Upgrade on new (larger) disks and switching back to old disks

[Difladermaus]

DL360 raid 0+1 (2x72GB SCSI) has a messed up install of 2003 server (upgraded from 2000 before I got here)

I have 2x146GB drives I would like to use the 146GB to do another clean install.

The issue is with the applications and DB setup on this system we have limited downtime available and the process would have to be spread over a few days on off hours.

I was thinking I could just shut it down, put the new disks in and get the OS setup. Shut it down and put the original disks back in and run the previous setup the next day.

After hours shutdown, swap in new disks and complete the db and application setup and test.

Will I have any issues with the scsi raid setup putting different (larger) disk into the system and switching back? Will the config change, risk loss of boot sector info where I could not get back up on the old disk setup?

Jeff

[Difladermaus]

After re-thinking this I will lose raid config. I am going to have to reset raid after swapping disks which will result in loss of data.

I would have to restore from and image to get back to original state.

Sound right?

[KarloChacon]

hi

hey check this, procedure to replacing old ones with new ones (bigger)

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1027500&admit=109447626+1197181293532+28353475

regards

[Difladermaus]

This is not just a simple replace. I know how to handle that.

This is a new install, but I need to be able to get the old install running through most of the day and have to do the setup on the new disks in steps over a few days.

Old system running during day...
switch disks and work on new setup...
old system running during day again...
switch disks and work on new setup...etc

[ynotravid]

Seems to me that your only gotcha would be that you have to replace the drives in the same slots. As long as you do that, you should be able to reestablish the arrays each time you swap.

I would be hesitant to use a production machine in this way, but if your resources are limited, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.