Quando un NAS si frizza in una mattina di fine luglio o si è completamente incoscienti o si comincia a pensare che la sua vita sia vicina....e così è stato. Per fortuna nei primi giorni di agosto ho provveduto a spostare i 170 Gb di dati degli utenti dell'area a cui era stata assegnata l'unità su un'altra macchina ed ho potuto così passare delle ferie "normali".

Ieri mattina, primo giorno di lavoro, l'amara scoperta...il NAS non risponde...rapido giro due piani più in basso in sala server per scoprire che lo schermo è tutto nero e che non c'è traccia di attività. 
Spento col tasto e via, al riavvio scopro che era fermo dal 25 agosto, per una volta la prudenza è stata provvidenziale.

Questa mattina chiamo la Dell per capire se è un problema imputabile a Windows 2000  storage edition o se è un problema hardware ma dopo circa un'ora di tentativi anche loro ammettono che non si capisce proprio.

Tra l'altro sui modelli di NAS Powervault 725N la disgnostica puà essere caricata anche da una chiavetta USB ma, attenzione!!!!, deve essere una chiavetta USB Dell. Il tecnico ha ammesso che probabilmente sono uno dei pochi in Italia ad averne comperata una (o meglio due).

Comunque se uno avesse comperato la versione normale (secondo loro) del 725N con il RAID software bastava scambiare il dischi 0 e 1 con i dischi 2 e 3 per avere un sistema nuovo di zecca dal punto di vista del SO. Infatti i dischi hanno delle partizioni in mirror per il SO a coppie e per il restante spazio sono in RAID 5 per i dati.
Ma chi cavolo lo compera un NAS già EIDE ed in più con il RAID software??

Riavvio un paio di volte in provvisoria fino a quando non riesco a recuperare un po' di dati miei tipo i CD di installazione e altre amenità che sposto su un Powervault 770N (belle macchine queste) che ha un po' di spazio libero.

Ora comincia il bello, con i CD originali della Dell, un cavo cross ed un PC con su Windows 2000 server appena installato (senza dominio e senza SP) si può reinstallare il SO del NAS.

Ecco qui la procedura:

Using a Dedicated System Running Windows 2000

 NOTICE: This procedure resets your NAS system to the Dell default settings. It also deletes all data on the software-RAID NAS system (hardware-RAID NAS system data is not affected). Before performing this procedure on a software-RAID NAS system, attempt to boot from the operating system image on the mirrored hard drives. See "Booting From the Software-RAID NAS System Recovery Operating System Mirror Hard Drives" in this section of the guide. For instructions on how to determine if you have a software-RAID or a hardware-RAID NAS system, see "Determining if a NAS System Uses Software RAID or Hardware RAID" in the "NAS Manager" section of this guide. 
Requirements
Crossover cable (not provided with the NAS system)

Client system running Windows 2000 (Professional or Server Family) with a CD drive

Resource CD included with your NAS system

Reinstallation CD included with your NAS system

Restoring Your NAS System to Preinstalled Settings
 NOTICE: This procedure deletes all of the data on your NAS system. 
Shut down the NAS system, and do not turn it back on until instructed.

See "Shutting Down the NAS System" in the "NAS Manager" section of this guide.
Connect a crossover cable to the Ethernet port labeled "LAN 1" on the NAS system and the Ethernet port on a client system running Windows 2000.

Connect a keyboard, monitor, and mouse to the NAS system.

For information about system connectors, see your User's Guide.
Turn on the client system.

Log in to the client system with an account that has administrator privileges.

Enter a new user name pv725 and the password password.

From the desktop of your client system, right-click My Computer, and then select Manage.

On the left side of the Computer Management window, double-click Local Users and Groups.

Right-click Users and select New User.

In the New User window, type pv725 as the user name.

Type password for the password, and type it again in the Confirm password field.

Deselect the User must change password at next logon to clear the check box.

Click Create and click Close.

Change the name of the client system running Windows 2000 to pv725rec:

From the desktop of your client system, right-click My Computer and then select Properties.

In the System Properties window, click Network Identification.

Click Properties.

In the Identification Changes window, type pv725rec for the system name.

Click OK, but do not reboot when prompted.

Click OK to close the Properties window.

Change the IP address on the network adapter of the client system to 10.40.10.1 and the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0:

From the desktop of the client system, right-click My Network Places and select Properties.

In the Network and Dial-up Connections window, right-click the network adapter that you connected to the NAS system with a crossover cable in step 1, and click Properties.

In the Local Area Connection Properties window, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.

Click Use the following IP address.

For IP address, type 10.40.10.1.

For subnet mask, type 255.255.255.0.

For gateway, type 10.40.10.1.

Click OK to close the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties window.

Click OK twice to close the Local Area Connection Properties window.

If you are prompted to reboot the client system, click No.

Create a share for the CD drive:

Log in to the client system with an account that has administrator privileges.

Double-click My Computer

Right-click the CD drive, and select Sharing.

Click Share this folder.

Type CD for the name of the share, and then click OK to confirm the share settings.

Install the Dell Reinstallation Console from the Resource CD:

Insert the Resource CD into the CD drive of your client system.

The Dell PowerVault 725N Resource CD window displays in a browser window.
 NOTE: If the CD does not run automatically, double-click the start.bat file on the CD. 
Click Resources.

Click Install Reinstallation Console.

When the File Download window displays, click Open this file from its current location, and then click OK.

Click Next and follow the instructions on the screen.

When prompted to reboot the client system, click Yes.

The Resource CD is no longer required; remove it from the client system.
Insert the Reinstallation CD into the client system's CD drive.

Turn on the NAS system.

The system must be turned on so that you can set the IP address using the Dell OpenManage™ Kick-Start utility.
Enable the Kick-Start utility and create your DHCP settings:

Click the Start button and point to Programs? Dell Reinstallation Console? Dell OpenManage Kick-Start.

When asked if you want to run the program, click Yes.

At the bottom of the Dell OpenManage Kick-Start window, click Setup.

Click Add.

In the Add Scope window, enter the following information and click OK:

10.40.10.10 for Starting IP Address

10.40.10.20 for Ending IP Address

255.255.255.0 for Subnet

10.40.10.1 for Gateway IP Address

Click OK to close the Add Scope window.

Click Interfaces for DHCP Server.

Click OK to close the Setup window.

Click Enabled at the bottom of the Dell OpenManage Kick-Start window to start the integrated DHCP server.

Start the Intel® PXE server and verify that the services are running:

Click the Start button and point to Programs? Dell Reinstallation Console? Intel PXE Server.

In the PXE Configuration Utility window, right-click the server name, PV725REC, and then select Start/Stop Services.

Verify that the proxy DHCP/Boot PXE and M/TFTP services are installed and running correctly by selecting Stop and then selecting Start.

If the services are running, ensure that the message Started is displayed after you click Start and Stopped is displayed after you click Stop on the indicator.
Click OK.

Reboot the NAS system by pressing the power button for less than 2 seconds.

On the keyboard connected to the NAS system, press immediately after you see the following message:

Press to enter the Function Select menu.
From the menu, select option 4, Reinstallation, and then type y to confirm the selection.

When the screen warns that you are going to reinstall and that it will erase data, type y.

Press y again to confirm the selection.

Depending on your configuration, this process could take several hours to complete. When the reinstallation is complete, the NAS system shuts down.
 NOTE: During the reinstallation, do not attempt to connect to your NAS system. 
After the NAS system shuts down, reboot the system.

The system is set to the preinstalled settings.
Reconfigure the system.

See "Configuring Your NAS System for the First Time" in the "Initial Configuration" section of this guide

Tutte le istruzioni le trovate qui:
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/stor-sys/spv725n/en/ag/k1941c50.htm


Se funziona lo saprò domani mattina perchè alla fine una volta arrivato all'11% del rispristino me ne sono venuto a casa... in fondo per una volta i dati li ho spostati 20 giorni prima del crash...mi posso anche concedere una serata a casa tranquillo....

PS Paola è fuori con le amiche e io