Administrator Guide

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Recovering and Restoring the System
Dell™ PowerVault™ 77xN NAS Systems Administrator's Guide
Solutions to Try Before Reinstalling
Recovery From System Failure
Restoring System State Data
Restoring Initial System Setup
This section provides instructions on how to recover the NAS system if the operating system fails. Additionally, this section
provides information for possible solutions that do not require restoring the operating system.
Because your NAS system is designed with redundancy, it can recover from certain hardware and software failures. In some
situations, it recovers automatically; in others, you must have administrator privileges and manually intervene to recover the
NAS system.
Use the following methods in the order shown to restore your NAS system:
1. Work through the possible solutions listed in "Solutions to Try Before Reinstalling
."
2. Reinstall the operating system as described in "Recovery From System Failure
."
Solutions to Try Before Reinstalling
This section provides a list of possible solutions that you should try before you reinstall your operating system or replace a
hard drive. Some of the checks require you to observe the LEDs on the front and back of the NAS system. For more
information about the LEDs, see your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.
Does the power LED show that the NAS system is turned on? If not, is the power cable connected to the NAS system
and a power source?
Are the link LEDs on the NAS system, and any network switches to which it may be connected, illuminated?
Are you are using a standard Ethernet cable to connect to the network?
Has the Ethernet cable been connected inadvertently to the embedded remote access connector on the back of the
system instead of one of the two standard 10/100/1000 NIC connectors? To locate the proper connectors, see your
User's Guide.
Have you allowed enough time for the NAS system to boot? Depending on your configuration and the amount of
storage attached, the NAS system may take several minutes to boot.
Does the NAS system boot completely? Use console redirection to connect to the NAS system, or connect a keyboard,
monitor, and mouse directly to the system, and observe the boot process. See "Console Redirection
" in
"Troubleshooting."
Can you connect using a serial connection? For more information on using a serial connection, see the procedures in
"Configuring Your NAS System for the First Time
" in "Initial Setup." If you are able to connect serially, the problem
may be the network instead of the NAS system.
Are the LEDs on all internal hard drives on the NAS system illuminated? If not, you have a failed hard drive.
Recovery From System Failure
If the Windows Powered operating system becomes inoperable, you can use the NAS system's Reinstallation CD to reinstall
the operating system. After the operating system is reinstalled, the system state backup can be restored to recover system