Some basic Array questions

[Michael_444]

1. I have a DL380 runnning NW6 on a 5300 Controller using RAID5 on 72GB Disks. I want to replace the Disks with bigger ones and keep the data intact and increase the capacity, can I just replace one disk at a time (wait for a rebuild) and increase the size of the Array and Server volumes afterwards ?

2. If a controller dies, can it just be replaced or what needs to be done when it is replaced ?

[Luk Vandenbussche]

Hi Michael,

1) No, it will be initialized as a 72 GB. The only was i a backup and restore

2) Works fine, the configuration of the raid level is also stored on the disk

[Michael_444]

refering to question 2, does this mean if a controller dies I can simply replace it with a new one and when the server boots it will pick up the Array and logical drives off the disks automatically ? or is there something else I should do ?

[Steven Clementi]

"does this mean if a controller dies I can simply replace it with a new one and when the server boots it will pick up the Array and logical drives off the disks automatically ? "

Yes. It also means that you can take the drives and put them into another server or even on a newer Smart Array controller and as long as all the drives in the set are available, your data will be accessable.


"or is there something else I should do ?"

Only in certain instances would there be "something else" to do. For instance, if you need to take a 380G3 and put the drives into a 380G4... aside from making sure the drivers are up to day, you need to let the registry know about the Smart Array 6i by adding a registry entry. In your case, since you have NW6, it might not be necessary to anything else.


Steven

[Michael_444]

Cheers ... I'll tell you how it goes in the morning.

Much appreciated

[Michael_444]

Another question, I already have a complete system with the same server and controller (6402). How do I factory default the controller or do I need to if I swap them out.

[Steven Clementi]

Michael:

You should not need to factory default the controller. The configuration found on the drive takes priority over any configuration on the card. If you place the card into another server with drives, the card will just assume the new configuration from the drives.


Is there a way to do it? Perhaps with the command line utility, but I am unfamiliar with it at this point. I have not had o do it.


Steven