Can I mix drive types in an HP server?

Question

I currently have the following setup:

• HP DL380 G4 Server
• 6 x 73GB, Ultra160, 10k, SCSI 80 Pin Drives
• Smart Array 6i Controller
• RAID 5

One of the drives is failing and needs to be replaced. I have on hand drives that are the same size and type, but are Ultra320, 15k instead. I have verified that these drives work in another system with the same type of drive controller.

When I plug one of these in the system simply reports the drive as being offline and has nothing further to do with it. From what I have read these drives should be compatable.

Should this work at all and if so, what might be preventing it?

Answer 1

I have been unable to mix the old 160 drives with the new 320 drives in this server so I have rebuilt it with a matching set of new drives and it is running fine. The old drives will become spares for another server.

All the documentation I've found suggests the drives should mix fine, but they don't. Unfortunately this can make replacing parts of a failing array tricky.

Answer 2

I'm not familiar with that exact array, but generally U320 and U160 disks can be mixed on the same controller and the same channel, assuming they both match the same specs (LVD, etc). By the sounds of it, they do, so the trouble likely lies elsewhere.