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  1. #1

    How to check if hosting provided lied about changing disk?

    Hello.

    I have a Windows 2008 dedicated server with software raid1 at XXXX. A few days ago the raid broke, checked disks, confirmed that disk0 had problems, so I requested for a disk replacement. After 1.5 hour, the technicians confirmed the disk replacement, rebooted and I rebuilt the raid. Sweet!

    However, today the raid broke again so I started to rebuild the raid array. In the meantime, I checked at new hard disk's properties that the disk installation date was exactly when I ordered the server (a few months ago) and not when it was said to be replaced (a few days ago)! The property value can be accessed by:
    - right clicking "my computer", select "manage"
    - select "Disk management"
    - right click "Disk0", select properties
    - select "Details" tab
    - select "Install date" from drop down listbox.

    I compared the value with an other windows system that I had the HD replaced and I noticed that the "Install date" property had the correct value (disk replacement date).

    I asked XXXX on this and a technician replied without any further checking "The other employee already replaced the HDD:", quoting the sayings of the technician that previously replaced the HD

    Is there a way to check if the HD has not been replaced after all (maybe from a log file)?

    Thank you for your time!

  2. #2
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    probably too late now, but if you had installed smartmontools (and gsmartcontrol on a windows server) when the server was provisioned and noted the details of the HDD's - including the Serial Numbers you would know.

    There may of course be telltale signs if you install these tools now - like the power on hours, power cycle count being the same...
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  3. #3
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    You can get a lot of information about hardrives using http://www.hdsentinel.com/ (There is a free trial) You could check to see if the spin up time matches what the other disk reports, which would be a good indication if they are the same disk.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by kalexan View Post
    Is there a way to check if the HD has not been replaced after all (maybe from a log file)?
    You've gotten some good responses here. To be honest, if you don't trust your host, it's probably time to find a new host.

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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by sirius View Post
    You've gotten some good responses here. To be honest, if you don't trust your host, it's probably time to find a new host.

    Sirius
    I second that. If you don't trust them, then switch.

    Doesn't sound like it is a different disk as it had the same error and install date?
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  6. #6
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    If they cloned the old disk to the new disk, windows will think it's still the old disk since the UUID would be the same. SMART power on hours should indicate if it's a new disk or not, but outside of that, there really isn't a sure fire way to know if it's a different disk unless you know the serial number of the previous disk and compare to new.
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  7. #7
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    I highly doubt that, as it's as simple as just pulling the drive out and putting a new one in and letting the RAID Rebuild if using a controller, otherwise a few commands will be neccessary.

    If you have KVM Access, Boot up a Live cd like sysrescuecd or GParted which can assist you in this.

    Quote Originally Posted by FastServ View Post
    If they cloned the old disk to the new disk, windows will think it's still the old disk since the UUID would be the same. SMART power on hours should indicate if it's a new disk or not, but outside of that, there really isn't a sure fire way to know if it's a different disk unless you know the serial number of the previous disk and compare to new.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by JD0192 View Post
    I highly doubt that, as it's as simple as just pulling the drive out and putting a new one in and letting the RAID Rebuild if using a controller, otherwise a few commands will be neccessary.

    If you have KVM Access, Boot up a Live cd like sysrescuecd or GParted which can assist you in this.
    He's using Windows disk mirroring, no hardware RAID. If he set that up himself the host would have no way to know that inserting a blank disk is going to let the server boot.

    Unaware of any RAID setup a host should at least attempt to rescue data on a failed disk using clone method. Bottom line, there are two possibilities - Either the host is lying about replacing the disk or they cloned it to a new one.
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