RE: Older StorageWorks Parts Not Available
From: Main, Kerry (kerry.main_at_hp.com)
Date: 12/31/04
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- Maybe in reply to: David J Dachtera: "Older StorageWorks Parts Not Available"
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Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 12:09:47 -0500
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David J Dachtera [mailto:djesys.nospam@comcast.net]
> Sent: December 30, 2004 6:24 PM
> To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com
> Subject: Re: Older StorageWorks Parts Not Available
>
[snip]
> Centers which are within the same metropolitan area have no business
> using anything other than HP field service to deliver parts. For
> example: (break out your maps) Delivery from Chicago to Oak Park (less
> than 8 miles from the lakefront to Oak Park's western-most border),
> easily walkable within a day, drivable within two hours even in the
> worst weather conditions) still takes five days via UPS standard
> (surface) service.
>
Are you saying that it took 5 days to receive a part that was in the
same city??? I have a hard time believing that.
By the way - most Field Service companies these value their technicians
time much more than a delivery van guy i.e. it is better to have the
tech work on problem, talk to Customer, whatever.. As opposed to waste
tech time doing low level task like driving across town, picking up
part, finding parking, signing back in again etc etc. Heck, even Digital
was doing this back when I was in CS Support.
> > As to the DOA's, that obviously needs to be looked into to determine
> > what happened. Typically what gets looked into are such things as :
> > - Was it bad from the center?
>
> Good bet.
>
> > - Was it packed
>
> Yes.
> > and handled correctly?
>
> Cannot be gauranteed. UPS is infamous for "package volleyball"
> tournaments within their truck depots.
>
> > - Was the installation of the part done by a qualified
> Field Engineer?
>
> Not a factor.
>
> > (need to consider things like static issues, quiescent
> buses properly
> > before replacement, proper commands to be executed from
> disk controllers
> > like HSx etc. )
>
> Must be done during uptime. "Quiescing", etc. is not possible.
Who did the parts replacement - CS or the Customer?
If the disks were replaced by someone who did not follow the recommended
replacement procedures - which on some controllers do require bus
quiescing (can be done on line at less busy time of day as I recall). On
HSx controllers, you do also not simply swap bad drives with good drives
- there are specific HSx processes to move drives in and out of failed
sets etc.
>
> > - Was the revision of the part an issue? Some new
> equivalent parts might
> > have HW/SW compatibility issues with older systems that need to be
> > addressed before they can be installed properly.
>
> Should have been addressed before the part was shipped.
So, tell me how the logistics person is supposed to know what firmware
you are running or what OS version / patch level you have in place. Some
new parts have incompatibility issues with older OS versions, firmware
etc. CS folks know these things and that is one of the reasons why for
mission critical environments, one should have qualified CS folks doing
the replacement.
Now, perhaps CS did the replacements in your case, but I have seen more
than a few cases where Customers think they can simply swap out the
brick drives without understanding that there is more to it.
>
> > - Has this part a history of problems or was it only at
> this one site?
>
> Multiple targets - question irrelevant.
>
> > - What failure symptoms were seen i.e. were they the same
> for each DOA
> > or were they different?
>
> All mostly different. Some never spin up, others spin up then
> die, some
> start to work then fail, ...
>
> > - other issues looked at as well ...
>
> ...and all covered in great detail. The parts were DOA. Period.
>
I am not saying they weren't, but getting that many bad DOA's of the
same part seems awful strange to me.
As a former CS support resource, while one can obviousl;y not rule out
some bad parts until you investigate it further, I would initially be
looking for some common threads besides just immediately blaming the
Logistics center or those delivery guys who "are known for having volley
ball tournaments with packages".
Improper eco levels (disk or controller), improper replacement
procedures, not allowing disks to thermally stabilize after being
outside in truck for awhile, not being aware of latest known issues with
that particular disk and/or controller etc would all be areas to
investigate.
Regards
Kerry Main
Senior Consultant
HP Services Canada
Voice: 613-592-4660
Fax: 613-591-4477
kerryDOTmainAThpDOTcom
(remove the DOT's and AT)
"OpenVMS has always had integrity ..
Now, Integrity has OpenVMS .."
- Previous message: Rob Brooks: "Re: Vol Shad Problem"
- Maybe in reply to: David J Dachtera: "Older StorageWorks Parts Not Available"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
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