Help with raid and upgrading hard drives

[rjg.tech]

Ok so I accepted this job and probably shouldn't have but I have already learned so much just from researching this project out while freaking out on the inside.

My client has a Dell PowerEdge 2900 server running a raid array with server 2003. The raid consist of 4 scsi hard drives (drive 0,1 are spanned together and drive 2,3 are spanned together) then the drives are configured as RAID 1.

The initial problem is the c:\ drive ran out of space. The client wanted to use this opportunity to not only repartition the c:\ and d:\ but also increase the overall hdd space.

So what we have done so far is booted to acronis and started an image that is being saved to an external drive.

Our new drives are 2 1tb western digitial black that we want to configure as raid 1.

In theory since we are using the same raid controller card we could just burn the image straight onto the new drives (after we set up the raid 1) and then use disk director to modify the partitions. Right?

Another question I had is that once we create the new raid array, will it completely delete the configuration for the original drives. So that if we run into a hiccup we can put the original hard drives to get them running again till next time we go out there.

I tried getting as much help from google but a lot of the questions were people moving their raid array to another computer.

 

[rjg.tech]

Update:

Ok so thinking about it this will not work. It could but I would be losing performance. The current scsi drives are 15k rpm and the hard drives i got are desktop hdds running are 7200 rpm.

I wouldn't do that to them, so unless the want to spit out a lot of money for faster hard drives I am thinking about using disk director to resize the current partitions. We have the image backed up if anything happens.

So far from this project I learned that pci x is not the same as pci express, i learned SATA drives can fit into a SCSI board, I learned that the poweredge 2900 is really heavy, I learned to check the hard drive speeds before buying new hard drives, and I am sure I will learn some other stuff.

 

[Trenatos]

I'm sorry, but no I don't think you should've taken the job.
You should probably consider taking some training on working with servers first.
Sorry to rub that in, but working on a business server to learn? No, build some of your own, take some classes.
Maybe I sound harsh, I don't know, just woke up and no coffee yet.

 

[rjg.tech]

That's not harsh, its true. We haven't done anything yet and everything is still just like it is when we arrived.

 

[Trenatos]

If the main problem is space for files and the server isn't run as a database server, then you might be able to get smaller 15K drives to run the OS and a NAS or a few bigger drives for storage.

 

[gikstar]

May I suggest also start to look at their future needs, not just an immediate need.
Personally I like the Dell 2950's since they can be setup with sata/sas drives. but they aren't as fast as some clients need. The Dell 2900 usually came with scsi drives if I remember correctly.

Consider a new setup using an Intel Zeon X5650, 2 - 80Gb SSD drives in Raid 1 for O/S and a number of 300Gb SAS 15k Cheetah drives in Raid 5.

Disk director... I have done research on partitioning a server with raided hard drives just last week. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SOFTWARE SPECIFICALLY SAYS IT WORKS ON SERVER PLATFORMS AND IN RAID!!!!!!!!!

This software claims it does: EASEUS Partition Master 8.0.1 Server Edition http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager-server/

I just looked at the website for Acronis® Disk Director® 11 Advanced Server and can find no mention of RAID drives. If you plan on using Acronis do your homework and verify that it will do what you want it to.

Maybe someone here will have some experience to share in this regard instead of suggesting the obvious that you are out of your league in this scenario.
But let's face it, you have done the right thing. You have researched the situation, contacted others for help/advice, and not make any blunders. Props to you for that

 

[rjg.tech]

I am a quick learner and am confident that with enough headache and stress I could work my way through this problem, but it is not worth it.

This was a good experience and I learned what to look forward too when dealing with servers. I am passing it on to someone I contract out under his business. I can't afford to be liable for anything. Thanks for all the help.