Posted: 10/2/2006 6:09:48 PM EDT
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Dear sirs, I'm tasked with upgrading my company's server running Windows Small Business Server 2000. The main objective of the upgrade are the harddisks. There's a total of 5 SCSI harddisks using an Adaptec PCI SCSI card. The HDDs arrangements are as follows, Disk 0 and 1 - Raid1/mirror - System/OS/Programs Disk 2, 3 and 4 - Raid 5 - data The HDDs are at least several years old(18G) and worse still, disk 2 shows as having a hardware error. So, I need to replace them asap. I can't perform a complete reinstallation. That's my limitation So, is it possible to do a one to one clone of each old HDD to a new HDD using Norton Ghost and insert the new HDD into the SCSI array? Can it be that simple? If not, what are my options? Any and all assistance provided is deeply appreciated. Thank you. ETA: P4 2.8G 1G RAM Adaptec 29160N Ultra160 SCSI PCI card. |
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1. - Backup 2. - See #1 I know you say you can't do a a complete re-installation, but it many cases, it makes mores sense to buy a new server, more memory, disk, faster/cheaper. Load the OS, load tape softaware, restore, test. You may even be a able to copy across your network, but most time this leave a little to be desired with access rights. This method gives you a fallback position should it not work, |
Really your ONLY option... |
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Backup, backup, backup. Create an emergency repair disk. Backup. When you're done, backup again. That being said, RAID stands for REDUNDANT array of independent/inexpensive devices/drives. They are designed to not lose data (well, except for RAID 0 and JBOD, which technically aren't RAID at all). I can't say for absolute certainty without the exact model number of the card, but you should be able to pop out the bad disk, pop in a new one, and the RAID will rebuild itself. Performance will at a minimum suck while this happens, at worst the server will be offline until the rebuild is complete (several hours). RAID exists for a reason  I've had production servers online while an array rebuilt. Several times.I've also crapped my pants big time when I didn't have a good, recent backup, and it looked like an array had become corrupt. |
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1. Backup (as stated many times) in case something goes wrong. 2. You will repeat the following steps: - Remove an old drive (physically) from one array. Array will enter degraded state. - Replace removed drive with new drive of same size or larger, designate as spare. Array will begin rebuilding. - Wait for rebuild to finish. - If more old drives remain, repeat steps. When this is done you'll have replaced every drive with a newer one without losing any data, reinstalling, or anything else. You will however "lose" any additional space you may have added if say you replaced your 18G's with 36G's. If you don't want to lose the space, a full backup/restore is your only real option. ETA: The performance on the RAID-5 will be EXTREMELY poor while it is degraded and during the rebuild. That's just what you suffer through with RAID-5. You probably won't even notice anything during hte RAID-1 rebuild. |
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Actiually depending on RAID Controller you could replace all of the 18s with 146's and assuming it supports it, expand the to cover the entire disk. At that point you can use diskpart or similar to expand the file system. definetly back it all up before start swapping discs. Bleh on Small business server....i can understand why he doesnt want to reload it. I'm do glad i rarely touch sites with stuff like that these days. |
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I have already popped in a spare IDEHDD and copied all the data from the Raid5 array to it. I also have Maxtor's One Touch backup system running, so backup is good to go. The main reason to replace the HDDs is to expand capacity. As it is, there are 10Gs left in C: and 18Gs in D:. Here are the specs of the server, Intel P4 2.8GHz 1G RAM Adaptec SCSI 29160N - U160 SCSI I will begin with the Raid5 array first. One question, if I were to replace all 3 HDDs, rebuilding one after another with 3 146G HDDs, will it recognise the new capacity or retain the 18G capacity of the original array? Thank you all for the assistance. It is much appreciated. ETA: I'm not a sys admin nor full fledged tech support. My level of knowledge is just basic/intermediate DIYer. So, at times I may seek clarification on some terms you professional guys use into layman terms. I hope you understand. We're just a small company and I'm the only one in engineering, so the job was relegated to me. FYI, this server was already inplace when I joined 6 months ago. |
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Perhaps get a new RAID card for the new (data) array, then you can get it set up and working with the full capacity of the new drives, then copy data from the old array, then remove the old drives. Probably faster than waiting for the RAID 5 rebuilds. RAID 1 rebuild may be the only choice on the OS array if reinstall is not an option, not sure about that one though. |
 As in, playing with fire. Here's the real deal: Get a real version of MS SBS. Get a real server. Get a real backup system. This is the deal: Restores very rarely work as intended. Files are usually good, but systems are not. A RAID container is what it is. Upgrading one disk at a time will not work. the info for the container is stored in firmware, and any disk added is only going to be what the original is. The cheapest rout, in the long run, is to buy another server, promote it to a DC, and rebuild the old server with whatever. |
The spec sheet of the SCSI card lists a maximum of 15 devices. Is it possible to connect the 3 146G HDD on to the same SCSI card, setup a new array, copy the data over and then junk the old HDDs? |
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Before doing ANYTHING, I suggest this: re-check the SCSI Controller card very carefully: The Adaptec 29160N is not a RAID card. Any controller can be made to do RAID in software. If this is indeed what is driving your arrays, you have Dynamic disks, which require a different upgrade path (expanding the RAID containers is possible, but it requires a bit more than a layman's understanding of Microsoft's diskpart tool). Are you running Windows Small Business Server 2003? Very important. |
Boomer, I understand and appreciate the advice you have given so far. I'm with a small sized company with a total of 8 employees. The server is mainly used in sales and maintaining the database of our clients and products. The boss is quite content with the software setup now and justs wants to increase the HDD capacity. If what has been discussed so far is not doable, I understand and I'll suggest to the boss in setting up a new server. Thank you. |
Acheron, I opened up the case and took a look at the card. It's the 29160N SCSI card. The server is running ETA to highlight change. . |
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Oh boy, you are now having to deal with dynamic disks: mess up even a little bit with them and you can kiss every bit of every byte goodbye. Back up everything to another drive - FIRST. It is waaaay beyond the scope of these forums to walk through the steps needed to expand the RAID array. Here is where you will start: www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/deploy/confeat/configdy.mspx |
I have already connected a IDEHDD using the motherboards IDE1. Everything has already been copied to this spare HDD. I will go through the link and see if its something I can do on my own. Thank you. |
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IIRC, Windows Server 2000 does NOT support RAID expansion: You can ADD new volumes, but you cannot expand or migrate existing virtual disks. In Windows Server 2003, this is possible. Your best bet? Hook new 3 drives in addition to the ones you have, create a new RAID container (Striping with Parity), wait for it to fully initialize, move your data from the old container to the new container, then after you are satisfied that your data migration worked, assign the old RAID array's drive letter to the new Array, and then if you want, take the old array offline. Barring getting a real hardware RAID controller, I think this is your best option. |
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Save yourself alot of headache, man hours and omgwtf's and just get the boss to kick up the cash for a new server with a hardware raid controller. Load the new server with all needed applications, backup your data on the old box and upload the backups to the new one. You should be able to make the server swap with no interuption in service. Reload the now uneeded "old" server as something else. |