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I've got an ancient Dell server with 4 disks in RAID 5. One has become faulty and needs to be replaced. I ordered an identical model drive but when it arrived it is slightly smaller. The RAID controller of course doesn't like that and is refusing to rebuild because it is a smaller drive. They're both Seagate ST3600057SS drives, with the 3 old ones clocking in at 572325 MB and the new one at 560208 MB.

Do I have any options here aside from getting yet another drive?

Luca Gibelli
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GranTurismo
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  • I don't think there is any chance you can solve this problem, but I suggest that you specify the raid controller model anyway – Luca Gibelli Apr 11 '18 at 10:02

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If the logical disk spans the entire capacity then you can't use a disk that's just a single block smaller.

Usually, RAID controllers don't use the exact full capacity of the disks but some do and some users even override this to full capacity. No go.

Zac67
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  • Yeah that definitely is the case. Unfortunately this box came from the vendor setup like that and I've got to nurse it through a couple more months until we can finally decom it. Thanks, back to the reseller for a different drive. – GranTurismo Apr 10 '18 at 18:17
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Your other option would be to make a full backup to external media. Re-create the array using the smaller drive. Then restore your data. Getting a larger drive would probably be easier.

Zoredache
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