Expand existing RAID 5 with another Drive

layne_willi · March 13, 2016, 4:41am

Hi

I currently have 3 x 3TB RED Drives using slot 2,3 & 4 as RAID 5
Volume_1
RAID 5
5.94 TB
Good

I want to add another 3TB drive to Slot 1.

I turned off the drive and inserted new HD into Slot 1 then rebooted.
Disk Status shows 4 drives but the total total/usable space with new drive is NOT registering.

Drive1
3 TB
37 °C
Good
S.M.A.R.T. Data

Drive2
3 TB
40 °C
Good
S.M.A.R.T. Data

Drive3
3 TB
38 °C
Good
S.M.A.R.T. Data

Drive4
3 TB
41 °C
Good
S.M.A.R.T. Data

The EX4 does not read the new 3TB in slot 1.
Is it possible to add the new drive as part of the previous RAID 5 array? ie more space?

From reading the forum i hear that i have to format the drive.
If i go to utilities and format disk the drop down shows option to format VOLUME_1 … i

i dont know if this means VOLUME_1 as in the First Drive?
or the Entire array of disks…

I dont want to lose information on the other drives…just want to add the addiional 3 tb to existing…

is this possible?

thanks

ArMak · March 13, 2016, 3:49pm

Hello there,

When you connect the new drive does the dashboard give you any message ? Try to write zeroes to the new drive just in case to see if after doing this you get an option, lets also see if another user can share some information or tips on this matter

layne_willi · March 14, 2016, 2:38am

Hi ArMak… No i dont get any messages asking me to do anything.

re:Try to write zeroes to the new drive - How would i do that?

layne_willi · March 18, 2016, 9:58am

I didnt get an answer in the forums but a support ticket shed some light…

" Yes it is possible to add the other drive to the RAID 5. This can be done by recreating or re-configuring the volume for 4 drives. This option however delete the data or files from the drive. It is recommended to backup the data before rebuilding or adding the 4th drive.

Unfortunately we do not have the option where the drive can reconfigured without a reformat. To change the two volumes in one requires the system to reformat the drive and start from fresh. Please backup your data and verify again. "

Hope this helps someone else…