What is a hot spare disk cartridge?

A hot spare disk cartridge is an additional disk cartridge installed in a 3U Server that is immediately available as a replacement if a hard disk drive fails. If an active drive fails, the server continues to operate, no content or user-entered data is lost, and information that was stored on the failed drive is automatically restored to the hot spare. This eliminates the need for an urgent service call and provides peace of mind in marine and other remote installations. The failed disk cartridge should be replaced as soon as practical, and upon replacement the new disk cartridge becomes the hot spare.

Without a hot spare, the server cannot begin repairing itself until a replacement disk cartridge is installed. With a hot spare, the repair begins immediately — minimizing the window of time that the server is at risk of losing content. The hot spare disk cartridge feature is standard on 3U Servers; it is not available on other Kaleidescape server products.

The hot spare disk cartridge is easily identified by its blinking blue light. The blinking is normal. Do not remove the hot spare disk cartridge unless instructed by Kaleidescape Support.

For more information, please refer to the document Hot Spare Disk Cartridges.