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Drive Firmware Update Required for Select PowerVault Storage Connected to the RSA NetWitness Platform

Issue

Dell EMC has identified a critical hard drive firmware issue with select hard drives.
This impacts two specific Toshiba model drive types:  the MG06 series SAS drive running firmware version EH06 and the MG07 series SAS drive running firmware version EI05.

As a result of this firmware issue, data may not be correctly written to the hard drive's media, leading to the potential for undetected data loss. As part of a proactive effort, we urgently recommend that you update the affected drives to firmware version EH08 (or later) for MG06 series drives and firmware EI07 (or later) for MG07 series drives as soon as possible to maintain optimal system performance and to avoid encountering this issue.

Resolution

It is always suggested to back up your system before attempting any system maintenance. For instructions on backing up the RSA NetWitness Platform, see NRT: Disaster Recovery (Back Up and Restore).

Dell EMC urgently recommends that all customers determine if these hard drives are within their system(s) in the RSA NetWitness Platform environment and upgrade these drives to the latest drive firmware as soon as possible to help avoid encountering this issue. Use the links provided below to download the appropriate firmware update.

Important Information

This firmware update will not run if any of the following conditions exist:

  1. Any Virtual Disk (RAID Array) is not optimal.
  2. The RAID controller is performing a Background Initialization or Consistency Check.
  3. A Rebuild, Resync, or copyback function is taking place.
  4. A RAID set (RAID Array) is Partially Degraded or in a Degraded state.
To help determine if any of these conditions exist, please use the nwraidtool.py script, already installed on all RSA NetWitness servers, to review the state of all arrays in the system. If assistance is needed to use the nwraidtool.py script or review the output of the script, please open a case with RSA NetWitness Support.

Instructions

  • No services need to be stopped while running this firmware update.
  • Everything can remain functional during this process.
  • The time that it takes to run the firmware update depends on the number of drives that may require the update. In general, it should not last longer than 15 minutes.
  1. The following links contain the firmware updates provided by Dell EMC. Download both the EH08 and EI07 firmware before starting.
  1. It is suggested (Preferred Method) that the Windows Executable version of each firmware is used and that the firmware be applied using the iDRAC method outline in Dell PowerEdge: Update the firmware of Single System Components Remotely Using the iDRAC.
  2. If the iDRAC is not available, a command-line version can be used. Download the Update Package for Red Hat Linux from the same download page and run it at the command line for the server being updated.
  3. Perform the update using both EH08 and EI07 firmware for all servers that contain PowerVault storage.
Note: If the hardware the update is being run against does not contain any affected drives, a message will display stating that either the firmware is not compatible or that the firmware is for a component that is not in the target system. If such a message appears, this means that the hardware does not contain a hard drive that was identified as at-risk and is not affected by the issues that are outlined in this knowledge base article. Please see the following screenshots for example outputs.
iDRAC Output
User-added
 
Command-Line Output
  User-added
  1. If at any time there are questions or concerns about the above process, please open a case with RSA NetWitness Support for assistance.

Product Details

RSA Product Set: NetWitness Platform
RSA Product/Service Type: Power Vault Storage
RSA Version/Condition: All Versions

Summary

Potential firmware update required to address known issue with drive writes on select Toshiba hard drives that are used in PowerVault storage that can be attached to the RSA NetWitness Platform


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