Expanding RAID Array

[HardcoreRobot]

I am looking into building a nice big RAID 5 array. I intend to have around 5 or 6 drives when it is all said and done, but I cant afford them all at the same time. So, I was wondering what would happen if I started with just 3, and then added the other ones in later? I dont have any experience with RAID, but I am under the impression that the array would need to be rebuilt. Does this entail erasing all of the data on it? Are there any controllers (ATA or SATA) that will let you expand the array without trashing all the data? TIA

 

[Markfw]

I don't know for sure, and it probably depends on the controller, but probably NO. What would work, is to have a large slower drive nad then copy the partition to it, expand, and copy back. I have done this at least twice now.

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I don't know for sure, and it probably depends on the controller, but probably NO. What would work, is to have a large slower drive nad then copy the partition to it, expand, and copy back. I have done this at least twice now.

 

[Agamar]

Depends on the raid controller. Most higher end stuff can handle adding drives to the array.