What type of raid do i have and how do i go about increasing size.

[jjamess_37]

Hi

we have a server that has some issues, it seems that a drive is failing SMART so i need to replace it, i didn't set up the server so need to find out what type of RAID is used, how do i do this?

I am guessing that it is RAID 1 as there are 2 x 250Gb drives and total storage is 250Gb.

Also whilst I am doing this I would also like to increase the storage available. Is it possible to mirror what is stored on my current RAID on to a new RAID set up?

Thanks for any help.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Last things first. The surest way that I know of to expand space is to build the new, empty RAID and copy the contents of the old one to the new one.

To figure out what kind of RAID you have, your capacity guess is a good one. But where is it being RAIDed? To answer that, I ask
What OS are you running? What kind of hardware (homebrewed, Dell xx-yy, HP)
If Windoze, go to the Disk Manager and see if the RAID is actually a mirror in software.
During the BIOS part of the boot sequence, does it say something like "Press ctl-A for RAID configuration?" If it does, press that button and look at the current config info in the screens that come up.

 

[jjamess_37]

Hi WyomingKnott, thanks for your reply.

I can't do anything on the server at the moment as it's on use.

Although whilst waiting for a reply I’ve been looking around.

There doesn’t seem to be any software that’s controlling the RAID.

The server is http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF06a/15351-15351-241434-3328424-3328424-3577708.html and is running ‘Windoze’ SBS 2003 R2. In the Spec on the link it says: Storage controller (1) Integrated 6 port SATA RAID.

In device manager the Disk drive is ‘Adaptec RAID 1 SCSI Disk Device’ Which I find a little strange as I looked in the machine the other day and they are SATA drives (not sure if I’m just being stupid here as I don’t know much about what I’m doing).

But also in ‘SCSI and RAID controllers’ there is an Adaptec Serial ATA HostRAID. When I looked in to the Server there is no added in controller so I guess it’s built into the mother board.

I remember seeing ‘Press ctl-A for RAID configuration’ or something very similar when I rebooted the server yesterday.

So I think what you are saying is I can add another RAID 1 setup to the same Server, am I correct? And once I have done this I can copy over everything on the old RAID setup to the new one?

What is the best way to copy over, is there some kind of special disk imaging/cloning software I should use?

Thanks again.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Unless it is the system drive, you could copy.
EASEUS provides good software, free, to clone drives.

On the other hand, if this is a corporate machine, I recommend that this be done with support from someone familiar with the particular setup. Does your company have support from HP? How bad would it be if you took my advice and the server never ran again?

 

[jjamess_37]

Hi, no we do not have support from HP.

Well we perform a backup everyday, so will still have that to fall back on, although it then means setting up the whole server again, but if it's got to be done then its got to be done. I would welcome your advice on how to do this if you don't mind.

But what I think we may well do for now is just replace the failing harddrive and keep the storage space the same for now as this should do them for a while longer yet.

So if you wouldn't mind also giving me any hints/tips on how you go about just swapping the failing hardrive out of a RAID 1 setup.

Thanks very much for your time and help, its much appreciated.

 

[WyomingKnott]

That's out of my experience. Would some other forum member kindly weigh in? OP, if they leave this alone, you could start another more specific thread: How to replace failing RAID1 drive on HP Proliant. I've never done this with any RAID array, and I wouldn't want to lead you astray.

Very good that you have backups. If you have "image" or "clone" backups of the entire drive, then if you have a failure you just restore the image to the new system drive and presto! No need to do setup all over. I've done that many times, although not with RAID.

 

[cdtluna]

WyomingKnott is right; always back up your data first....

I have been working with HP Proliant servers for a bit now.

1st: which model do you have? It should be something like HP DL360 G4 or something along that line.

2nd: are you using on board RAID controller or does the server have a RAID controller that is not part of the motherboard? the model number and serial number on the machine should tell me what was the original configuration when it left HP.

3rd: You hard drive may be iSCSI which looks very similiar to SATA but they are not the same.

4th: Depending on model of server and or Raid Controller will depend how hard or how easy it will be to add storage and or increase present storage.



FYI



If you have a RAID 1 set up and the hard drives are hotswapable, you can take out the failing hard drive and replace it. HP Raid Controller will build the new data back to the new hard drive.

Worst case scenerio, contact me; I have various HP server models that I can set up
in a working lab and we can work together to solve your issue.

cdtluna@hotmail.com