RAID 1 OS / RAID 5 Data: Same or separate arrays?

[gregersenj]

It seem he has assigned it as a dynamic disk.

That's why he get that menu.

Possibility is to:
1. Convert it to a basic disk.
or
2. Continue with it as a dynamic disk.

>Josh.

Study the link that I postet in my first reply.
It's all in there.


I can't answer your question, on whats the best choice on the RAID level.

But if you want to change the RAID level later. You can add 1 more disk, and convert to RAID 1+0. It does require a BBWC installed, if it's a Smart Array E or P model.

BR
/jag

[Michael A. McKenney]

Did you create the RAID 1 and RAID 5 on a hardware RAID controller or on JBOD in Windows?

[Josh Dunbar]

To all,

It appears my array has fixed itself. I rebooted the server this morning when I got in and voila! Create Simple Volume appeared. So, I went ahead and formatted as NTFS and assigned a drive letter. I believe I can take it from here.

I had never done a "nested" RAID configuration before, so this was a learning opportunity for me. Thanks to everyone that assisted me with this.

Case closed.

Best regards,



Josh Dunbar

[gregersenj]

You're welcome.

If reboot, solved everything.
You could have done a rescan, in device manager. I guess.
(That idea didn't come to my mind)


BR
/jag

[Damien74]

hello, I am having a very similar issue/problem. I am trying to setup a raid 5 on my esata external drive enclosure using 5 2tb drives. I used the the raid card and utility that came with the enclosure and card to create the raid set. However, in windows disk management it would see my raid set as two separate volumes instead of one 7.2tb volume. On the left under disk it sees the whole 7.2tb but it lists a 2tb and 5.2tb listed as unallocated space. The 2tb will allow me to create a simple volume but the other doesn't allow me to do anything. I really want it to be a single 7.2tb disk. OS is Vista 64. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

[Michael A. McKenney]

hello, I am having a very similar issue/problem. I am trying to setup a raid 5 on my esata external drive enclosure using 5 2tb drives. I used the the raid card and utility that came with the enclosure and card to create the raid set. However, in windows disk management it would see my raid set as two separate volumes instead of one 7.2tb volume. On the left under disk it sees the whole 7.2tb but it lists a 2tb and 5.2tb listed as unallocated space. The 2tb will allow me to create a simple volume but the other doesn't allow me to do anything. I really want it to be a single 7.2tb disk. OS is Vista 64. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

With Hardware RAID 5, it is done at the controller level. Windows will only see a single huge unallocated space. You need to partition the space just like you would a normal hard drive and format it. 8TB could take 2-3 days to format. You controller might only be capable of a maximum of 5 TB. Many low end RAID controller have this limit. You will have to partitions on your RAID 5 array.

Don't install Vista or any OS in RAID 5. OS and Paging/swap files need RAID 1 or 10. Microsoft does not support RAID 5 for them. RAID 5 writes are too slow for OS and paging file. It can also corrupt the OS on boot up. I would consider doing RAID 10 + spare drive for your OS/paging file.

[Ali]

Hi Michael,

I guess its windows boot/mbr partition limitation. windows does not accept more than 2 TB as ntfs parition you need to convert it to GPT partition in order to utilize full space.

ref.. : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946557

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/LUN_SP1.mspx

GPT
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/gpt_faq.mspx

thanks,
Aftab

[Damien74]

Thanks for the suggestions. The OS will not be part of the raid set, it is for data/media only. I was looking into the mbr vs gpt thing but can't seem to get disk management to let me even modify anything on that disk/raid set. I have ordered the newer model of my external drive bay enclosure which might solve my problem. It uses dip switches to setup the raid rather than bios or drivers.

[Ali]

Hi Damien,

You may create a seperate thread so that other people can also participate and advice you best and possible way to do that.

I would suggest you to try the software options first before getting the whole h/w replaced.

Windows disk management should provide you option to convert it to GPT.. if it is not allowing you to do that then It could be some issue with the windows itself.

I remember there was a hotfix for this issue for windows 2003 server but I am not sure whether this is also applicable in your environment.
ref.. : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919117/en-us

If you have support from microsoft, log a call with them and also make sure you have all the latest hotfixes, service pack installed.

there are CLI based utilities as well which can help you convert GTP partitions.

if your h/w bios/utility show the correct value and healthy Raid volume then it may not be issue with h/w

thanks,
Aftab

[Damien74]

I GOT IT! Eventhough I was selecting GUID and not MBR when initializing the disk/raid set, it was still seeing it as a MBR disk. Went into diskpart and selected the disk and used the "convert gpt" command and BAM it sees the entire 7.2gb! Thanks for all your suggestions. I guess now i'll just have an extra external 5 bay enclosure since I already ordered a replacement. Oh well.