In the RAID Controller is an internal buffer in the Workstation RAID Battery.
This buffer "tells" the processor that the "data write-to-disk" is complete, and the computer "knows" to go back to the processor to get more data and send it onto the drives.
The cache buffer speeds data transfer from the processor disk in simple terms.
This cache buffer is equipped with an internal battery that keeps the information in the buffer secure until it is written to storage devices.
Workstation RAID Battery
Are the lithium-ion batteries of RAID controllers running time bombs inside your server? Last weekend.
We came across one IBM Serve RAID battery pack that seemed to have a threatening look.
We all know that Workstation RAID Battery has to be replaced regularly, and that's one of the main reasons for supercapacitors found on RAID cards.
Before this weekend, we believed that it was an issue protecting data even in a power outage.
This weekend, we're now convinced that it could be a security issue.
A defective battery or Battery with no power can make the storage device inoperable and prevent users from accessing important information.
To ensure that this doesn't happen, The health of the workstation raid Battery used in the storage system must be regularly checked. Any issues were quickly brought to the administrator's attention.
This is possible with tests like the Storage in workstation RAID Battery test.
The test provides the operating state and overall health of all batteries utilized by the storage system.
It also alerts administrators to any potential problems in battery performance and allows administrators to take proactive measures to prevent battery failure.
Background: What Are The Reason RAID Controllers Have Batteries
Today most RAID controllers are SAS (or specifically SAS3) built on SAS3. For instance, a few lower-end models by Marvell offer SATA III RAID 0 or 1.
However, they are designed for boot drives, basic NAS units, and similar applications.
To achieve parity, RAID levels, such as RAID 5 or RAID 6 controllers, will need to do XOR calculations to determine the type of data to write to every device when it writes data to the array.
According to modern standards for processors, it's not an extremely difficult task even on 10TB Workstation hard disks with 8x capacity, but it requires some time.
DRAM
Over the years, businesses that make RAID controllers have solved the issue of improving writing performance with the help of adding DRAM.
The host system can transfer data from the RAID controller, and the data is then temporarily stored in DRAM until the parity calculation is flushed onto the disk.
For those who work in the Workstation RAID Battery business or for operations teams with RAID cards, RAID controllers with BBUs have been used for quite a while and are generally a well-known number.
BBUs must be replaced regularly since a decline in battery capacity could result in failed backups during power supply events.
Over the weekend, we witnessed another reason to change batteries.
In the case of RAID controllers that use battery backup units.
There is an additional maintenance requirement to refresh the workstation raid Battery.
This isn't as crucial for servers expected to last for 36 months. Many organizations have servers located in their organisation's infrastructure that's older than 3-5 years.
If you have older servers and use traditional RAID cards, ensure that you've periodically set up a strategy to replace batteries.
It's not enough to stop using the BBU feature to protect against power loss.
A bursting battery can signify more severe failures in various devices. You don't want an explosion of a battery inside the server.
