Extending RAID5 volume

[Mr. Baz]

I've got:

Win 2000 server
3x 18G U160 SCSI drives on a U160 Adaptec RAID controller in RAID5

I wanted to add some more space to the array.

Slapped another U160 drive in there and extended the array. The RAID controller now sees a 52G array, but windows did not automatically extend the volume.

Fair enough, right? I use disk management to extend the partition, but it comes back saying that the volume cannot be extended because it was originally a basic storage volume, that may have been 'upgraded' to a dynamic.

Sure enough, I search through MS knowledgebase and get the same answer. If it was basic to begin with, you're screwed.

Is there anything I can do, or am I just stuck with that 33G volume until I whipe everything and recreate the array, etc.?

 

[swatbat]

Pretty much the answer is yes you are screwed. You can always try some third party software to expand it but otherwise back it up and format it.

 

[Mr. Baz]

Pretty much the answer is yes you are screwed. You can always try some third party software to expand it but otherwise back it up and format it.

Yeah, I figured as much.

One question: MS knowledgebase also stated that the boot volume could not be extended either. Is that true?

 

[djnes]

ServerMagic 4.0 should be able to do it....but I'm not 100% sure, if we are talking about the boot volume. That's why, in this situation, I always create a partition on the array for the OS, and leave the rest for storage. Then, if I add a drive, it's easy to extend.

 

[Gadfly]

Best practice for this would be to make two full back-ups of the array, then wipe the array config, (and thus your volumes), recreate the stripe, and it's logical volumes in the new size, then run though your diaster recovery methods, and restore the server.

Gad

 

[Some Llama]

Is there anything I can do, or am I just stuck with that 33G volume until I whipe everything and recreate the array, etc.?

Why not just make a new partition for the 19GB of new space?