Problem
After I was able to figure out how to add additional volumes using the USB 2.0 connection, instead of iSCSI, I ran into another problem when I decided to change the connection back to iSCSI to take advantage of the higher transfer speeds, the new volume didn't mount. I did see the new volume mount when I was connected via USB, but when I changed the connection to iSCSI, it wasn't there. Only the first volume mounted.
Debugging
1. I didn't know why, and so I thought the first volume was dead. I switched the connection back to USB to check to see if the new volume I added was still there or not. I shutdown Drobo, made the connection switch, and powered it back on. Via USB, my computer detected both volumes, and mounted them both. I was quite puzzled at this point. Some thoughts came to mind, which needed answering:
i. What's wrong with iSCSI?
ii. Can iSCSI handle more than 1 volume?
iii. What's wrong with the initiator? Why is it not initiating the 2nd volume?
2. At this point, I was thinking, I need to learn more about iSCSI initiator in order to narrow down the problem. I did a Google Search using various keywords, and found a bunch of iSCSI articles, none of which were related to Drobo, but I skimmed through them anyways to learn more about iSCSI and the iSCSI initiator. I learned about iSCSI and a bit about the initiator, and from what I learned, I was able to start looking around for the problem on my computer.
Aside
iSCSI initiator is included in Windows 7, I believe, but when I installed the Dashboard on my Windows XP machine, it had to install the initiator as a part of installing the Dashboard.
To access the iSCSI initiator, Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > iSCSI Initiator
Debugging Cont'd
3. So, I started fiddling around with the iSCSI initiator, and seeing what the problem was. I was able to identify from looking at the iSCSI initiator main screen that it was only initiating Node 0, which according to the Drobo Dashboard was volume 1. I attempted to add another line to the initiator using a similar address as the first one, except changing Node 0 to Node 1. It didn't work. The iSCSI initiator didn't accept the new address. I tried a few other things, but none of it was working.
4. I continued my Google Search, and came across a very long article on how to setup iSCSI drives, or something like that. I was skimming the screen captures, when I came across a screen capture of the 'Computer Management' tool, which I have used before. I skimmed the description, and it said that it was possible for the computer drives to have volumes that were not online.
To Access 'Computer Management'
* Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management
* > Storage > Disk Management
I opened the tool, and Bingo! I saw the problem. The 2nd volume was offline. Though the messaging said it was due to a Group Policy on the computer. I know of group policies, but I don't know what I would do to fix the problem.
5. So, next, I searched Google for group policies, specifically for Windows 7. I also had installed a network monitoring program recently, where I remember the program installed some Group Policies for my computer, and so I opened that program, and deleted the group policies. I tried a reboot of Drobo, and my computer, and it didn't work! Google wasn't much help either. Now what?
Discovery of Solution
6. Just out of curiosity, I right clicked the part where it said 'Offline' in the 'Computer Management' tool beside the drive volume that was showing 'Offline' to see if I could get more information, or options, and Guess What?!! In the right-click menu that popped-up, it had an 'Online' option. That's all I had to do. I click 'Online', and voila, the volume mounted!
Conclusion/Solution
So, the lesson here is to go into 'Computer Management', and right click on the grey section beside the volume that is showing up as 'Offline', and bring it online by selecting 'Online' from the right-click menu.
(Sorry, I don't have any screen captures, I didn't take any when I had the problem, but I'll try to add some later when I have some time just to show you the general windows I'm talking about in my blog. I really wanted to share this because it was yet, another headache which I hope I can help others avoid.)
Dieu,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to detail your experiences with the Drobo. I wanted to share that this solution of bringing a volume online solved a problem I ran into involving a DroboPro with a single volume defined.
We moved the Drobo from one server to another, connected it via USB accessed the drive via the dashboard to verify access was ok. When we reconnected the drive using iSCSI the dashboard would show the Drobo as connected and had the proper stats on capacity, etc but we could not get the drive letter assigned using the dashboard/volume option. We looked at the drives via Computer Management and as you experienced, the drive/volume was offline. Once it was changed to online, the dashboard detected the proper volume name and assigned the drive letter as it had been on the old server.
Thanks for leaving a message! I'm happy to hear that the information I provided helped you out. :0) Hopefully it will help others as well!
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