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I have an HP server with an P410i RAID Card installed. I had two SATA Drives connected (250GB each). The RAID was configured as a Mirror. A few days ago the drive one (1) failed, and i had to remove it. Tried to find the same part number here in Venezuela, but i couldn't.

So, i bought a 500GB SATA Drive, and connected it to the same bay where the 250GB failed drive was. When the server booted, it asked me if i wanted to rebuild the data. I selected the option for that, and Windows Server restarted properly. When i got into the ACU (Array Configuration Utility) it told me that it was rebuilding the data.

Today the warning went away, and according to the ACU everything is just fine.

My question is... What i did was right? Can i create a mirror from a 250GB disk in a 500GB disk using the p410i? I have done that before, but only using software RAID in Windows, and it just uses the space it needs. As a matter of fact, when did that using Windows i was able to use the remaining space in the bigger drive, but in the p410i i can't use it.

Should i be worried?

Thanks a lot in advance for any pointers or info that you could give on this.

Heishiro

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Yes, you can use different sizes on disks in a array, but you'll only get the space equalent of the smallest disk. This is perfectly safe.

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What you did is supported and can work in an emergency situation.

At some point, you may want to get an identical disk to the replacement drive. Having a mirror of identical 500GB disks would allow you to expand the existing amount of data visible to Windows or carve out a new logical drive with the extra space.

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  • Thanks a lot for the info. One question on the adding another 500GB drive to the server. IF i do that, then should i a) Turn off the server b) remove the 250GB (0 Drive) c) install then 500GB drive in the slot 0 d) reboot the server and select to rebuild... ? My doubt here is... Won't the controller overwrite the 500GB (1) drive with the "Blank" drive? How to do that would be interesting...
    – Heishiro Mitsurugi
    Jun 28, 2012 at 14:53
  • If the array is currently showing as healthy in the ACU, you can hotswap the 250GB disk with the 500GB disk and it will rebuild automatically. No reboot required.
    – ewwhite
    Jun 28, 2012 at 15:05
  • If i'm not mistaken, the drives are not hotplug. It's an ML150G6 with 250GB non hotplug drives. So i guess that i should just shut down the server, exchange the drive bays, reboot and then after the ACU tells me that everything is working, shut down the server again, remove the 250gb drive one and replace it with a 500Gb. Am i right? And by the way, thanks a LOT! for your help on this.
    – Heishiro Mitsurugi
    Jun 28, 2012 at 15:15

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