Exadata Database Machine X2-2 Hardware
 

PLA-Support>Eng Systems>Exadata/ODA/SSC>Oracle Exadata>DB: Exadata_EST
 

Applies to:

Symptoms

 When running Exachck scripts on any Exadata model you may see an error message in the results similar to the below: 

DATA FROM EXA01CEL01 FOR VERIFY ELECTRONIC STORAGE MODULE (ESM) LIFETIME IS WITHIN SPECIFICATION 

/SYS/MB/RISER2/PCIE2: Unable to determine card type: UNRECOGNIZED

/SYS/MB/RISER2/PCIE2/F20CARD/UPTIME:
 value = 3508 
 upper_noncritical_threshold = 25254
/SYS/MB/RISER2/PCIE5/F20CARD is an F20M2 model and this esm lifetime check does not apply.

 There may be several of these or other messages involving the other F20's along with this.

Cause

Exadata X4275 and X4270 M2 Storage (Cell) nodes in Exadata V2, X2-2, X2-8 and SuperCluster T4-4's contain 4 F20 Flash Accelerator PCI-E cards installed in PCIE slots 1&4 (PCI-E RISER1) and 2&5 (RISER2). These F20 cards utilize an "ESM (Energy Storage Module)", also called a "SuperCap" (SuperCapacitor) which serves to both protect data cache and improve performance.

These ESM's are replaced every 3 (V2) or 4 (all others) years during Preventive Maintenance (PM). For each F20 card the ILOM runs a rote software timer which counts time (in seconds) from when the F20 card was first installed. When the timer reaches certain present thresholds the ILOM will assert a fault event. First SPX86-8002-RY - Energy Storage Module is approaching end-of-life (Doc ID 1179934.1) and then SPX86-8002-S3 - Energy Storage Module has exceeded end-of-life. (Doc ID 1180143.1).
These timers are intended to serve ONLY as a reminder that PM service may be soon due or is overdue.

When run the Exachk healthcheck scripts verifies the correct condition of the 4 F20's and ESM's

 There are several possible reasons why this behavior could be occurring. 

• Exachk script bug
• Newer Exadata node model which does not use the F20 (X3 uses F40, X4 is F80, X5 is F160 NVMe)
• Transient hardware issue or other hardware fault

Solution

• Update to the latest Exachk script (KM#1070954.1)
• If the Exadata node model is anything other than an X4275 or X4270 M2 the error can be safely ignored. 
• Check for obvious hardware issues (Open a Support SR for Oracle assistance)
• Warm reset the ILOM (WebGUI - Maintenance Tab -> Reset SP Tab -> Reset SP Button, CLI -> reset /SP, ipmitool #ipmitool sunoem cli 'reset /SP') - This generally does not affect the running host and is safe to do during uptime.
• Reboot the host (Steps to shut down or reboot an Exadata storage cell without affecting ASM (Doc ID 1188080.1))
• Reseat/Replace the ESM and/or the F20 Flash Accelerator (Requires Field Engineer Dispatch. Ask your SR Owner)
• In some cases the error can otherwise be safely ignored. Please consult with Oracle Support.

If you need any additional assistance please contact your Oracle Service Request Owner if you already have an SR open, or open a new Service Request and we will continue to assist you.

References

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