Raid config--R510

Hello

You will only have access to 500GB of the 1TB drives. The array size will not change. You can create a new array with the unused data. I don't think any controller validated for the R510 supports online capacity expansion. Some PERC8 controllers support an option in OpenManage Server Administrator to expand capacity when there is available space on all drives. If you select the reconfigure option on OMSA and have the expand capacity option then you can expand.

Another option is to retag the array. Whether or not a retag is possible would depend on the controller. The best practice to change the virtual disk size is to backup, delete the array, recreate the array, reinstall, and then restore from backup.

Thanks

I don't think any controller validated for the R510 supports online capacity expansion

Only the H700 would be able to do this, and the firmware would have to be up to date. The PERC 6 supports Online Capacity Expansion, but not in this way - disks must be added to a RAID 5/6 for its OCE.

Another option is to retag the array

A retag can only be done on a PERC 6 or H700 (maybe the H200), HOWEVER, this is dangerous for the integrity of the array, I would strongly recommend against this if your data/services is critical. Do as Daniel suggested and do it the right way - backup and restore.

Ok, sounds like my only good option is backup/restore.

A couple logistical questions...

• I 1st back, which is done nightly, then restore to a new HD.
• Should I restore to both new HDs or just restore to 1 HD and let the raid controller sync the 2nd HD once back online?
• My server has 8 HD bays, 4 wide x 2 tall. My OS runs on the 2 far left bays. Are these master and slave? Could restore the new HD, pull out the top/bottom current HD and slide in the new? Or since the current HD is still in the machine, once the new/larger HD is inserted the server will think ok your the new guy so I'm going write over you to match the current/smaller bottom HD
• Or best to just restore 2 new HDs power off server, install new HDs and power back on, if something goes sideways with this process I could always reverse the process and put the old drives back in.

Hope I am making sense, feels a little rambly......

Should I restore to both new HDs or just restore to 1 HD and let the raid controller sync the 2nd HD once back online?

Using hardware RAID, the RAID 1/mirror should appear as a single disk anyway. The mirroring and the fact there is more than one drive will happen behind the scenes on the RAID controller, invisible to the OS.

Are these master and slave?

Such a thing no longer exists in modern storage. If you remove a drive, the remaining will stay online. If you introduce that drive or a new one, it will rebuild it to match the one that is online. Never power down to replace/introduce a hot-swappable drive, and this is the reason why.

Backup. Remove the drives, insert new ones, create RAID 1, restore data to the new larger "disk" seen by the OS/recovery process.