Replace with larger HDDs at running DL320e G8v2 with P222 Controller

[_Rafael_]

Hi there,

Im searching for a solution to expand a running 4x300GB SAS RAID5 to 4x1200GB SAS without breakdown.

My idea was to connect an SAS cage to the external SAS port of the P222 controller, configure a new RAID5 with 4x1200GB SAS drives in this cage, clone the existing RAID5 incl. data to the new, shutdown the server and replace the internal HDDs with the new ones.

But I didnt know, if this is possible. How can I clone the old RAID with data? Can I replace the old drive with the new ones without loosing RAID config? Are there alternative ideas?

Thanks for help,

Rafael

[HPSDMike]

The way you detailed it is probably the safest but you will need to find a suitable data cloning software package (i.e. Doubletake). You can also potentially do a OS based file copy too, depending on what's on the drive. 

Anyway, the old school way of doing this is to (making sure you have a good backup), pull one of the 300 GB drives and insert the new 1200GB drive in it's place, the system should rebuild the RAID array onto that 1200GB drive. When the rebuild is finished, do the same with the next drive and continue untill all are done. It may take you a couple days to get it done in this fashion. When you are done you'll wind up having your (~900GB logical RAID5 disk) living on your 4 x 1200GB drives. From there, you can create a new R5 logical disk to use up the remaining space or you can expand the existing partition. If you expand the partition then you'll need to use the appropriate OS tools to expand the partition (i.e. DISKPART). If you create a new partition then use the appropriate OS tools to create, and format, a new partition (i.e. Disk Management). 

• Make sure you have a good data backup and that backups continue throughout the days you are doing this
• If this is a boot volume, and you are going to extend it, check OS specific documentation to ensure that the new volume isn't too big to be a boot volume.
• After you pull, and replace, each drive. Use the HPE Array OS level tools (Smart Storage Administrator, ACU, SSACLI, etc) to monitor the status of the array rebuild; making sure the array is completely health before you move onto the next drive
• Use the same array tools to create, or extend, your logical drives once the array has been grown.