Extending a RAID5 and then a VMFS partition

[hmarsili]

Hi,

I have a three disks RAID5. On this RAID5, I have an ESXi. I need to add a fourth disk and I want to know if I can extend the VMFS size.

I found a couple of threads, but sadly, one of them presents a contradiction against the others

Now, I'm not sure if this can be done without major disruption.

Any experience?

[Villag3Idiot]

After adding the disk, you will have to reboot the server to access the configuration utility for the RAID card that you are using. You should then be able to add that disk to your existing RAID 5 set.

From there, you should be able to grow your VMFS volume to utilise the extra space, although i believe you need to be running vCenter to do this

[AndreTheGiant]

It depends by your server... some have an utility to handle RAID also without reboot (for example, in Dell server, this utility is called Open Manage).

Andre

[a_p_]

Whether or not you can add an additional disk to your RAID depends on the controller and it's capabilities/software. For the ESXi part, you need to grow the VMFS datastore manually. For a walkthrough see http://deinoscloud.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/how-to-increase-the-size-of-a-local-datastore-on-an-esxi...

In any case, make sure you backup your system prior to do this.

André