Array Expansion Re Build ?

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serverguy

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The only way to answer this is to know what the server will be doing. What
is it's purpose in life? Is it going to run a single application that does
random interval file serving (SUS for example)? Then it could probably
handle thousands of clients. Is it going to run an enterprise database like
SQL and crunch millions of transactions daily? Then it is going to live a
short life. Please enlighten us on the purpose. Also, the network topology
is a significant factor in how many clients can reasonably connect to a
server at the same time, but you fail to mention anything about your
network.

As for the array, you were misinformed. You can always add drives to an
array if there are available slots and/or ports, but you need to know a
little about raid levels and how many drives you need to obtain the desired
performance/redundancy. You then create a new logical drive that appears to
the o/s as unallocated space which you can format as needed. If you are
talking about adding space to the system partition, then a full backup would
be suggested before you add the drive to the array, then you can do a full
restore after. Another option is extending dynamic volumes but that has
many dependencies (for example, you can't extend a volume in 2003 server
that was fomerly a 2000 server basic volume that was converted to a dynamic
volume, etc....)

BTW, having the o/s on it's own array is the best practice, but again it
really depends on what the server will be doing.
 
Hi
2 questions .

I have a 3 year old ProLiant ML 530, Xeon processor, 1 GB ram and 60gb HDD

What would the client / workstation ratio be for this server.. 100 PC's ?
200 PC's ? if all on the same time. a ball park figure..

2nd Question

This server has a drive array, yet I was informed that if I want to add an
extra drive of 20gb, that I would have to rebuild the server..

If I purchased a new ProLiant with 4 x 72Gb HDD's and server 2003 would I
have to rebuild the server like with the old ProLiant if I wanted to put an
extra 72gb drive into the array?

thanks
 
As a general rule, the answer to your question is yes. Any time you add a drive
to expand a RAID configuration, the RAID setup needs to be rebuilt. There may
be some cleverly written utility software to expand a RAID setup on the fly, but
would you want to do so without backing everything up first? Once you've backed
up, what's the problem with reconfiguring the RAID array and restoring?

.... Ben Myers
 
As a general rule, the answer to your question is yes. Any time you add a drive
to expand a RAID configuration, the RAID setup needs to be rebuilt. There may
be some cleverly written utility software to expand a RAID setup on the fly, but
would you want to do so without backing everything up first? Once you've backed
up, what's the problem with reconfiguring the RAID array and restoring?
Click to expand...
This is a DC and restoring the AD is a bit of a bugger
 
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