Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) can be done in two ways. If there is a single virtual disk in a disk group and free space is available, the virtual disk´s capacity can be expanded within that free space. If a virtual disk is created and it does not use the maximum size of the disk group, free space is available. Free space is also available when a disk group´s physical disks are replaced by larger disks using the Replace Member feature. A virtual disk's capacity can also be expanded by performing an OCE operation to add more physical disks.
RAID Level Migration (RLM) refers to changing a virtual disk´s RAID level. Both RLM and OCE can be done at the same time so that a virtual disk can simultaneously have its RAID level changed and its capacity increased. When a RLM/OCE operation is complete, a reboot is not required. For a list of RLM/OCE possibilities, see table below. The source RAID level column indicates the virtual disk RAID level before the RLM/OCE and the target RAID level column indicates the RAID level after the operation has completed.
| Source RAID Level | Target RAID Level | Required Number of Physical Disks (Beginning) | Number of Physical Disks (End) | Capacity Expansion Possible | Description |
| RAID 0 | RAID 0 | 1 | 2 or more | Yes | Increases capacity |
| RAID 0 | RAID 1 | 1 | 2 | No | Converts non-redundant virtual disk into a mirrored virtual disk by adding one disk. |
| RAID 0 | RAID 5 | 1 or more | 3 or more | Yes | At least one drive needs to be added for distributed parity data. |
| RAID 0 | RAID 6 | 1 or more | 4 or more | Yes | At least two drives need to be added for dual distributed parity data. |
| RAID 1 | RAID 0 | 2 | 2 or more | Yes | Removes redundancy while increasing capacity. |
| RAID 1 | RAID 5 | 2 | 3 or more | Yes | Maintains redundancy while doubling capacity. |
| RAID 1 | RAID 6 | 2 | 4 or more | Yes | Two drives are required to be added for distributed parity data. |
| RAID 5 | RAID 0 | 3 or more | 3 or more | Yes | Converts to a non-redundant virtual disk and reclaims disk space used for distributed parity data. |
| RAID 5 | RAID 5 | 3 | 4 or more | Yes | Increases capacity by adding disks. |
| RAID 5 | RAID 6 | 3 or more | 4 or more | Yes | At least one drive needs to be added for dual distributed parity data. |
| RAID 6 | RAID 0 | 4 or more | 4 or more | Yes | Converting to a non-redundant virtual disk and reclaiming disk space used for distributed parity data. |
| RAID 6 | RAID 5 | 4 or more | 4 or more | Yes | Removing one set of parity data and reclaiming disk space used for it. |
| RAID 6 | RAID 6 | 4 | 5 or more | Yes | Increases capacity by adding disks. |
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Article ID: SLN156106
Last Date Modified: 08/22/2016 08:52 PM
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