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I need to replace a failed drive in my Dell server's RAID 1 configuration.

I pulled the drive and it's a Hitachi Ultrastar 15000rpm / SAS 147 GB.

The supplier I usually order from only has SAS 15k drives that are listed as "146 GB" (Fujitsu, HP). I assume this is probably OK, but I want to make sure (oh and that the Dell does not need something special)?

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This doesn't matter. The drives are fairly interchangeable when you see references to 146GB, 146.8GB and 147GB disks. These are typically the same disks, however you can also just stick with Dell part numbers in case there are firmware revision considerations. There should be a replacement part number on the drive you just pulled.

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oh yes, it matters... – SpacemanSpiff Aug 15 '11 at 20:23
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Well, I finally was able to get a replacement drive and it worked. It was a 146gb, purchased directly from Dell based on the service tag. So it was ok with the 146, though possibly that's because my firmware/drivers allowed it. Also another note for people, it seems some main stream distributors are not able to supply these drives and you would have to get a larger drive (which is supposedly OK). Also, I was told these drives are usually sold 'no refund', probably because they are old and they dont want them back. – Scott Szretter Sep 9 '11 at 12:22
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Sometimes, the sector counts of "comparable" disks will be slightly off (I've noticed this when duplicating older 80GB desktop drives, but newer ones might be more consistent). I'd think that as long as the new drive has at least as many sectors as the others, than you'll be fine. If the disk has less sectors, I doubt it would work.

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