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I want to upgrade from Raid-1 to Raid-5 but don't want loss of data. It seems that the way to do it is some 3rd party programs. Can you recommend me some applications or another way to do that?

HP DL380 G6 server; Win2003Server Standard Edition -SP2; Smart Array P410i Raid Controller

DanBig
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Olgun Kaya
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2 Answers2

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OK, well given you have a P410i controller you're in luck, you can migrate from one RAID mode to another.

I would strongly urge you to backup your system first then all you need to do is either boot from the SmartStart CD that came with your system (you can always download a new copy from hp.com if you can't find it), once that's booted go into the HP Array Configuration Utility (ACU) and you'll be able to migrate using that.

Of course going from R1 to R5 will increase the available space on the array, this will need to be presented (again via ACU) to the OS as a new logical disk. This logical disk will then appear to Windows as a brand new disk, how you wish this to be used is entirely down to yourself of course.

Chopper3
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you generally can't upgrade from raid 1 to raid 5 because raid 5 uses stripes. you will need to back up your data, break the raid 1 and create a new raid 5 array, then restore your data.

Addn: That controller will let you migrate from raid 1 to raid 5 as long as you have a battery backed up cache. You should still make sure you backup your data somewhere first though.

JamesRyan
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  • Lots of hardware raid controllers let you move from one mode to another. That's why I asked the OP what his config was. – Chopper3 Apr 04 '11 at 10:22
  • well, we have db on the machine. so we can't tolerate loss of data. can you recommend a tool to back up the data ? – Olgun Kaya Apr 04 '11 at 10:22
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    If you're not backing this data up anyway and you can't tolerate loss of data then RAID modes are not your biggest problem. Look at programs like backup exec, which should include something to backup your database. – Rob Moir Apr 04 '11 at 11:09
  • ok let me ask like this; is it possible the sizes with a 3rd disk ? I mean two 160 GB of disks. 3rd disk is also at 160 gb. so is it possible to resize 160 gb sizes to 160 + 160/2 = 240 GB. – Olgun Kaya Apr 04 '11 at 11:32
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    If you have 160GB raw available now by R1'ing 2 x 160GB then adding a 3rd 160GB disk and converting to R5 will give you 320GB raw, not 240GB. – Chopper3 Apr 04 '11 at 11:45
  • I mean that 3rd disk won't be used to change raid config. I know raid 5 means (n-1)*diskSize storage. what I mean to resize raid-1. But now I thought that, it is not a way and it conflicts with raid's nature. we do raid config to prevent disk crash/corrupt scenarios and two raid part on a disk. doesn't sounds good :) – Olgun Kaya Apr 06 '11 at 06:18