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Expand Raid 5 Array

I asked a question similar to this recently and got pointed in the right direction but have more to ask.

I am running an HP ML350 G3 with a 641 Controller. disks 0 and 1 are Raid1/OS (Basic Disc) and 2 to 4 are in Raid 5 (Dynamic) with a spare in slot 5. I can remove the spare in slot 5 using the ACU, but what do I do to add the drive to the existing array? In other words, I currently have 67GB of space across the three drives(setup as E:), I want to add the drive that was a spare as additional space giving me 108GB of space on the E: partition.

Is this possible using just the ACU or will I need to use a third party tool?

Thanks,
C

arnold

Does the ACU provide you with an option to add the spare into an existing array?
Or go into the configuration of the raid 5 array and see whether you have an option to add a drive.
Is the ACU the GUI provided by HP or is it the interface to the controller at boot?

Clamsy

ASKER

The ACU is the GUI. It does provide an option to Remove the drive from the array, which I have not done, what I am trying to find out is if the ACU gives me an option to add a drive to an array, I think it does, but since all slots for drives are being used I don't think it will give me that option until I remove it.

Thanks

Member_2_231077

>since all slots for drives are being used I don't think it will give me that option until I remove it.

It's a really annoying GUI because of that, yes you can add drive to the array and expand it but it isn't even showed greyed out unless there is a drive available, You can change RAID levels on the fly as well if you want, e.g. from RAID10 to RAID 5 or vice versa. Migration runs at about 4-6 GB/hour.

http://h200001.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00257511/c00257511.pdf
I have never been able to find a step-through with screenshots, maybe I'll write one one day, HP don't produce one since there's imbedded help in the ACU.

Clamsy

ASKER

Since it's my only file server, I am backing up the entire contents of the drive before removing the spare and rebuilding the array. I probably could do it live without any probs, but if no bkup then the WILL be a problem :)

So hopefully tonight, I can do what needs to be done.

Thank you all for the help.

Clamsy

ASKER

Ok so, I added deleted the spare from the array added the drive back into the array. Now I have from the ACU

Logical Drive 2 (69455 MB, RAID 5)
Unused Space 46304 MB

My choices are,

1. Migrate RAID/Stripe size
2. Expand Array
3. Delete
4. More Information - which gives me the drive info, heads, cylinders etc.

I was about to use choice 2 and Expand Array, which looks like what I want to do. But what does Migrate RAID/Strip Size do?

I checked the Expansion demo in the ACU Help, but it does not load, even with Flash installed.

Thanks,
C

arnold

I am not sure for certain, but seen previous comments which dealt with migrating from a raid 5 array configuration into a raid 10 configuration.
It might also be the means to increase the size of a raid 0 configuration (Stripe).

Clamsy

ASKER

That first line should read, " I deleted the spare from the array.."

oops.

Clamsy

ASKER

I'll expand the array tonight.

Thanks.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Member_2_231077

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Clamsy

ASKER

I do want to expand, I went through the motions and am told by ACU that I will not need to do anything else since I am using Windows 2K sp4. Apparently there were problems pre Win2K sp3...

I'll look into diskpart as well.

Thanks,
C

Clamsy

ASKER

OK epansion has finished on the controller, now in disk mgt there is a 34GB of unallocated space. It is on the same dynamic disk as the 67GB part I am trying to extend.

I came across the Extend Volume Wizard, and have walked thru up to the final step. I cannot locate much on the web about the Extend Vol Wizard... Again it seems like it's what I want to do, not sure though and i cannot have this blow up.

Thanks,
C

Clamsy

ASKER

I expanded the array with the Extend Volume Wizard, took all of about 2 seconds and all is well.

Thanks,
C