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Expanding the Capacity of a Logical Drive or Logical Volume
Use this option to expand the capacity
of an existing logical drive, or to expand the capacity of a logical volume.
For example, you might originally have had an 18-Gbyte drive of which
only 9 Gbyte were selected to build a logical drive. To use the remaining
9 Gbyte, you must expand the logical drive. RAID levels 0, 1, 3, and 5
support expansion.
NOTE: To expand a logical volume,
you must first expand the logical drives that make up the logical volume.
- Select the array that you want to configure.
- Choose Configuration > Custom Configure.
- Select Dynamically Grow and/or Reconfigure
LDs/LVs from the Custom Configuration Options window.
- Select the logical drive or logical volume
you want to expand.
- Select the Expand LD/LV tab.
- Specify the capacity in Mbyte by which
you want to expand the logical drive or logical volume in the Maximum
Drive Expand Capacity field, and click OK.
The capacity shown in the Maximum
Available Drive Free Capacity field is the maximum available free
disk space per physical drive, based on the smallest physical drive
in the logical drive. The capacity you specify is added to each
physical drive in the logical drive.
As described in the following examples,
the total amount of capacity that is added to the logical drive is
calculated automatically based on the RAID level.
NOTE: Spare drives are not included
when expanding a logical drive. Do not include spare drives when calculating
maximum drive expand capacity.
- RAID 0 - Multiply the amount
entered in the Maximum Drive Expand Capacity field by the
total number of physical drives contained in the logical drive.
For example, 100 Mbyte x 3 = 300 Mbyte total capacity added to the
logical drive.
- RAID 1 - Multiply the amount
entered in the Maximum Drive Expand Capacity field by the
total number of physical drives contained in the logical drive,
and then divide by two to account for mirroring. For example, 100
Mbyte x 4 = 400 Mbyte. 400/2 = 200 Mbyte total capacity added to
the logical drive.
- RAID 3 and 5 - Multiply the
amount entered in the Maximum Drive Expand Capacity field
(c) by the total number of physical drives contained in the
logical drive, and then subtract c to account for parity.
For example, if c = 100, 100 Mbyte x 3 = 300 Mbyte. 300 Mbyte
- 100 Mbyte = 200 Mbyte total capacity added to the logical drive.
If you know the total maximum drive capacity
by which you want to expand a logical drive, perform the following
calculations based on the RAID level to determine the amount to enter
in the Maximum Drive Expand Capacity field:
- RAID 0 - Divide the total maximum
drive capacity by the total number of physical drives contained
in the logical drive. For example, if you want to add a total of
100 Mbyte to a logical drive that contains four physical drives,
100 Mbyte/4 = 25 Mbyte maximum drive expand capacity.
- RAID 1 - Divide the total number
of physical drives contained in the logical drive by two to get
n. Then divide the maximum drive capacity by n. For
example, if you want to add a total of 100 Mbyte to a logical drive
that contains four physical drives, 4/2 = 2. 100/2 = 50 Mbyte maximum
drive expand capacity.
- RAID 3 and 5 - Subtract a single
drive from the total number of physical drives to get n.
Then divide the total maximum drive capacity by n. For example,
if you want to add a total of 100 Mbyte to a logical drive that
contains five physical drives, 5-1 = 4. 100/4 = 25 Mbyte maximum
drive expand capacity.
NOTE: The Maximum Drive Expand
Capacity cannot exceed the Maximum Available Drive Free Capacity.
- To use the logical drive immediately,
select OnLine Expansion.
Online expansion enables you to use the
logical drive before expansion is complete. However, because the controller
is building the logical drive while performing I/O operations, expanding
a logical drive online requires more time than offline expansion.
If you do not select OnLine Expansion,
you can use the drive only after expansion is complete. Because the
controller is building the logical drive without having to also perform
I/O operations, offline expansion requires less time than online expansion.
NOTE: The Online Expansion option is not available when expanding
logical volumes.
- Click OK in the Confirm Configuration
Operation window to complete the operation.
The Logical Drive/Logical Volume Number
For important information regarding the logical
drive/logical volume number displayed in the LD/LV field in the
Dynamically Grow and/or Reconfigure LDs/LVs window, see The
Logical Drive/Logical Volume Number.
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