Expanding Disk Space on Proliant DL360 G6
I have an HP Proliant DL360 G6 server running Windows Server 2003. It is our domain controller. I currently have two 146 GB drives mirrored in the system. We have about 10% of free space left currently. I purchased a third 146 GB drive and installed in the third port. The Array software is telling me that I cannot expand since it is not the equal number of drives, but I can convert to Raid 5. My question is, should I purchase another drive to expand, or convert to Raid 5? If I do convert to Raid 5, should I go ahead and purchase another drive as a hot spare? Once I convert to Raid 5, how do I expand the storage on the logical drive? Do I do this in the array software, or do I do this through the OS? Any help is appreciated, and I will give any additional info needed. Thanks in advance.
ASKER
What about expanding the logical drive? This server currently only has a C:\ drive, and I want to expand the storage capacity on it. Will this happen automatically when I convert to Raid 5?
The logical drive can be expanded using the ACU, but you still have to stretch the OS partition. Do you want one big C: drive or would you like to move some data to D:?
I prefer to have data on D: in which case you'd create a second logical disk on the array.
I prefer to have data on D: in which case you'd create a second logical disk on the array.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
I wouldn't say RAID 5 is the best choice for anything, it's certainly the slowest for writing unless you count RAID 6.
Adding 2 disks you could retain the RAID 1 configuration (technically it becomes RAID 10) which is the fastest RAID level that provides redundancy, I'd still add another volume rather than stretch C: though since on the new volume you have the chance to align the partition using diskpart, pretty sure C: won't be aligned properly. RAID 1 to RAID 10 isn't really RAID level migration since the controller treats RAID 1 as RAID 10 with just two disks.
Adding 2 disks you could retain the RAID 1 configuration (technically it becomes RAID 10) which is the fastest RAID level that provides redundancy, I'd still add another volume rather than stretch C: though since on the new volume you have the chance to align the partition using diskpart, pretty sure C: won't be aligned properly. RAID 1 to RAID 10 isn't really RAID level migration since the controller treats RAID 1 as RAID 10 with just two disks.
Assuming you do opt for RIAD 5, make sure you have a bullet-proof backup before doing anything in case it goes wrong.
You can add a hot-spare later if needed. No need to do that now, but no harm either.
Alsn