Nexsan Nexsan Unity Owner's manual

HYPER-UNIFIED STORAGE
Nexsan Unity
Hardware Maintenance Guide
Firmware Version Unity v. 5.1
NEXSAN | 325 E. Hillcrest Drive, Suite #150 | Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 USA
Printed Wednesday, January 02, 2019 | www.nexsan.com

Copyright © 2010—2018 Nexsan Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Trademarks
Nexsan® is a trademark or registered trademark of Nexsan Technologies, Inc. The Nexsan logo is a registered trademark of Nexsan Technologies, Inc.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Patents
This product is protected by one or more of the following patents, and other pending patent applications worldwide:
United States patents US8,191,841, US8,120,922;
United Kingdom patents GB2466535B, GB2467622B, GB2467404B, GB2296798B, GB2297636B
About this document
Unauthorized use, duplication, or modification of this document in whole or in part without the written consent of Nexsan Corporation is strictly
prohibited.
Nexsan Technologies, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to this manual, as well as the equipment and software described in this manual,
at any time without notice. This manual may contain links to Web sites that were current at the time of publication, but have since been moved
or become inactive. It may also contain links to sites owned and operated by third parties. Nexsan is not responsible for the content of any such
third-party site.

Contents
Contents 3
Chapter 1: Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1 9
ESD protection 10
Disk drives 11
Identifying failed disk drives 11
Data disk failures 11
FASTier disk failures 16
Replacing data disks 18
Replacing FASTier drives 22
Power supply units (PSUs) 25
Identifying failed power supply units (PSUs) 25
Replacing a standard PSU 28
Replacing a US 460 PSU 30
SFPs 33
Chapter 2: Customer Replaceable Units: Class 2 35
Unity Storage Expansion controllers 36
Identifying a failed controller 36
Check the front panel LEDs for controller errors 36
Identify the controller numbers using the CLI 37
Des c rip tio n 37
Con tro lle r 37
Sy n tax 37
Optio n s 3 7
Ex a mp le 37
Replacing a Unity Storage Expansion controller 39
System sub-components 41
Fans 43
Replacing a fan 43
Chapter 3: Customer Replaceable Units: Class 3 53
Unity Storage System controllers 54
Replacing a Unity Storage System controller 54
Chapter 4: Support-Assisted FRUs: Class 2 57
DIMMs 58
Identifying a failed DIMM 58
Contents
Nexsan Unity www.nexsan.com 3

Chapter 5: Support-Assisted Replacements: Class 3 59
Chassis 60
Identifying a failed chassis 60
Replacing a chassis 60
System SSDs 64
Replacing the FASTier Cache SSD 64
Replacing the OS SSD 68
Record system settings 68
Back up the old OS SSD 68
Install the new OS SSD 68
Transfer data to the new OS SSD 71
Re-enter IPMI settings 71
Replace and restore the OS SSD on the other unit 72
SATADom 72
Replacing a SATADom 72
Contents
Nexsan Unity Hardware Maintenance Guide v. 5.1 Unity 4

This Hardware Maintenance Guide provides information and detailed procedures for the removal and
replacement of these Nexsan Unity Unity 2.0/5.0 Hardware systems:
Nexsan Unity 2200™ Storage System
Nexsan Unity 4400™ Storage System
Nexsan Unity 6900™ Storage System
Nexsan Unity 2200X™ Storage Expansion
Nexsan Unity Storage 224X™ Expansion
Nexsan Unity Storage 316X™ Expansion
Nexsan Unity Storage 424X™ Expansion
Nexsan Unity Storage 460X™ Expansion
The replacement procedures are considered either Customer-Replaceable Units (CRUs) or support-assisted
Field-Replaceable Units (FRUs). CRUs can be performed without any assistance whereas support-assisted
FRUs always require help from Nexsan Technical Support. All procedures are rated based on the associated
risk to the system should the procedure not be followed correctly. Class 1 procedures have the lowest
associated risk and Class 3 procedures have the highest associated risk. Below are the classes used in this
manual to group procedures:
CRU: Class 1
CRU: Class 2
CRU: Class 3 (highest risk)
FRU: Class 1
FRU: Class 2
FRU: Class 3 (highest risk)
Contact Nexsan Support for assistance if you identify issues with any of the following components:
HBA cards
CPUs
DIMMs
NVDIMMs
About this document
Nexsan Unity www.nexsan.com 5

Audience
This guide has been prepared for the following audience:
Any qualified NST/Unityadministrator.
Conventions
Here is a list of text conventions used in this document:
Convention Description
underlined
blue
Cross-references, hyperlinks, URLs, and email addresses.
boldface Text that refers to labels on the physical unit or interactive items in the graphical user
interface (GUI).
monospace Text that is displayed in the command-line interface (CLI) or text that refers to file or
directory names.
monospace
bold
Text strings that must be entered by the user in the command-line interface or in text fields
in the graphical user interface (GUI).
italics System messages and non-interactive items in the graphical user interface (GUI)
References to Software User Guides
Notes, Tips, Cautions, and Warnings
Note Notes contain important information, present alternative procedures, or call attention to certain items.
Tip Tips contain handy information for end-users, such as other ways to perform an action.
CAUTION: In hardware manuals, cautions alert the user to items or situations which may cause
damage to the unit or result in mild injury to the user, or both. In software manuals, cautions alert the
user to situations which may cause data corruption or data loss.
WARNING: Warnings alert the user to items or situations which may result in severe injury
or death to the user.
Nexsan Unity Hardware Maintenance Guide v. 5.1 Unity 6
About this document

Contacting Nexsan
For questions about Nexsan products, please visit the Nexsan support Web page, and the Nexsan Unity
Documents and Downloads page. If you are unable to find the answer to your question there, please see our
contact information below.
Service and support
Nexsan's Technical Services Group provides worldwide assistance with installation, configuration, software
support, warranty, and repair for all Nexsan products. A variety of service and support programs are available
to provide you with the level of coverage and availability your operation requires.
Nexsan Unity Documents & Downloads page:
https://helper.nexsansupport.com/unt_
downloads.html
Unity Online Help page:
https://helper.nexsansupport.com/unt_
onlinehelp.html
Contact Nexsan Unity support:
https://helper.nexsansupport.com/unt_support
Worldwide Web site:
www.nexsan.com
Related documentation
The following Nexsan product manuals contain related information:
Nexsan Unity Online Help
Nexsan Unity Hardware Reference Guide
Nexsan UnityHardware Maintenance Guide, Unity Next Generation
Nexsan Unity Software User Guide
Nexsan Unity nxadmin Command-line Interface Reference Guide
Nexsan Unity nxcmd Command-line Interface Reference Guide
Nexsan Unity Snapshots and Replication Guide
Nexsan Unity Storage Expansion Reference Guide
Nexsan Unity VMware Best Practices Guide
Nexsan Unity NFS Interoperability
Nexsan Unity Networking Best Practices Guide
Nexsan Unity Performance Best Practices Guide
Nexsan Unity Microsoft Best Practices Guide
About this document
Nexsan Unity www.nexsan.com 7

Safety notices
Always observe the following precautions to reduce the risk of injury and equipment damage:
Computer components and disk drives are sensitive to static discharge. Take precautions to discharge
any electrostatic charge from your person before and while handling components with your hands or any
tools. Use an anti-static wrist-strap.
The system only be installed in a clean, dry environment. The operating temperature is 10º to 35º C (50º to
95º F), with operating relative humidity at 20 to 95%, non-condensing.
Do not install hardware in an enclosed cabinet or other small area without ventilation.
Ensure correct lifting methods are used when handling hardware. Special care should be taken when
removing hardware from its packaging and positioning it into its required location. When lifting hardware,
two people at either end should lift slowly with their feet spread out to distribute the weight. Always keep
your back straight and lift with your legs.
When installing the system as a rack-mounted component, ensure that all Nexsan-supplied mounting
fixtures are secure. All bolts and screws should be fully tightened. Failure to comply with this may result in
the unit not being fully supported in the rack and could lead to the product falling from the rack causing
personal injury or falling onto other rack components.
Ensure that the rack is sufficiently stable by having wall anchors and/or stabilizing legs, and that the floor
supporting the rack has sufficient strength for the overall weight loading.
Only a fully-trained Service Engineer is authorized to disassemble any other part of the hardware, and then
only when the hardware is powered off.
The system has multiple power connections; as a result, you must remove all power leads to completely
isolate the power and always use the IEC power cords which are supplied with the system.
CAUTION: All Nexsan Unity Storage Systems are hot-pluggable. However, new expansions must
be powered on AFTER you connect it to the existing system.
Contents
Nexsan Unity Hardware Maintenance Guide v. 5.1 Unity 8

Chapter 1
Chapter 1:Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1
Class 1 CRUs - The following components of the Nexsan Unity Storage Systems are replaceable by the
customer without assistance from Technical Support and have little associated risk of causing a complete or
partial system failure if the documented replacement procedure is followed correctly. However, if you are
unsure about a specific step or process, please contact Nexsan Support for assistance.
This chapter contains the following sections:
ESD protection 10
Disk drives 11
Power supply units (PSUs) 25
SFPs 33
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1

ESD protection
CAUTION: Computer components and disk drives are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD).
Follow all appropriate anti-static procedures to prevent damage to your equipment or components.
►To prevent ESD damage:
Use the anti-static wrist-strap shipped with Unity whenever you are performing maintenance on the Unity
Storage System.
Figure 1-1: Using the anti-static wrist strap
Before touching components with your hands or with any tools, and before removing any components from
their anti-static bags, ground any electrostatic charge from your person by touching a grounded metal
object.
Handle printed circuit boards by their edges only. Do NOT touch any of a board’s components, chips,
modules, or contacts.
When handling replaceable components, do NOT touch any exposed pins or contacts.
Place components and modules into their anti-static bags when they are not in use.
ESD protection
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Disk drives
Disk drives (either data drives or FASTier drives) are mounted in drive carriers to simplify their installation and
removal from the chassis.
CAUTION: Disk drive carriers help promote proper airflow for drives. For this reason, even empty
carriers without disk drives installed MUST remain in the chassis.
Identifying failed disk drives
If a disk drive fails, the Unity Storage System software interfaces and enclosures display the appropriate
warnings.
Data disk failures
Firstly, when a disk fails, a warning is displayed on the Unity Storage System Dashboard panel.
Figure 1-2: Data disk failure error popup
Also, one of two other indicators appears:
If a spare disk is available, the Tasks in Progress dialog displays a “resilvering” process, which means that
the spare disk is being configured as a replacement for the failed disk.
Note It can take several hours to several days for the disk resilvering process to complete, depending on how
much data needs to be copied to the spare disk.
If there is no spare disk available, the Storage Pool node also displays a failure icon.
Secondly, the disk LEDs on the front of the Unity Storage System indicate which disk has failed.
A steady red LEDon a drive indicates failure.
Chapter 1: Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1
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Figure 1-3: Example drive LEDs:Unity 2200 (left) and US 460
►Troubleshooting
On the Unity navigation bar, click System >Troubleshoot to display the troubleshooting popup, which
contains more information about each Issue that the Unity System is currently experiencing, and
resolution steps.
Figure 1-4: Troubleshooting information
►Check Event Viewer
On the Unity navigation bar, click System >Event Viewer. The Event Viewer includes Critical,
Warning, Error, and optionally Information events. Click a link to an event to display a popup of the
information.
Disk drives
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Nexsan Unity Hardware Maintenance Guide v. 5.1 Unity 12

Figure 1-5: Event log entry for failed disk
Figure 1-6: Event log entry indicating that the disk (array) has been rebuilt
Chapter 1: Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1
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Figure 1-7: Event log entry for a degraded storage pool
In the command-line interface (CLI), run the drives command. The number of the drive bay where the failed
disk is installed will be missing from the list.
Example, with “Slot 5” missing, indicating the failed disk:
ES260768-176-01:A:/>drives
Enumerating drives...
Drives in NST5100 (Chassis ID 100000001, Slots: 16)
* Slot 1: ATA-INTEL-SSDSA2CW30 0362 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 300 GB)
* Slot 2: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 3: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 4: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 6: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 7: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 8: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 9: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 10: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 11: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 12: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 13: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 14: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 15: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 16: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
Disk drives
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When you have all required information, including the specific drive bay that the failed disk occupies, proceed
to Replacing data disks on page18.
Chapter 1: Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1
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FASTier disk failures
When a FASTier disk fails,
a warning is displayed on the Unity Storage System Dashboard panel. Click the Warning icon ,
displayed beside the Unity System name for details, as shown here:
Figure 1-8: FASTier disk failure error popup
the disk LEDs on the front of the unit indicate which disk has failed. See Figure 1-3
►For more information about the failed FASTier disk:
Do one or more of the following:
Open the Event Viewer to display system events. Click an event to open a detail dialog with additional
information.
Figure 1-9: Event log entry for failed FASTier disk
Note Because there is no other Unity notification of a failed FASTier drive, it is highly recommended that you
configure Unity to send an e-mail whenever a CRITICAL event occurs so that you are notified in the event of a
FASTier failure. See "Event logging and notification" in the Nexsan Unity Software User Guide.
Disk drives
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Nexsan Unity Hardware Maintenance Guide v. 5.1 Unity 16

In the command-line interface (CLI), run the drives command to display information about the disk failure.
Example, with “Slot 1” missing, indicating the failed FASTier™ disk:
ES260768-176-01:A:/>drives
Enumerating drives...
Drives in NST5100 (Chassis ID 100000001, Slots: 16)
* Slot 2: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 3: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
* Slot 4: SEAGATE-ST32000444SS 0006 (Serial: XXXXXXX, Size: 2.0 TB)
.
.
.
When you have all required information, including the specific drive bay that the failed disk occupies, proceed
to Replacing FASTier drives on page22.
Chapter 1: Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1
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Replacing data disks
It is always recommended that you replace failed disk drives immediately to ensure that the system has an
adequate number of spare drives.
►To replace a failed data drive:
1. Press the release switch down to unlatch the drive extraction lever. The lever pops out.
Figure 1-10: Unlatching the extraction lever
2. Using the drive extraction lever, pull the disk drive out approximately 1/2 to 1 inch, then grasp the drive
carrier body and remove the drive the rest of the way.
Figure 1-11: Removing the disk drive
Disk drives
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3. Remove the drive carrier from the failed disk and attach it to the new disk.
Figure 1-12: Drive carrier screw locations
Figure 1-13: US 460
CAUTION: ALWAYS put replacement disk drives into the slot from which the failed disk drives
were removed. Do NOT move disk drives between slots.
Chapter 1: Customer-Replaceable Units: Class 1
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4. Install the new disk drive:
a. Line up the carrier guides with the guides on the front of the Nexsan Unity chassis and slide the disk
drive into the slot.
b. Hook the top of the extraction handle onto the lip of the chassis.
Figure 1-14: Installing the new disk drive
c. Press the extraction handle until it clicks into place.
Figure 1-15: Latching the new disk into place
The appropriate disk LED lights up green to let you know that the disk is operating properly.
If the storage pool had an available spare, the new disk is configured as a spare. The failure icons in Unity are
cleared and the Event Viewer shows that the disk has been restored.
Disk drives
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