Swapping hard drives to change/increase size of Datastore

[ITTropolis]

Hi:

I have an ESXi 4.1 host with 2x146GB RAID1 array (datastore1) and 4x300GB RAID5 array (datastore2).  I need more space so I plan to replace 2x146GB with 2x2TB.  I'll first move VMs from datastore1 to datastore2, then shut down machine, swap drives and build new array. 

• Do I need to remove datastore1 from ESXi cfg. before I physically remove the drives, or will ESXi startup gracefully and allow me to remove the datastore? 
• I will be able to add the new datastore (2x2TB) to ESXi, ya, i.e. ESXi should see the array once initialized on the machine? 
• The existing datastores have block size set to 1MB so max vmdk is 256GB.  I want the new datastore to have 8MB block size so I can have larger vmdks.  I think I can set the datastore block size when creating it, ya, i.e. the same ESXi install can have datastores with different block sizes, ya?

Thanks so much for any insights you have!

Bob

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

1.) Why not just Delete the datastore from the GUI prior to removing the disks?

2.) If your controller presents the disks properly there should be no issues with detecting them.

3.) Yes, each datastore can have a different block size. The block size can be selected while creating the datastore on the LUN/disk.

André

[ITTropolis]

Hi Andre:

Thanks very much for the answers!

By the way, do I need to use VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Client to move vm from one datastore to another, or is there other preferred method?  I need to move both working location/cfg. files and hard disks (vmdks).

Also, the vm I need to move has 60GB disk/vmdk but the Windows 2008 R2 guest OS is using only 20GB, and I need to move it to a datastore that has only 40GB avail. space.  Thus, I plan to first reduce the disk/vmdk size from 60 to 30GB.  ESXi w/Win. 2008 will handle the disk reduction size eloquently, ya, i.e. I just reduce the vmdk size in ESXi or do I need to first reduce the disk size in Windows?

Thank you!

[a_p_]

With VMware Converter you can select to do volume based (rather than disk based) cloning, which allows you to resize the virtual disk size for a Windows VM.

André

[ITTropolis]

Hi Andre:

After reviewing more documentation, I'm thinking to upgrade from 4.1 to 5.0 as part of this project (one benefit I see is that I can then leave block size of new datastore at default 1MB but create vmdks larger than 256GB).  I only have one host so I can do an interactive upgrade by booting from the 5.0 disk. 

• Upgrade guide says to move/backup VMs first.  But that's only "just in case" for disaster recovery, i.e. the VMs don't have to be moved off the host then migrated back, correct?  Theoretically I just boot from 5.0 disk and after upgrade all VMs should be available, ya?
• I'm thinking to first upgrade to 5.0, then change/upgrade the datastore as best practice in this case, ya?
• Does ESXi install on one of the datastores itself, i.e. if ESXi is installed on the "datastore1" that I'm replacing then do I need to follow a different upgrade path?

Thanks so much!

[a_p_]

1.) It's always recommended to have an up-to-date backup of the VM's. However, the interactive upgrade will ask you whether to upgrade or install and whether to preserve the VMFS datastores or not. Unless you select to completely reinstall with reformatting the datastores, your VM's should not be affected.

2.) The option to upgrade VMFS to version 5 is only available after upgrading the host.

3.) ESXi installs on separate partitins on the installation disk or USB/SD device (see e.g. http://rickardnobel.se/esxi-5-0-partitions/) If you have installed ESXi on the disks you want to replace, then you need to think of another way to upgrade.

André

[ITTropolis]

Hi Andre:

How can I tell which disk ESXi is installed on?  vSphere Client must show this info. somewhere, ya?

Thank you!

[a_p_]

If you don't remember where you installed ESXi, you can check whether it is installed on a disk/LUN which also contains a datastore. To do this right click the datastore in Configuration -> Storage and select Properties. This will show the partitions on the disk and you can see whether there are the OS partitions mentioned in the link I provided earlier.

André

[ITTropolis]

Hi Andre:

There are only two disks/RAID arrays/LUNs on the host so I know it must have been installed on one of them.  Ya, I see the logical partition with the VMWare Diagnostic path on the smaller disk/RAID array/LUN that I want to replace. 

• Hmmm, is there a way to move the VMWare install to another disk? 
• Or, I guess another upgrade path could be to use VMWare Converter to export all of the VMs temporarily to an external USB attached drive, then upgrade/swap the disks then re-install ESXi 5.0, then use VMWare Converter again to import the VMs from the external USB drive, ya?

Thank you!

[a_p_]

What you can do is to migrate all VMs to the second datastore, then replace the two disks and reinstall ESXi on them (after configuring the RAID of course). Once the host is configured (network, NTP, ...) you just need to re-add the VMs on the second datastore to the inventory by right clicking their .vmx files in the datastore browser and select "Add to Inventory". Alternatively to installing ESXi on the disks, you may consider to install ESXi on an USB/Flash device.

André

PS: A backup is always a good idea, so you may do this independently of the upgrade.

[CommodoreVic20]

would you be able to expand if say you had a physical server with 6x1TB drives and slowly replaced one drive with a 1x8TB drive let it rebuild then replaced the next and so on till all drives were replaced then expand each VM without removing anyththing?  

[a_p_]

@CommodoreVic20 
Please start a new discussion (with some details about your current setup) instead of replying to a 10 years old discussion.