RAID 5 experts - help please!

MikeHunt79 · 14 Apr 2007 at 18:09

I've decided to quieten down my file server, so I'm going to be flogging my 7200.10's, and have bought a load of samsung drives...

Now my controller card is an 8 port rocketraid thing, and right now I'm running 4 x 320gb 7200.10's. Right now I've got 4 320gb samsungs connected as well, and once I've finished transferring my terabyte of data over to the samsungs, all will be good.

I've got 1 problem tho, I bought 5 samsung drives overall, as I want 1.5tb instead of 1.2tb.

How hard will it be to add the extra drive into the RAID array? Will I be able to keep my data or will I have rebuild the array?

rpstewart · 14 Apr 2007 at 18:15

The RocketRaid card is capable of online capacity expansion so you can run two 4 disk arrays until you're all copied across then connect up the fifth disk and get the card to add it into the array.

Unfortunately this only expands the array, not any partitions which are on it. Now there are 2 options, the usual one is Partition Magic but looking at the documentation Windows can expand dynamic disks (not tried it mind) so in theory if you format the Samsung array as a dynamic disk then just expand it once the fifth disk is in the array.

MikeHunt79 · 14 Apr 2007 at 18:44

Exellent, I've never heard if the the whole dynamic disk thing, but I'll give it a go, as i don't have partition magic.

Am I right in saying that when resizing the partition, I can keep all the data on the partition (so no re-formatting)?

rpstewart · 14 Apr 2007 at 18:53

Yeah, that's the theory.

MikeHunt79 · 14 Apr 2007 at 20:04

Cool. I'll give it a go... Thanks.

MikeTimbers · 14 Apr 2007 at 20:59

Obviously make sure your data is secured before you do anything to the partitions!

IAmATeaf · 15 Apr 2007 at 00:08

Wouldn't personally recommend switching disks to Dynamic, this effectively wraps the disks in another layer of disk control, the inbuilt within Windows being software controlled. If the disks go screwy then you've not only got the hardware RAID to deal with but the software part too.

MikeHunt79 · 15 Apr 2007 at 16:05

IAmATeaf said:
Wouldn't personally recommend switching disks to Dynamic, this effectively wraps the disks in another layer of disk control, the inbuilt within Windows being software controlled. If the disks go screwy then you've not only got the hardware RAID to deal with but the software part too.

Ok, sounds like partition magic would be the way to go then. Will it allow me resize a partition while keeping my data?

MikeTimbers said:
Obviously make sure your data is secured before you do anything to the partitions!

I'm making sure everything is safe and sound before getting rid of my seagates.

Doug · 15 Apr 2007 at 16:51

Non-destructive editing is one of the biggest selling points of Partition Magic. Thankfully, their evaluation version is fully featured

IAmATeaf · 15 Apr 2007 at 17:48

Never use PM with a RAID setup but logically it should be able to cope. Add and configure the extra disk to the RAID pack and see what PM makes of it.

MikeHunt79 · 15 Apr 2007 at 18:13

I'm copying a 80gig folder over right now... Once that is done, I'll give PM8 a try.

I've got everything already on the seagates, so I can experiment and see if I can do this.

Netvyper · 15 Apr 2007 at 18:31

Windows cannot expand Dynamic Disks in this way. Dynamic Disks work by allowing you to spread data over multiple disks; or indeed, seperate partitions on the same disk; however it is very highly recommended that you steer well clear.

I recently added another 500gb disk to my array; Bearing in mind that its running 2003 server rather than XP.

The online capacity expansion of the Highpoint card was great; you then need to use a command line tool to extend the partition into free space.

this is 'Diskpart.exe'

Microsoft Diskpart.exe Reference

It simply involves selecting the partition; and typing expand... after a few minutes I had a fully usable & expanded filing system.

MikeHunt79 · 17 Apr 2007 at 02:23

Netvyper said:
The online capacity expansion of the Highpoint card was great;

That's one thing I forgot to ask... How exactly do you add a drive to the RAID array? Do I add it as a spare? Perhaps I should RTFM.

EDIT: I've got a rocketraid 1820a - doesn't look like it does online capacity expansion... Hopefully I can still do this.

EDIT2: Figured it out... use the windows tool, not the ctrl-h thing when the machine boots up. :cool:

Netvyper said:
you then need to use a command line tool to extend the partition into free space.

this is 'Diskpart.exe'

Microsoft Diskpart.exe Reference

It simply involves selecting the partition; and typing expand... after a few minutes I had a fully usable & expanded filing system.

Nice! I tried the diskpart command in WinXP pro, and it's there, so I'm gonna wait until everything is transferred over (it's STILL going!), then take the plunge.