Increasing volume size on Hardware RAID-1 array

We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ proliant with
Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror by
removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild the
array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has anyone
heard of doing this? Is there a better way?

Thanks!
Douglas

Daryl
Fri Oct 24 08:34:18 CDT 2003

I would do that, then when it has resynced, you should show 50GB unused
space in Disk Administrator.

Download from microsoft website diskpart.exe. This is a command line version
of Disk Administrator that will allow you to extend the partition.

"Douglas" <douglas@at-mciver.org> wrote in message
news:eK6bcDjmDHA.3320@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ proliant
with
> Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror by
> removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild the
> array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
> inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has anyone
> heard of doing this? Is there a better way?
>
> Thanks!
> Douglas
>
>

Andrew
Fri Oct 24 09:27:37 CDT 2003

Hi Douglas

Why not add your new disks, set-up new partitions on them, rather than
having the hassle of breaking and re-creating mirrors? Are your mirrored
18GB disks currently set-up as a single C: partition? If so, you can
undoubtedly move a large amount of data from that partition, such as the
Exchange databases, user data and client apps.

Also, are you running an Exchange aware backup? Exchange creates log files
which are only removed by the system when the transactions are committed to
the database and a backup is run. I would personally favour adding the new
disks and moving some of your existing data, rather than your proposed
solution.

Regards,
Andrew Stevens.


"Daryl Maunder" <dmaunder.nospam@midnightoil.nospam.com.nospam.au> wrote in
message news:OSIRIOjmDHA.688@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> I would do that, then when it has resynced, you should show 50GB unused
> space in Disk Administrator.
>
> Download from microsoft website diskpart.exe. This is a command line
version
> of Disk Administrator that will allow you to extend the partition.
>
> "Douglas" <douglas@at-mciver.org> wrote in message
> news:eK6bcDjmDHA.3320@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ proliant
> with
> > Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror by
> > removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild the
> > array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
> > inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has
anyone
> > heard of doing this? Is there a better way?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Douglas
> >
> >
>
>

Mal
Fri Oct 24 20:36:41 CDT 2003

That will not work.

When you try to create a mirror set with an 18Gb drive onto the 72Gb, only
the first 18Gb of the drive will be used. If you follow the procedure you
describe, what you will end up with is an 18Gb mirror set, and 54Gb free on
each drive. You could of course then create another 54Gb mirror set, & copy
some user data over to that drive. An 18Gb C: & a 54Gb D: is not a bad
configuration. If you do this, run a defrag or two on the old 18Gb once you
have cleared some space on it, full drives tend to fragment & slow down.

Mal Osborne

"Douglas" <douglas@at-mciver.org> wrote in message
news:eK6bcDjmDHA.3320@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ proliant
with
> Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror by
> removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild the
> array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
> inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has anyone
> heard of doing this? Is there a better way?
>
> Thanks!
> Douglas
>
>

Jussi
Fri Oct 24 13:58:42 CDT 2003

See if your contoller supports changing from RAID-1 to RAID-5. This way you
could add a drive to array (18+18+18) and use two drives for data and third
for parity.

Jussi

"Douglas" <douglas@at-mciver.org> kirjoitti viestissä
news:eK6bcDjmDHA.3320@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ proliant
with
> Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror by
> removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild the
> array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
> inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has anyone
> heard of doing this? Is there a better way?
>
> Thanks!
> Douglas
>
>

Tony
Sat Oct 25 04:25:04 CDT 2003

Jussi

Sorry newbie here, how do you check what your controller will support. I'm
not sure of the original spec of the Dell box I inherited.

We have 2 x 36gb RAID-1 and I understand that adding another 36gb drive
would give us 72gb space and I'd like to do this is the most unobtrusive
way, eg add the drive and with a little configuring and no loss of data get
access to the full 72gb. Any thoughts or on line resources on this?

TIA


"Jussi" <jusu8.N.O.S.P.A.M@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e8C14CmmDHA.1884@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> See if your contoller supports changing from RAID-1 to RAID-5. This way
you
> could add a drive to array (18+18+18) and use two drives for data and
third
> for parity.
>
> Jussi
>
> "Douglas" <douglas@at-mciver.org> kirjoitti viestissä
> news:eK6bcDjmDHA.3320@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ proliant
> with
> > Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror by
> > removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild the
> > array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
> > inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has
anyone
> > heard of doing this? Is there a better way?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Douglas
> >
> >
>
>

Merv
Sat Oct 25 08:09:07 CDT 2003

Tony:

Go to www.dell.com, click on the Small Business section, then Service and
Support | Downloads | Small Business. Then enter your Dell Service Tag
(probably on the side or back of the server). This will get you the
downloads and documentation for your server. On the left side of the
Customer Support page is an item called Current Configuration. This will
query your server for all installed equipment and give you an idea of what
you have in your server.

It appears you have SCSI drives and, as you say, they are set up in a RAID 1
configuration. What we don't know is whether this is hardware RAID1 or
simply a software RAID1 setup. I'll assume it's a software RAID1 (set up
using Disk Management in Windows 2000). I'll also assume that the SCSI
controller is built into your motherboard (would help to know the Dell model
of your server). If so, you could just add a new hard drive to the onboard
SCSI controller and then partition/format it. Now, this new drive won't be
mirrored to anything so you will not have any "fault tolerance" (like your
other two drives) if the new drive goes down. Of course, you could install
two new drives and set up another software mirror between these to achieve
this fault tolerance.

Another way would be to buy a new drive plus a RAID5 hardware controller and
gain the fault tolerance (and some disk access speed) by setting up all 3
drives in a RAID5 array. However, this seems to be outside the scope of
your original question.

--
Merv Porter [SBS MVP]
===================================
"Tony Josephs" <nospam2tony_josephs@hotmail.no.spam.com> wrote in message
news:#gXgNwtmDHA.1884@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Jussi
>
> Sorry newbie here, how do you check what your controller will support.
I'm
> not sure of the original spec of the Dell box I inherited.
>
> We have 2 x 36gb RAID-1 and I understand that adding another 36gb drive
> would give us 72gb space and I'd like to do this is the most unobtrusive
> way, eg add the drive and with a little configuring and no loss of data
get
> access to the full 72gb. Any thoughts or on line resources on this?
>
> TIA
>
>
> "Jussi" <jusu8.N.O.S.P.A.M@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:e8C14CmmDHA.1884@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > See if your contoller supports changing from RAID-1 to RAID-5. This way
> you
> > could add a drive to array (18+18+18) and use two drives for data and
> third
> > for parity.
> >
> > Jussi
> >
> > "Douglas" <douglas@at-mciver.org> kirjoitti viestissä
> > news:eK6bcDjmDHA.3320@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > > We have Win2K Server with two hard drives, 18GB SCSI, in a CPQ
proliant
> > with
> > > Smart Array and RAID-1. We need more space. Can I break the mirror
by
> > > removing one drive, then insert a 72GB drive, let the system rebuild
the
> > > array, then break the array again by removing the last 18GB drive and
> > > inserting a second 72GB? Will windows detect the size change? Has
> anyone
> > > heard of doing this? Is there a better way?
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > > Douglas
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>