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Expanding a MegaRAID Virtual Drives Capacity using LSA  – Empty Slots Available

Title

Expanding a MegaRAID Virtual Drives Capacity using LSA  – Empty Slots Available

Description 

Expanding a virtual drive means increasing its capacity. Existing data on the virtual drive is not impacted by the expansion. Follow these instructions to add a physical drive and expand the virtual disk size using LSI Storage Authority.   Expanding a RAID volume by adding hard drives is only available with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 6 configurations. RAID volume expansion will not work with other RAID configurations, such as RAID 00, 10, 50, or 60.


NOTE:  Capacity expansion is only possible on RAID 0, 1, 5 and 6. Please keep in mind, there should only be “1 virtual drive” on the array. If you have more than 1 virtual drive, then you cannot enlarge your array. You will have to create a backup, delete the array, create a new RAID, and restore your backup to the new virtual drive.


Caution: Physical drives with the same or larger capacity as the existing drives should be used.  If the new drive has a larger capacity only the amount matching the current physical drives making up the Virtual drive will be used.   For example, if the existing Virtual Drive consist of 4TB drives and a new 6TB drive is used to expand the Virtual Drive, the capacity of the new drive will be reported at 4TB, and the virtual drive will only be increased by 4TB.

Product 

  • MegaRAID 93xx Series RAID Controller
  • LSI Storage Authority (LSA)

Overview 

  • Add Physical Drives
  • Check current drive group and virtual drive configuration 
  • Modify Drive Group
  • Expand existing partition in the operating system
  • Verify virtual drive is present, healthy and operational

Add Physcial Drives

  • Note: Drives are hot swappable so it is not necessary to shutdown or restart the server 
  • Remove an empty drive tray
  • Place the new physical drive in the tray and use screws to secure it to the tray
  • Align the drive tray into the slot and gently slide into position using a final levering action to latch the drive in place. 
  • You will feel some resistance just before the drive seats itself into the backplane and the lever arm locks in place.  DO NOT FORCE THE DRIVE INTO POSISTION.  
  • A White LED should be visible once the physical drive has been correctly seated

Check Current Drive Group and Virtual Drive Configuration 

  • Launch LSA from the desktop 
  • Enter the operating systems administrators username and password
  • Use the drop down to Select Controller, the controller dashboard will appear
  • Physical Drives Tab
    • Ensure that all Physical Drives are present and have a status of Unconfigured Good 
    • If not, please refer to the following Knowledge Base Article(s) for additional information.
      • #10632  Import or Clear Foreign Configurations Using LSA (LSI Storage Authority)
      • #10624  Managing Physical Drives using LSA (LSI Storage Authority)
    • All drives should be Unconfigured Good before continuing!

  • Drive Groups Tab
    • Make note of the current RAID level  the Element(s) Action window appears.
    • Click on the Drive Group, the Element(s) Action window appears

Note: Do NOT click  the (+) plus icon as this will not open the correct Element(s) Action window

  • Under Element(s) Action, select Modify Drive Group, the Modify Drive Group window appears 
  • Use the drop down and select the RAID Level
  • Acknowledge the warning “It is advisable to backup data before you proceed. Are you sure you want to continue?“, click Next
  • Click  Add Physical Drives, the Available Unconfigured Drive(s) window will appear
  • Check the box(s) to select available unconfigured drive(s) to be included in the expansion
  • Click Add Physical Drives, you will be returned to the Modify Drive Group Window
  • Review the Drive Group and if necessary click Back to correct settings, Close to abort or Finish to apply
  • A message indicating the change Completed should appear, click Close
  • In few moments a Background Process Section will be displayed and when expanded show the virtual drive reconstruction progress. 
  • The reconstruction can take a very long time (Days) and progress should be periodically checked.  
  • NOTE: The Drive Group will not show the new phsical drive(s) or available space until reconstruction has successfully completed.
  • When completed the Background Processes in Progress window will automatically close 
  • Verify the Virtual Drive status and note the new capacity (LSA Landing Page > Select Controller > Expand Drive Group > Select Drive Group > Expand Properties) 

Resizing the Partition

Once the reconstruction has successfully completed the partition must be resized in the operating system before being available for use.

  • Linux 
    • Follow the instructions found in Knowledge Base Article #10606  “Resizing a Partition on Ubuntu Linux“
  • Windows
    • Follow the instructions found in Knowledge Base Article #10667 “Resizing a Partition on Microsoft Windows“

exacqVision Client

The following actions should be taken to ensure that storage is configured correctly and video both past and present are being recorded.

  • Storage > Drive Tab
    • Verify the Capacity is correct
    • Verity the Status is Healthy
  • Storage > Hardware Tab
    • Graphic View – Verify all drives are present and healthy
    • Tree View
      • Verify the Controller is listed and healthy
      • Verify the Virtual Drive (Unit 1:/c0/v0) is listed and healthy
      • Verify all Physical drives (Port 0:/c0/e252/s0, Port 1:/c0/e252/s1, etc. ) are all present and healthy
  • Search for previosly recorded video
  • Search for current video or use exacqReplay from Live View

Congratulations the Virtual Drive has been successfully expanded