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July 8th, 2016 11:00
Perc H330 and Raid 5 trying to add another SATA drive to raid 5 array
Hello all,
I have a PowerEdge T330 server with 8 drive slots and currently have 3 SATA drives running a raid 5 configuration. I have a virtual disk configured for the Raid (you have to).
The operating system recognizes the disk and is able to use the resources..
My desire is to add another hard drive to the array (all hard drives same size, same make, etc) making 4 drives without losing any data.
I have looked in the iDrac settings and the only setting was to add the new drive as a global spare or a dedicated hotspare for the virtual drive.
I have also looked in the BIOS and do not see a way to add the new drive.
Does anyone know how to expand the capacity? I can blow away the virtual drive if needed and start over without issue. I have plans to incrementally perform this act until adding 8 drives.(5 additional times).
Help!
alonzoeubank
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July 8th, 2016 14:00
Thanks Robert.
That appears to be the missing link. I will try this later on today.
DELL-Chris H
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November 6th, 2024 17:28
Mikejoy,
There isn't a limitation to adding the disk based on the size of the virtual disk, so there shouldn't be an issue. It is always recommended though to get a complete backup of the data before doing anything with the Virtual Disk.
Let me know if this helps.
Hectorious88
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November 10th, 2017 08:00
Dilly Dilly!
FrankW123
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June 15th, 2020 13:00
I am trying to do the same thing as the OP but am not seeing 'Reconfigure and Execute' in the available tasks for Virtual Disks. I have 3 SSDs in a RAID 5 and added an identical SSD which shows Ready in the available physical disks. But I can't figure out how to add the new SSD to the RAID. Any thoughts on how to add?
I have the latest version of OpenManage (9.4.0) installed on this PowerEdge T640 running Windows 2016 Server Standard.
Dell-DylanJ
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June 15th, 2020 14:00
Hi Frank, I see that you have 2 RAID 5 volumes there. Are both of those volumes on the same set of SSDs? If so, that would be considered a sliced array. Sliced arrays aren't able to be expanded. Hopefully, that will give you the information you need. If not, let us know and we can try to help out.
FrankW123
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June 16th, 2020 06:00
Thanks for the reply Dylan. Yes, both volumes are on the same set of SSDs.
Disk0 has the OS and programs installed on C: and is running out of space. Disk1 is only used for data and this can be easily be moved and restored from backup tape. Can I delete VirtualDisk1, add the freed up disk space to VirtualDisk0, recreate the D:DATA and G:BACKUP (from Windows backup, not essential) on Disk0 and then add the new SSD to the RAID?
That seems to be the best solution to add disk space but want to make sure nothing will happen to the C: partition except gaining more space.
DELL-Chris H
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June 16th, 2020 07:00
FrankW123,
That would be the course you need to do. Once you delete the second virtual disk then you should be able to reconfigure the first to the size you need, then recreate the second VD and restore from backup. The Online Capacity Expansion, which is what youre trying to do, should not effect the OS, but I would always make sure to uhave an up to date backup before doing anything with the Virtual Disk.
Let us know how it goes.
FrankW123
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June 16th, 2020 08:00
Great info. Everything is backed up daily so should be good in case of total disaster. I'll do this coming weekend and share the outcome of this.
reinierst
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May 21st, 2021 11:00
Hi,
What about If I'm running VMWare 6.7 and not Windows Server ?
Is it any way to achieve this ?
My current setup is :: Dell PowerEdge T140, Dell PERC H330, 3 Samsung SSD 1TB each in Array 5, looking forward to add a fourth SSD drive to the Array.
DELL-Charles R
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May 21st, 2021 12:00
Hello reinierst,
You can install OMSA on your esxi host. I'm linking you to a video how to install and providing the link to the vib.
Caution: It is always recommended please be sure you have a validated backup.
How to install OpenManage Server Administrator on VMware ESXi video
https://dell.to/3wqtI4M
Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator vSphere Installation Bundle (VIB) for ESXi 6.7 U3, v9.5.0
https://dell.to/3bKVUYi
When you reconfigure to add the drive make sure your beginning and target RAID level is RAID5
Please let me know if this helps.
DELL-Shine K
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May 21st, 2021 22:00
You can also use iDRAC to add a disk to existing virtual disk.
mikejoy
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November 6th, 2024 17:06
Hello. Is it safe to perform this adding of Disk, if the existing Data on Existing virtual disk is around 8TB? Does it guarantee of no data loss? How big or small is the chance? Because sooner or later i need also to expand our server storage (Dell T640).
(edited)