HP MSA 1040 Disk Expansion help

[Tripski]

Hi All, we have an MSA 1040 SAN that hosts are on primisis exchange DB.  We purchased a drive the same size (900GB SAS) to add to the SAN to expand that raid 5 array as it is nearly at full capacity.  I added the drive to the SAN and allocated it to the exchange v Disk and it showing as available free space;  my problem is I am unable to expand the volume.  The Expand Volume option under the Tools menu is just greyed out.  Can anyone over any assistance with that?

Thanks

[SUBHAJIT KHANBARMAN_1]

If you are using MSA1040 as linear array which means you are dealing with Virtual Disk or Vdisk. I understand you have completed Vdisk expansion with new single drive. If not done then you need to do it first.

After that you need to go for Volume Expansion.

Please find the SMU guide to get the steps,

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04220794

Page 225 for Vdisk Expansion and Page 100 for Volume Expansion

If you are dealing with MSA1040 as Virtual Array then Virtual Disk Group (VDG) expansion not possible rather you need to create new VDG with the single drive but single drive VDG not having any data protection. After that you need to add this new VDG to the existing Pool from where you have created Volume earlier which you want to expand.

Hope this helps!
Regards
Subhajit

I am an HPE employee

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!

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[Tripski]

Thanks for the response, i think my array is linear, although i am not 100% sure.  I did not setup this array, a previous admin did so and i am inherititing this device to manage, needless to say i dont have much experience with it.  Is there a way to tell between and linear and a virtual array from the admin console?  The volume is denoted by a vd prefix in its name.

Jus to follow on from this, after review the doc you linked to, would my issue be that it has snap pools attached to the volume preventing the expansion?  If that is the case, what would my options be for expansion?

[SUBHAJIT KHANBARMAN_1 · Accepted solution]

You can share the screenshot of the GUI

I would suggest you to get some experience with this product line by going through Quick Spec and SMU guide.

Volume name will not help to understand the structure.

You need to check if you are checking from SMU V2 or SMU V3?

Please remember Volume created from Vdisk in case of Linear array but in case of Virtual array Volume gets created from Pool where Pool contains single or multiple VDG

Coming to your query, run below command,

# show snapshots master-volume <Volume_name>

Try to delete snapshot if shows any from above output.

You can take help of command,

# delete snapshot force <Snap_name>

Once all snapshot cleared for Volume which you want to increase size then try the below option,

# convert master-to-std <Volume_name>

Also delete the Snap-Pool associated with the Volume,

# delete snap-pool <Snap_pool>

If volume part of Replication setup then need to delete replication set first before performing above operation. Please refer CLI guide (page no 110)

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04957376

Then go for Volume expansion as suggested earlier

Hope this helps!
Regards
Subhajit

I am an HPE employee

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!

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[Tripski]

Appreciated, and thank you for humoring me, more experience would be wonderful, unfortunately the situation is more reactive then proactive at this point, and the powers that be need a resolution.  Familiarizing myself with the equipment is high on my list though.  Attached is a screen dump, i believe its a V2 SMU

[Tripski]

Thank you for this.  If i were to do this, what effect would this have on the data?  Would deleteing the snap shots cause issues with the database?  Also, along with the pool deletions, and expanding the volume, would it bring it offline for any amount of time?

[SUBHAJIT KHANBARMAN_1]

Thanks for the screenshot and this is linear array. So you can follow the commands that I have shared in my earlier post apart from replication stuff. Consider this as normal volume so follow those commands convert the master volume to standard volume along with delete the snap-pool and that should fix it.

No impact on data. There is anyway no snapshot we can see. However it's good to double confirm from Command line as well. 

Also volume expansion is online activity. This is from Storage end or block level but you also need to check Host level for Filesystem level as well. You check with Host Operating System specialist and confirm if your Host OS supports online expansion or offline expansion of the Filesystem. Plan accordingly.

Hope this helps!
Regards
Subhajit

I am an HPE employee

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!

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[Tripski]

Thanks Subhajit, you have been incredibly helpful!

[SUBHAJIT KHANBARMAN_1]

Nice to hear your words.

Also request you to mark the forum as resolved if there is no more outstanding query from your end on this issue.

This will help for everyone who are all following your forum.

Hope this helps!
Regards
Subhajit

I am an HPE employee

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!

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