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September 6th, 2020 15:00
T320 with PERC H310, RAID 5 array with two virtual disks - how to add space to the array?
I have a T320 with the PERC H310 controller. There are two RAID arrays - RAID 1 for OS and a RAID 5 with 4 1TB disks. The RAID 5 has two virtual disks on it, one of which is out of space (of course it's the main data disk). I'm not sure why it was set up this way, but it was...
If I back up one of the virtual disks and delete it, will I then be able to reconfigure the array, add an additional disk and expand the remaining virtual disk to the full size of the array?
If I can do this, I'm thinking I should add a disk to the array and expand the virtual disk that is currently out of space - but which contains the data critical to my client's business functionality - to the full size of the array, which would be 4TB. Then I can expand the partition from within the OS and create an additional partition to store the data on the virtual disk I deleted at the beginning.
Would you do that or split the virtual disks into two separate RAID arrays? I could do a RAID 5 with 3x1TB disks and a RAID 1 with 2x2TB disks (the 2TB drives were warranty replacements and are all that Dell has available now, which is why the disk sizes don't match). The data on the virtual disk that I'm thinking of deleting is backups from software apps and Windows Server Client Computer Backups. I think they would be fine on a RAID 1 since they're not mission-critical.
DELL-Stefan R
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September 8th, 2020 03:00
Hi ten9itsvcs,
I always ask myself, why one creates multi-layer RAID volumes. In the beginning, it is all fine, but what happens if one runs out of space, like in your situation.
Forget about your first idea, it's not ideal and may cause a lot of trouble, concentrate on the second, and split it up to different disks. With this, you keep the option to expand the size later on.
But before you do this, you should backup all the necessary data, then delete the VDs and create them from scratch.
If you need some guidance, please check out this article Reconfiguration Of Virtual Disks on the PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, H710, H710P, and H810.
And again, always create a validated backup of your data before starting any action.
Best regards,
Stefan