Hi there, I have a dell r720 working server with two raid 1 arrays, the first one for the windows server os and the second one is for storage. I am now becoming short on space, so i would need to add 1 or 2 new disks and create a new raid 0 or 1 array. The question is, can i do this without loosing data or braking my working server? if i do this from the menu showed on your video, will the boot normally into windows showing the new drive with a new letter? thank you in advance
Hi there, Okay so I would always recommend that you do a backup of all your data before you start as you can never know if something will go wrong. So make sure that you do this first. (Please note that this is a guide to help you in the right direction, I'm not responsible for any damages or losses. Please make sure you research thoroughly and feel comfortable before you start ) You can extend or add hard drives to existing arrays using via the RAID Controller Menu like in this video. However I would recommend that you rather use Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) to do it as it is easy to see what is happening via a GUI. I myself make mistakes when trying to use the RAID Controller Menu, so I always use OMSA for this. I made a video on how to do this via OMSA, you can have a look here and see if this is something you feel comfortable with: ruclips.net/video/Z-EJnSPeThA/видео.html To install OSMA on windows, here is a link to Dell's manuals: www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-za/000132087/support-for-dell-emc-openmanage-server-administrator-omsa You can download the windows version from here: www.dell.com/support/home/en-za/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=65c9y You can just check the "Compatible Systems" section on the above link to make sure your Dell is supported, if not you will just need to find the version that supports your machine. However the above link supports "PowerEdge R720". Notes and things to plan / think about: Expanding the arrays should not destroy any of your data, However. If you are expanding the "OS" array (the array windows is installed on), your server should boot into Windows just fine, but you might need to then use a program such as "GParted" to move the partitions around if you are going to then "Grow" the "OS" partition. I hope this makes sense. Other then that you should be good to go. Just a reminder to please back up your data and to research thoroughly before starting. There is plenty videos on RUclips on expanding windows "OS" partitions. Hopefully this guides you to a solution.
I just ordered 5 additional HDDs to add to my R710 already using the H700 Raid controller and based on research I should be able to have a standalone HDD just for my OS excluding its from my intended RAID array which will be 5 separate HDDs designated for storage purposes. My question for you is achieving RAID 10 or 1+0 array. I am a novice to RAID configuration and wondering if essentially is that what you did was RAID 10? Also I am not using Proxmox. Any input helps. Thanks!
Hi, so overall no, I only use RAID 0 in my home lab. I don't really do any work on it that will require RAID 1 (mirroring) as I don't require redundancy. I prefer to use the disks individually, RAID 0 (So on my server that is 6 ) and rather have backups on external drives if needed. This allows me to separator virtual machines and containers on their own drives. Since I test and change software so often, RAID is not something I really use / rely on. What you can do: It will be beneficial for you to have your main OS installed on a RAID 1 Virtual Disk, this will give you redundancy so if one disk fails, your server carries on running and you can replace the failed disk without downtime. And if the data you will be storing on your new drives are important, I would recommend running them in RAID 10, if you like. Two Set up examples: 1. So for example you can setup 3x RAID 1 Virtual Disks. So you can use 1x RAID 1 for your OS, and then you can have 2x RAID 1 Virtual Disks you can use for storage. 2. Or you could create 1x RAID 1 for your OS, and use the last 4 HDD's to create a RAID 10 Virtual Disk. I hope this makes sense and helps you.
@@jonomoss I appreciate the feedback. I should add some clarification, I will have total of 6 drives, the 5 on the way are in addition to my 1 drive I have in my server now. I am not worried about my drive failing with the OS on it, that's an easy fix for me in a lab environment. The reason being is I want to keep my storage data separate (movies, music, photos etc) on the RAID10 array, so if I ever decide to move it over to a potential QNAP NAS I would like to swap the physical drives over to that easy if that is achievable without having to format the drives to a QNAP format partion as it may not use NTFS
anyone know how to expand an existing virtual drive ? I have a VD in raid 0 and want to add new drives to expand the storage capacity but cant figure out how to do so.
Hi, I had a quick go at it and I think I have managed to do it correctly. I just want to do a few more test as I expanded a single RAID 0 disk with 3 extra disks. However I want to test if data is destroyed when the expansion happens, So give me a few hours to test it a little more then I will create a quick blog post on how to do it for you.
Hi, thank you for your patience, I have created a quick guide of how to do it here: jono-moss.github.io/post/h700-raid-controller-how-to-expand-a-raid-0/ I will try make a video of the process as well, I will try work on it this weekend and upload it ASAP. Hopefully this helps you.
Hi there, I have a dell r720 working server with two raid 1 arrays, the first one for the windows server os and the second one is for storage. I am now becoming short on space, so i would need to add 1 or 2 new disks and create a new raid 0 or 1 array. The question is, can i do this without loosing data or braking my working server? if i do this from the menu showed on your video, will the boot normally into windows showing the new drive with a new letter? thank you in advance
Hi there,
Okay so I would always recommend that you do a backup of all your data before you start as you can never know if something will go wrong. So make sure that you do this first.
(Please note that this is a guide to help you in the right direction, I'm not responsible for any damages or losses. Please make sure you research thoroughly and feel comfortable before you start )
You can extend or add hard drives to existing arrays using via the RAID Controller Menu like in this video.
However I would recommend that you rather use Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) to do it as it is easy to see what is happening via a GUI. I myself make mistakes when trying to use the RAID Controller Menu, so I always use OMSA for this.
I made a video on how to do this via OMSA, you can have a look here and see if this is something you feel comfortable with:
ruclips.net/video/Z-EJnSPeThA/видео.html
To install OSMA on windows, here is a link to Dell's manuals:
www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-za/000132087/support-for-dell-emc-openmanage-server-administrator-omsa
You can download the windows version from here:
www.dell.com/support/home/en-za/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=65c9y
You can just check the "Compatible Systems" section on the above link to make sure your Dell is supported, if not you will just need to find the version that supports your machine. However the above link supports "PowerEdge R720".
Notes and things to plan / think about:
Expanding the arrays should not destroy any of your data, However.
If you are expanding the "OS" array (the array windows is installed on), your server should boot into Windows just fine, but you might need to then use a program such as "GParted" to move the partitions around if you are going to then "Grow" the "OS" partition. I hope this makes sense.
Other then that you should be good to go.
Just a reminder to please back up your data and to research thoroughly before starting. There is plenty videos on RUclips on expanding windows "OS" partitions.
Hopefully this guides you to a solution.
I just ordered 5 additional HDDs to add to my R710 already using the H700 Raid controller and based on research I should be able to have a standalone HDD just for my OS excluding its from my intended RAID array which will be 5 separate HDDs designated for storage purposes. My question for you is achieving RAID 10 or 1+0 array. I am a novice to RAID configuration and wondering if essentially is that what you did was RAID 10? Also I am not using Proxmox. Any input helps. Thanks!
Hi,
so overall no, I only use RAID 0 in my home lab. I don't really do any work on it that will require RAID 1 (mirroring) as I don't require redundancy.
I prefer to use the disks individually, RAID 0 (So on my server that is 6 ) and rather have backups on external drives if needed. This allows me to separator virtual machines and containers on their own drives.
Since I test and change software so often, RAID is not something I really use / rely on.
What you can do:
It will be beneficial for you to have your main OS installed on a RAID 1 Virtual Disk, this will give you redundancy so if one disk fails, your server carries on running and you can replace the failed disk without downtime.
And if the data you will be storing on your new drives are important, I would recommend running them in RAID 10, if you like.
Two Set up examples:
1. So for example you can setup 3x RAID 1 Virtual Disks. So you can use 1x RAID 1 for your OS, and then you can have 2x RAID 1 Virtual Disks you can use for storage.
2. Or you could create 1x RAID 1 for your OS, and use the last 4 HDD's to create a RAID 10 Virtual Disk.
I hope this makes sense and helps you.
@@jonomoss I appreciate the feedback. I should add some clarification, I will have total of 6 drives, the 5 on the way are in addition to my 1 drive I have in my server now. I am not worried about my drive failing with the OS on it, that's an easy fix for me in a lab environment. The reason being is I want to keep my storage data separate (movies, music, photos etc) on the RAID10 array, so if I ever decide to move it over to a potential QNAP NAS I would like to swap the physical drives over to that easy if that is achievable without having to format the drives to a QNAP format partion as it may not use NTFS
anyone know how to expand an existing virtual drive ?
I have a VD in raid 0 and want to add new drives to expand the storage capacity but cant figure out how to do so.
Hi, I had a quick go at it and I think I have managed to do it correctly. I just want to do a few more test as I expanded a single RAID 0 disk with 3 extra disks. However I want to test if data is destroyed when the expansion happens, So give me a few hours to test it a little more then I will create a quick blog post on how to do it for you.
thank you sooooo much ! @@jonomoss
Hi, thank you for your patience, I have created a quick guide of how to do it here:
jono-moss.github.io/post/h700-raid-controller-how-to-expand-a-raid-0/
I will try make a video of the process as well, I will try work on it this weekend and upload it ASAP.
Hopefully this helps you.