Use this option to increase the storage capacity of an existing standard logical drive. An increase in logical drive capacity may be achieved by:
Using free capacity available on array of the standard logical drive.
Adding unconfigured capacity (in the form of unused drives) to the array of the standard logical drive. Use this option when no free capacity exists on the array.
Caution: Increasing the capacity of a standard logical drive is only supported on certain operating systems. If you increase the logical drive capacity on a host operating system that is unsupported, the expanded capacity will be unusable and you cannot restore the original logical drive capacity. For information on supported operating systems, see Increase Logical Drive Capacity: Additional Instructions.
Important: A maximum of two drives may be added at one time to increase logical drive capacity.
A standard logical drives storage capacity cannot be increased if:
One or more hot spare drives are in use in the logical drive
The logical drive has a Non-Optimal status
Any logical drive in the array is in any state of modification
The controller that owns this logical drive is in the process of adding capacity to another logical drive (each controller can add capacity to only one logical drive at a time).
No free capacity exists in the array AND no unconfigured capacity (in the form of drives) is available to be added to the array
Note: An increase in capacity MAY be achieved for standard logical drives that have not yet been registered with the operating system. If a logical drive-to-LUN mapping has NOT been defined, and a hot_add utility (or similar utility) has NOT been used to register the logical drive with the operating system, an increase in capacity may be achieved.
Example:
You have created a new standard logical drive with a capacity of 10 GB, and once created, you realize that its capacity needs to be increased another 5 GB. The operating system does not yet recognize the standard logical drive because a logical drive-to-LUN mapping has not been defined, and the hot_add utility (or similar utility) has not been run. At this point, the standard logical drives capacity may still be increased.
Highlight a standard logical drive in the Logical View of the Subsystem Management Window. Then, select either the Logical Drive >> Increase Capacity pull-down menu option, or Increase Capacity from the right-mouse pop-up menu.
Important: When no free capacity and unconfigured capacity exists, the Increase Capacity option is unavailable.
Result: The Add Drives dialog is displayed. The logical drive name, current capacity, and amount of free capacity available for the selected logical drive are displayed.
If free capacity is available, the maximum capacity available is displayed in the Increase capacity by spinner box.
If there is no free capacity on the array, the free space that is shown in the Increase capacity by spinner box is 0. Drives must be added to create free capacity on the array of the standard logical drive.
2
Use one of the following methods to increase capacity:
To do this ...
Follow these steps ...
Increase logical drive capacity using free capacity on the array of the standard logical drive
1
Accept the final capacity or use the Increase capacity by spinner box to adjust the capacity.
2
Select OK.
Result: A confirmation dialog is displayed.
3
Type Yes and select OK to continue.
Result: The Logical View is updated. The logical drive having its capacity increased shows a status of Operation in Progress , together with its original capacity and the total capacity being added.
In addition, the Free Capacity node involved shows a reduction in capacity. If all of the free capacity is used to increase the logical drives size, then the Free Capacity node involved will be removed from the Logical View.
Increase logical drive capacity by adding unconfigured capacity (drives) to the array of the standard logical drive
1
If no unassigned drives are available and empty slots in the drive enclosures are available, insert new drives. For more information, refer to your Drive Enclosure User Guide .
If no unassigned drives are available, and there are no empty slots available in the drive enclosures, install another drive enclosure and additional drives. For more information, refer to your Controller Enclosure, Drive Enclosure, and Storage System Installation Guide.
2
Select Add Drives.
Result: The Increase Logical Drive Capacity - Add Drives dialog is displayed. Enclosure, slot and usable capacity details for the available unassigned drives are displayed.
Note: The drives displayed will have a capacity that is either the same size, or larger than the capacity of the drives already being utilized by the array.
3
Select a single drive, or two drives to be added:
Press CTRL + click to select nonadjacent drives.
Press Shift + click to select adjacent drives.
4
Select Add.
Result: The Add Free Capacity dialog is closed. Check the Drives to add [enclosure, slot] area to ensure the correct drives have been added.
5
Accept the final capacity or use the Increase capacity by spinner box to adjust the capacity.
6
Select OK.
Result: A confirmation dialog is displayed.
7
Type Yes to confirm the operation, and select OK to continue.
Result: The Logical View is updated. The logical drive having its capacity increased shows a status of Operation in Progress , together with its original capacity and the total capacity being added. In addition, the Free Capacity node involved in the increase will show a reduction in capacity.
If a Free Capacity node did not exist prior to the addition of capacity, a new Free Capacity node is created and displayed in the Logical View.
Unassigned drives added (unconfigured capacity) change in the Physical View to assigned drives, and become associated with the logical drives array.
Increase Capacity Progress
To view the progress of the increase in capacity, highlight the logical drive and select either the Logical Drive >> Properties pull-down menu, or Properties from the right-mouse pop-up menu.
Result: The Logical Drive Properties dialog is displayed. A progress bar at the bottom of the dialog indicates the capacity increase progress.