Disk replacement in HP NetRAID RAID5 configuration

[Marcel Ferenc]

Hi, I have the following problem:
HP NetServer LC3 with NetRAID controller, two 9.1GB hard drives and one 4.2GB hard drive is configured for RAID 5. There is one 8.4GB logical disk.
Now I have another 9.1GB hard drive and want to replace old 4.2GB hard drive without loosing my data. How should I do it? How can I extend the logical disk? Or do I have to define another logical disk?
Thanks.
Marcel

[Greg Carlson]

Marcel,

In theory this should work. However.. Before you attempt this make sure that you have a good backup because if it fails you'll be at a reinstall/recovery mode. This is also not a supported by HP.

First fail the 4.2gb hdd. Then rebuild to the 9.2GB hdd. Once the rebuild has completed you'll still only have 8.1gb capacity because of the old 4.2gb hdd.
Next boot into Ctrl-M and write down all of your physical and logical drive properties.
For logical drive properties the critical property is stripe size.

Once you have your config documented you'll need to recreate your array w/ out initializing. Go to new config, recreate your hdd's in the same order, then configure the logical information making sure that the stripe size is the same. You can also choose to partition the array into two logical drives so that you're not changing your logical drive but adding the space for a second or just let it stay at default.

** Do not Initialize the array!! **

You should be able to boot back to your NOS and claim the additional 9gb.

Good luck,
Greg