Upgrading to bigger drives...

Question

Hi,

I did some searching on Google and on here, and found some answers, but I would like double check and make sure I understood what they are saying.

I have two SSD's in RAID1 for the OS (Windows 10 running on a T620). I would like to keep this the way it is.

I have four HDD's (1TB) in RAID5 and would like to replace those with 4TB drives.

From my understanding, all I have to do is replace one drive at a time, wait for the PERC H710P controller to rebuild the array and then repeat the process until all 4 drives have been replaced!? Is that right?

Thanks

DELL-Chris H · Accepted Answer

Navissa,

You can do this with the H710's Replace Member function. You can manually replace any physical disk that is part of a virtual disk using the Replace Member functionality.

Perform the following steps to replace a physical disk:

1. In the Virtual Disk Management window, select Virtual Disk # and press the down-arrow key until Physical Disks is highlighted.

2. Press the right-arrow key to expand the list of physical disks that are members of the virtual disk.

3. Press the down-arrow key and highlight the desired physical disk you want to replace. Press to expand the list of allowed operations on the disk.

4. Select Replace and then Start.

5. Press the down-arrow to highlight a replacement disk and then press the spacebar to select the disk.

6. Select OK to start the replacement.

NOTE: The replacement disk must be a hot spare or an unconfigured disk without a foreign configuration. It must have the same or greater capacity and should be of the same type as the disk it is replacing.

Restrictions and limitations
The following restrictions and limitations apply to the Replace Member operation:

• The Replace Member functions are restricted to one per array for RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5, and two per array for RAID 6.

• The Replace Member function and rebuild cannot run simultaneously on a RAID 6 virtual disk. The rebuild operation has a higher priority, and the Replace Member operation is aborted if a rebuild begins.

Let me know how it goes.

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

PATA - haven't been used in servers for almost 20 years
SCSI - haven't been used in servers since 2007

SATA - yes
SAS (Serial-Attached SCSI) - yes

All backplanes and add-in controllers are SAS controllers and as such will take both SAS and SATA drives. They can both exist on the backplane/controller but they cannot be mixed in the same VD/array. Likewise, you cannot mix SSD and HDD in the same array. You CAN mix different speeds (10K/15K), but I don't know why you'd want to.

You should be able to (and one could argue that you should) do this from the OS using OpenManage Server Administrator.

Hot-spare: Physical Disks screen to assign Global Hot-spare, Virtual Disks to assign Dedicated Hot-spare.

navissa · Answer

Chris,

Thanks for the fast reply...

I do not even know where to find the Virtual Disk Management, but guess what, I googled it and I found this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDYeW5pp9eY

I guess you and the video are talking about the same. You get to it by pressing F2 during boot-up. Great. I should be able to follow the steps you gave me and do it. I hope. : )

That said, I would like a little bit more help with this: "The replacement disk must be a hot spare or an unconfigured disk without a foreign configuration. It must have the same or greater capacity and should be of the same type as the disk it is replacing."

1. How to I make a HHD a hot spare. I did a search on Google but I am afraid it lead to nothing.

2. Unconfigured disk without a foreign configuration??? Would a brand new disk qualify for that?

3. Same type means what exactly? Do you mean these types:

Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA)
Serial ATA (SATA)
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
Solid State Drives (SSD)

Thanks!

DELL-Chris H · Answer

If it is a new drive then you don't need to assign it as a hotspare, as it is considered an unconfigured drive. In regards to the Unconfigured disk without a foreign configuration, when the drive is installed if it were to have previous Virtual Disk information on it, then it would be flagged as a Foreign Configuration. It is simply saying the drive can't have that flag.

With regards to the disk size and types, it is saying that you cant use drives that are smaller or slower than the existing drives it is meant to replace. As well you can't mix SAS/SATA/SSD in the same virtual disk. The raid controllers support the different types, but you can't mix them within the same Virtual Disk.

For example, if you have a 3 drive Raid 5, made of 1TB SAS drives, you can't try to replace those drives with SATA drives, as you can't mix types. As well as you wouldn't be able to use say a 750GB SAS, as it is smaller than the original 1TB drive.

Hope this helps.

navissa · Answer

Thank you. Much appreciated!

P.s. I cannot give you Kudos as it says that the maximum number of Kudos for this post was given???

P.s.s. Not trying to double post but would like to say thanks to both of you... : )

navissa · Answer

Thank you. Much appreciated! P.s. I cannot give you Kudos as it says that the maximum number of Kudos for this post was given???

navissa · Answer

I meant p.p.s. but for some odd reason I cannot edit my own posts either. Anyhow, thanks for the help!!!

GMonsterIT · Answer

Hi Chris,

This is very informative, thanks.

Can I ask?

scenario

1. I have two Raid0 - 500gb SSD drives.

I want to replace them with 2 x 1TB drives. Ssd and no configuration.

Do I replace DRIVE 2 with the first 1 TB drive, let it rebuild and then replace member function?

When its done do I then replace DRIVE 1 with the second 1TB drive and let that rebuild?

Would appreciate your knowledge,

Thanks in advance

DELL-Shine K · Answer

RAID 0 does not have any redundancy. Hence replacing the drive from RAID 0 will loose data on the drives. You need to take a back up of the data. Replace both drive and create a new RAID 0 with new drives then copy the backed up data back to new virtual disk

DELL-Young E · Answer

Hi, as Shine say your scenario wouldn't work on RAID 0. You will have to back up your data first then re install. You could also use 3rd vendor software/tool.

GMonsterIT · Answer

Hi,

Sorry Dell Shine K - that was a typo - it’s actually Raid1?! Thank you for your response!

Can what I suggested earlier be accomplished?

scenario

I have two Raid1 - 500gb SSD drives.

I want to replace them with 2 x 1TB drives. Ssd and no configuration.

Do I replace DRIVE 2 with the first 1 TB drive, let it rebuild and then replace member function?

When its done do I then replace DRIVE 1 with the second 1TB drive and let that rebuild?

Thank You

Dell-Martin S · Answer

Hi, we only recommend you to do a backup and create a new RAID 1 and then copy that backup to the new volume. Did you have any further questions?   Regards Martin

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Upgrading to bigger drives...

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