ML110, SATA RAID, Upgrade disk size

[Mark Matthews]

Hi all,

I have a customer with the following...

ML110 (G1) with
2 x 160GB SATA disks
1 x SATA array controller (not sure what but its the original that comes with the SATA spec server)

They are running the 2 x 160GB disks as a mirrored pair.
They are now running out of space, and have bought 2 x 250GB SATA disks.

Now, on higher end servers (with SCSI Smart Array controllers) I have done the following before to upgrade disks in both RAID 1 and RAID 5 situations...

1. Remove disk
2. Install new disk
3. Leave it to be rebuilt by the array cont
4. Remove next disk
3. Leave it to be rebuilt, and so on...
4. Create a new Logical Drive in ACU (which I dont think the the ML110 has?)
5. Create a new drive letter in Windows Disk Management

Will I be able to do this with the SATA array cont / disks?

Can I hot plug with this server / disks, or will I need downtime, into the BIOS, RAID settings etc...?

Has anyone done this before with a SATA ML110?

Would appreciate any help...

Thanks
Mark...

[Blazhev_1]

Hi Mark,

in the ML110 G1 you have the FastTrak S150 SX4 RAID Controller. It comes with a Promise Array Management (PAM) software utility used to manage the array :

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=403836&prodNameId=3279683&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-UNITY-I23150

ACU works only with Smartarray controllers and you don't have one, so you can't use it.

What you can do is to install the PAM, make backup, take one HDD out , put the new one in, then maybe the rebuild will not start automatic. Either from PAM or from POST go into the controller BIOS and declare the new drive as spare and the rebuild will start. After the rebuild finishes, repeat the procedure for the 2nd drive.

PAM Manual :

http://manuals.fujitsu-siemens.com/serverbooks/content/manuals/english/promise/promise150sx-ug-e.pdf

2nd way :
Check page26/32 - Hot spare...you can add direct 3rd drive and it will be declared as a hot spare. Then when you unplug the 1st 160gb hdd, the rebuild will start automatcally. Then plug the 2nd 250 GB HDD again and it will be declared as a new spare. Unplug the 2nd 160GB and it will be rebuilded n the 2nd 250gb..so after restart you would be able to have the new space in the array.
These are the boot drives, so you will maybe need partition magic, so windows sees the new space or you can create new logical drive, your choice.

Regards,
Pac

[Mark Matthews]

That sounds spot on Pac, thankyou.
Im going to do this in a few hours so I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers
Mark...

[Mark Matthews]

Thanks for the help Pac.
Just been to do it, and I can do it the same way as I normally do with SCSI / SAS drives.
(I'm more used to working on higher end servers than entry level ones!)

I first checked that PAM was on there and it was version 4, and that the array was reporting as being ok.
Then hotplugged the old drive, hotplugged the new drive, into PAM and it showed the array rebuilding the larger drive straight away.

Im going to let it rebuild then replace the 2nd one later.

Thanks, points will be assigned.

Mark...