Need Guidance in increasing Dell T610 RAID 5 disk array

"running Windows Server 2003 and Hyper V"

So do you have the standalone HyperV installed directly on the system, then 2003 is your virtual machine?

How big are your drives?

How many partitions?

How large?

What is your goal?

2003 cannot run HyperV ... it is an installable role in 2008 and 2008 R2.  There is also a standalone version, but as far as I know it cannot be "installed" as an app - it is really just a stripped down Server 2008 R2 version to run the HyperV role.

The partition that HyperV is installed/running on should not show as Unpartitioned ... it should show as NTFS.

I want to be sure to give you correct advice ... could you post a screenshot of Disk Management and OMSA (if installed)?  and whatever else you are looking at that will help me understand your configuration and what is where?

The person who was here prior to me installed Server 2003 as the core and Hyper-V with 2008 server running

I have a total of 5 250GB drives installed.

When I look at the PERC is shows one virtual disk RAID 5 using 3 of the 250gb drives

So go to My computer on the core (Server 2003) it shows a 478 Gb drive and I only have 1 gb left

There is a D drive showing which is unformatted but I think this is the RAID for the Hyper-V.  I am not sure and I am gun shy to format it

When I go into the Hyper V I see a Raid Drive F:  Which is 500gb and has 25gb left

My goal is to increase the system drive size and the Raid Drive size as I need to install another Virtual server but with only 1gb left on the system drive I cannot do this

Man I would be so grateful for any help... I like my job.  They are hard to come by

I will do that first thing in the morning.  I am very very grateful for your assistance.  I do not have OMSA installed.  I will send you screen shots of every thing else. Are you on the West Coast .. I am on Pacific time.  fighting other fires right now

No problem ... I understand :)  I'm in the Rockies (MST).

need to correct a couple of items.  The core server is running Server 2008 and the Hyper-v is running SBS 2011.  I am not sure how to insert the screen shots.    I t will not allow me to copy and paste or uplaod.  Can I email these to you.

CORE SERVER DISK MANAGER LOOKS LIKE THIS

DISK 0   39MB HEALTHY        100MB SYSTEM RESERVED           D: 232GB RAW  HEALTHY-PRIMARY PARTITION

DISK 1  C: 464GB NTFS   HEALTHY  (BOOT,PAGE FILE,CRASH DUMP, PRIMARY PARTITION_

DVD ROM

HYPER V DISK MANAGER LOOKS LIKE THIS

DISK 0   100MB SYSTEM RESERVED     C: 199.90GB NTFS  HEALTHY(BOOT, PAGE FILE, CRASH DUMP, PRIMARY PARTITION)

DISK 1 39MB (OEM)   100MB (SYSTEM RESERVED)     RAID F:  232GB  NTFS  HEALTHY PRIMARY PARTITION

You are correct.  I call it the core but it is just the host system .  I am trying to add space to the OS system drive as it only as 2gb left.  I then want to create another Hyper-V server and need to storage space for this as well as additional storage for my current Hyper -V machine.  I hope I explained that so you understand.  

Not sure how to do this.

Thanks ... that  makes much more sense :)

You can't copy/paste directly ... you have to upload the pics.

Another clarification ... by "core", do you mean that it is running the Server 2008 Core version (Command Line only) or the core OS (usually referred to as the host system in a virtual environment) running directly on the hardware is 2008?

Assuming it is the host OS:

Windows "disk" 0
RAID 1 - disks 0,1 (probably)
D: partition: 232GB
holds raw partition for your virtual disk "RAID F:" available from withing your SBS guest OS (virtual machine)

Windows "disk" 1
RAID 5 - disks 2,3,4 (probably)
C: partition: 464GB
holds Server 2008 host OS
also probably holds a 200GB VHD containing your SBS guest OS (virtual machine)

If this is correct, where are you trying to add space to ... your host OS system drive C: (2008) or your guest OS system drive (SBS)?  Or both?  What does your free space look like on these?

Windows "disk" 0
RAID 1 - disks 0,1 (probably)
D: partition: 232GB
holds raw partition for your virtual disk "RAID F:" available from withing your SBS guest OS (virtual machine)

Windows "disk" 1
RAID 5 - disks 2,3,4 (probably)
C: partition: 464GB
holds Server 2008 host OS
also probably holds a 200GB VHD containing your SBS guest OS (virtual machine)

So, you have three empty drive slots remaining ...

1) You could add the drives and configure them as their own RAID 5, using the space as additional "disks" on the different servers.

2) You can also reconfigure your RAID 1 and/or RAID 5 arrays - on the fly - by adding a disk to it ... that would make your 232GB RAID 1 a 464GB RAID 5 (by adding one disk and reconfiguring) and/or your 464GB RAID 5 a 696GB RAID 5 (by adding one disk and reconfiguring), giving you another disk slot still to add as desired.

Growing your RAID 5 will be fairly simply, assuming it is still a basic disk ... once you have reconfigured the array, you will have 232GB of new Unpartitioned Space into which you can easily extend your C: drive by right-clicking C: and choosing Extend.  You could then build a new VM with that space (you could also put the VM somewhere else, like the new standalone RAID 5 in '1').

To increase the size of your VHD that SBS is installed on, you will need to have it turned off but you should be able to do it from the Hyper-V console (make sure to backup first).

One thing I am unsure about is whether a "raw" partition can be extended (some partitions cannot).  If it cannot be extended then you would only have two options for adding space to your VM's F: drive:  1) backup, delete, recreate, restore, or 2) set the space up as a new "disk" in SBS Disk Management as another drive for extra storage.

Well the fact that withing PERC I cannot account for the 2 drives holding the OS is what started me on this path.  I was expecting to see them in PERC.  I attempted to follow the cables but I could not see where they were going and I was short on time.  I will take the system down this weekend and see.  

So I am not incorrect in expecting to see the other 2 drives.  They would be in a Virtual disk?????   There is only on virtual disk and that is the RAID 5

Man I am soooo grateful for your help

If the PERC 6 only shows 1 virtual disk (3x250GB, RAID 5), then the other two drives are not even connected to it.  The PERC 6 does not support non-RAID, so the only way for a drive to be used on the PERC 6 is to be configured in some RAID array (VD).  They would have to be connected to another controller - most likely the onboard/motherboard ports - I really don't understand what they were thinking.

If that is the case, the only thing you can do with your RAID 1 is add another disk(s) - either to your onboard ports or to your existing RAID controller - in a separate configuration.  I would strongly recommend attaching them to your RAID controller and configuring them there.

The drive can be any size you want.  Just know that if you decide to expand your existing RAID 5, it will only use 250GB of it (to match the other drives in the array), so larger would be a waste.  If you added more drives in their own array, they could be any size you want - 250GB, 500GB, even 2TB.  If you are going to add a drive to make your RAID 5 bigger, one drive will do ... for now.  If creating their own array, get at least two.  I would recommend getting as many as you can, so you only have to do this once :)

If you reconfigure RAID to add a disk to make your RAID 5 bigger, it will not do it automatically ... you will need to have OMSA installed and do it from there (Storage, PERC, Virtual Disks, Reconfigure from RAID 5 dropdown menu of Available Tasks).

Ok Awesome.  A couple of questions.  Currently the RAID 5 in the PERC software shows it as a virtual disk (with 3 physical disk)    In the PERC I dont see anything about the other 2 disk which I think make up the RAID1 for the OS although I think you are correct that it is a RAID !.  

Does it matter what size drive etc. Can you suggestion one.  While I am adding one should I just add 2?  

I insert the drive in the bay.   Then I guess I will have to go into the PERC and reconfigure the RAID or will they automatically become part of the RAID

I would like to take this task on next week so I would like to purchase the drive or drives today....

I cannot lose any data........

Yes, you are correct in expecting to see the VD and drives in CTRL-R.  Since the PERC doesn't support non-RAID, in order for any drive to be made available to the OS, it MUST be configured (the only configuration possible on this PERC is a Virtual Disk).  If they were in a RAID 1, they would be in a RAID 1 VD; if they were being handled as separate and individual drives (and mirrored by the OS), then they would each be their own RAID 0 VD.  If you only have one VD and three HDD, then that is all the PERC is handling.  A drive connected to the PERC that is NOT in a RAID configuration cannot be seen by any OS.

I guess the only way I can resolve this is to shut down the server and see exactly where the drives go to.  I will do this in the morning and let you know

I double check with my boss.  He was watching as I did this the other day.  There was only one virtual drive in the PERC,.   He did say that upon rebooting there was a message 2 virtual drives.  So Does the mother handle this as well.......???  I will reboot in the morning and let you know what I see