upgrading Raid1 from 2x36 --> 2*70 GB 1

[gsavy]

Hello,

I need to upgrade a Raid1 with 2*36 GB HD to a Raid1 with 2*73 GB. this is running on an IBM 345 with a 6i RaidController on W2k.

This raid 1 has 2 partitions, system and Logs

I just need to expand partition 2, or create a new partition3.

At a NT level, Disk is basic because it is system disk.


I' d like to know if the following step is good or not

1- remove 1 disk 36GB
2- put 1 disk 73GB
3- reconstruct the Raid
4- Remove 2nd disk 36GB
5- put the 2nd disk 73GB
6- reconstruct Raid1
7- create a new logical partition with the 30GB left


is that possible ? shall I be able to use the new unused space ?


thanks for your help

 

[ibmtech65]

I have never tested that but I have been told that it will work. Our resident Raid expert here also says that it will work.

Make sure you get a good backup then give it a try and let us know if it works. I have been wanting to find someone that does that so they can tell me if it works or not.

 

[newBPhoneGuy]

is you add the first 73G drive after pulling out the first 36 wont it degrade the the 73G to whatever the remaining disk is and then when you put in the second disk it will also degrade......Ill tell you what Im going to try it right now and ill be back on today to post the results....



I love this site it gives me things to mess with in my idle time here at the office and i have over 30 servers i can mess with

 

[newBPhoneGuy]

OK everyone heres the final outcome.....

I created a 2 hdd (9.2GB) raid 1 in ServeRAID manager

I Configured it through Disk Manager in windows
It showed up as aprox 9GB Drive E:

I pulled the first disk and inserted an 18GB disk

Rebuilt the Array in ServeRAID manager

Pulled the Second 9.1GB and inserted the 18GB

Rebuilt the array in ServeRAID manager

Once complete i right clicked on the array and clicked creat logical Partition or drive i ccant if it was drive or partition

then i went to Disk Manager in windows clicked Actions Rescan disks and sure enough there was another 9Gb drive there

sconfigured it up and now theres

9GB E:
9GB F:

so in short YES IT WORKS!!!!!

 

[newBPhoneGuy]

ok heres the final word on this one

after i created those two logical drives i then put the 2 9GB physical drives back in the system mirrored them as a seperate array and then converted one of the volumes one the 18GB drive to dynamic and extended them to add the new 9.1GB mirrored drives....so in the end i have

1 9GB volume
1 16GB volume

if you guys have anything else you would like to find out if it will work or not let me know ive got nothing but time and parts

 

[gsavy]

Ok thanks very much newBPhoneGuy, a * for you. It is the first time in a forum someone try a solution for me !

I really appreciate

On my side I also found a server and disks to try it, and it works fine

Last little question, on the production server, I will change 2*36 GB Ultra160 to 2*73GB ultra 320. Then I also have a raid5 (4 disk U160).

Does serveRaid 6i support Ultra320, and can I mixed U160 and U320, I mean 1 Raid1 with U320 and the existing Raid5 in U160?

Thanks for your help

 

[newBPhoneGuy]

should be no problem the cars supports both 160 and 320 but i think you should have the 160 on a seperate cable? but not sure on that one and if you are using a external enclosure like the 300exp id look further into it because i think the 300exp only supports u160....


hope that helps

 

[gsavy]

I won't use external enclosure, the 6 drives are in the server itself
That 's why I 'm wondering if I can mix U160 with U320

 

[newBPhoneGuy]

they are both supported you could give it a try the worst thing that can happen is the speed of the 320's might degrade.....does the 6i controller you have have 2 channels on it or just one

 

[scsiraid]

The 6i is a zero channel adapter. It takes over the LSI 1030 SCSI controller on the server motherboard. The x345 has one internal channel and one external channel. You can mix U320 and U160 in U320 systems but the 6i will detect this and downshift the U320 drives to U160 speed. This is done because the 'interposers' on the U160 drives causes 'stubs' on the SCSI bus which make it unable to run OK at U320 acceptabally.

 

[newBPhoneGuy]

how the heck am i on the mvp list...lol if im an mvp there is no hope for the ibm forum...hahahaha