23 replies to this topic

[StanHD]

I am just about to commence the following build:-

Case: SilverStone GD03B.
PSU: 650W, Coolermaster GX RS650-ACA
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-D163C 16x DVD-ROM SATA

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-HA65M-D2H-B3 H61 Socket 1155
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz
Cooler: Scythe Shuriken Quiet Low Profile
RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3

For OS:

RAID: Icy Dock MB982SPR-2S Dual 2.5" to 3.5" (RAID 1)
Drives: 2 x 250GB Western Digital WD2500BUDT

For Storage: Highpoint 2680SGL RocketRAID.

I have not listed the data drives yet as this is where my questions start.

I have managed to obtain 2 x 2tb WD Green Drives, just as the supply was cut-off and that's all I can get for the time being.

In my WHS V1 I have (other than the OS & backup drives) 2 x 1.5tb drives which hold my data. Reducing the file duplication factor then this could be viewed as circa 1.6 tb of unique data. Therefore I can easily copy this across to the new data drives on the WHS 2011.

So I could put the new 2 tb drives in a RAID 1 array and copy across with no space problems. However, I would like to then re-purpose the 2 x 1.5Tb drives into the new build.

It would be nice to be able to "Add" them to the RAID 1 array, but I don't know if this will be possible? I assume I can't go RAID 5 due to different drive capacities?

It would be nice to end up with a single "Volume" that could be expanded, but not sure if this will be possible. Any help gratefully received, thank you.

[no-control]

It would be nice to be able to "Add" them to the RAID 1 array, but I don't know if this will be possible? I assume I can't go RAID 5 due to different drive capacities?

It would be nice to end up with a single "Volume" that could be expanded, but not sure if this will be possible. Any help gratefully received, thank you.

Its a RAID 1 so no need to add. You just break the array and reconfigure. Yes you can use RAID5 but its not recommended it might be fairly stable if the platters are all the same size. In your situation I would just RAID1 the 2x 2TB drives and wait until you can obtain a 3rd. Once you have a 3rd you can simply break the RAID1 and create the RAID 5 using the other 2 drives.

[StanHD]

Its a RAID 1 so no need to add. You just break the array and reconfigure. Yes you can use RAID5 but its not recommended it might be fairly stable if the platters are all the same size. In your situation I would just RAID1 the 2x 2TB drives and wait until you can obtain a 3rd. Once you have a 3rd you can simply break the RAID1 and create the RAID 5 using the other 2 drives.

Thank you, that's a good plan. That will work well going forward. I will re-purpose the 1.5tb drives as stand alone back-up drives for Keepvault and server backup. Just need WD to get back into production !!. Got all the stuff, so ready to start building. Cheers.

[pcdoc]

Remember the 2680 will migrate from one raid type to the other. Start with two sets of mirrors, than when the price comes back down, add two more 2T and migrate and expand your 2T mirror into a 4 drive RAID 5 then just keep expanding as required.

[StanHD]

Remember the 2680 will migrate from one raid type to the other. Start with two sets of mirrors, than when the price comes back down, add two more 2T and migrate and expand your 2T mirror into a 4 drive RAID 5 then just keep expanding as required.

I saw mention of this in the specs but didn't realise exactly what it could do. Just the job thanks for the advice much appreciated.

[pcdoc]

If you check out my video on RAID expansion, except for the disk initialization, it is the same process. The difference is you select a different RAID configuration from the drop down and it migrate to the new array type.

[StanHD]

pcdocJust watched that through, Very helpful plus it gave me a first look at the RAID browser interface. I managed to assemble most of the hardware last night and hope to start on the cabling today. This is my first build of a Server and as when I built my HTPC you guys filled in all the gaps. All good info thank you.

[pcdoc]

pcdocJust watched that through, Very helpful plus it gave me a first look at the RAID browser interface. I managed to assemble most of the hardware last night and hope to start on the cabling today. This is my first build of a Server and as when I built my HTPC you guys filled in all the gaps. All good info thank you.

Glad we could help. Couple of suggestions. Do everything from the browser not the BIOS as it you can tune the speed. Before you start anything, go into the settings and set the rebuild priority to "highest". Then build away...

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[StanHD]

OK, had to drive 200 mile round trip but got hold of 2 more drives. Using pcdoc's video I have initiated the migration of a 2 disk RAID 1 to a 3 Disk RAID 5. I plan to use the 4th drive as a "Hot Spare". 38% complete and going well (I assume). Here are a few low-res (ipad) pics taken before the additional 2 x 2 Tb drives were added:-

[pcdoc]

OK, had to drive 200 mile round trip but got hold of 2 more drives. Using pcdoc's video I have initiated the migration of a 2 disk RAID 1 to a 3 Disk RAID 5. I plan to use the 4th drive as a "Hot Spare". 38% complete and going well (I assume). Here are a few low-res (ipad) pics taken before the additional 2 x 2 Tb drives were added:-

Awesome, glad to hear you got it going. Pretty easy in the grander scheme of things. Interesting case for the server. Nice choice on the 3Ware cables you are using. I found them better than the Highpoint ones as they are more pliable and are available in .5M. Let us know when you are done.

[StanHD]

The rebuild from 2 HDD RAID 1 (mirror) to 3 HDD RAID 5 completed overnight with no errors and the data intact. Used the 2nd part of pcdoc's video above to extend the volume. All is well. I have chosen to allocate the 4th drive as a spare at this stage as I now have plenty of storage. Wow, I am really learning a lot. The highpoint RAID card's ability to migrate between RAID levels is awesome. I am now commencing the copying the rest of my data from WHS v1 to the new box.

My choice of case for the server is born of basically 3 criteria:-

1. The case has the following drive bays:
2 x 5.25" ( 1 used for Optical drive)
1 x 3.5" under the 5.25" cage for the icy dock 2 x 2.5" RAID enclosure for the OS
5 x 3.5" for the data drives ( 4 in use by the Highpoint 2680 RAID controller)
2 x 3.5" hot swap for backup drives.

2. It needs to look like a HTPC case because it is located on show in Lounge

3. It matches my HTPC case which is also a Silverstone Grandia case.

[ikon]

Glad to hear you've got it coming together. Now, can you do something about the flooding in Thailand so we can get HD prices back in line

[Joe_Miner]

The rebuild from 2 HDD RAID 1 (mirror) to 3 HDD RAID 5 completed overnight with no errors and the data intact. Used the 2nd part of pcdoc's video above to extend the volume. All is well. I have chosen to allocate the 4th drive as a spare at this stage as I now have plenty of storage. Wow, I am really learning a lot. The highpoint RAID card's ability to migrate between RAID levels is awesome. I am now commencing the copying the rest of my data from WHS v1 to the new box.

My choice of case for the server is born of basically 3 criteria:-

1. The case has the following drive bays:
2 x 5.25" ( 1 used for Optical drive)
1 x 3.5" under the 5.25" cage for the icy dock 2 x 2.5" RAID enclosure for the OS
5 x 3.5" for the data drives ( 4 in use by the Highpoint 2680 RAID controller)
2 x 3.5" hot swap for backup drives.

2. It needs to look like a HTPC case because it is located on show in Lounge

3. It matches my HTPC case which is also a Silverstone Grandia case.

Great looking Silverstone case -- I bet it looks awsome in the lounge next to the HTPC case. Let us know when it's all finished -- I'd be interested in any pointers you'd be willing to share!

[StanHD]

Great looking Silverstone case -- I bet it looks awsome in the lounge next to the HTPC case. Let us know when it's all finished -- I'd be interested in any pointers you'd be willing to share!

Thanks, happy to share. I have approx. 10 hours of file copying to go. Then I will need to decide upon the next steps.

[StanHD]

What a week!!

Well I got all the data migrated without incident and everything seemed nice and stable. So I thought I would check things over for good measure. I started by installing the RAID management software for the Icydock. To my amazement the unit wasn't running in RAID1. Obviously my mistake when I did the initial configuration. So, what to do? The best way to explain what I did is with a time line as follows:-

Friday

20:00 - Back-up the system drive (Icy dock 2 x 2.5" OS Only) to external USB Drive.
20:15 - Back-up complete and no errors. Powered down the WHS, disconnected the drive and installed to HTPC.
20:30 - Ran the JMicron software to configure the RAID 1, no problems, no errors. Installed back into WHS
20:40 - Ran the WHS 2011 installation disk and chose "Recovery" option. The image I had taken was available so I selected it and, checked that no other drives were showing for "deselection" thus ensuring that the restore went to the correct drive. The Raid 5 array wasn't showing (no drivers installed) so I initiated the restore. .................Error message something like "There are no suitable drives for the restore" Ahh I thought, perhaps the RAID 5 drives were confusing things, so I disconnected them. ....... Same error. Tried removing the RAID card, this just upset the motherboard BIOS, so I quickly put it back.
21:00 - Decided to do a "Clean installation" and just redo the configuration. This is where things really turned to c**p. The installation appeared to be taking forever.
01:00 - After 4 hours things just stopped. So I aborted and powered down the WHS, removed the Icydock and installed it back to the HTPC. Booted the HTPC and ................ Black screen checking the drive errors, errors errors 1%, errors errors 2% .... you get the picture, the drives(s) were bricked.
01:45 - Grabbed a now redundant 3.5" 1Tb drive from my old WHS - V1 and decided to try again.
02:30 - Install complete. Now to install the RAID drivers.
02:40 - No problem there, then lots of WHS updates, no problems.
03:00 - Shares on RAID 5 re-aligned using Remote Desktop. Users re-input, PC's connectors un-installed and re-connected.
03:30 - Went to bed, tired but relieved.
08:00 - Lots of tidying up, re-installed Keepvault, and AWEICO drive info.
10:00 - Breakfast & reflection:-

So what have I learned ..............
I Should have checked out the Icydock before I got to far along.
System Restore probably doesn't work if there is a different replacement drive. (Although I though the Icydock would have "looked" the same to it), or it doesn't work if there are any RAID controllers present? (that's useful on a server!).
The Icydock or one of the 2.5" drives may be faulty, or worse the system is unreliable.
A clean re-install isn't so bad, but there is a lot of "Joining-up" to sort out, particularly with shares and permissions. (Shares added post original install appeared in the Dashboard only after I had edited their permissions from the Remote Desktop.) I also had to rename the default shares, then use the move wizard on the "D:" drive share to point everything to the RAID array (F:) drive, then move the files into the moved share and delete the original. This only took a few seconds per share.
Who needs sleep when such a fun time is being had

Next Steps:

Well I now have a single (oversized) OS drive without RAID. Not ideal, but its working.
I need to remove the Icydock and try to find the problem.
If this is fixed, then do I want to re-install it? Not sure ..........?

Anyway, it's all working quite well now and my confidence is being restored. I will report again soon.

[pcdoc]

Sorry to hear about the icydock. One I do regularly just to plan ahead, is I screen capture everything in my dashboard, So if or when I decide to blow the OS drive It is easier to set backup again. I also just recently added Acronis to WHS 2011 for the sole purpose of backing the OS drive and not being limited to the 2T. Nice setup and keep us posted.

[no-control]

System Restore probably doesn't work if there is a different replacement drive. (Although I though the Icydock would have "looked" the same to it), or it doesn't work if there are any RAID controllers present? (that's useful on a server!).
The Icydock or one of the 2.5" drives may be faulty, or worse the system is unreliable.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, please let us know where the fault lies.

This is precisely why I do not recommend using items like the IcyDOCK on your servers. It creates another failure point and adds unnecessary complexity. A simple RAID1 in the OS is the way to go for this type of application.

Edited by no-control, 14 November 2011 - 09:51 AM.

[StanHD]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, please let us know where the fault lies.

This is precisely why I do not recommend using items like the IcyDOCK on your servers. It creates another failure point and adds unnecessary complexity. A simple RAID1 in the OS is the way to go for this type of application.

Ahh, I was wondering about that for a solution. That may be the way to go. Thanks for the suggestion.

[StanHD]

Sorry to hear about the icydock. One I do regularly just to plan ahead, is I screen capture everything in my dashboard, So if or when I decide to blow the OS drive It is easier to set backup again. I also just recently added Acronis to WHS 2011 for the sole purpose of backing the OS drive and not being limited to the 2T. Nice setup and keep us posted.

Documentation is a good thing to do, screenshots even better. That's a point well taken, and will definitely be tonight's "benign" maintenance job. Thank you.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

At most, your icydock may be faulty. Way too many people have used it successfully for it to be unreliable.

Did you try formatting the drives in the icydock and then reinstall?