Array (RAID) Expansion without losing DATA

[Vijay8]

Server- HPE ProLiant DL380 G7

OS- Windows 2008 R2 Std

Array Controller- Smart Array P410i

Array A (1 Logical Drive) 136.7 GB, RAID 1

146 GB x 2 – Box 1, Bay 1 & 2

Array B (1 Logical Drive) 3.3 TB, RAID 5

600 GB x 7 – Box 2, Bay 1-7, Spare= 600 GB, Box 2, Bay 8

Array C (1 Logical Drive) 2.2 TB, RAID 5

600 GB x 5 – Box 1, Bay 3-7, Spare= 600 GB, Box 1, Bay 8

Note- Array B Logical Drive have user profile

Requirement-

1. Need to delete Array C & make all the 6 drives free
2. Expand Array B, RAID 5 by adding all the 6 free drives without losing user profiles data

Can anyone share any step by step user guide, weblink or video?

[derick_souza]

@Vijay8

As a first step, one needs to confirm whether server is installed with both cache and battery.

document https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03510253

[Fritsch James]

You also did not mention how you connected all those drives to a single P410i Controller.

To manage all the drives via one controller you will need an SAS expander card - do you have one of these installed?

If not the two Drive cages would be connected to two separate controllers without the possibilty to use disks on both cages for one single raid set.

A working cache module and battery is mandatory to do an online expansion of your raid. For RAID5 it will surely take some time, but it should finish without data loss.

[Vijay8]

Hi Derick,

I've attched screenshots of Array Controller and Device Manager. Server is being used for few years and I've joined recently, I've remote access of server, no physical access. Need to go through long procedure to get the permission from HQ team to access the server physicaly.

Anyway, just see if screenshots are enough to understand and get the required info.

Regards

Vijay

[Vijay8]

Adding few more screenshots...

[Vijay8]

Hi Fritsch James,

I've replied in this thread and attached few screenshots, requesting you to go through it and let me know if I can get some more information for you by logging in remotely on server.

Regards

Vijay

[Fritsch James · Accepted solution]

Your configuration looks fine - array accelerator is present and status is also ok.

If you delete array C the disks should become available to expand array B.

RAID expansion usually runs fine with the HP Smart Arrays - but I would always make sure that there is a backup available before messing around with the setup. It would also be good if there is not too much data written to the array while it is expanding.