Intel SR1560SFHS + SRCSASRB USB HDD lockup

One of the last things we do before putting a server into production is blow it away and restore it from the backup we create just before.

In this case, we are dealing with the ShadowProtect image of the new server that served as a replacement for this crashed server (previous blog post).

There are two particular purposes for this recovery:

1. Test restore of the production server. We provide this service on a quarterly basis for most of our clients with some opting in on a monthly recovery test.
2. Work with an exact replica of the production Exchange Information Store database as it is not behaving.

Since we managed to salvage the Exchange store from the somewhat corrupted ShadowProtect image, the store will mount, but it will not do so on its own. After a reboot, the store needs to be manually mounted via the Services.msc console.

We ran into a bit of a peculiarity in that the server we are restoring is the soon to be production server at another client that is identically configured.

After booting the ShadowProtect Windows Vista Recovery Environment, loading the SRCSASRB drivers and running the first volume's recovery the system was locking up. No matter what we tried, even going so far as to remove the hard drive from the Thermaltake Silver River Duo enclosure and connecting it via a Thermaltake BlacX SE USB hard drive connector, the system still locked up.

A couple presses of the Num Lock key on the keyboard would bring about a red trouble light on the front of the SR1560SFHS chassis.

The firmware on the motherboard, FRU, and SDR were up to date. But, as it turns out the firmware on the SRCSASRB RAID controller has a new update this last week.

After running the update for the RAID controller and rebooting back into the ShadowProtect Vista Recovery Environment, we were able to initiate a successful series of recoveries for the three volumes on this array.

Links to previous posts on the above crashed server:

• Images No Good ... Catastrophic SBS Failure ... Now What?!?
• SBS, ShadowProtect, and an Event ID 55 NTFS Error ...
• SBS Disaster Recovery - Second DC SBS Restore Caveats
• SBS Disaster Recovery - Finished

More to come on the Exchange issue.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

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