Is there a way to batch test 20 harddrives?

[zicoz]

Ok, finally filled my new fileserver with 20 Samsung 2TB drives. Is there a way to batch test all of the drives to see if one of them is faulty, or do I have to test one at the time?

 

[ZzBloopzZ]

Hello,

I apologize for bumping an old thread, but this is the exact same question I have. I have 10x 3TB drives coming in tonight. Plan to pair 8 with the M1015. Then the other 2 will sit in storage as hot spares in case of drive failures.

Thank You!

 

[Jeggs101]

Just run secure erase for a few hours across the disk.
Let the heads park
SE again
Heads park again
SE again
Heads park again
SE again
......

If that works for 48 hours, you will be ok. At least you are thinking of hot spares

 

[dba]

I would connect them all and then run IOMeter with a combination of read and write activity. It's trivially easy on Windows, but on Linux you need to run the UI on a Windows box and the engine on the Linux box.

 

[cactus]

I have used badblocks or dban then a SMART long test.

 

[ZzBloopzZ]

I have used badblocks or dban then a SMART long test.

What badblocks command do you typically use?

badblocks -wsv /dev/mynewdrive

?

I plan to go this route.

 

[cactus]

Normally dont do the v flag, but yes.

 

[nitrobass24]

BTW if your drives are in storage, then they are technically Cold Spares

Also on that topic, HotSpares suck...I almost lost my entire Raid6 array because a drive kicked out temporarily HS kicked in, power issue, and shit rolls down hill .
Needless to say I dont run Hot Spares anymore. I will start the rebuild when I want to.

 

[cactus]

Also, I use screen, just of bunch of terminals works just as well, and run badblocks on the drives simultaneously. Running them in series would take an era.

 

[nitrobass24]

I would just write a little script to run them at the same time.

make a file that list your devices -- ls /dev/ >> myfile

for drive in myfile; do
badblocks -wsv $drive > /home/"$drive"_log 2>&1 &
done

 

[mrkrad]

run benchmarks to fill the drives and peg the queue depth out.
pull a drive (cold or hot)
put the drive back in.

If you can maintain a heavy queue depth while it is rebuilding you will find the kinks.

Suggest throwing in prime95/ramtest at the same time since you can get the temps nice and toasty and ensure the controller doesn't roast itself.

 

[xbliss]

I have used badblocks or dban then a SMART long test.

I just ran badblocks on multiple HDDs. I've used Dban before.
I am wondering how they act differently on the HDDs? Worth running Dban on top after my badblocks run?

 

[Lance Joseph]

I just ran badblocks on multiple HDDs. I've used Dban before.
I am wondering how they act differently on the HDDs? Worth running Dban on top after my badblocks run?

Badblocks followed by dban couldn't hurt.

When doing large batch tests, I typically do the following:
Create a ZFS RAID-10. Fill the array with data and scrub.
Run badblocks on all of the drives with the "-wvs" flags.
SMART long tests followed by SMART counter analysis.

These tests can serve as a good initial burn-in test as well.
If the tests pass and the counters look okay then they typically go into service.
If an old drive balks, then it gets RMA'd or hits the 'bad drive' pile if out of warranty.

 

[xbliss]

Badblocks followed by dban couldn't hurt.

When doing large batch tests, I typically do the following:
Create a ZFS RAID-10. Fill the array with data and scrub.
Run badblocks on all of the drives with the "-wvs" flags.
SMART long tests followed by SMART counter analysis.

These tests can serve as a good initial burn-in test as well.
If the tests pass and the counters look okay then they typically go into service.
If an old drive balks, then it gets RMA'd or hits the 'bad drive' pile if out of warranty.

I was able to Parallel run Badblocks in various terminal windows. Any way to do concurrent Dbans on Drives? Because it boots from Bootable ISO/ dvd and I dont know if there's any way to parallely DBAN several hard drives.

 

[The Gecko]

1. Remove all hard drives from the server
   
2. Insert a USB thumb drive
   
3. Install FreeNAS onto the thumb drive
4. Insert all the hard drives
5. Reboot the FreeNAS box
6. Use the web UI to get a list of all hard drives installed
7. Visit this page: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...white-label-4tb-drives.3559/page-5#post-46721
8. Follow the link over to the FreeNAS forums
   
9. Download my script and put it on the FreeNAS box
   
10. Run the script once for each hard drive - except for the USB thumb boot drive

My post on the FreeNAS forums details everything that the script does, and in what order.

 

[T_Minus]

1. Remove all hard drives from the server
   
2. Insert a USB thumb drive
   
3. Install FreeNAS onto the thumb drive
4. Insert all the hard drives
5. Reboot the FreeNAS box
6. Use the web UI to get a list of all hard drives installed
7. Visit this page: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...white-label-4tb-drives.3559/page-5#post-46721
8. Follow the link over to the FreeNAS forums
   
9. Download my script and put it on the FreeNAS box
   
10. Run the script once for each hard drive - except for the USB thumb boot drive

My post on the FreeNAS forums details everything that the script does, and in what order.

Not all of us are members there... why don't share with us here as an attachment?

Thanks

 

[The Gecko]

Because if I link back to the original thread on the FreeNAS forums, then any additional questions, answers, or updates related to that thread would stay with that thread, thereby keeping it neat and tidy.

 

[T_Minus]

Well, since some of us can't download the file or follow your steps from 1 forum to another to another to a download file your post is ___, and useless anyway.

If you care that much about other people why don't you host it yourself, in 1 spot on your own site? If you want I can do it.

 

[Chuckleb]

I would suggest a git repo so that others can contribute back and tag bugs. More accessible and then you can download direct as well. You can still redirect people back to the thread in the readme. We do that for Linux bench.

 

[xbliss]

1. Remove all hard drives from the server
   
2. Insert a USB thumb drive
   
3. Install FreeNAS onto the thumb drive
4. Insert all the hard drives
5. Reboot the FreeNAS box
6. Use the web UI to get a list of all hard drives installed
7. Visit this page: Review of White Label 4TB drives
8. Follow the link over to the FreeNAS forums
   
9. Download my script and put it on the FreeNAS box
   
10. Run the script once for each hard drive - except for the USB thumb boot drive

My post on the FreeNAS forums details everything that the script does, and in what order.

The guys over at the FreeNAS forums have a couple threads on hard drive burn-in and testing. I've taken their recommended procedure and automated it. You can read all about it here: [How To] Hard Drive Burn-In Testing

Thanks for posting. I will check it out.