[Moderator Note: Moving thread from Systems to Storage. More applicable category.]
I have been running an old Server quite successfully using Window Server 2008 since I built it in 2008.
All that time it has had a RAID 1 Array of two 1TB HDDs. My problem is that recently one of these disks fell over. So I was desperately trying to recover the data from the surviving disk. I managed to find out online that I could safely delete the RAID 1 array without losing any data - despite the prompt that tells you, you are going to. So I did and have successfully now copied my data to a separate 3.5" Drive.
So my problem now is that I am trying to replace all my old 3.5" Drives with newer 2.5" drives. I had already replaced the C: Drive with a 2.5" SSD. Because my optical Drive had also failed, I needed to download an ISO so that I could boot from USB. I could not find an ISO for Server 2008. So I downloaded an ISO for Server 2019, which I installed quite successfully, and it picked up the existing RAID 1 array based on 3.5" Disks, which had been running as D:
Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, we had a power cut. When the lights came back on, one of the 3.5" Drives in the RAID Array had also failed. At that point I decided I had better replace all my 3.5" Drives with 2.5" Drives - after 14 years, they were clearly on the way out.
So, I added a couple of new 2.5" drives and defined them as a RAID 1 Array. However, when I got into Server 2009, its File Manager could not see the new RAID array.
I then decided to delete the RAID Array and see whether it would see them as individual Drives. It couldn't! (Previously it had, as I had installed them as single drives and formatted them before adding them into the array.) After a lot of messing around to find out what had gone wrong, I determined that there was nothing wrong with my cabling, as both my old 3.5" Drives could still be detected and seen in File Manager. Indeed, it can still detect and see other 2.5" Drives - but not the pair that were in the new RAID 1 Array!
So, I tested them in a USB Enclosure on another PC. They are not detected there either. Other 2.5" Drives are detected in the same enclosure just fine. What then is wrong with these two drives? I thought I might have corrupted their Master Boot Records in some way. So, I tried re-adding them as a RAID 1 Array, and deleting the Array again. It made no difference! Is there any way I can resurrect them?
Also, what is my best way forward with my RAID Array? Should I revert to 3.5" Drives? How about going back to Server 2008?
What I am thinking about doing is:
I have been running an old Server quite successfully using Window Server 2008 since I built it in 2008.
All that time it has had a RAID 1 Array of two 1TB HDDs. My problem is that recently one of these disks fell over. So I was desperately trying to recover the data from the surviving disk. I managed to find out online that I could safely delete the RAID 1 array without losing any data - despite the prompt that tells you, you are going to. So I did and have successfully now copied my data to a separate 3.5" Drive.
So my problem now is that I am trying to replace all my old 3.5" Drives with newer 2.5" drives. I had already replaced the C: Drive with a 2.5" SSD. Because my optical Drive had also failed, I needed to download an ISO so that I could boot from USB. I could not find an ISO for Server 2008. So I downloaded an ISO for Server 2019, which I installed quite successfully, and it picked up the existing RAID 1 array based on 3.5" Disks, which had been running as D:
Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, we had a power cut. When the lights came back on, one of the 3.5" Drives in the RAID Array had also failed. At that point I decided I had better replace all my 3.5" Drives with 2.5" Drives - after 14 years, they were clearly on the way out.
So, I added a couple of new 2.5" drives and defined them as a RAID 1 Array. However, when I got into Server 2009, its File Manager could not see the new RAID array.
I then decided to delete the RAID Array and see whether it would see them as individual Drives. It couldn't! (Previously it had, as I had installed them as single drives and formatted them before adding them into the array.) After a lot of messing around to find out what had gone wrong, I determined that there was nothing wrong with my cabling, as both my old 3.5" Drives could still be detected and seen in File Manager. Indeed, it can still detect and see other 2.5" Drives - but not the pair that were in the new RAID 1 Array!
So, I tested them in a USB Enclosure on another PC. They are not detected there either. Other 2.5" Drives are detected in the same enclosure just fine. What then is wrong with these two drives? I thought I might have corrupted their Master Boot Records in some way. So, I tried re-adding them as a RAID 1 Array, and deleting the Array again. It made no difference! Is there any way I can resurrect them?
Also, what is my best way forward with my RAID Array? Should I revert to 3.5" Drives? How about going back to Server 2008?
What I am thinking about doing is:
- back up my data on to another 2.5" Drive,
- reformat my surviving two old 3.5" Drives and see whether Server 2019 will continue working with them. (It could be that the power cut was a red herring and it was a lack of stability under Server 2019.)
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