Adding more storage to NT4 server

[tcorn65]

Hello, I have an NT 4 Raid 5. There are currently four 9 gig scsi drives, a 17 gig, and a 36 gig. The four 9's being the originals. Disk admin is not seeing the drives although Perc Console is, also system sees them in console mode during bootup. I am running out of room on the four 9,s and need to add these others drives to the array. Is this possible without doing a complete rebuild and restore?

 

[jimmyz66]

I had the same issue and could not add the additional drives, Since the sever was a Dell I gave them a call and they told me I would have to rebuild the server to add the additional drive space, but that was just my experience, if there is away to do it I would like to know myself.

 

[tcorn65]

Mine also is a Dell, and thats what they told me as well.

 

[hbaecker]

You will have to rebuild. But here’s your problem ...The limiting factor on size is that the RAID 5 is constrained by the smallest disk size. Raid 5 will only use the amount of disk space on the smallest drive within the array. You are currently using four 9 GB drives for a total of 27 GB; if you rebuild and add a drive larger then 9 GB it will only use 9 GB of that drive no matter the size.

 

[hbaecker]

For those who think my math is lousy:
RAID-5 volumes provide fault tolerance at a cost of only one additional disk for the volume. This means that if you use four 9-GB disks to create a RAID-5 volume, the volume will have a 27-GB capacity. The remaining 9-GB is used for parity.

RAID-5 volumes cannot be extended or mirrored.