Adding processor +hard drives+motherboard to server

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nokia3310

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I am just curious since i haven't done this, test it or have any experience with it yet.

1. adding processor

Lets say i have a server with support for 2 processors and i only have 1 processor installed at server setup...and now i want to add second processor...can i just add the second processor and the server just continues from where it stopped? Basically is this similar to adding additional RAM? where nothing happens to my setup whatsoever?

2. adding hard drives

Also i have a question about adding hard drives. Lets say i have RAID 1 setup with 2 x 3TB SATA III drives...and now i have another pair 2 x 3TB SATA II drives to be installed...lets say the server supports 4 hard drives. Will i be able to add the additional pair of 3TB drives and change to RAID 10 since 4 drives now without loosing or affecting current data? I kind of think this is not possible but you know i don't have experience with it so will like to confirm if its possible or not. I do know i can add the additional pair and have that in RAID 1? Or is this not true?

3. adding motherboard

My last question is adding motherboard. I have never had the experience with ever even doing anything that has to do with motherboard but lets say a motherboard is faulty or bad and one needs to replace to another motherboard...does this mean the whole server is gone? Or can i just replace motherboard and continue from where left off?

That's basically it.
 
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ss202sl

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With the processor just add a new processor, and you're good to go. Just realize that some software(SQl, and some others) are licensed per cpu, or core, so adding another processor could affect licensing.

With a motherboard replacement, if you replace the MB with the same model MB, you should be able to replace it and continue on as nothing happened. If you have to change the model, you may have issues.

With the hard drives, I don't think you can create a raid 10 without blowing away the current raid 1 already set up. I suppose that there may be some raid controllers that may let you do this, but I'm not sure of any.
 
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nokia3310

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ok great..i use only open source software anyways...so nice. Are you really sure about the motherboard part though? even if same motherboard? is that like a 99% success rate or what percent will you give that nothing wrong will happen if same motherboard?

Also is there any where i can read about replacing the processors and motherboard and nothing will happen?

thanks
 
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mbreslin1954

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Replacing a motherboard will require Windows to be re-installed from scratch. I've heard of people doing it without re-installing Windows, but it's a lot of work and it usually doesn't work. In any case you will have to re-activate Windows, and if your copy of Windows is an OEM copy then it dies with the old motherboard.

I doubt such a massive change to the RAID architecture you're describing will work, but it will be dependent on what RAID controller you're using. What will probably need to happen to make it work is to copy all the data to external storage, re-instititue a new, different, and larger RAID array, then copy the data back to the new array. Probably not practical if large amounts of data are involved.

I've never added a second CPU to a dual-CPU board, but it would probably be similar to adding RAM -- on re-boot the system will boot fine and just find another processor (or more if it is a multi-core processor).
 
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nokia3310

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I will be using CentOS and you basically do not go with what @ss202sl said; that replacing the motherboard will not cause any effect if same motherboard is installed?
 
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mbreslin1954

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Well, I've rarely heard of anyone replacing a motherboard with the exact same model, so I was not addressing that situation. I did do that once, when an old Abit mobo of mine supporting Athlon XP+ CPUs broke, and yes, if it's the same exact model then the operating system obviously cannot tell the difference, so it just works. All the devices and chipsets are identical, so all of the operating system's drivers are already loaded and ready to go. That's how virtual machines work -- if the hardware looks identical, the OS cannot tell that anything has changed (because as far as the OS is concerned, nothing HAS changed).
 
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nokia3310

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Ok great...do you think it is hard to find same motherboards? I don't it should be though..considering its 2013..i mean motherboards shouldn't be hard to replace
 
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mbreslin1954

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It depends on how old the motherboard is. In my case I had to buy used off of E-bay, and the first one arrived dead, so it took me two to get one that worked. If it hasn't been too long since the mobo came out then it may still be available from retailers. Do you mind if I ask why you would want the same model motherboard? Is there some component of yours that has failed?
 
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nokia3310

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I am just asking the question for informational and research purposes only so i can prepare for a similar disaster that involves replacing motherboard if ever i experience one
 
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mbreslin1954

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Makes sense. Make sure you have what Microsoft calls a 'bare metal restore' capability from a system image backup, then you'll be all set to go if the motherboard ever breaks and has to be replaced (I realize you're not running Microsoft, just using their terminology).
 
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nokia3310

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sure..thanks
 
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