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Powering down SCSI device with OS active

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by crhinehart

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Is it okay to power down an external SCSI device (tape drive) while the (NT 4.0) server is running?

6 replies

by ann777

I wouldn't unless there were any other option. Powering off is probably okay to do so.

But do not disconnect/connect it back to the server while the server is powered up.

Mice, Keyboards, basically any external device that does not have it's own power supply, draws power from the computer. Connecting these devices when the computer is active has a high probability to blow out components on the system board or daughterboard. For the same reason, you never connect network cards or any kind of adapters to a powered on computer.

by ann777

Again while self powered devices usually do okay if power off/on with the server on.... and you can turn is back on without any ill effect. But NOT if you disconnected it; always reconnect with the power off of both the computer and the device.

by curlergirl

Powering down an external SCSI device should not cause any problems. As Anna777 said, you DON'T, however, want to try to disconnect it. However, I have had problems with various tape drives not being recognized properly by NT and/or tape backup software if they are powered down and then back up while the server is running. It will usually cause "bad block" or "unreadable media error" type messages - so, although you can do it my experience is that you have to reboot the server anyway to get it to work after turning it back on. I don't think you would have the same problem, though, with a CD tower or external SCSI drive enclosure. Hope this helps!

by crhinehart

My main gola was to get a "stuck" tape out of an AIT drive and then do a restore. I'll restart the server tonight. thanks for your help.

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