add harddisk to a array (PE 1500SC, PERC3/SC)

[sepp28]

threads like this were posted several times, but i found no solution for me! I'm a "newbie" to RAID.

I have a PowerEdge 1500SC with a PERC3/SC Controller and a RAID5 Array with 3 Harddisks and two partitions (System and data) on it. OS: Windows 2000 Server SP3

Now I want to add a 4th Disk (same size) and grow up the Data partition. I am not familiar with the array manager. Can you give me a guideline to do the upgrade.

I read about performance problems doing this with the array manager instead in bios. This would be no problem for me because all employes are out of office between christmas and new year. Good time for a job like this ;-)

A step-by-step solution would be the best for me, if possible!


I've a second question: is there a possibility to see the progress of rebuilding the array after a crashed disk is replaced? OK, I see the leds at the server, but is there a software-solution?

Can I configure alerts on the server in case of a disk-crash? Entries in the event-log on the server are not the best solution. Alarming a client (mine) would be better.

hope you can help me!

-THANKS-

 

[NickFerrar]

You can use Dell's OpenManage utility to get alerts in ase of hardware problems, including disks.

For the RAID side, assuming it is RAID5, I've done what you are trying to do a couple of times and used the BIOS utility although I can't down a server at the moment to provide step-by-step instructions!

The basic process though was add the disk into the existing container and then in Windows create a volume set comprised of the original volume plus the new disk area. Both times I've done it was on Windows NT so I'm not sure if you have Windows 2000 and ynamic disks if you can avoid the volume set and just extend the drive volume.