Hard Drive Volume Capacity is 2.72TB but Available Only Shows 742.23GB on Newly Created RAID5 Volume . . . why?

[dmcoop]

I just added an IBM external storage array and an additional RAID controller for it to my server. I configured the five 750GB drives into a RAID5 with the controller and VMWare sees both the new controller and the 2.72TB volume. However . . . When I use the Add Storage Wizard from VMWare Infrastructure Client the "Device Location" screen shows that the volume has a capacity of 2.72 TB with 742.23 GB available.

Can anyone tell me why and how to fix it? I am setting up a file server and really want the entire 2.72 TB available. I know the max file size is 2TB for VMFS and that should be no problem - actually preferred.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can tell me what I am doing wrong. The RAID controller is an IBM (LSI Logic) MegaRAID 8480 controller.

[dmcoop]

I have been doing some thinking about this . . . could it be because the RAID had not yet fully initialized???

[kjb007 · Accepted solution]

Your problem is not your RAID, it is a limitation on ESX. The maximum LUN size for ESX is 2 TB. What happens if you present a LUN over that size, is that you only see the space over the 2 TB, which is why you see 742.23GB. You will have to reduce your LUN size, or create multiple logical drives out of your RAID5 set.

-KjB

[dmcoop]

Kjb that makes sense. I'll reconfigure the RAID tomorrow and post back the results. Thank you.

[dmcoop]

That is exactly the problem. I reconfigured the RAID to have three 750GB drives in it and the server now see and allows me to use the entire capacity. I just ordered one more drive so I can create a 2nd RAID to have the total storage I need.

Thank you KjB for the help.