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VNX 5200 Replace Drives 0-3 with Larger Drives?
Is it possible to replace the first 4 drives in a VNX 5200? They are 300GB and I would like to swap out for 1.2TB drives. Actually, I plan to replace them for the entire enclosure.
There are other DAE's attached for me to swing existing data to, but is that necessary or can I replace them one-by-one if they are unbound?
Again though, I'm more concerned about how to handle the first four drives. Is there a documented process for this?
Disclaimer, I am new to EMC storage and this system is being used for a development project.
Thank you!
DELL-Josh Cr
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July 22nd, 2022 15:00
I am not sure it will migrate the system LUNs. It isn’t supported so it is at your own risk to try it.
DELL-Josh Cr
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July 22nd, 2022 08:00
Hi,
Unfortunately, there is not a supported method for increasing the drive size.
Let us know if you have any additional questions.
beav_
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July 22nd, 2022 10:00
If one of the existing drives fails, can it be replaced with a larger drive? If so, would there not be an opportunity to pre-fail the drives?
On another note, can user data be stored on drives 0-3 or is it just reserved for the OE, etc? If not, I may not be overly concerned with upgrading the capacity on the first four drives.
DELL-Josh Cr
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July 22nd, 2022 10:00
Yes, if a drive fails it can be replaced with a larger drive but the extra space won’t be used. The first 4 drives can have user data, only some of the drive is used by the system. How much will vary and also depend on the way the pool is configured.
beav_
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July 22nd, 2022 11:00
Thanks, I appreciate this info. It helps me to understand my situation better. Are 0-3 in their own dedicated pool/RAID group or can they be shared with the remainder of the drives in the main enclosure?
In any event, when 0-3 fail and are replaced with larger drives will that extra space be available for user data automatically?
If so, can they be pre-failed manually?
beav_
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July 22nd, 2022 13:00
"you have to migrate data delete the pool and create a new pool with the new drives"
This procedure would not work for my needs? Based on the statement it seems like I could migrate the pull from the system drives to four other temporary drives swap the larger drives and Bay 0-3 then migrate back?
DELL-Josh Cr
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July 22nd, 2022 13:00
No, the drives can’t be expanded that way, you have to migrate data delete the pool and create a new pool with the new drives. The system drives are supposed to be separate from the storage but can be combined.
This is what goes on the system drives:
There are several private LUNS on these system drives including LUNs for:
- Operating system for both SPs in RAID1
- Persistent Storage Manager (PSM)
- Operating environment database in RAID 1 triple mirror
- The vault in RAID5.
This organization of the drives provides protection from two drive failures.
beav_
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July 22nd, 2022 17:00
I may check into it a bit but I don't want to break the system for sure. I've also wondered if a byte level copy outside the system drive for drive would work.
Rainer_EMC
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July 25th, 2022 01:00
no that wont work