HP P222 array migration question

[daxingplay]

Hi, I recently got a P222 with 512M cache and a battery into my MS Gen8. I previously have one raid 0 array with the onboard B120i using two 4TB WD Red for my media files and one raid 0 array using ODD port with an SSD for win 2012. Now the disk for my media files is running low. So I decided to buy two more disks and migrate my raid to 5.

 

Firstly, I put SAS cable to P222 and boot, the two disks raid 0 array shows on P222. But when I want to migrate array by adding disks, it only had three options:

 

1. add disks to existing raid 0 array

2. sorry I forgot about it, but I am sure it has nothing to do with array migration;

3. migrate to raid 1+0 by adding two disks (kinda like that)

 

I have no idea why can't I migrate to raid 5 by adding two disks. And I googled a lot but no one said anything about it. I also went through HPE Smart Array Administration User Guide but sadly it did not say anything about how to perform raid migration. So I decided to select option 1 using the two new WD Red. After selecting option 1, the two disks were added to this raid 0 and the original 8TB logical drive started to transform. That's why I didn't take a screenshot about the three options and there's no way going back...

 

After about 6 hours, the process still at 10%... Really long time...

 

So my question is, will I be able to migrate my raid 0 array to raid 5 after adding the two new disks? Is this the only way to do this migration in this situation?

Edited June 9, 2018 by daxingplay

[daxingplay]

Forget to mention that I'm doing all of this in offline SSA

[schoondoggy]

You should be able to migrate to RAID5 after the expansion is complete. 

In SSA you can adjust the amount of priority that is applied to rebuild/expansion, to speed up the process.

Did you update the firmware on the P222 before starting this?

[daxingplay]

1 hour ago, schoondoggy said:

You should be able to migrate to RAID5 after the expansion is complete. 

In SSA you can adjust the amount of priority that is applied to rebuild/expansion, to speed up the process.

Did you update the firmware on the P222 before starting this?

 

Thanks for your reply, schoondoggy.

 

The firmware is 8.00, not the latest 8.32. I have went through HSS and I knew only 8.00 and above does not require a license key for RAID5/6 and RAID migration.

 

I have set the priority of transformation and rebuild to high and adjusted the write/read cache to 50%-50%. However, the process seems to need two days. Maybe it's because my previous logic volume is full and it needs more time to migrate data.

 

I wonder if a larger cache module for P222 will be better. I bought a P222 with 2GB cache module some weeks ago, but it did not work on my MS Gen8. The led lights on that card is green but I cannot see that P222 during POST. I wonder if that card is broken or MS Gen8 does not support that. So now I'm using the 512M cache module and it works fine.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2018 by daxingplay

[daxingplay]

Well, I have another question. I got another MS Gen8(without any upgrade) with 4x4TB WD red in RAID 10 mainly for backup of my photos and other personal files. I came up with an idea that is it possible to combine the disks in two Gen8 into the P222?

 

I bought a 8087 to 8088 card for the second Gen8, and I decided to connect the disks in second Gen8 to this card. Then, I will connect the card to my first Gen8 which has a P222 in it using a 8088-8088 cable.

 

I think if this works, RAID 6 is a better option? Is it possible to migrate to RAID 6 after the expansion process finished in my first Gen8?

 

If it is possible, how can I minimize the time for expansion ? I have an idea but do not know if it works. My idea is:

 

1. backup all the data in the second Gen8 and format all drives.

2. connect the 4 disks to the external port of the P222.

3. create a RAID6 array with that 4 disks. Since the 4 disks are all empty, it will not cost any time, right?

4. copy all the data from the RAID 0 logic drive to that RAID 6. Then the RAID 6 is full as well . Since all the data are media files for Plex and the two Gen8 connect to each other with 1000M network, it might not need as that much time as RAID expansion.

5. remove the RAID 0 array

6. expand the RAID 6 array with the 4 disks in my first Gen 8. Since all my data has been copied, I can boot into operating system to do online migration and I can watch my Plex then.

 

Is my idea possible? Or do you have any better idea? Thanks.

 

Edited June 9, 2018 by daxingplay

[schoondoggy]

You can share drives from one chassis to another:

Your logic looks good on setting up a new array and copying data over. Step 6 will still be relatively slow. Expansion requires reading/writing to all the disks.

[daxingplay]

I know it’s going to cost huge amount of time, if it works for online migration/expansion, I can live with that.