Changing from mirrored drives (software) to RAID5 (hardware)

[martynw2000]

My current setup has 4 HDDs, 2x19gb for the OS and 2x38gb for the Data, currently set up with no hardware raid, but mirrored in Windows 2003 using the drive management screen.

What I want to do is get rid of the 19gb drives and replace them with 38gb drives and switch to a RAID5 system. The server has a RAID card, and so should support it. It's a SmartArray 641 I believe.

What I'm figuring to do is unmirror the data drives, and add the two new 38gb drives, giving me 3x38gb drives spare. Then create a RAID5 using those 3 disks. Then move the OS to the RAID5 and the data on the other 38gb disk. Once that's done, then add the 4th 38gb disk as a hot spare.

Is all that achievable? Or am I asking too much of my system? Any help, hints, tips etc. would be useful, as I'm relatively new to all this.

Thanks!

 

[spi200]

Hi

I would do it a little different,

Two disks for the OS as a RAID 1 (mirror) - hardware raid is faster than software and RAID 1 is faster than Raid 5 for thing like your swap file and the like.
Three disk for your data in a RAID 5 configuration - hot spare is optional but certainly keep one on the shelf.
There are many tips on this board regarding extending\converting and expanding arrays so read around the topic first and post any specific issues you have. Be sure to snap shot and\or backup your server before you start. Ensure you have the lastest bios for your SCSI controller as well as some early one had a few bugs - if you have issues HP will tell you to upgrade anyway.

Regards

David