maxed out PV in the vg group and need to add more PV

[Kathy McGohan_1]

We have a file system which is used to backup many Oracle databases. We used 32 SCSI internal disks (C2490WD) which are 2 GB each. We then mirrored these disks. So we now have a 16 GB file system which is mirrored. Again this file system has filled up to (99%) and the Oracle DBA asked me to increase it again for the 3rd. time.
I tried to increase it and got the error messge, too many links. the MAX PV size is set to 16.
Is there anyway I can create a new vg group and set the MAX PV size larger and export the disks from the 16 GB file system over to the new group? Appreciate any help, thanks.

[Tony Constantine_1 · Accepted solution]

Kathy
Its is not possiable to export then re-import the the disks into a new volume group, the only way you can do this is by backuping up your data, create a new volume group with the extended PV's then restore your data to the new volume group

[Eddie Warren]

Your current volume group has hit its limit as to the number of PV's, 16 is the default. You can create a new volume group and increase this number up to 255. This would be the way to go if your have enough disk's available. As far as your current Volume Group, especially with Oracle database on it, I would do a cold backup and restore it to your new volume group.

Wish you the best.

[Alan Riggs]

On the bright side, there is no requirement for oracle data files to share the sae filesystem. You can simply create a new VG, lvol, filesystem and have your DBA stage files there.

Another solution is to swap some 2GB disks for 4GB (Don't go larger, it will do you no good since teh VG was originally created on 2GB disks sp max_pe will have defaulted to 1016).

BTW -- max_pv is set at VG creation time. default is 16, but it can be overridden with the -p flag.

[Dave Wherry]

The other posts are correct. You need to rebuild that volume group. You can't modify it.
One thing though. If this is used for backups do you really need to back up that data? I'm thinking you just delete the volume group and rebuild it. Then run your normal backups to repopulate the space. It will save you a lot of time.
Also, do you need to mirror a backup area? It seems like a waste of disks and I/O bandwidth. You certainly want some level of protection for your production data. Either UX mirroring or raid. If you lose a disk in your backup area you replace it and rerun your backup. Mirroring takes twice the disks and requires twice the writes. When you run the backup it writes to the primary space and then the mirror. That's a lot of I/O.

[Kathy McGohan_1]

Alan Riggs, you said that the MAX_PV size can be overwritten. Does that mean I can do it now, or is it just at creation time?

[Kathy McGohan_1]

Thanks Dave for the info. Before I saw your reply, we decided that we would not have to restore any of the backup data, just the scripts, but we will make sure we get a good backup of the backup files before wipping out the file system.

[Alan Riggs]

Only at creation time.