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Jan 12, 2009 4:27 PM
by: Tod Kuykendall
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From:
Reno. Nevada
Registered:
Jan 12, 2009
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Expanding an Array
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 12:54 PM
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I am attempting to expand an array in an older Xserve RAID. At present there are 4 400gb drives in RAID 5. It took a little doing, but I managed to find 2 more ADMS of the same size and type, and plugged them in.
I EXPECTED to have to "make drive available for use" through admin utilities, but within a few moments of plugging them in, they show as available. They show as "spare" in the main admin window when selected.
From the "advanced" window, I expected to be able to simply select the existing array and the additional 2 drives and "Expand Array." My expectations are no being met, it seems. Drives 1-4 show in RAID 5, 1.36tb, and are selectable. Drives 5 & 6 show as available w/ 372tb available, but are NOT selectable... hence the expand array button remains grayed out. I have a bunch of theories... but am most likely missing something very simple.
The question then.... what am i missing?
XServe RAID ca 2006, ATA
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
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Posts:
1,081
From:
San Diego
Registered:
Oct 11, 2000
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Re: Expanding an Array
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 1:17 PM
in response to: Reno Type
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Hello Reno Type, and welcome to the Apple Boards.
Assuming your RAID 5 is an HFS volume and (from the drive size) that you are not attached to an Intel based machine then you will not be able to expand the size of the volume you are using even if you expand the underlying RAID 5 array.
If my above assumptions are correct you would need to back all the data off the RAID 5, create a new RAID 5 that includes all the disks, recreate the HFS volume and replace the data from back-up in order to take advantage of the new drives.
Sorry, if this isn't what you anticipated or if I am wrong in my assumptions about your set-up,
=Tod
G5/2.0x2, Dual XServes x2, XRAID, beige G3 501Mhz
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Posts:
3
From:
Reno. Nevada
Registered:
Jan 12, 2009
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Re: Expanding an Array
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 1:35 PM
in response to: Tod Kuykendall
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I am not attached to an intel machine, and as the drive is mounted on the desktop, I assume it must be HFS.... so your assumptions are correct. I'm still unclear, though, as to WHY this is a problem. Am I up against a maximum volume size? Are HFS volumes not expandable?
Backing off the data=yuck... mostly because this IS my back-up, and I don't have anything just lying about that is big enough to handle backing up my backup. The point of this RAID when I bought it was that it be permanent and expandable... I got tired of backup technologies becoming obsolete. Sigh.
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Posts:
1,081
From:
San Diego
Registered:
Oct 11, 2000
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Re: Expanding an Array
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 1:45 PM
in response to: Reno Type
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Are HFS volumes not expandable?
No they are not. Some of these restrictions have been overcome with the newest processors and disk formats but for older RAIDs this doesn't apply. Formats like the (supposedly) forthcoming ZFS overcome these restrictions but that doesn't help you now.
I don't know what your situation is but is the other side empty? Why not fill it with larger drives - like 750s - and migrate your data from one side to the other. If you have 400s in there they must be drives "of a certain age" at this point. I would think that a wholesale migration might be a decent idea anyway. Or if that's not an option you could install 2 750s in a RAID 0 and that would give you enough room to back off your data (should be <1.2TB) and then add a format 5 new drives to move the data back over. Just a couple of thoughts.
Good luck,
=Tod
PS Moving to a larger drive size will probably require a firmware upgrade - 1.5.1 for 750GB drives, BTW.
G5/2.0x2, Dual XServes x2, XRAID, beige G3 501Mhz
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Posts:
3
From:
Reno. Nevada
Registered:
Jan 12, 2009
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Re: Expanding an Array
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 2:37 PM
in response to: Tod Kuykendall
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Thanks Tod. I don't like your answers, but they make sense. I just hate spending money. I'll probably set up another raid with larger drives on the other side. Thanks for the HU on the firmware. That would have screwed me up for sure.
How can I determine the current firmware version, and from where can I get an update?
And thanks for the hand-holding!
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Posts:
1,081
From:
San Diego
Registered:
Oct 11, 2000
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Re: Expanding an Array
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 4:27 PM
in response to: Reno Type
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Current firmware version should be available through RAID Admin. I don't have it open in front of me so I can't say exactly where but it's pretty obvious from what I recall.
The firmware updates should be available from Apple's download site. The latest admin tools are here: http://support.apple.com/downloads/Xserve_RAID_Admin_Tools_1_5_1 but I don't know if it includes the firmware updates. There were some threads surrounding the firmware update process you might want to search and read some of those before jumping in.
Good luck,
=Tod
G5/2.0x2, Dual XServes x2, XRAID, beige G3 501Mhz
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