Capacity expansion under windows 2000 – HP NetRAID 1Si Controller User Manual
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Chapter 6
Capacity Expansion
130
Capacity Expansion under Windows 2000
This section describes how to expand disk capacity after the system has been in
operation for a time. This section is divided into these parts:
•
About Online Capacity Expansion under Windows 2000 describes the
Online Capacity Expansion feature. This feature allows new storage
capacity to be added to an existing logical drive and put online for use
without restarting the server.
•
Preparation Steps for Windows 2000 explains how to disable Virtual
Sizing if it has been enabled.
•
Expanding Capacity Online under Windows 2000 describes how to use
the Online Capacity Expansion feature to add physical drives to your
system without restarting the server.
•
Expanding Capacity under Windows 2000 with Virtual Sizing Enabled
describes how you can add disk capacity to an existing logical drive if you
did not prepare your logical drive initially to use the Online Capacity
Expansion feature.
About Online Capacity Expansion under Windows 2000
Normally, adding capacity requires shutting down the server to reconfigure or
restore an existing volume or to add the new storage space as a new volume.
Using the Online Capacity Expansion feature allows you to expand an existing
logical drive without shutting down the server.
The Online Capacity Expansion feature cannot be used if a logical drive spans
multiple arrays. Each array can contain only one logical drive. Reconstruction (for
the purposes of adding a drive to an existing array) can only be done on an array
having a single logical drive. It is also important to plan future storage expansion
into your installation. This will ensure that you can easily expand capacity without
backup/restore operations or reconfiguration.
The Online Capacity Expansion feature requires the logical drive to be operating
in Basic Disk Mode under Windows 2000. (Capacity cannot be expanded online
for logical drives operating in Dynamic Disk Mode.) Preparation for capacity
expansion under Windows 2000 operating in Basic Disk mode is simply to leave
Virtual Sizing disabled (the factory default), or to disable it if it has been enabled.
When you expanding capacity online under Windows 2000, you create a new
volume with a new drive letter. Capacity can be expanded online again in the
future.