Power Edge 2500 with Seagate/Hitachi RAID 1 Array

[dalcontrol]

I have a currently healthy Raid 1 system using a Seagate and Hitachi drive set. I would like to remove one of the two drives and place into offline storage, and install a new similar drive and restore the Raid 1 array. Where can I find documentation for performing this?

Many thanks for the help,
Dan

 

[wahnula]

Rebuilding a RAID 1 array should be a piece of cake. Buy a second drive of the same model, speed & size as the one you plan to leave in the machine. On another machine, format the drive (this step may not be necessary, but it's quick and easy).

Replace the target drive with the new drive, and reboot. In RAID BIOS, join the new drive to the array if necessary. Then just let it rebuild. Some controllers automatically do this (join a new drive to the array), but check in RAID BIOS (usually a key combo during POST, there will be a prompt) just to be sure it's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[dalcontrol]

Hi wahnula,

Thanks much for your help and information. In the existing system, one hdd is a 33 GB Hitachi and the other is an 18 GB Seagate. However, I was only able to find and purchase two 33 GB Seagate hdd's that are otherwise identical to the 18 GB hdd that is currently installed (same series).

This should be ok, right?

Thanks again for the help,
Dan

 

[wahnula]

Should be fine, although ideally both drives would be the exact same size & speed. It sure would be nice to have that extra space (15 GB). One thought would be to replace the one drive, let it rebuild, then replace the second one and gain the extra space.

As long as you partition them with a single full-capacity partition outside of the RAID controller (hooked up to Win XP machine or a similar OS to what's in the server before you connect it to the Dell) the extra space should be available once you replace the second drive.

On my 3Ware RAID 5 controller card, the manufacturer will supply a script to enable the full use of larger disks after they are installed and the array rebuilt, this may be the case with Dell but possibly not, since there is no parity data with RAID 1. Best of luck!

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[wahnula]

And, I know this probably does not need to be said, but I'll say it anyway. Do a full backup before attempting any hardware changes. There. I feel better.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[dalcontrol]

Hi wahnula,

Thanks very much for all your excellent help! I will take your advice, and perform the job on Monday.

I'll send a post when I am done to share results.

Best regards,
Dan