Dynamicaly Grow an Array of Disks? Is this even possible?
Here is my real life situation at home:
I have:
2x) 300GB PATA disks
1x) 500GB SATA
1x) 13GB ubuntu system drive
My interest is to make one large space out of the 500 and 300 GB disks - I understand I can do this with LVM.
I also know I can make a hardware JBOD.
That is the extent of my RAID "knowledge"
Here is my question:
Is there a storage technology that will allow me to have multiple disks connected into one large disk - and then GROW later as I add more disks - WITHOUT- having to reformat the entire array?
For example: I set up my 1.1TB JBOD with my disks now, and fill it up. Then I go but a nice 750GB hard drive - - obviously i cannot backup my 1.1TB of data anywhere - so can I somehow add the 750GB right in without upsetting my existing data?
All of my limited research points to no - i would have to reformat the entire array and start over anytime I added a disk.
Isnt there some kind of adaptive RAID?
I have:
2x) 300GB PATA disks
1x) 500GB SATA
1x) 13GB ubuntu system drive
My interest is to make one large space out of the 500 and 300 GB disks - I understand I can do this with LVM.
I also know I can make a hardware JBOD.
That is the extent of my RAID "knowledge"
Here is my question:
Is there a storage technology that will allow me to have multiple disks connected into one large disk - and then GROW later as I add more disks - WITHOUT- having to reformat the entire array?
For example: I set up my 1.1TB JBOD with my disks now, and fill it up. Then I go but a nice 750GB hard drive - - obviously i cannot backup my 1.1TB of data anywhere - so can I somehow add the 750GB right in without upsetting my existing data?
All of my limited research points to no - i would have to reformat the entire array and start over anytime I added a disk.
Isnt there some kind of adaptive RAID?
Last Comment
sirbounty
Hmm - you can expand RAID arrays using Smart Array controllers from HP, so it's possible, though I'm not sure if the technology exists for a desktop unit...assuming that's what you're using? What type of controller?
Why you need one large disk?
You can easy mount new disk as subdirectory.
You can easy mount new disk as subdirectory.
ASKER
sirbounty:
i have a rackmount case with a board and proc from newegg - but they arent server class - i am not opposed to upgrading my hardware if thats what needs to happen to achieve this goal.
alexnek:
that is what I am currently doing, however my media files are so large and numerous that this solution was only temporary at best when i started it and now is causing the problem of a "directory" being full - the OS for this environment is linux
----------
The goal is to make a file server that can easily accommodate an ever growing amount of storage space while keeping exiting files in place and ideally providing some redundancy - hence my asking about RAID solutions
i have a rackmount case with a board and proc from newegg - but they arent server class - i am not opposed to upgrading my hardware if thats what needs to happen to achieve this goal.
alexnek:
that is what I am currently doing, however my media files are so large and numerous that this solution was only temporary at best when i started it and now is causing the problem of a "directory" being full - the OS for this environment is linux
----------
The goal is to make a file server that can easily accommodate an ever growing amount of storage space while keeping exiting files in place and ideally providing some redundancy - hence my asking about RAID solutions
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Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media used to retain digital data. In addition to local storage devices like CD and DVD readers, hard drives and flash drives, solid state drives can hold enormous amounts of data in a very small device. Cloud services and other new forms of remote storage also add to the capacity of devices and their ability to access more data without building additional data storage into a device.
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