add a disk to an existing RAID 5 array on windows 2003 server

[JimRBG]

I'm working on a server that needs to expand the hard drive capacity. The
system is a Dell 2950 server. It currently has 4 x 300gb drives configured
as RAID 5 array. There are 2 spare drive bays open to add drives to. If I
just add additional drives, say 2 more 300gb drives, do I just go into
computer management, disk management and partition the additional capacity as
a new drive?

How should I approach this. I do not want to reformat the existing drive
and re-install the OS.

Thanks,

Jim

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

JimRBG <JimRBG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I'm working on a server that needs to expand the hard drive capacity.
> The system is a Dell 2950 server. It currently has 4 x 300gb drives
> configured as RAID 5 array. There are 2 spare drive bays open to add
> drives to. If I just add additional drives, say 2 more 300gb drives,
> do I just go into computer management, disk management and partition
> the additional capacity as a new drive?
>
> How should I approach this. I do not want to reformat the existing
> drive and re-install the OS.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jim

Is this a hardware RAID? If so, you don't do it in Windows, you'd do it in
the RAID config, which you can get to at boot time.

[JimRBG]

Yes, the array is a hardware array and was created using the Dell utility

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:

> JimRBG <JimRBG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > I'm working on a server that needs to expand the hard drive capacity.
> > The system is a Dell 2950 server. It currently has 4 x 300gb drives
> > configured as RAID 5 array. There are 2 spare drive bays open to add
> > drives to. If I just add additional drives, say 2 more 300gb drives,
> > do I just go into computer management, disk management and partition
> > the additional capacity as a new drive?
> >
> > How should I approach this. I do not want to reformat the existing
> > drive and re-install the OS.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jim
>
> Is this a hardware RAID? If so, you don't do it in Windows, you'd do it in
> the RAID config, which you can get to at boot time.
>
>
>

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

JimRBG <JimRBG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Yes, the array is a hardware array and was created using the Dell
> utility

You can probably do this within OpenManage, if your controller
firmware/drivers are current. Or do it in the character-based setup at boot
time as mentioned earlier. You can add them as a separate mirrored array.
After you've done this you can go into computer management/disk management
and the new drive should show up there, waiting to be partitioned/whatnot.
>
> "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:
>
>> JimRBG <JimRBG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>>> I'm working on a server that needs to expand the hard drive
>>> capacity. The system is a Dell 2950 server. It currently has 4 x
>>> 300gb drives configured as RAID 5 array. There are 2 spare drive
>>> bays open to add drives to. If I just add additional drives, say 2
>>> more 300gb drives, do I just go into computer management, disk
>>> management and partition the additional capacity as a new drive?
>>>
>>> How should I approach this. I do not want to reformat the existing
>>> drive and re-install the OS.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Jim
>>
>> Is this a hardware RAID? If so, you don't do it in Windows, you'd do
>> it in the RAID config, which you can get to at boot time.