Are software raid 5 arrays attached to the OS?

[Maximilian]

If i have a software RAID 5 array with 4 1.5TB disks and the OS is windows server 2008 r2 on a separate 1TB disk, and that 1TB disk with the OS gets corrupted or the OS is wiped etc, does that make the array useless? Or will the raid 5 array be picked up again once i get a new hard drive and stick windows back on it?

Also related question, can i add new disks to a windows server 2008 r2 software raid 5 array without wiping the entire array?

 

[RebateMonger]

Truthfully, I haven't played with this. But a Windows Server Software RAID array should have all the necessary information about the array on each disk. You should be able to "Import" the array into a "new" server. At least that's my understanding.

http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive...blic.windows.server.sbs/2006-04/msg01497.html

 

[dawks]

Truthfully, I haven't played with this. But a Windows Server Software RAID array should have all the necessary information about the array on each disk. You should be able to "Import" the array into a "new" server. At least that's my understanding.

http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive...blic.windows.server.sbs/2006-04/msg01497.html

Though I've never seen it myself, I'd assume it should work. It should work if you use the same OS.

One of the issues might be with ACL's for the data afterwards. If you were using local accounts to control access to the data, and not AD accounts, you're kinda screwed in that you'll have to start over (setting permissions) since each local account has a unique SID.

 

[Absolution75]

I'm almost certain you can move those arrays around from server to server. I read an article about it on microsoft technet I believe.

 

[RebateMonger]

Yeah, you'll need to take ownship and redo permissions, since the new OS accounts are "foreign". But permissions on a data disk shouldn't be horribly hard to recreate.

 

[Emulex]

just make sure your users are on active directory then the guid's should match up in the new machine.

 

[rasczak]

With such a large volume, i wonder if the issue has more to do with this

http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=162

unless your concerned with r/w speeds, raid 1 should be plenty redundancy for an OS drive. otherwise, bring the OS volume size down to 200gb or so (should be plenty of space for the OS and all of its windows updates). I really don't think you need more than that for an OS volume unless you have a ton of RAM.