Extend RAID5 Array P400i Controller?

[Darren Bolton_1]

Am I missing something, I have a DL360G5 with a Embeddded SmartArray P400i Controller.

Does this controller support adding disks to a raid 5 array?

I have a current RAID5 array configured made up of 3 146GB disks and I want to add in a 4th disk.

But when I select the array in the configuration utility the only options I get for the array arre to Delete it or manage the spares.

Am I missing something or is it not supported on this controller.

Cheers

Darren

[James ~ Happy Dude]

Hi Darren,

The DL360 G5 Server you have, is that a BASE or ENTRY MODEL & trying to use BAY 5/6 ?

The Base and Entry: models come with four drive bays active (1 to 4). Bay 5 & 6 are not active in "Base" and "Entry"models. To enable Bay 5 and Bay 6 the you must buy the available upgrade option kit(s).

System Effected DL360 G5 with E200i, P400i, (or P800, P600, P400 or E200) Controllers.

This is By design(Refer QuickSpecs).

If you have Base model (P400i), you may choose to buy â SAS Mini 4x to Mini 4x cableâ option kit (option part number 399546-B21) to support six hard drives & with Entry model (E200i) you may choose to buy P400i kit and â SAS Mini 4x to Mini 4x cableâ option kit (option part number 399546-B21) to support six hard drives.

Regards,
James.

[Darren Bolton_1]

The connections are all there as I already have 5 disks in the server 2 x 72GB in RAID1 and 3 x 146GB in RAID5.

When I've added the extra disc I can see it in array configuration utility, but won't let me extend any of the existing arrays.

[Colin_29 · Accepted solution]

In order for an array controller to perform an expansion it requires Battery-backed write cache.

It is only the performance models that come with this by default. The base and entry models have BBWC available optionally.

383280-B21 is the Battery-backed write cache upgrade
405148-B21 is the 512MB Battery-backed write cache upgrade

I think you may also need 417836-B21, Smart Array P400 Battery Attach Kit

Take a look at the quickspecs http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12400_na/12400_na.HTML