topic Re: Disk Replacement with biggers ones - Can i create a new logical Drive in HPE ProLiant Servers (ML,DL,SL)

Disk Replacement with biggers ones - Can i create a new logical Drive

stef_gar — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 06:13:04 GMT

Hello everyone.

We have a customer with a ProLiant DL380p Gen8 and HP Smart Array P420i. The server has 8 disk total, and 3 Arrays
- Array A: 4 disks 300GB Raid 10
-Array B: 2 Disks 1.2T Raid 1
-Array C: 2 Disks 1.2T Raid 1

We want to replace the 4x300GB disks with 1.2TB. From the forums i have read that the raid controller need to have cache and battery for a live expand ( we check this requerements, and its ok), also i have reed if u change the disks one at a time, let the rebuild complete, when the replacement of all disk complete u will can expand the array ( if i understand somethink wrong please correct me). From this expnasions you will have a unssed space, i know u can extend the logical drive and give to it the unssed space. But we dont want this, we want to know if we can from this unnsed space to create a new logical drive. From my knowladge we can do this but i want a second opinion because i dont have large expirience with HP Servers.

So the question is: After the replacement of 4 disks with bigger ones and the expand of array, can we use the free space to create a new logical drive?

Thanks for your support!

PS On the Array A is installed the OS (Win Srv 2008 )

Re: Disk Replacement with biggers ones - Can i create a new logical Drive

Sahana_S — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 06:04:58 GMT

Hello @stef_gar ,

Yes, you can create a new logical drive using the unused space within the expanded array.
The HP Smart Array P420i RAID controller allows you to create multiple logical drives within a single physical array. This means after expanding the array, you can allocate the unused space to a new logical drive, rather than extending the existing one.

Please note: Always back up all critical data before performing disk replacements, array expansions, or logical drive changes. RAID rebuilds and expansions are generally safe but can fail in rare cases.

If you feel this was helpful, please click the KUDOS thumb below. Also consider marking this as an "Accepted Solution", if the post has helped to solve your issue.

Thanks and Regards,
Sahana S

Re: Disk Replacement with biggers ones - Can i create a new logical Drive

MTRenato — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 02:44:33 GMT

Complementing @Sahana_S's response, yes, you can create a new logical drive from the unused space. Use "ssacli ctrl slot=0 array A modify expand" to expand the array, then create the new logical drive (ex: RAID 10) with "ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1-1I:1:4 raid=10 size=500000". Verify it with "ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld all show".