Expanding logical drive on Proliant 3000 with NT4

[charlescosby]

I have a ProLiant 3000 with (among other arrays) a mirrored array on 4.3 drives. The RAID controller is a SMART 2DH. It is formattted FAT and the partition is 2.1 gig. Is it possible to expand the partition to use the rest of the drive without losing data? I know Partition Magic 7 supports NTFS merges but not sure how the hardware will react to it. Can I convert the partition to NTFS and then expand or is that not possible with this hardware?

My thoughts were to convert the partition, back it up, and then run ACU from the System Partition to make it one logical drive, and then restore the backup. Only problem is I would have to install NT then install Backup Exec then do the restore, taking quite a bit of time. So is there a better alternative?

 

[TheLad]

You would definately have to convert the partition to NTFS before you could stretch it. To do this, you can use the CONVERT.EXE utility from within NT. The format would be something like:

CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS

You would answer Yes to schedule the conversion during the next reboot. Let the drive convert, then use Partition Magic to stretch the drive. BACKUP FIRST!!!

I cannot see you having to do anything in the ACU. As the disks are mirrored, your logical volume should be 4.3Gb in size. This is different from the partition size as partitions are stored within the logical volume. -----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
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[ntinlin]

As usual TheLad has provided a great answer.

However you're PM7 probably won't be able to expand the drive since those money-grabbing sharks at PowerQuest split the product between workstation and server versions. You'd need to get hold of Volume Manager which is the server product. I've also managed to get PM5Pro to work but never in anger.

Neill

 

[charlescosby]

Well I found that out the hard way. They want $500 for the server version. So I did some research and found one called Partition Manager from Germany that worked famously, didnt even have to create floppies. And it is only $39!!!! Last time I use Partition Magic, and I have been a loyal user since 3.0. Just never tried to do a server before, always played with workstations. I bought it over the net, and it immediately started to install on my computer, didnt even have to download it.

 

[dieselfreak]

Why not simply....

1) Stop all unnecessary services.
2) Backup the server
3) Backup server again onto different tape
4) wipe server
5) install NT again into a temp folder eg c:\NTTMP
(This time remembering to create a 4Gb C drive)
6) Restore the Original configuration from the backup.


a) This method is tried and tested
b) Will cost you nothing
c) You will still have support from MS should you care about that
d) your less likely to get data corruption bad volumes etc etc

€0.02

Cheers

 

[TheLad]

And takes 10 times as long ........ -----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
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[dieselfreak]

If not LONGER !!

 

[TheLad]

I was working on the principle that it would take around an hour (probably less) to stretch a partition using PM. -----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
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