Partially Complete Disk Group

What Caused the Problem?

One or more physical disks are missing from a disk group. Because of the RAID configuration of the disk group, there are still enough physical disks remaining that the virtual disks can continue servicing I/O. However, the disk group may not be able to continue I/O if more physical disks are removed or fail.

The Recovery Guru Details area provides specific information you will need as you follow the recovery steps.

Caution: Electrostatic discharge can damage sensitive components. Always use proper antistatic protection when handling components. Touching components without using a proper ground may damage the equipment.

Important Notes

You should fix this problem as soon as possible because further physical disk failures could result in this disk group and all its associated virtual disks becoming Failed . This will also result in a Incomplete Disk Group problem being displayed in the Summary area, and could result in the loss of data.
This problem may occur as a result of one of the following scenarios:
- There was a loss of power to one or more expansion enclosures.
- You removed physical disks - either inadvertently or in order to replace the physical disks.
- You removed physical disks because you intend to export them to another storage array. However, you did not use the Export operation available in the storage management software to prepare these physical disks before removal.
- You inserted physical disks because you intend to import them from another storage array. However, you selected the Force Import operation in the storage management software and not all of the physical disks for the disk group are inserted.
- This problem can also be displayed as a result of one or more physical disks being bypassed. If there is a Bypassed Physical Disk problem being reported in the Summary area, complete the recovery steps to correct the Bypassed Physical Disk problem first. Only continue with the Recovery Steps for this problem if it is still displayed after you click the Recheck button.
The affected disk group will be displayed as a degraded disk group . In addition, If a virtual disk in the affected disk group is receiving I/O, then the virtual disk may be displayed as a degraded virtual disk if there is not sufficient hot spare coverage.
You can replace missing physical disks while the affected virtual disks are receiving I/O.

Recovery Steps

If...

Then...

You removed the physical disks - either inadvertently or you need to replace the physical disks

Go to "Completing a Physical Disk Replacement."

You removed the physical disks because you intend to export these physical disks to another storage array

Go to "Completing a Disk Group Export."

You have inserted physical disks from another storage array and already selected the Force Import option

If...	Then...
The missing physical disks were not imported with the rest of the physical disks because they were damaged	Go to "Completing a Physical Disk Replacement."
You want to import the original physical disks that were associated with the disk group in the source storage array	Go to "Completing a Disk Group Import."

Completing a Physical Disk Replacement

If...

Then...

You inadvertently removed the physical disks

Reinsert all removed physical disks.
Wait for all virtual disks and disk groups to display an optimal status.
Go to step 3.

You want to use new physical disks or Unassigned physical disks as replacements

Verify that any newly inserted physical disks are:

A capacity equal to or greater than the failed physical disks you removed.
Certified for use in this storage array.

Go to step 2.

Assign a physical disk to take over for the Missing physical disk by completing the following steps:

a	Refer to the Details area to find out which disk group has been affected.
b	From the Modify tab, click the Replace Physical Disks link.
c	From the Failed and Missing Physical Disks table in the Replace Physical Disks dialog, select the Missing physical disk that corresponds to the to the slot location reported in the Details area.
d	Select an appropriate replacement physical disk, and then click the Replace Physical Disk button. Notes: For additional assistance using the Replace Physical Disks dialog, refer to the online help. When the Replace Physical Disk process begins, data is reconstructed on the new physical disk using information on the other physical disks comprising the disk group. This reconstruction should begin automatically. The physical disk's fault indicator lights will go off and the activity indicator lights of the physical disks in the disk group will start flashing. If you are replacing a physical disk in a storage array that contains hot spares, data reconstruction will start on the hot spare before you insert the new physical disk. The data on the replacement physical disk may not be reconstructed until after it has completed the process on the hot spare.
e	When the physical disk reconstruction completes and the disk group is Optimal, go to step 3.

Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your technical support representative.

Completing a Disk Group Export

1	Reinsert all of the missing physical disks associated with this disk group into the original slots. The Recovery Guru Details area provides the physical location of the missing physical disks as well as the affected disk group.
2	Wait until the disk group and its associated virtual disks display optimal status, and then go to step 3.
3	From the Support tab, click the Advanced Support Tasks link, and then click the Export Disk Group link.
4	Follow the instructions in the Export Disk Group wizard to successfully export the disk group.
5	Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your technical support representative.

Completing a Disk Group Import

1	Insert all of the missing physical disks associated with this disk group with the original physical disks from the source storage array. The Recovery Guru Details area provides the physical location of the missing physical disks as well as the affected disk group. If the original physical disks are not available, you can also use the Replace Physical Disk option in the storage management software to reconstruct other unassigned physical disks in the storage array to take over for the missing physical disks.
2	Wait until the disk group and its associated virtual disks display optimal status, and then go to step 3.
3	Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your technical support representative.

Note: Additional information on this issue may be available. Please visit the Dell support website at support.dell.com and select your product model. Choose "troubleshooting" as your tool option, then search by this procedure title.