Common Causes of RAID Server Failures

Common Causes of RAID Server Failures

RAID Server is a configuration of multiple disk drives that present themselves to an operating system as a single data storage medium.

It implemented by hardware or software -Basically a number of independent hard disks are connected to form a single and often larger virtual volume,

Common Causes of RAID Failure

RAID controller failure

Most RAID servers rely on a single controller to direct the array’s options.

The controller can fail due to power surges or other problems, Booting problems and other difficulties.

RAID Partitions Missing
Partition disks can be corrupted and stop working due to Missing or Unusable partitions.

RAID Volume Rebuild

Sometime RAID volume is not rebuilt correctly; it may be reason for problems in accessing data or may even cause a complete system breakdown.

Multiple Server Disk Failure

RAID system is to allow the server to survive the failure of a single system disk. Disk failed the Server system makes the array much more vulnerable to further disk failures and can result in a complete system breakdown. If you run your system in degraded mode significantly improving the chances that the array will fail.

Server Crash

Host Server failure for any reason can render an array and make it inaccessible.

1. When one hard disk fails, very often, there is no hot standby

2. RAID Server has a single controller. Its failure will result in catastrophic single point of failure.

3. Frequently, due to power surge, the controller or a number of disk elements could fail resulting Data loss form server. Or may corrupt the RAID configuration setting of NV-RAM in the controller card.

4. Replacing a faulty drive in an attempt to rebuild the raid volume to healthy state, or wrong procedures are performed resulting in wrong or partial rebuild ,or complete system breakdown once completion of rebuild.

5. RAID configuration with fault tolerance at best only intends to protect the physical failure, but not logical corruption such as system corruption, virus infection and inadvertent deletion.

RAID failures problem types:-

• Malfunctioned Controller
• Missing RAID partition
• Power Surge
• Data Deletion or reformat
• Virus Attack
• Inadvertent reconfiguration of RAID volume
• Raid rebuild error or volume reconstruction problem
• Multiple disk failure in off-line state resulting in loss of RAID volume
• Wrong replacement of good disk element belonging to a working raid volume
• Loss of RAID disk access after system or application upgrade
• Loss of RAID configuration settings or system registry