Technical Support Representative. |
| Target | Microsoft.SystemCenter.ManagementServer | ||
| Category | Alert | ||
| Enabled | True | ||
| Alert Generate | True | ||
| Alert Severity | Warning | ||
| Alert Priority | Normal | ||
| Remotable | True | ||
| Alert Message |
|
| ID | Module Type | TypeId | RunAs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DS | DataSource | Microsoft.Windows.ScriptGenerated.EventProvider | Default |
| Alert | WriteAction | System.Health.GenerateAlert | Default |
| WriteToDW | WriteAction | Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.PublishEventData | Default |
Home
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