Dell PowerEdge - Add new disk to an existing RAID 5 array

Question

I have a Dell PowerEdge with a RAID 5 array of 3 disks, and I want to add a fourth disk to it to expand the capacity of the volume.

I don't want to reinitialize the whole RAID 5, because I want to keep all the data on it and just expand it.

Can I do this with OpenManage while Windows is live, or do I have to do this on the boot menu while the OS is not mounted?

Here is a screenshot on OpenManage Server Administrator:

And also please tell me how to achieve this. Thanks!

Solution

I found the solution by myself, and here is how to achieve this WITHOUT data loss:

With the disk inserted, go to OMSA (OpenManage) > Storage > PERC > Enclosure/Backplane > Physical Disks, and make sure your disk is showing 'Ready'. If you don't see the disk, you may need to reboot for the disk to be detected in OMSA.

If the new disk's status is 'Foreign', go to OMSA > Storage > PERC > Information/Configuration (link at top of page). Choose 'Foreign/Clear' from the dropdown menu. Then disk should enter a 'Ready' state.

If the new disk's status is 'Ready', go to OMSA (OpenMange) > Storage > PERC > Virtual Disks. Choose 'Reconfigure' from the dropdown menu for your RAID 5, follow the wizard to add the physical disk to the array.

Source: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/906/t/19378577.aspx

Comments

[Nils]

...and now you should accept your own answer. BTW - this works with every OMSA. Also with linux-based systems.

[Admin]

This does NOT do the 'whole trick.' This still required a 'reboot' AFTER you finish the reconfigure. I tried 'rescan' via OMSA and 'recan' via Diskpart, and Disk Management will NOT see the new, Unallocated space, UNTIL you reboot - unless someone knows a trick that I don't know.