Comments on: Dell PowerVault 220 are Junk, and I’m Tired! http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/ My digital diary with topics about family, work, computers, technology, books and whatever else comes to mind Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:27:08 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Bill Mann http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-602 Bill Mann Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:27:08 +0000 /?p=370#comment-602 We have been running these arrays for several years now on 5 or 6 servers. In the main server we have 5 2Tb (14x146gb) arrays each on their own card with dual u320 channels. They have worked very well and so far we have not had a single lost array. Sure we have some drive failures, but thats to be expected with all these drives. We do use the LSI megaraid controllers rather than Dell branded controllers though, perhaps that is some peoples issue. We also are starting to transition our storage to a sas raid array arangement vs the controller card raid setup we use now. Looks promising so far, I am a bit nervous however as the Dells have been so solid. On the other hand my experiance with the Dell servers is that they suck. We have been running these arrays for several years now on 5 or 6 servers. In the main server we have 5 2Tb (14×146gb) arrays each on their own card with dual u320 channels. They have worked very well and so far we have not had a single lost array. Sure we have some drive failures, but thats to be expected with all these drives. We do use the LSI megaraid controllers rather than Dell branded controllers though, perhaps that is some peoples issue. We also are starting to transition our storage to a sas raid array arangement vs the controller card raid setup we use now. Looks promising so far, I am a bit nervous however as the Dells have been so solid. On the other hand my experiance with the Dell servers is that they suck.

]]> By: Allen Hernandez http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-595 Allen Hernandez Thu, 14 May 2009 18:54:18 +0000 /?p=370#comment-595 I also would like to add that when i checked the Utility the Logical Drive is in failed status. Million Thanks! I also would like to add that when i checked the Utility the Logical Drive is in failed status.

Million Thanks!

]]> By: Allen Hernandez http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-594 Allen Hernandez Thu, 14 May 2009 18:52:31 +0000 /?p=370#comment-594 Hi Bro's I been reading the thread trying to pickup some Idea how to solve my problem in one of my server Power Edge 2850. i have a warning "Memory/Baterry problems where detected. the Adapter has Recovered, but cached data was Lost" i found some forum that says they have the same problem and the solution is to replace the raid controller battery. I bought a replacement hoping that it will solve the issue but unfortunately when i boot up the server it has the same memory/battery problem detected and this time after pressing any key to continue the system display a warning that the following scsci ID's are not resonding CHANEL-0:0,1,2,3" the system also advised to inspect the cabling, enclosure and then reboot the system. i have checked everything and all is securely connected. it also has a message 1 Logocal Drive(s) Found on the host adapter 4 Physical Drive(s)FOund on the Host Adapter 1 Logical Drive(s)Failed 1 Logical Drive(s) Handled by BIOS 4 Physical Drive(s) Handled by BIOS Press .....etc. the the system is trying to boot on LAN and it will fail. any one who encountered this issue? any help will be highly apprecialted. thanks in advance! Hi Bro’s

I been reading the thread trying to pickup some Idea how to solve my problem in one of my server Power Edge 2850. i have a warning

“Memory/Baterry problems where detected. the Adapter has Recovered, but cached data was Lost”

i found some forum that says they have the same problem and the solution is to replace the raid controller battery. I bought a replacement hoping that it will solve the issue but unfortunately when i boot up the server it has the same memory/battery problem detected and this time after pressing any key to continue the system display a warning that the

following scsci ID’s are not resonding
CHANEL-0:0,1,2,3″

the system also advised to inspect the cabling, enclosure and then reboot the system. i have checked everything and all is securely connected.

it also has a message

1 Logocal Drive(s) Found on the host adapter
4 Physical Drive(s)FOund on the Host Adapter
1 Logical Drive(s)Failed
1 Logical Drive(s) Handled by BIOS
4 Physical Drive(s) Handled by BIOS

Press …..etc.

the the system is trying to boot on LAN and it will fail.

any one who encountered this issue?
any help will be highly apprecialted.
thanks in advance!

]]> By: ITDude http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-592 ITDude Fri, 08 May 2009 23:05:18 +0000 /?p=370#comment-592 Interesting to see these posts. I have had 2 PV220s for over 4 years running Terabytes of data and other then 2 HD failures they have run great. Ours have been running on a PERC 4i card on a PE 2650. They ran great and held our data without issue. Sorry to hear so many had issues with theirs. Interesting to see these posts. I have had 2 PV220s for over 4 years running Terabytes of data and other then 2 HD failures they have run great. Ours have been running on a PERC 4i card on a PE 2650. They ran great and held our data without issue. Sorry to hear so many had issues with theirs.

]]> By: Simon Barrett http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-589 Simon Barrett Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:28:30 +0000 /?p=370#comment-589 Just to say a big thank you to all who've posted here. I've been seriously considering these as there as some going for not much on eBay.co.uk right now. However, from what I've read here, I shall no longer be looking at these units. Just to say a big thank you to all who’ve posted here.

I’ve been seriously considering these as there as some going for not much on eBay.co.uk right now.

However, from what I’ve read here, I shall no longer be looking at these units.

]]> By: SevenFortyOne http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-575 SevenFortyOne Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:17:03 +0000 /?p=370#comment-575 I too have suffered at due to the failure of a PV220 connected to a PE2800 configured as a CAD/CAM file server . This is the third time in as many years I've lost my array due to a drive "failure". The first and third times a drive had not failed. However the array went offline claiming drives had failed and ultimatley forced me to restore from backup. Last time (the second time) a drive began to fail but the 220 never warned me. When it fianlly did fail, I discovered that for two weeks the file system had been slowly getting corrupted. This meant my backups were corrupted as well. Not only did I loose about three week's worth of data, I also had no idea what data was good and what data was bad. I nearly had a nervous breakdown over this. This is the last staw for me. If I can't get a budget allocation from my boss to replace this unit, I'll buy the replacement myself - or find a new job. I've always been a Dell supporter. For the most part, I've had very good luck with thier products. I've been VERY disappointed with the PE2800/PV220 that we have though. My reputation within the company is ruined and so is my confidence in Dell. I too have suffered at due to the failure of a PV220 connected to a PE2800 configured as a CAD/CAM file server . This is the third time in as many years I’ve lost my array due to a drive “failure”. The first and third times a drive had not failed. However the array went offline claiming drives had failed and ultimatley forced me to restore from backup.

Last time (the second time) a drive began to fail but the 220 never warned me. When it fianlly did fail, I discovered that for two weeks the file system had been slowly getting corrupted. This meant my backups were corrupted as well. Not only did I loose about three week’s worth of data, I also had no idea what data was good and what data was bad. I nearly had a nervous breakdown over this.

This is the last staw for me. If I can’t get a budget allocation from my boss to replace this unit, I’ll buy the replacement myself – or find a new job.

I’ve always been a Dell supporter. For the most part, I’ve had very good luck with thier products. I’ve been VERY disappointed with the PE2800/PV220 that we have though. My reputation within the company is ruined and so is my confidence in Dell.

]]> By: kbn http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-492 kbn Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:26:06 +0000 /?p=370#comment-492 Richard, I'm glad you have had good success with them. I really think the problems that we and others faced was due to the amount of sustained data access as well potential firmware problems. Ours have been gone for over 2 years now, replaced with NetApp equipment (a good investment for us). I wish you continued success (and hopefully you didn't; jinx yourself by saying you've had almost no problems). --Ken Richard,

I’m glad you have had good success with them. I really think the problems that we and others faced was due to the amount of sustained data access as well potential firmware problems. Ours have been gone for over 2 years now, replaced with NetApp equipment (a good investment for us).

I wish you continued success (and hopefully you didn’t; jinx yourself by saying you’ve had almost no problems).

–Ken

]]> By: soiledhalo http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-490 soiledhalo Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:40:03 +0000 /?p=370#comment-490 Hiya, just googled the 220s and came across this site. So sad to see you, as well as others experienced so much hell. Needless to say, we own a 220 and for the past 5 years it's been very good, only had one problem when a drive in our raid 5 array died. We were able to quickly restore to the hotspare and all is well. Guess my mileage varied. Regards, Richard. Hiya, just googled the 220s and came across this site. So sad to see you, as well as others experienced so much hell. Needless to say, we own a 220 and for the past 5 years it’s been very good, only had one problem when a drive in our raid 5 array died. We were able to quickly restore to the hotspare and all is well. Guess my mileage varied.

Regards,
Richard.

]]> By: Craig http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-291 Craig Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:21:05 +0000 /?p=370#comment-291 Don't really see these as enterprise systems. But still they should at least work. Ours were retired to a test lab, and it is OK if they fail there. Move them to test, and forget about it. Go with entry level Hitachi SAN when you need over 1TB of fast disk. Also SAN allows sharing that disk if you cluster. You are looking at 20K for sure to get started, but nothing else really ensures uptime. Craig Don’t really see these as enterprise systems. But still they should at least work. Ours were retired to a test lab, and it is OK if they fail there.

Move them to test, and forget about it.

Go with entry level Hitachi SAN when you need over 1TB of fast disk. Also SAN allows sharing that disk if you cluster.

You are looking at 20K for sure to get started, but nothing else really ensures uptime.

Craig

]]> By: BW http://nerhood.wordpress.com/2005/09/14/dell-powervault-220-are-junk-and-im-tired/#comment-288 BW Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:24:22 +0000 /?p=370#comment-288 I have 2 Powervault 220's and the only issue I have had in 3 years was (2)Hardrives went bad and DELL replaced them next day. I have nothing but nice things to say about DELL and the Powervault 220's. I have 2 Powervault 220’s and the only issue I have had in 3 years was (2)Hardrives went bad and DELL replaced them next day. I have nothing but nice things to say about DELL and the Powervault 220’s.

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