Hi there,Yesterday I picked up an HP ProLiant ML350 Server. Its has 4 36.4 GB hard drives. 3 of which have been turned into 1 logical drive. My question is this, is there a way to change those hard drives so there are a total of 2 logical drives each totalling 72.8GB and then set them up to be redundant?? Here is the catch, I don't have a physical copy of Server 2003. I only have what is running on the machine right now, so I can't just format and start over

I think you can order a new cd since you have a server with the OEM license.I don't see any other way as it sounds like your drives are in a RAID 5 configuration.

Is the logical drive on three hard drives actually a RAID 5array? And if so is it supported by a hardware RAID controller or by software, as dynamic drives under Windows Server?Do want to do this keeping the same operating system and configuration? And what is on the 3 drive array? Is there anything you want to salvage?You have a total of 144GB. With four drives, if you want redundancy, you are going to lose at least 25% of that, or 36GB. And that would only be if all four drives were put into a RAID 5 array.With mirroring, you would lose half the space, but there is more flexibility. The most common such configuration would be two mirrors of 36GB each.You could, for example, break up the 3 drive array, and mirror one of the drives with the single drive.Whatever is onthe single drive could be retained. If that is the system drive, with the OS on it, it can be done without losing the OS.

I'm not sure if they are configured as a RAID 5 array or not. I bought this off of a guy on craigslist for $200 sounded like a good deal to me, I'm not quite sure how he set it up. I believe there is a hardware array controller, as well as the HP Array Configuration Utility.I do want to keep the operating system, but I'm afraid there is no way to break up that 3 drive array without losing the OS. Is that correct??Once I break up that array, I want to set it up so 2 of the 36.4gb drives make one logical drive. And the other 2 drives make another logical drive. And then have them mirror for redundancy.My main question for right now is, Is there a way to break up the 3 drive array without losing the OS (bc I have no disk to reinstall, and no license key either.) Then the follow up question would be a walk through on setting up the mirroring once I get the drives setup correctly.Thanks! I hope I answered all your questions

I'm not sure if they are configured as a RAID 5 array or not. I bought this off of a guy on craigslist for $200 sounded like a good deal to me, I'm not quite sure how he set it up. I believe there is a hardware array controller, as well as the HP Array Configuration Utility.I do want to keep the operating system, but I'm afraid there is no way to break up that 3 drive array without losing the OS. Is that correct??Once I break up that array, I want to set it up so 2 of the 36.4gb drives make one logical drive. And the other 2 drives make another logical drive. And then have them mirror for redundancy.My main question for right now is, Is there a way to break up the 3 drive array without losing the OS (bc I have no disk to reinstall, and no license key either.) Then the follow up question would be a walk through on setting up the mirroring once I get the drives setup correctly.Thanks! I hope I answered all your questions Which drive is which? In Disk Manager, there will be a volume labeled in the Status column as "System" and a volume labeled as "Boot". They are often the same volume, in which case you will see something like "Healthy (System, Boot, Page File, Crash Dump)", in the Status column.If the OS is on the smaller volume, all you need to do is delete the larger volume, and break up the array. From this point, you could extend it, converting it to a stripe or RAID 0 volume using one of the other drives. Then you could mirror the stripe onto the other two drives. I think this is called RAID 0+1. I have no experience with that.Instead, you could mirror the OS drive and create a mirror with the other two drives and use it for another volume.If the OS is on the array, you could back it up and restore it to the single drive, or you could copy it to the single drive.See if there is an HP System Backup/Restore utility on the machine. If not, you might be able to download it from HP. This utility will make a backup of the system, and all HP installed software. The utility makes a bootable CD or DVD set that works the same way the as the system restore set for the machine that you could buy from HP. I had madea restore setfor my Presario when I first had it. I used it recently and it worked like a charm, restoring the OS and software on the computer to the new, out-of-the-box state. Otherwise, there is Windows Backup, or many other software products.You could use xcopy to copy everything important from the array to the single drive. You will not be able to copy the registry.You would have toexport it and restore it, or use something like the old resource kit utility regback.exe.

Ok. Whole new idea here...sorry to keep jumping around.I came across some cheapSCSI drives today so I bought them. Here is my theory :I have 3x36.4gb drives arrayed into 1x102gb C: drive. I bought 1x73gb and 1x36.4gb SCSI hard drive. If I set those up in Raid 0+1 I could mirror the old array to the new array, correct??

I have 3x36.4gb drives arrayed into 1x102gb C: drive. I bought 1x73gb and 1x36.4gb SCSI hard drive. If I set those up in Raid 0+1 I could mirror the old array to the new array, correct?? It's doable, but awfully unwieldy. The only way to combine the 73G and 36G drives is JBOD, just a bunch of drives, no striping no redundancy.If that new array is same size or larger that the existing C: drive, they could then be mirrored as dynamic drives under the Server 2003 OS.With five 36.4 GB drives, it kind of begs for RAID 5. That way, you could combine them in a redundant array of about 144 GB. You would have to copy the OS to the 73G drive first, or backup and restore it onto that drive.There may be other option for expanding the existing three drive array. Read the instructions for the HP Array. They should be available from HP.

Ok so we're thinking the best way to go is the system restore and start completely over? Wouldn't the system restore remember my hard-drive configurations?My Raid utility isa bios-type screen, if I delete the array from there, it wipes the drives clean. Then I reconfigure them as Raid 5?? Or what?? And then from there, run the system restore disk?

Is it becoming apparent that this is my first server and my first time dealing with Raid configurations?? It all looks so easy on paper...

Ok so we're thinking the best way to go is the system restore and start completely over? Wouldn't the system restore remember my hard-drive configurations? The System Restore utility on my Presario put it in new condition, but that was a consumer desktop machine. I have no idea what is available from HP for servers. But as I said, there is always Windows Backup, or other products like Ghost. My Raid utility isa bios-type screen, if I delete the array from there, it wipes the drives clean. Then I reconfigure them as Raid 5?? Or what?? And then from there, run the system restore disk? Yes, that is what I would do. If the HP array supports booting from RAID 5 you could play with that, but it might take some doing. You are better off using the 73G for booting.

Windows backup will let me restore it completely?? OS and all??And the point was to mirror my booting drive and everything on it for fear of a system failure. The other drives are just video storage for cameras and the data can be lost without concern.I'd rather save the 72 for video and put files and OS on the 36.4 and have it mirror to another 36.4...what Raid configuration should I use if not Raid 5??

RAID 1 is mirroring and is 100% redundant.RAID 5 only needs about 25% for redundancy if you have 5 or more drives.

Hey I appreciate all of your help I think I'm going to give this a shot.Before I do though, Windows Backup will restore the OS as well, correct? It's not just making a boot disk and then looking for the Server 2003 software?

I've never used Windows Backup, I don't really know.I have used HP System Backup/Restore, and it worked like a charm.

If I follow what you want for size preferences, 2X36GB = 72GB RAID1 for the OS3X36GB + 1X72GB = 108GB RAID5for video storage. 144 - 36 = 108. The other 36GB is devoted to the parity info for the redundancy of RAID5.The 72GB will be seen by the array as a 36GB because the logical drive will only use physical drives that are the same size as the other physical drives in the array.