With time, all server components will fail. Thankfully, OVHcloud has you covered. OVHcloud will replace any component that is not properly functioning free of charge.
In the event of a corrupt storage drive, OVHcloud support needs to know which disk to change. Fortunately, each storage drive has a unique serial number.
In the event of a dead storage drive, where it is not possible to retrieve the serial number, OVHcloud support needs all the serial numbers of the functioning drives.
Prerequisites
- OVHcloud Dedicated Server running Linux, ESXi 6.x, or Windows
Topics
- Retrieving a Serial Number with Software RAID
- Retrieving a Serial Number with a Hardware RAID Controller
- Retrieving a Serial Number with VMware ESXi 6.5
- Retrieving a Serial Number with Windows Server 2016
Retrieving a Serial Number with Software RAID
For Dedicated Servers running Linux with storage that is set up using software RAID, the following command can be used to locate the serial number of all functioning drives:
$ lsblk -d -o name && lsblk -d -o serial
The output displays the name of the storage drive followed by their serial number:
NAME sdb sda SERIAL K5H4XXXX K5H4XXYY
Simply line up the device name with the serial number. In the above example, the device name is sdb and its serial number is K5H4XXXX.
Retrieving a Serial Number with a Hardware RAID Controller
For Dedicated Servers running Linux with a hardware RAID controller, LSI MegaRaid, the operating system does not manage the storage drives. Instead, it will label the array as a sdX, only seeing the array as a single storage volume. As a result, the following command can be used to locate the serial number for all functioning drives managed by the hardware RAID controller:
$ sudo MegaCli -PDList -aAll | egrep 'Slot\ Number|Device\ Id|Inquiry\ Data|Raw|Firmware\ state' | sed 's/Slot/\nSlot/g'
Slot Number: 0
Device Id: 4
Raw Size: 894.252 GB [0x6fc81ab0 Sectors]
Firmware state: Online
Inquiry Data: S2TZNX0HC06828 SAMSUNG MZ7LM960HMJP-00005 GXT5104Q
Slot Number: 1
Device Id: 5
Raw Size: 894.252 GB [0x6fc81ab0 Sectors]
Firmware state: Online
Inquiry Data: S2TZNX0J204728 SAMSUNG MZ7LM960HMJP-00005 GXT5204Q
Slot Number: 2
Device Id: 6
Raw Size: 894.252 GB [0x6fc81ab0 Sectors]
Firmware state: Online
Inquiry Data: S2TZNX0J204733 SAMSUNG MZ7LM960HMJP-00005 GXT5204Q
The serial number is listed in the first column to the right of "Inquiry Data:" for each storage drive.
Retrieving a Serial Number with VMware ESXi 6.5
For Dedicated Servers with VMware ESXi 6.x installed, there are two methods to locate the serial number. One method includes using the CLI to access your server and using the following command to list all storage devices known on the server:
$ esxcfg-scsidevs -l
Device Type: Direct - Access
Size: 3815447 MB
Display Name: Local ATA Disk (t10.ATA_____HGST_HUS726040ALA610_____K4K0XXXX
Multipath Plugin: NMP
Console Device: /vmfs/devices/disks/t10.ATA_____HGST_HUS726040ALA610_____K4K0XXXX
Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/t10.ATA_____HGST_HUS726040ALA610_____K4K0XXXX
Vendor: ATA Model: HGST HUS726040AL Revis: T920
SCSI Level: 5 IS Pseudo: false Status: on
Is RDM Capable: false IS Removeable: false
Is Local: true Is SSD: false
Other Names: vml.01000000004b3747355653374c202020202020202020202020484753542048
VAAI Status: unsupported
The serial number is listed at the end of the "Display Name" for each device. In this case, the serial number begins with K4K.
This command will simplify the list to view the storage device by their "Display Name" only:
$ esxcfg-scsidevs -l | egrep -i 'display name'
Display Name: Local ATA Disk (t10.ATA_____HGST_HUS726040ALA610____________________K4K0XXXX____________)
Display Name: Local ATA Disk (t10.ATA_____HGST_HUS726040ALA610____________________K4K0ZXXX____________)
Display Name: Local ATA Disk (t10.ATA_____HGST_HUS726040ALA610____________________K7G5VXXX____________)
As you can see, the serial number is always listed at the end of the "Display Name". The serial number will vary based on the manufacturer of the device.
Alternatively, there is a method to locate the serial number from within the vSphere Web Client. Once you login to the "vSphere Web Client", select Storage under the Navigator Panel.
Immediately after selecting "Storage", ESXi will open the tab "Datastores". In order to view the serial number on your disks, select the Devices tab.
The serial number is located at the end, after the device's model number.
Retrieving a Serial Number with Windows Server 2016
For Dedicated Servers with Windows Server installed, Windows PowerShell can be used to view the serial number on your devices.
To open Windows PowerShell, click the magnifying glass icon on the bottom-left of the Windows home screen. Type "powershell" into the search bar and select Windows PowerShell.
In PowerShell, enter the following command:
PS C:\Users\root Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName,SerialNumber
Here is a sample output on a Dedicated Server with two HDD storage devices, but this will also work with NVMe storage devices:
FriendlyName SerialNumber
------------ ------------
HGST HUS726020ALA610 K5H3XXXX
HGST HUS726020ALA610 K5H3XXYY
Conclusion
Once the serial number of the corrupt storage drive or the serial number of the working storage drive(s) are retrieved, a support request can be opened to have the faulty storage drive replaced. For more information on contacting OVHcloud, please view the How to Contact OVHcloud Support article.