User guide

Understanding Drive Arrays D-15
Online Capacity Expansion or Extension
In certain cases, the Smart Array 431 and the Array Configuration Utility also
support making storage capacity changes online, without downing the server
or storage system. These features are available if both the following are true:
■ Windows NT or NetWare operating system
And
■ Pluggable drives
NOTE: Online capacity extension under Windows NT only.
Because the Array Configuration Utility reconfigures the Smart Array 431,
online reconfiguration can only take place if Array Configuration Utility is
running in the same environment as the normal server applications.
Hot-pluggable drives are required for online storage changes because
non-hot-pluggable drives require that the server be powered down to add or
remove the drive. All Storage Systems support hot-pluggable drives.
Disk Drive Capacity Upgrades
Additional storage space may be obtained with the same number of physical
drives in a fault-tolerant configuration by replacing these drives with others of
higher capacity. By replacing the drives one at a time, the data on the new
drive is recreated from redundant information on the remaining drives. After
each new drive has been rebuilt, the next can be replaced. After all drives have
been replaced and rebuilt, adding a new logical drive can use the additional
capacity on each drive. The Array Configuration Utility will recognize the
unused space (with RAID 1, 0+1, and 5) and guide you through the procedures
to make use of it.