replacing Raid 1 drive

[mmarino]

I help support several stores that have systems with two drives with raid 1 mirroring them. My challenge is when a drive goes bad, the replacement drives are not always blank. Some have our initial image on them. When one if these drives is introduced into an existing system, it doesn't matter which drive has the most current data on it, raid is recognizing whichever drive is in the SATA1 slot as king. We have both drives setup as bootable and I can change the boot order in bios to boot the other drive first, which has no affect. I'm sure the issue is not which drive it is initially booting from, it's more about which drive raid thinks is the current one. Any idea why raid is assuming the drive staged months ago is king?

[Rubberman]

Rule 1: Wipe a drive BEFORE you install it as a replacement for a RAID.
Rule 2: See Rule 1

[jjscott]

I think he is asking for a solution when installing a blank drive is not an option or the most convenient option. Typically speaking, hard drive replacements for retail stores are staged with an image by a third party contracted by the retailer and the drives sit in warehouses across the country until they are needed. So, its not as simple as suggesting to install a new/blank drive. Nor is it as simple as having the installation tech wipe it before installing it. Anyone who has worked with some of the installation techs out there would probably agree.

Is there a way to dictate which drive the system is booted from in the scenario he describes?

[Rubberman]

I think he is asking for a solution when installing a blank drive is not an option or the most convenient option. Typically speaking, hard drive replacements for retail stores are staged with an image by a third party contracted by the retailer and the drives sit in warehouses across the country until they are needed. So, its not as simple as suggesting to install a new/blank drive. Nor is it as simple as having the installation tech wipe it before installing it. Anyone who has worked with some of the installation techs out there would probably agree.

Is there a way to dictate which drive the system is booted from in the scenario he describes?

My point is that when you install a new drive in a RAID that is replacing a failed one, it really should be wiped first. That way, any incidental bad sectors will be mapped out of use by the drive controller. As for selecting which device to boot from, that depends upon the RAID controller hardware. Most of the time, you can access the configuration BIOS of the controller at POST time as the system begins to boot, but before control is given to the disc controller. To do that, on many systems you first have to put the system BIOS into non-quiet boot mode, otherwise you won't see when the RAID hardware is initializing. I know that is the case with my Intel Server/Workstation motherboard (S5000XVN). It gives me the option to alter the configuration at that point, for about 2 seconds, so you have to be quick!

[mmarino]

Thanks for the responses so far. Jjscott hit the nail on the head - that is my situation exactly. Rubberman, I follow what you are saying as well and I believe I can try that. I'll let you know when I get a chance to test it.