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Concatenated to RAID-0... easy!?
I have a PowerEdge 4300 (Tag: CBCPG) with a PERC2 controller (v2.7.1). I recently discovered that I somehow setup our domain server's 4 8GB drives as a concatenated volume with C: and U: partitions. I would love to go to RAID-5, but I understand that this is not possible without a total reformat. But what about reconfiguring to RAID-0? That should at least provide more speed vs. concatenation, right?
I see that I can "easily" reconfigure the virtual disk in Array Manager 3.4 using the "Virtual Disk Reconfiguration Wizard". There is a drop-down box where I can select either concatenated or RAID-0.
Will reconfiguring to RAID-0 provide any speed gain vs. my currently concatenated disks? Is it really as easy as it appears? Can this be done even though I have two partitions (C: and U:)? Can the virtual disk(s) be accessed while the reconfiguration is in progress? What are the chances of failure during the process? Please keep in mind that I would be performing this on our domain server's system partition, so I don't want to do anything that isn't commonly performed successfully.
In the wizard, there is a warning that states "Please do not perform any Disk or Volume operations on the corresponding Disks while the reconfiguration is in progress". What exactly is an "operation" in this case? How do I prevent them from happening?
While I'm at it, I'd also like to ask if anyone has had any experience with backing up a concatenated volume, reconfiguring to RAID-5, and restoring? Once again, is it possible to have two or more drive letters on one RAID-5 volume? We would be using Veritas Backup Exec 9.0 and Intelligent Disaster Recovery.
Thank you very much for any insight you can provide in the matter!
Matt Wilson
Austin Community College
Austin, Texas
cradix
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November 19th, 2003 12:00
DELL-Mark A
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November 19th, 2003 15:00
Hi Matt,
I may be able to shed some light on this issue.
1. Raid 0 should offer some speed advantages as it writes to all disks concurrently. Cocantenation writes to one disk until it is full, then moves to the next.
2. If Array Manager offers the choice to reconfigure to Raid 0, it is just as easy as that. Array Manager (usually) will not allow you to make a destructive move without ample warnings.
3. The "Please do not perform any Disk or Volume operations on the corresponding Disks while the reconfiguration is in progress" message basically means do not touch anything in Array Manager while the reconfiguration is completing. Your users will not notice any changes, there will just be a slight performance hit until the reconfiguration is done.
4. This operation is all at the hardware level. Your drive partitions are at the Operating System level. In short, your partitions will remain the same.
5. The backup software will not care if it is restoring to a cocantenated array or a raid 5. Again the backup software is working at the Operating System level, while the Raid is at the hardware level.
All this being said, and especially being your Domain Controller, make sure you have a verified disaster recovery plan in place before beginning.
Thanks for using the Dell Community Forums!
cradix
5 Posts
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November 19th, 2003 19:00
Your users will not notice any changes, there will just be a slight performance hit until the reconfiguration is done.
So this means I can actually do this without having to stop access from the network? Read/writes can happen (albeit slower) simultaneous to the reconfiguration?
-- Matt
DELL-Mark A
2.5K Posts
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November 19th, 2003 20:00
cradix
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November 20th, 2003 00:00
Thank you SO MUCH for your help! I'll give it whirl...
-- Matt