RAID5 Expansion

Thanks for the help.  Is there a coolbook procedure on the forum?  It seems like lots of people must have done this.

Try this:

 

Add Member

Use this function to add array disks to a virtual disk. You can also change the virtual disk's RAID level.

Note If you add a member to a virtual disk that shares array disk storage with another virtual disk, you may not be able to create or delete virtual disks on the controller. Whenever you create a virtual disk that you plan to expand later with the Add Member command, it is recommended that you use the entire capacity of its member array disks. To Add Array Disks to a Virtual Disk Using Add Member

1. Right-click a virtual disk.
   
   
2. Click Add Member. A Virtual Disk Add Member dialog box appears. The available disks are listed in the left pane. You can choose appropriate ones to add by selecting them and using the Add Disk button to move them to the right pane.
   
   
3. Choose the RAID level in the pull-down list Virtual Disk Type.
   
   
4. Click OK to continue or Cancel to cancel the operation.
   
   

Add Member shows progress information in the right pane. To view the progress, click the parent of the virtual disk. The status of the virtual disk will be Reconstructing, and progress information will display until the Add Member operation is finished. At the end of the operation, the Type category shows the changed RAID level, if the RAID level was changed.

1. Right-click the computer object in the Array Manager tree view and select Rescan. A rescan is required before the virtual disk can use the extra space. On a Windows system, you also need to reboot the system in order for Windows to have access to the additional storage.
   

Thanks.  I didn't realize it was that easy to expand the RAID.  I had read some old posts in the forum which said you had to initialize the disk using the PERC BIOS.  Somewhere else I heard that., after you added the disk, you had to run a special program (EXTPART) to recognize the expanded partition in Windows.  Sounds like using Array Manager makes it a lot easier (and hence there is no need for the "cookbook, Step-by- step" I thought I was going to need - I'm definitely not complaining!!)

You will still need to extend the partition in Windows after you've expanded the virtual disk. Till then Windows will see the new space as unpartitioned, so if you want to use it for the existing partition, you'll have to extend it with extpart/diskpart or some other 3rd party tool. Be sure to have your data backed up, just in case.

Thanks for the note about extpart; I have downloaded it from the website in preparation! 

I have one other question and thought maybe someone in the forum had experience of this too.  I currently have two logical disks (C: and D:) on the disk array. When I add the disk to the array, can I allocate all the added space to one of those logical disks (D:), or is it added proportinaltely to the current ratio - e.g. I have 60 GB currently split as follows C:=20 GB, D:=40GB; if I add 30 GB can I make it C:=20 GB, D: = 70 BG or is it allocated as C:=30 GB, D:= 60 GB?

 

That's what extpart.exe for.

The extpart utility can only add space to the partition next to the freespace. So if your raidcontainer has the c-drive first, then a partition for the d-drive and after this the free space, then you are limited to being able to extend the D-drive.

You would need a 3rd party tool (e.g. Symantec Partition Magic (or Server Magic)) to move the D-drive over to the free space and then use the freespace between the C and D partition for the C partition.