How do I replace a hot-swap drive on a iXsystems Mini XL?

[Hx Jai]

The drives are 3.5" SATA, but do I need to buy a special kind of drive for it to be hot-swapable? Also, is it easy to remove the enclosure from the bad drive, and insert the new drive into it? ...also, are the enclosures available separately so I can prepare the drive before pulling out the old one? ...are the hot-swap enclosures standard?

 

[Davvo]

If you want to replace a bad drive from a hotswap bay you just need to pull it out and insert the new one.

 

[Hx Jai]

If you want to replace a bad drive from a hotswap bay you just need to pull it out and insert the new one.

Is any 3.5" drive hot swappable, or does it need specific firmware (ie. a specific model) to be hot-swappable?

Are the enclosures available separately so I can prepare the drive before pulling out the old one?

Are hot-swap enclosures standard?

 

[Davvo]

Any 3.5'' drive should be hotswappable since it's a motherboard/backplane feature.

As far as I know the enclosures are not sold separately.

Hotswap is standard in most server-grade rack hardware... but every company has its own. Not sure about the standardization beyond the sizes.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Hi @Hx Jai

TrueNAS Mini's don't have any firmware lockouts that would prevent drives from working, but we do maintain a list of qualified hard drives at https://www.truenas.com/truenas-mini/#Resources under the "Drive Compatibility List" heading - other drives will work, they just haven't been specifically tested for it.

Regarding the additional tray, do you already have the Mini XL or are you looking to buy one and have the extra drive available in a tray ready as a "cold spare" unit?

 

[Hx Jai]

Regarding the additional tray, do you already have the Mini XL or are you looking to buy one and have the extra drive available in a tray ready as a "cold spare" unit?

I have a Mini XL and was hoping to have an extra tray to swap it in quickly.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Sending you a DM.