Dynamic Disk SR5 on Server 2k3 questions

[MrSmegzabush]

Ok first of all, the storage situation here is getting slightly more complex than in the past. The ammout of data needed to be stored on the server is growing all the time. I dont have the funds to go with hardware Raid-5 so i was looking at Server 2k3's Dynamic Disk Software Raid-5. Ive read a lot of MS tech articles an have a few questions about the system.
This system is in a small workgroup environment, and is mainly a file server, but I would like it to become an IIS, DNS, DHCP, and other servers eventualy.

My Rackmounts specs are as follows:
IC7 w/ 3.0c P4 512 mushkin DDR
~500w Enermax PS
1x Maxtor 60gig ATA OS drive
4x Maxtor 250gig SATA

Questions:
1) Will this system have enough cpu/mem to handle the additional overhead to hand SR5? (Read to write operations are about on a 10:1 ratio in favor of read)

2) Say this summer i buy 2 more 250gb hdd's can I add them to the Array?

3) After another year lets say the 400gb drives come down and i buy 4 of them, can i take down one disk at a time on the array, add a new 400gig and restore the array to that disk, and repeat until 4 of the 250's are replaced with 400 gig drives?

Give me some opinions here. I feel I have a good grasp for how this all works, just cant figure out how to apply it to my situation.

 

[feigned]

Questions:
1) Will this system have enough cpu/mem to handle the additional overhead to hand SR5? (Read to write operations are about on a 10:1 ratio in favor of read)

2) Say this summer i buy 2 more 250gb hdd's can I add them to the Array?

3) After another year lets say the 400gb drives come down and i buy 4 of them, can i take down one disk at a time on the array, add a new 400gig and restore the array to that disk, and repeat until 4 of the 250's are replaced with 400 gig drives?

1) Yes and no. Add another 512 to be safe, but you should be fine with 512.
2) Yes, I think. I don't have 4 disks to setup a RAID-5 on three then try with a fourth, so you may be out of luck there. If I get in a few disks I'll give it a shot.
3) No. Replacing a 250GB disk with a 400GB disk will not increase the size of the array automatically. You would effectively have a 250GB partition on that 400GB disk. Best thing would be to get all of the 400GB disks in an array then move all of the data over.

 

[MrSmegzabush]

2) Yes, I think. I don't have 4 disks to setup a RAID-5 on three then try with a fourth, so you may be out of luck there. If I get in a few disks I'll give it a shot.

I guess I could try this when im finished backing up my data... make a 3 drive raid5 array then try to add the 4th disk a little later. But this backup process is taking for freaking ever wish I had a second gigabit ethernet card in hand.