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64883
September 13th, 2011 13:00
R710-Perc6i-Raid5-extend array?
I have an R710 that needs more disk space. Existing is 4 x 931Gb SATA - Raid 5 - Connector O, split into
Virtual Disk 0 - (Windows Disk 0) - 488Gb
C: OS Volume (W2008 R2)
D: Data Volume
Virtual Disk 1 - (Windows Disk 1) - 2,304Gb
E: Data Volume (GPT)
Want to add 2 more 1Tb drives into available slots and extend array and subsequently only Virtual Disk 1 / E: volume. Can this be done non-destructively, or since this is one big Raid 5 array, do I need to reconfig entire array from scratch?
May end up adding add'l drives as another Virtual/Windows Disk 2 and offload some data from other volume, but would prefer extension of VD1.
Appreciate any insight/suggestions.
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Dev Mgr
6 Operator
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9.3K Posts
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September 13th, 2011 14:00
My understanding is that Dell PERC controllers only support extending raid 5's if there's just a single virtual disk on the raid 5. As your raid 5 is split into 2 virtual disks, you cannot extend the raid 5. This means your only choice is to create a raid 1 with the 2 1TB drives.
2 better long term solution are:
- back up your data, delete the existing raid 5, change the bios to UEFI, create a new raid 5 with all drives and make it a single virtual disk, install Windows 2008 R2 from media, and then restore your data. With UEFI you can have a bootdisk larger than 2TB. You can partition it if desired. UEFI is only compatible with Windows 2008 x64 or Windows 2008 R2 (always x64) as far as Microsoft Server OSes go.
- back up your data, delete the existing raid 5, create a raid 1 for the boot drive and a raid 5 for the data drive. Restore your C-drive to the raid 1 and the 2nd drive to the raid 5.
DELL-Chris H
7 Practitioner
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9.7K Posts
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48K Points
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September 13th, 2011 14:00
It is recommended to back up and recreate the array. It makes the array stable, more so than extending a split array.
You could also create a 2 drive raid 1 for the OS and then create a separate 4 or 5 drive raid 5 for the data. That way any OS issues won't affect the data.
To answer the original question. You can extend the original array, but with the original configuration it can cause stability issues
tbmac
3 Posts
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September 13th, 2011 14:00
The fact that I have 2 virtual disks on the Raid set is the limitation? Thanks for the clarification. I'm going the UEFI route.
tbmac
3 Posts
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September 13th, 2011 14:00
Thanks Chris, I will probably end up backlng up, recreating array allowing for a larger VD1, and restoring OS, app& data. Ugh.
With 6 x 3.5 SATA slots available, taking 2 x 1Tb drives for a mirrored OS disk doesn't really help me too much because that only leaves me with 4x1Tb for another ~3Tb Raid 5 array/volumes, a gain of 500Gb or so. I'd be better off adding the 2 new drives as a new VD2 and reconfigure the APP - and save the backup, rebuild, restore fun. If I had more slots available, I'd definitely do as you suggest. Question is, with an unstable array, is this punk feeling lucky?