Problem with Raid (Adaptec)

Hey guys. so i’m using an Adaptec 52445 Raid Card, and have been having a few issues lately…right now, i’m trying to re-create the raid array. first of all, a few of the drives are grayed out. usually meaning i need to initialize them.. however when i try to initialize them… they are STILL grayed out… and google hasn;t been any help to me… i’m basically making a server with twenty 3 terrabyte Western Digitial Caviar Green Hard Drives.
Answer #1
First of, I just wanna say: Keep your day job!
No one in his right mind would even think of RAID’ing green drives, Especially for server use!
They aren’t built for that (Nor for performance for that matter)
Back to the main issue, Provide a full-screen screenshot from disk management.
Do you get any errors when trying to initialize em?
Why are you even attempting to do it on the OS level? If anything, It should be done
from the BIOS of your RAID controller card (An OS reinstall would be required after doing this of course)
Answer #2
i suppose i never stated that i was doing it in the ACU… but yeah, i am doing that…and i can’t initialize them cause like i said, they are grayed out. therefore, no errors… and you say that the greens aren’t suited for that. what drives do you recommend then?
Answer #3
ACU?
Where’s that screenshot?
Also, Checking the event viewer log might be a good idea!
And the Seagate Constellation ES series is ideal for server use (better get SAS ones)
Answer #4
ACU = Array Configuration Utility. its the BIOS of the Adaptec Raid Controller. so getting a screenshot of disk management is going to be redundant. and Seagate aye…hmm..
Answer #5
I see. You certainly could’ve explained it better before.
Anyways, My best guess is that is that one or more of the HDDs have gone bad!
You could try disconnecting em one by one til you figure it out. Contacting Adaptec’s
support is another option:
http://ask.adaptec.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4945
What do you have against Seagate?
Answer #6
oh. my bad, i didn’t mean to make it seem like i have a problem with Seagate. i was just thinking about it. i’ve only ever used western digital drives tbh, so i’m just thinking thru my options.
Answer #7
Well, There’s the WD RE (SAS) and RE4 (SATA) which are equivalent. Seagate ES’s are available in both SAS and SATA.
SAS is better for server use and since your RAID card supports it, You’d be best going with those. All HDDs mentioned have a 5yr warranty btw!
Personally, I’m not WDs biggest fan as I’ve had multiple failures with their drives.
Just out of curiosity, What are you gonna do with all of those green HDDs after you get em replaced?