RAID 5 config on HP ML350 G5 ( Smart Array 200I )

[Gerbz]

I am about to upgrade our RAID controller to
128-MB Battery-Backed Write Cache (BBWC)
In order to allow me to do a RAID 5 setup on this server.

We are currently running a RAID1. 2 x 160GB HDD

We have the 160GB partioned into 50GB ( Has the OS & exchange ) & 100GB ( Company data ) then this mirroring to the other 160GB.

We are planning on putting 5 x 750GB with RAID5 in place. 2 drive running & then other 2 mirror with one as a spare.

I need to know if it is possible to transfer the info from the 50GB partition to the primary drive then the 100GB to the second drive using something like "Ghost"

I dont have to much knowledge on these things so I would very much like to not have to reload this whole server. I would then use an app like partition magic to re-alocate the remaining space to those partitions.

I am mad or genius :(

[J.Kool_1]

Yes, you can just copy the data from your OS and DATA partition using a tools like Ghost or RDEPLOY (HP/RDP) to a USB disk or to some network share. Afer that replace your disks, create an R5 array and restore your partitions. Tools like ghost or Rdeploy can resize the partitions on restore. Keep in mind its going to take a quite some time to copy 150GB of data to an USB disk or Network share.

Hope it helps

-- J

[asqwq]

hi
yes you can do it. you should copy to another place or share on the network.
best regards

[Gerbz]

Many thanks folks, I will be attempting it this weekend & will let you know :)

[asqwq]

hi
please dont forget assign point
best regards

[Gerbz]

Just busy preping & was thinking.

Do I first setup the RAID5 then take the drive out & Ghost the old one to it. Then put the new one back? Would this not break the RAID?

Can anybody give me a process that I can follow to do this?

Thanks folks

[TTr]

What you are trying to do is usually done live with the server running and utilizing the features of the raid controller.

1. Upgrade the controller to 128MB w/BBWC.
2. Pull one of the 160GB disks and insert one 750GB disk. *ALLOW* the controller to rebuild the raid1 on the new disks. (now you have one 160GB and one 750GB in the raid1 array)
3. Pull the second 160GB disk and replace it with the 750GB disk. When the controller finished rebuilding the raid1 array you will see the extra space of the 750GB array.
4. Now you can add the other 2 750GB disks. It was not clear if you needed to add the 4 disks as one raid1+0 array (all 4 disks) or as two raid1 arrays with 2 disks each. If you are adding them as one raid1+0 array you have to use the raid migration feature of the controller.
5. Depending what you do in step 4 you can enlarge the exisitng 50GB and 100GB partitions accordingly. First you expand the logical drive in the array controller and the you expand the partition in the OS using the diskpart.exe utility.
6. Add the 5th disk as a hot spare.

Start by reading this thread http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=997333 and search in this forum for "array expansion" and "raid migration"

Provide more details about what you want to do in step 4.

[Gerbz]

Heya,

We are currently running RAID1 with the 2 x 160GB

I am wanting to change to RAID5 with 4 drives active & one for spare.

(OS) drive mirrored &
(data) drive mirrored :)

[TTr]

> I am wanting to change to RAID5
> (OS) drive mirrored &
> (data) drive mirrored :)

You need to get your raid types straight and figured out. "Raid5" and "mirrored" do NOT go together, they are entirely different. Also understand what a "hot spare" is and what a "parity disk of raid5" is so you can decide what to do with the 5th drive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID_5#RAID_5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#Hot_spares

[Gerbz]

Right :)

I need a RAID5 with one spare. Can I still do what i need to?

[TTr]

Raid5 with one hotspare means:

(3 data disks + 1 parity disk ) + 1 hot spare

Your overall usable raid space will be 3 x 750GB = 2250GB with expected effective usable space of about 2100GB.
In step 4 you have to do a raid type migration from raid1 to raid5. According to the quick specs the E200 w/ the 128MB BBWC upgrade has the raid migration feature.

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12460_na/12460_na.html

As always, before starting anything, perform a thorough backup of your server.

Also if you increase the expand and rebuild priority, the above operations will go faster than usually.

[Gerbz]

Mr.TTr

You have been very kind & helped to put my heart at ease. I will read up on this last link.

Will let you know how it went :)