IBM DS3200 Storage Subsystem manual Firmware updates

For example, the recovery procedure for a PFA flag (impending drive failure) on a drive varies depending on the drive status (hot spare, unassigned, RAID level, current logical drive status, and so on). Depending on the circumstances, a PFA flag on a drive can indicate a high risk of data loss (if the drive is in a RAID 0 volume) or a minimal risk (if the drive is unassigned). Only the DS3000 Storage Manager software can identify the risk level and provide the necessary recovery procedures.

Note: For PFA flags, the system-error LED and hard disk drive status LEDs are not lit, so checking the LEDs will not notify you of the failure, even if the risk of data loss is high.

Recovering from a storage-subsystem failure might require you to perform procedures other than replacing the component (such as backing up the logical drive). The DS3000 Storage Manager software provides these procedures.

Attention: Not following the software-recovery procedures can result in data loss. In addition, always replace a failing component as soon as possible to minimize additional failures that might occur, causing loss of data access.

Firmware updates

Attention: Save the storage subsystem profile before you perform any controller or ESM firmware upgrades. Save the profile and all configuration (.cfg) files to a server disk that will remain accessible in the event of a DS3200 storage configuration failure. Do not save these files only to a LUN in the storage subsystem.

To ensure the optimal operation of the storage subsystem and its attached storage expansion enclosures, the storage expansion enclosure ESM firmware, the DS3200 controller firmware, the hard disk drive firmware, and the NVSRAM (for controllers only) must be up-to-date. Go to http://www.ibm.com/servers/storage/support/disk/ to get the latest updates.

Always see the readme files that are included with the firmware packages for the most up-to-date information about firmware prerequisites, firmware update instructions, download-sequence information, and host I/O restrictions, if any. Apply the necessary updates before you configure the storage subsystem arrays and logical drives. Subscribe to My Support for automatic notifications of firmware or Storage Manager software updates or any important information about the DS3000 storage subsystems (see “Product updates” on page 5).

50System Storage DS3200 Storage Subsystem: Installation, User’s, and Maintenance Guide