

Not patched by October 2020? Your drives could get bricked…
Several Strong-Condition Drives (SSDs) designed by SanDisk endure from a flaw that can see them wiping out everything stored on them at 40,000 hours (four several years) — with HPE currently joining Dell in naming SanDisk proprietor Western Digital as responsible for the bug, which has observed technique directors scramble to obtain and take care of affected servers.
Neglecting to get a firmware take care of in “will final result in travel failure and details decline at 40,000 hours of procedure and call for restoration of details from backup if there is no fault tolerance, these types of as RAID or even in a fault tolerance RAID method if extra SSDs are unsuccessful than can be supported by the fault tolerance of the RAID method on the reasonable drive” HPE reported.
It additional: “After the SSD failure occurs, neither the SSD nor the details can be recovered. In addition, SSDs which have been place into provider at the identical time will possible are unsuccessful approximately at the same time.” (Several experienced groups will make stacks with non-sequential serial numbers and storage solutions from unique vendors, but that is not often easy…)
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HPE assistance for shoppers posted on March 20 reported that primarily based on its evaluation of when servers equipped with the SanDisk SSDs started shipping and delivery, shoppers should not endure challenges in advance of October 2020 providing close-consumers a lot of time to make the crucial patch in advance of their drives get bricked. Other OEMs are possible to be affected.
(Computer system Enterprise Overview has not nevertheless observed any even more customer advisories. If you acquired a single from a different server vendor, get in contact with our editor…)
Hey, Western Digital: Many thanks for That
Today naming Western Digital for the initially time (an previously statement experienced just cited a “Solid Condition Generate maker), HPE explained to Computer system Enterprise Overview in an emailed statement: “HPE was notified by Western Digital of a maker firmware defect in particular SAS SSD models applied throughout the business.
“Because this defect only causes travel failure right after 40,000 hours of procedure, no HPE shoppers are in risk of failing for various months. HPE has received Serial Number facts on the drives delivered to HPE shoppers, and we are actively achieving out to those shoppers and to offer current firmware.”
Western Digital did not reply to requests for comment. The enterprise previously explained to Blocks and Storage that, “Per Western Digital company plan, we are unable to offer feedback with regards to other vendors’ solutions. As this falls in just HPE’s portfolio, all connected merchandise queries would best be tackled with HPE instantly.” (Which, specified it is ultimately a Western Digital merchandise flaw, seems un-chivalrous…)
SanDisk SSD Bug: Dell Instructed Clients in February

Dell meanwhile notified its shoppers in February, emailing them to say that it experienced “identified a probably crucial concern the place particular reliable point out drives may possibly working experience failure and prospective details decline because of to an concern with the drives’ firmware, the drives may possibly are unsuccessful right after roughly 40,000 hours of utilization.”
SanDisk drives ranging from 200GB to one.6TB are understood to be affected. These can be located in a sprawling array of Dell and HPE servers: the two firms have furnished consumers with a total listing of impacted solutions.
HPE has designed Linux, VMware, and Windows scripts available which perform an SSD travel firmware verify for the 40,000 power-on-hours failure concern, as has Dell, which pointed the finger at SanDisk model numbers LT0200MO, LT0400MO, LT0800MO, LT1600MO, LT0200WM, LT0400WM, LT0800WM, LT0800RO and LT1600RO.
Attentive devices directors should really have very little difficulties pinpointing the servers affecting and patching them in a with any luck , bug-free manner, but the concern is annoying for big OEMs like Dell and HPE which encounter possessing to discover and notify all impacted shoppers — and which will no doubt acquire the brunt of any criticism.