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March 7th, 2004 23:00
RFC: Plan for new array on PE2500
I have been reading forum posts and documentation for the last day+ and want to run the following scenario past you guys for comments. Recently I was enlisted to help a friend upgrade his PowerEdge 2500 (Win2k). The only problem with all this is that I have almost nil experience with the 2500 and Array Manager. So after doing my research, I just want to ask if I am missing anything in the following plan of attack.
My friends 2500 has a RAID 1 Array comprised of 2x36GB drives. These are attached via a PERC 3/Di Controller on Channel 0. This array has two volumes on it: c: (os, 8GB) and e: (data, 26GB). He is outgrowing his e: volume now and needs more space.
Proposed solution:
Purchase three 73GBx15000rpm drives and chassis.
Backup C: and D:
Rename migrating shared folders on E: and unshare them.
Note existing scsi ids via Array Manager
Turn off server, set scsi ids, and install new disks.
Boot and check configuration with Control M SCSI util.
Boot to Win2k and Run OpenManage Array Manager.
-verify 3 new disks appear
-create disk signatures ( Disks, Right click, Write Disk Signature)
-upgrade disks to Dynamic (Windows 2k only environment)
-Create Dynamic Volume (RAID5, ~140 GB, F:, NTFS)
Migrate data from E: to F: drive.
Create new shares on new drive.
Either swap drive letters in Win2k Disk Manager or point existing user shares to new drive.
Can anyone add on any steps, or give me any pointers to make the operation go smoother? This is a mission critical machine so that is why I’m trying to dot all of the I’s and cross all of the t’s.
One questions, it seems that via Array Manager I can mount my new Raid5 array to an empty folder on e:. If I rename the existing shared folder(s) name, can I create a Dynamic Volume(s) and mount it has as a share old name? That seems that it would eliminate the step of reconfiguring users’ links to the old shares. Are there any glaring reasons why I shouldn’t do this? i.e. later expansion?
Lastly, I don’t do this sort of work often, but my friend offered to pay me for my time. So as a baseline, I am just wondering how much a consultant might charge for the doing this. Assuming the backups were done already, it seems like the whole thing could be finished in less than 2 hours.
Thanks for your comments,
rd

