Technical Tip: How to identify hardware or software RAID in FortiAnalyzer or FortiManager

Description

This article explains the method to identify what type of RAID the FortiAnalyzer/FortiManager device is running.

If a hard disk on a FortiAnalyzer/FortiManager unit fails, it must be replaced.
On FortiAnalyzer/FortiManager devices that support hardware RAID, the hard disk can be replaced while the unit is still running - known as hot swapping.

On FortiAnalyzer/Fortimanager units with software RAID, the disks are not hot-swappable so the device must be shut down before exchanging the hard disk.

Scope

FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager.

Solution

Use the command line to check if the device uses hardware or software RAID.

To check the RAID type from the command line:

1. Go to System Settings.

2. Select the CLI Console.

3. Enter the following command and press Enter.

diagnose system raid status

The following information is shown in the output:

• Mega RAID: This output shows that the device uses hardware RAID.

• Storcli RAID: Newer models use Storcli RAID. This runs on Mega RAID and is also a hardware RAID.

• Software RAID: This output shows that the device uses software RAID.

Example command line output showing RAID:

Mega RAID indicates hardware RAID.

diagnose system raid status
Mega RAID:
RAID Level: Raid-50
RAID Status: OK
RAID Size: 11175GB
Groups: 2
Disk 0: OK 2793GB Group-1
Disk 1: OK 2793GB Group-1
Disk 2: OK 2793GB Group-1
Disk 3: OK 2793GB Group-2

Storcli RAID indicates hardware RAID.

diagnose system raid status 
Storcli RAID:                
RAID Level: Raid-50
RAID Status: OK
RAID Size: 52156GB
File System: ext4 51337GB
Groups: 2

Software RAID indicates software RAID. 

diagnose system raid status
Software RAID:                
RAID Level: Raid-50
RAID Status: OK
RAID Size: 11175GB
Groups: 2

It shows each disk's state, capacity and RAID group:

Disk 1: OK
Disk 2: Failed
Disk 3: Rebuilding
Disk 4: Unavailable

Per-disk states:

• OK: Disk is healthy.

• Failed: RAID controller detected disk failure.

• Unavailable: Disk is missing or not detected; verify slot/connection and consider RMA.

• Unused: Disk is detected but not part of the RAID.

• Rebuilding: Disk was added and RAID reconstruction is running.

RAID array status:

• OK: Array is healthy and fully redundant.

• Degraded: RAID remains operational but redundancy is reduced.

• Background-Rebuilding: Array is rebuilding onto a replaced disk; storage stays operational.

diagnose system raid hwinfo

Displays detailed hardware RAID controller information. It is useful for identifying the controller and troubleshooting hardware RAID issues.

Useful commands when troubleshooting FortiAnalyzer storage issues:

execute tac report 
diagnose system raid status
diagnose system disk info
diagnose system raid hwinfo
diagnose system disk health
diagnose system disk errors
diagnose system disk attributes
diagnose system print partitions
diagnose system print df
diagnose debug klog
diagnose log device

Related article:

Technical Tip: How to restore a physical RAID storage with all logs on FortiAnalyzer

Technical Tip: How to recover from a 'Degraded' RAID status