SmartArray

[Rueben]

I have some proliants ML370's two have the smart array 431 and the other has the 532 controller. All run a Raid 5 with currently 3-36.4 and one with 4-36.4gb drives. I would like to expand this Raid array to 6 drives each. Without having to reload everything. Can I do this with one of the Raid Array utility's? Every time I have tried it will let me create a second raid array but not add to the existing array.

Thanks
Rueben

[Colin_29]

I'm not sure that you can add two drives at once as I think the array configuration utility will assume you are trying to add a mirrored pair.

Try inserting them one at a time and let the resize complete before inserting the next one. You may need to manually go through the array config and not let the wizard take over.

Once expanded, your operating system will see the new space as a separate disk drive.

[Mike Povall]

If you install the additional drives into the server you can then expand the existing array to incorporate the additional drives. Ignore any wizards or express configuration options and use the standard configuration option. Select the array to be expanded ( not the controller) and an option will be available to EXPAND select that and tell it which drives you wish to add to the array. This will then queue a task to level the existing logical drives across the six disks rather than the three or four current disks. Once complete you will have available space that can be used for an additional logical drive.

I have just added an extra 36.4GB disk to an existing four drive array on an ML370G3 with a 642 controller with NT4 and it worked fine, but be prepared for a long wait as that took 22 hours to expand the array.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Mike.