Proliant G3 - how to boot from different array

[jamesworthy88]

I have a Proliant G3 with a Smart Array 641 controller and 3 36GB drives (RAID 1+0) running Windows 2003. It has two partitions with the system partition, originally 4GB, now running out of space (only 280 MB left).

We purchased 3 more 36 GB drives (all same specs) and I installed them and setup an identical second array on the same controller.

I used Acronis Migrate Easy 7 to clone Array A to Array B but with a larger system partition: 10 GB. When I rebooted, after the cloning operation, everything came up as expected, and the additional partitions on the new array (B) showed up as drives F: & G: and all the data looks to have copied correctly. So far so good.

Now...How do I get the server to boot off the new array and have those drives show up as C: & D:?
I don't want to change any config on the original physical drives/partitions so I have them in case of any problems.
Eventually I'll wipe them clean and create a new array for file storage.

I tried powering down, pulling the 3 original drives out, and rebooting. The sytem didn't like the missing drives. When I placed the new drives in the original drive slots, it didn't like that either. I really don't want ot rely on the old drives even being in the drive bays. I believe the errors were 1785 and 1789.

Thanks much in advance,

JW88

 

[TheLad]

I don't think it is quite as easy as that. Even if you amended the BOOT.INI on your existing C:, the reliance on the existing C: would still be there so you would not be able to reuse the old disks while that reliance is there from an OS perspective.

What would have probably been far easier would have been to extend the size of your existing C: (decreasing the size of any other drive to accomodate the increase) using Partition Magic (or even some Acronis equivalent if one exists).

--------------------------------------
"Insert funny comment in here!"
--------------------------------------

 

[jamesworthy88]

I was really hoping to stay away from touching the original drives so I have them in case of problems. Does anyone konw if the HP ACU boot disk allows a person to set partitions as bootable? If so, I think I can pull the original drives and when the server boots, it should find the boot partition on the new physical drives.

 

[burtsbees]

The RAID config is in the Smart Array 6I controller, so changes must be made in that (via HP RAID Manglement---I mean, Management---Tools) in order to make the system happy when you pull the old drives. Be sure to mark them so you know where they go. Also, I am not sure if you can make the system happy without wiping out the config on the old drives with the 4GB C:\ partition, so if you want to have the exact same thing going on as you do with the new drives, why don't you just mirror (RAID 1) the new drives to the old drives, and put them both into separate RAID 5? Otherwise, just expand the partition on the C:\ with Partition Magic.

Burt

 

[jamesworthy88]

I'm not sure I follow you on mirroring the new drives and then converting to RAID 5. Does that process somehow extend the system partion?

From what I read on the web, Partition Magic does not install on a Windows Server OS. I'd consider using Acronis Disk Direcotry Server Edition but that's $500.

In the Windows Disk Mgmt utility my F: drive shows up with a status of active (so doesn't that mean it should be bootable?). I would certainly think there is a way to have the server boot to that partition on the new drives.

How else would a person ever move a set of drives from one sever to a new server w/o having to reinstall everything? That's basically what I need at this point....to let the server know the new disk layout w/o the server trying to partition/format/reinstall anything.

 

[blister911]

James,
What model of Prliant G3 do you have?

Regardless, I'm pretty sure you cannot set the boot volume, only the boot controller. Once you set the boot controller, it decides which volume to boot from; Array A, then B, etc. Within the Array, logical drive 1, then 2, etc.

When you pulled your original boot disks, the controller must have had issues with them being removed. Boot from the smartstart CD and check to see what it states as the size of the boot volume. I think it's on the top section of the screen...you may have to go into maintain server to see it, I don't remember for sure.

If it says the boot volume size is 0 then that is your problem.

Pull your original drives, label them so you know which bays they belong in.

What I would then try is deleting the logical drive (within ACU) containing the drives you PULLED OUT. See if you can then boot the server from the new drives.

If you have to put the original drives back in, make sure they are in the EXACT same bays you removed them from. The drives will "remember" they were in an array and even which logical drive they should be.

If you get it all working and want to reformat your original drive, you need to realize that if you put them all back into the server it will see them as the boot volume and boot off them.

Good Luck.

 

[jamesworthy88]

Blister911, thanks much. That's the information I was after...how the boot process works when scsi drives are involved with a raid controller. (ML350 G3 by the way)

Before your post, I considered doing exactly what you said. However, if I pull the old drives, delete the array and the server won't boot of the new array, do you know for sure that when I put the original drives back in, that the controller will instantly recognize them, know they are in an array, and boot from them?

Also, isn't the array config stored on the smart controller? If so, is it also written to the physicals disks? I'm not understanding how the server would recognize the old array if I deleted it (with drives pulled out) using the HP ACU.

I've also gotten approval to purchase Acronis Disk Director Suite Server Edition. Awesome intuitive gui but $500 so you can actually commit changes. ;-( Anybody had good/bad experiences with it?

 

[blister911]

I've done it several times without issue on a DL385 G2 with SAS drives.

Preparation:
1. Make sure the controller and drive firmwares are up-to-date
2. Label everything well. You don't want sticky-notes dropping off.

The controller AND the drives both keep that information. It actually caused us problems when we consolidated controllers (p400 and P600 to a single P800) on 3 separate servers. Both controllers had a single Array A and logical drive 1. When they merged, our boot drives came in as Array B, logical drive 2 and the server failed to boot. We had to jump through a bunch of hoops to get it to switch them around. We went through basically what you need to do; pull drives and delete arrays. It was a bit scarey/nail-biting, but it worked without an issue.

 

[jamesworthy88]

Excellent information again. I might be bold enough to give your idea a shot. Knowing what I about the normal boot sequence, it makes sense. I'll post my results either way.

So I guess I shouldn't have labeled my drives with sticky-notes? ;-)