Re: Large Partition Disks Freezing

[David Brownlee <abs%netbsd.org@localhost>]

On 25 March 2011 19:28, Nathan Staley <njstaley%iastate.edu@localhost> wrote:

> I'm setting up a server to hold a postgresql database.  The database
> is to be stored on external disks.  Some times, the system runs as
> expected, but often, it the disks seem to lock up.
>
> About half of the lock ups simply freeze the disks, and any terminal
> sessions that try to use them (postgres, df, etc), while other times,
> the entire system crashes.  In either case, when the system locks up,
> I am forced to run fsck on the disks before being able to mount them
> again.
>
> The disks have been partitioned with gpt (to bypass the 2TB limit)
> from netBSD 5.1_RC4, and the system is currently running netBSD 5.1.
>
> The external disks are a Dell PowerVault MD1120.
>
> Is there anything I should check to determine what is causing the
> disks to fail, or any steps that I could take to prevent the disks
> from failing as often?
>

Not anything specific on what is causing the disks, but a few peripheral
thoughts:
- Is there specific behaviour to quickly trigger the issue (an I/O
benchmark)
- Painfully obvious questions about checking cabling
- How does the system connect to external disks, driver/ etc
- Can you trigger the issue with the disk connected to a different machine
- Mounting with WAPL might mitigate the fsck pain while testing