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Increasing RAID-5 Capacity

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8 replies

by themole01

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Having never done this, I'd thought I'd ask before begining. I currently have a server running NT 4.0 and RAID-5 with 5 (all the bays) 9GB drives. I would like increase the disk space using 32GB drives. What is the easiest way to do that without losing the data?

Thanks,
B

8 replies

by timwalsh

2 Options:

Option 1: If your Raid controller has dual channels, you can setup a second array with the new drives and copy the data from one array to the other (although in your case, you would need an external drive enclosure).

Option 2: Conduct a full backup of all data on your old array. Remove the old array and create a new one using the larger drives. Resore from backup. This will be made more difficult if your system partion exists on the array as you will need to at least reinstall your OS and backup software before you can restore.

by bchesmer

There may be some other options if you can tell me the exact make & model of your RAID controller & server.

Comment back with the info.

by orpheum

what i would do and strongly recommend..
ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost.
number each of the old drives 9/1 thru 9/5
new ones 32/1....
one set at a time, hook up a 9 & a 32 and boot up on ghost floppy
clone disk to disk
5 times
now hook up the new drives by number the way the old ones were set up.
ghost, clones the mbr and other low level data so you should have everything on the new drives as you did on the 9gbs.
if you have another machine set up with raid 5, you can save time by doing this over the LAN

good luck and buy a newspaper, this could take time.

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