Solving Issues with Drive and Mapped File Access
Question
An administrator sees a message in the system console that a drive is bad in the single-volume JBOD storage array.
A few minutes later, a user calls the help desk to report an inability to read a file from a mapped drive.
Which of the following should the administrator do?
Answers
Explanations
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A. B. C. D.C.
In this scenario, the administrator has received an alert indicating that a drive in the JBOD storage array has failed, and a user has reported an inability to read a file from a mapped drive. The administrator should take the following steps:
A. Swap out the failed drive and let the array rebuild. This option is a valid one for a JBOD array, but the administrator should ensure that the new drive is of the same or higher capacity as the failed one. The array will then rebuild automatically, and data access will be restored once the rebuild is complete. This is the most recommended option as it allows the system to rebuild and restore data without restoring from a backup, which could be time-consuming.
B. Allow the array rebuild automatically using the hotspare. This option is also valid if the JBOD array has a hot spare available. In this case, the hot spare drive will automatically take over from the failed drive, and the array will rebuild itself without administrator intervention. However, if a hot spare is not available, the administrator should opt for option A instead.
C. Replace the failed drive and restore the data from the last backup. This option is only necessary if there is no redundancy in place and the administrator has no option but to restore data from backup. In this scenario, the administrator will need to replace the failed drive, re-create the array, and then restore data from the last backup. This could be time-consuming, and data loss might occur if the backup is not up-to-date.
D. Reseat the failed drive and restore the array using the parity drive. This option is not recommended for a JBOD array. It is only suitable for a RAID 5 array, which uses parity to protect data. In a JBOD array, data is not protected by parity, and therefore, this option is not valid.
In conclusion, the best option for the administrator is A, which involves swapping out the failed drive and allowing the array to rebuild itself automatically.
