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1. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
Harm Millaard Jun 13, 2010 1:35 PM (in response to fuaho)Deactivate, make backups of what you want to keep, replace the disks, set your raid in the BIOS, initialize it and then make a fresh install of Win7 and all your software.
If I just rebuild the RAID by swapping out 1 drive at a time, will the OS, WinXP Pro, 64-bit, that's already on the drives be a problem when I start booting from the 100GB drive? How do I get rid of it from the new RAID?
That is not possible. Complete fresh install of everything is the only way.
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2. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
fuaho Jun 14, 2010 10:39 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
Thanks for the input.
Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be able to do the upgrade to Win 7.
I cannot possibly take the system completely offline long enough to backup and rebuild. While I could backup the data, to reinstall all of the apps, drivers and email, etc and get them functioning again is not a trivial matter. That being said, what will be the best way to replace the 500GB drives with the 1TB drives one at a time and then to expand them to access the full 1TB of space?
TIA,
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3. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
Harm Millaard Jun 14, 2010 10:46 AM (in response to fuaho)That is not possible. Complete fresh install of everything is the only way.
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4. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
Bill Gehrke Jun 14, 2010 6:11 PM (in response to fuaho)May I ask why you want to replace the RAIDed 4 500 GB drives anyway? I doubt you will get any more performance by switching.
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5. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
fuaho Jun 14, 2010 6:47 PM (in response to Harm Millaard)I have been having problems with random reboots of the system. Best I can determine is that the 500GB drives are the cause. I am replacing them with WD RE3 drives that apparently have mechanisms for dealing with the cache refresh or whatever it is that causes my present Seagate drives to crash the system.
I found this reference as a response to someone who was upgrading from 160GB drives to 500GB drives:
1) remove 1 drive at a time, and let array rebuild
2) Once array is completely rebuilt with new disks striped across the original 160Gb of the array, convert the volume to a dynamic volume using MS Disk Manager.
3) create and format a new volume on the remainder of the new higher capacity array.
4) Span existing partition across newly created parition on the dynamic disk, creating a single, expanded partition totalling the 500Gb.In my case I would do the same thing going from 500GB to 1TB.
I don't know if this is valid or not, but it seems plausible. Actually, if the system stabilizes, I'd be glad to even ignore the additional capacity although it would obviously be good to have.
My most conservative estimate of rebuilding a complete system is more than a week since I cannot give it my undivided attention. Finding all the original software disks and sitting there installing and customizing/personalizing, updating and etc while I am unable to use the machine is more time and energy than I can allocate right now. To simply replace one drive at a time and let the RAID rebuild itself can be done at night while I'm sleeping. And I will still have the original four disks to fall back on if there are any problems.
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6. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
fuaho Jun 28, 2010 6:59 PM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
Actually, I did do it. I replaced the 500GB drives, one at a time, with the 1TB drives and let the volume rebuild after each replacement. I then went into the Intel Matrix Storage Console and used the Modify Volume Wizard to "Utilize 100% of available array space." After a few hours of "Volume Initialization in Progress," I now have a RAID 10 of 1863GB with all of my programs, preferences, settings and data intact. Previously, it was 931.5GB.
My question now is how to best utilize the additional 931.51GB of presently unallocated space. Should I make it an Extended Partition and copy all of my data to it? Or should I make it a Primary Partition? What are the benefits or drawbacks of one over the other???
THX,
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7. Re: how to expand RAID 10 from 1TB to 2TB...?
Harm Millaard Jun 29, 2010 12:45 AM (in response to fuaho)Great news that you succeeded and you have tought me. Thanks for reporting back.
Just leave it as one large partition. Keep in mind that every read or write action requires access to 4 disks, If you partition your raid, it will in all likelyhood mean that the program needs access to 4 disks, but when reading or writing to another partition, it needs to access 4 other logical disks, in fact causing more head movement and reducing performance and increasing wear and tear.




