disk arrays initialisation

[Leonard Thng]

Hi all,

Current i have a NAS B2000 running Windows 2000 and the setup is as follow:

1) On B2000, 2 x 36gb HDD (RAID 1) installed with OS
2) 4 x 146gb HDD (RAID 5) created as another logical drive using the 5i smart array controller
3) Attached to the B2000 is a MSA30 with 14 x 146gb HDD (RAID 5) via SCSI connection using a smart array 641 controller installed into the B2000
4) All the 146gb HDD contains user data and files

I plan to install WSS 2003 using 2 x 72gb HDD (RAID 1), replacing the current Windows 2000 that is on the 2 x 36gb HDD. My questions are:

1) Will i be able to mount back the 4 x 146gb HDD (RAID 5) and the 14 x 146gb HDD (RAID 5) drives?
2) Will the data be retained if i initialise it again at WSS 2003?
3) Will there be any patching required for WSS 2003 on B2000??

Your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Leonard

[Steven Clementi]

Leonard:

1. As long as you do not delete the 2 146GB Array's from the 5i controller, they should show up in Windows Server 2003 without a problem. If you wanted to be extreamly safe, remove the 4 drives and disconnect the MSA30. Replace after you have built the OS.

2. You should not lose any data, especially if it is not connected.

3. Probably your standard patching, Windows Security and OS patches and anything HP might have for performance enhancement.


Steven