Add RAID1 to Server already had RAID5

thanks for your answer  Josh..

As you said i still have 3 empty slot to use, and i already bought two 1Tb HDD unit to be inserted if this applicable.

server OS is windows server 2003 R2 with Sp2 .. and it roll is file server .

Regards,

Hi,

Yes if you have enough available slots, if you have 5 drives in there currently with 3.5” drives you would only have 1 free slot, if it is 2.5” drives you would have 3 empty slots. You need two slots to create a RAID 1. How many slots do you have available? What OS is this running? Depending on the OS you may be able to mount the drive inside the existing drive.

Dears .. i noted an interesting idea in theflas1932 rely .. thanks for both of you .

Can I add an additional 250GB SATA disk to the RAID 5 without losing the data or need to new installation and restore the backup... is OMSA capable of expanding your 5-disk RAID 5 to a 6-disk RAID 5, on the fly, and while online.

IS this possible ??

regards,

No, you cannot mirror your RAID 5 to a single-disk RAID 0.  If you have a single 1TB disk, then the ONLY thing you can do with it is create a single-disk RAID 0 (unless you use Windows mirroring on top of the RAID, which is NOT recommended).  Because the OS will see this as a separate "disk",  you cannot combine its space with the space from the other "disk" (RAID 5), unless you convert the disks to dynamic (this also is NOT supported).  If you need additional space, you can create a single-disk RAID 0, copy data from D: to the new disk/partition, delete D:, rename new partition to D:.  OR you can add an additional 250GB SATA disk to your RAID 5 ... OMSA is capable of expanding your 5-disk RAID 5 to a 6-disk RAID 5, on the fly, and while online.

Then, yes, you can configure them in a RAID 1 along with the existing RAID 5.

Great, then yes you can create a separate RAID 1 in server administrator.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_electronics/esuprt_software/esuprt_ent_sys_mgmt/dell-opnmang-srvr-admin-v7.2_User%27s%20Guide2_en-us.pdf starting on page 203 explains how to create a new array.

With server 2003 once the array is created you can go to windows disk management and instead of assigning it a drive letter choose a mount point path and it will be a folder within the other drive letter.

thanks for your reply ..

i think my explanation was not clear enough . i don't want to change  RAID 5 , i just bought tow 1Tb HDD and want to put them in separate RAID 1 in the same controller.

regards,

Yes that is possible, however it will expand the array but not the windows partition, it will show up as unallocated space and then you can use windows diskpart or a 3rd party tool to expand the partition.

"is OMSA capable of expanding your 5-disk RAID 5 to a 6-disk RAID 5, on the fly, and while online."

Yes, that is exactly what I said was possible ... that is by design.  As Josh said, you will need to fix the partitions once the "disk" has been expanded.

Hi,

I just want to confirm that we can extend the RAID 5 on fly while the server online, and there is no need to move or restore the data from it.

also, will be appreciated  if you can tell me from where we should start in OMSA to add the HDD and extend the RAID5 .

best regards,

How many times do you want me to say it?  Yes, it is supported, by design, on this controller!

In OMSA, go to Storage, PERC, Virtual Disks, and select Reconfigure from the dropdown menu for your RAID 5.

Friend  many thanks .. but why you look like angry !!?

i just want to be sure because as i said before , this is the first time i will do it. and don't want to lose something.

beside that the answer is not compulsory you can easily ignore my request if its bother you.

Again thanks for you help and sorry to bother you .

Number 1:

you can add an additional 250GB SATA disk to your RAID 5 ... OMSA is capable of expanding your 5-disk RAID 5 to a 6-disk RAID 5, on the fly, and while online.

Your response:

is OMSA capable of expanding your 5-disk RAID 5 to a 6-disk RAID 5, on the fly, and while online?

Number 2 (Josh also confirmed):

Yes, that is exactly what I said was possible ... that is by design.  As Josh said, you will need to fix the partitions once the "disk" has been expanded.

Your response:

I just want to confirm that we can extend the RAID 5 on fly while the server online, and there is no need to move or restore the data from it.

Number 3 - confirming again that this will work. 

I can understand wanting to be careful and sure of what you are doing, but show some respect for the time of those volunteers that are here to help you.  You used my exact words to ask two more times after I told you it could be done (and fully supported as a feature of the RAID controller).

So, you keep asking ... what exactly is your hesitation?  What is your concern?  Too good to be true?  No backup?  Just cautious?  It didn't come from "Dell"?  I'm just trying to get to the bottom of "why" you keep asking, so I can put your mind at ease.

Hi ..

I do not want to be ungrateful .. and I do not want to waste more of my time and your time in this speech.

So thank you again for your precious time "especially, you lost it in last answer " and your "exact" words that I used .. really appreciate your help.

regards