MSI Raid Card

[FarmerPalmer]

I have a server running FreeNAS, which contains an MSI Raid card with 2 500Gb SATA Discs, configured as Raid 1 (duplicate discs) but I am running out of space.

Could I replace one of the 500Gb discs with a 1TB disc, and rebuild the array - then wipe the removed 500gb disc and get in back in the array as an extension of the original 500gb disc, therefore giving me a 1Tb array

 

[BrollyBonce]

I have a server running FreeNAS, which contains an MSI Raid card with 2 500Gb SATA Discs, configured as Raid 1 (duplicate discs) but I am running out of space.

Could I replace one of the 500Gb discs with a 1TB disc, and rebuild the array - then wipe the removed 500gb disc and get in back in the array as an extension of the original 500gb disc, therefore giving me a 1Tb array

I.e., can it handle:

[500Gb physical + 500Gb physical controlled as one 1Tb logical drive] <-- RAID1 --> [a physical 1Tb drive as a 1Tb logical drive]

FreeNAS using GEOM and GEOM can use virtualised (as opposed to physical) drives so it ought to be possible.

How about getting 2 x 1Tb drive and having RAID1 on:

[500Gb physical + 1Tb physical controlled as one 1.5Tb logical drive] <-- RAID1 --> [500Gb physical + 1Tb physical controlled as one 1.5Tb logical drive]

and then not having to worry?

 

[themistry]

You'll have to google, but I dont think most home RAID setups allow you to extend a RAID array in this way. Commercial ones do.

Google though, you might be lucky.

TM

 

[wxman]

Your problem is that the disks are mirrored and therfore you will need two 1TB disks in order to extend the array with a backup, rebuild, restore job in order to get the array extended.

 

[lilelvis2000]

I don't think you can. You're running a software RAID 1 right?

You could convert it to RAID 5 by doing a backup. Then create a new array as RAID 5 with addition of another 500GB disk and restore the data.

But as always...the FreeNAS forums would be the best place to ask.

 

[FarmerPalmer]

Sorry its not MSI - it is LSI
LSI MegaRAID SATA to be exact.

http://www.lsi.com/storage_home/pro.../megaraid_sata/megaraid_sata_3008x/index.html

looks like it might be possible from the user guide.

I got the inspiration to build it from :

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/cheap-fast-diy-raid-5-nas-uk,review-1773.html

so my RAID is hardware controlled, not software, thus giving me some OS independence.

I bought the RAID card and extra RAM off ebay.

I bought 2 different 500Gb hard discs - so they won't have the same failure points.

and threw it all into an old scrap 900Mhz PIII Dell, running FreeNAS off the original hard disc.