HPE MR408i-o Gen11 - Expand Logical drive Action Missing if more than one LD is config

[andre80]

Good Day

Have a new Proliant DL 360 Gen11 Server with a HPE MR408i-o Gen11 Controller.

Created an Array (Raid 1) from 2 SSD Drives.
Then created the first Logical Drive. If i select the LD, under the Actions Menu, i see the "Expand" Option.
Now i create a second Logical Drive. Now I'm missing the "Expand" Option in the Action Menu. It is not visible anymore and it does not matter if i select the first LG i've created or the second one. There is still plenty of free space on the Array.

Is this a Bug? I'm on the latest HPE MR Storage Administrator Software, also the latest Driver and Firmware for the MR408 controller is installed.

Update: I also tried to extend the LD via storecli with the same result. As soon as more than one LD on an Array are available, the expand for an LD does not work. Also not for the last LD. Is this really a limitation which is not documented in the spec for the controller? Older P408 controller have been able to expand...

Thanks

[andre80]

Just got confirmation from HPE Support that it is only possible to expand the Logical Drive if only one is configured per Array. As soon as more than one LD is configured, expand function does not work anymore... I haven't found this restriction in the Controller Specs so far. Hopefully this get updated once...

[TVVJ]

Hello,

Thank you for providing an update!

Regards,

[AQ_CONSULTING]

Hello,

I have the same problem, I have 2 Arrays and 2 LDs, i.e. 1 LD per Array (not 2) and the Expand option does not appear.
HPE support is surprised and advises to redo the RAID...but my server is in production

[andre80]

Hello

Unfortunately, i can't say if this should be possible or not as i had a different constellation. and in this one, expending a drive is not possible. 

Maybe someone else can help..

[TVVJ]

Hello,

Please contact HPE Support for further assistance.

Regards,

[AQ_CONSULTING]

Hello,

yes it has been done. See below:

"Your support case 5383968919 has been closed.

Problem Resolution:

• Navigate to the Controller dashboard, click an array name (for example, Array_1).
• 1.Click the to a array to display its contents. The logical drives an drives associated with the selected array appear.
• 2. Click the logical drive whose capacity you want to expand.
• 3.Select More Actions > Expand. The Expand Logical Drive dialog appears.
• 4.Select the percentage of the available capacity that you want the logical drive to use.
• 5.Click Expand. The logical drive expands by the selected percentage of the available capacity."

In reality, this solution is not possible since the option does not appear. The support told us that they were surprised not to see the Expand option and advised us to use the option to reconfigure the RAID 5 but with a risk of losing the data and therefore making a backup and not doing it during production.

To date, we have not done it yet because we are rather waiting for a solution but we will certainly have no other choice.

[pabuc]

we have the same problems on different servers. the "more actions - expand" button still not exist with two logical drives..

HPE - thats a joke right? 

[andre80]

Hi pabuc

If you have the same constellation i have (my initial post) -> it is just not possible with this controller.... It's a step back compared to the old Smart Array controllers, unfortunately. Was confirmed by HPE Support. 

[OS2SH]

Vielen Dank  an alle für diese Informationen. Das hörte sich ja nun zunächst sehr schlecht an. Nach kurzer recherche auch in den HPE Communities bestätigte sich, dass die MR Controller nicht diese Funktionalität zur Verfügung stellt, wie die etwas älteren SR Controller, die sich auch für mich viele Jahre bewährt haben. Nun habe ich jedoch auf der Broadcom Website: https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/12351361 den MegaRAID Storage Manager in Version 16.11.02.00 herunter geladen. Nach kurzer Installation stellt sich eine sehr angenehme und übersichtliche Oberfläche da. Hier sind alle technischen Informationen über die HPE Laufware/Firmware und Konfigurationen aufgelistet. Und siehe da: Auch die Konfigurationsmöglichkeit, neue logische Laufwerke anzulegen und / oder bestehende logische Volumes zu erweiteren, lassen sich sofort auswählen. Das habe ich jetzt gemacht und erfolgreich umgesetzt. Im HPE MR Storage Administrator werden die Konfigurationsänderungen auch sachlich korrekt dargestellt. Sowohl die richtige Größenangabe als auch der Backround Initialisation Prozeß für das neue 'größere' logische Laufwerk. Somit scheint mein Anliegen gelöst zu sein.
Vielleicht wäre es sinnvoll ein feature Request für den HPE MR Storage Administrator auszulösen, der die fehlenden Konfigurationsmöglichkeiten ergänzt. Viele grüße Oliver

**Google Translate**

Thank you all for this information. Initially, it sounded quite bad. After a brief search, including in the HPE communities, it was confirmed that the MR controllers do not offer the same functionality as the slightly older SR controllers, which have served me well for many years. However, I then downloaded MegaRAID Storage Manager version 16.11.02.00 from the Broadcom website: https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/12351361. After a quick installation, a very user-friendly and clear interface appeared. All the technical information about the HPE drives/firmware and configurations is listed there. And lo and behold: the option to create new logical drives and/or expand existing logical volumes is immediately available. I have now done this and successfully implemented the changes. The HPE MR Storage Administrator also correctly displays the configuration changes, including the correct size and the background initialization process for the new, larger logical drive. So my issue seems to be resolved.
Perhaps it would be worthwhile to submit a feature request for the HPE MR Storage Administrator to add the missing configuration options. Best regards, Oliver

[pabuc]

Besten Dank für das Update.

Das wären ja super news
Bist du sicher, dass du mehrere Logische Drives hast?
Ich habe soeben denStorage Manager installiert und habe immer noch keine Möglichkeit, die Drive Gruppe mit einer unkonfigurierten, neuen SSD zu erweitern oder eine virtuelle Disk/logisches Laufwerk zu erweitern.

Translate:

Thanks for the update.

That would be great news
Are you sure you have multiple logical drives?
I just installed Storage Manager and still can't expand the drive group with an unconfigured new SSD or expand a virtual disk/logical drive.

[OS2SH]

Ja, ich hatte das Problem, dass ich eine bestehende Umgebung durch Tausch von 960GB SSD's auf 3,84TB SSD's erweitern mussste (Hier in einem DL325 Gen11) nach dem ich also den Tausch erledigt hatte (2 Logische Volumes: 1 Startvolume und eine DatenVolume), fand ich keine Option im HPE MR Storage Administrator, die eine Erweiterung der angezeigten Kapazität, möglich machte. Im Broadcom Storage Manager, den ich weiter oben gefunden hatte, war die Funktion Expand sofort sichtbar und ich konnte sie erfolgreich ausführen. Anschliessend habe ich die Erweiterung in meiner Server 2022 Umgebung gemacht.  Viele Grüsse Oliver

Yes, I had the problem that I had to expand an existing environment by replacing 960GB SSDs with 3.84TB SSDs (here in a DL325 Gen11).
After I had completed the replacement (2 logical volumes: 1 start volume and one data volume), I couldn't find any option in HPE MR Storage Administrator that allowed me to expand the displayed capacity.
In Broadcom Storage Manager, which I found above, the Expand function was immediately visible and I was able to execute it successfully. I then made the expansion in my Server 2022 environment. Best regards, Oliver

[pabuc]

Hi Oliver. okey, bei mir gehts nicht. Du hattest in dem Fall eine andere Ausgangslage indem du vermutlich die Disks eine nach der anderen ausgewechselt hattest.
Ich habe eine neue, zusätzliche Disk in selber Grösse wie die bestehenden welche als "unkonfiguriert" angezeigt wird. Diese bringe ich aber schon gar nicht in den RAID Verbund und dementsprechend kann ich auch keine Laufwerke erweitern.

Trotzdem vielen Dank für deine Zeit!

Hi Oliver. Okay, it's not working for me. In your case, you had a different starting point because you probably replaced the disks one after the other.
I have a new, additional disk of the same size as the existing ones, which is displayed as “unconfigured.” However, I can't add it to the RAID array, which means I can't expand any drives.

Thanks anyway for your time!

[OS2SH]

Ja, da hast du recht. In dem DL325 sind nur 8 Steckplätze vorhanden, die ich komplett ausnutze. Ich kann es leider dann auch nicht für dich testen. Ich kan mir aber vorstellen, dass vielleicht Broadcom ein Supportticket dazu erlaubt. Vielleicht kommt man damit etwas weiter. Viele Glück, Gruss Oliver

Yes, you're right. The DL325 only has 8 slots, which I use to their full capacity. Unfortunately, I can't test it for you. But I imagine that Broadcom might allow a support ticket for this. Maybe that will get us a little further. Good luck, regards Oliver

[OS2SH]

Nachtrag
Sorry dass ich noch einmal nachhake: Die von dir verwendete Platte ist aber von selben Typ wie die vorhandenen, korrekt? Also SAS SSD oder NVMe. Gemischte Umgebungen werden nicht unterstützt.

Addendum
Sorry to follow up again: The drive you are using is the same type as the existing ones, correct? So SAS SSD or NVMe. Mixed environments are not supported.

[pabuc]

Danke für deine Bemühungen. JA das ist genau die selbe Disk wie die vorhandenen.

Thank you for your efforts. YES, it's exactly the same disc as the existing ones.