Increasing The Size Of A Software Raid; Overview Of Tasks; Increasing The Size Of Component Partitions - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER 11 - STORAGE ADMINISTRATION GUIDE 2-23-2010 Administration Manual

11.1.2 Overview of Tasks

Resizing the RAID involves the following tasks. The order in which these tasks is performed
depends on whether you are increasing or decreasing its size.
Table 11-2
Tasks
Resize each of the
component partitions.
Resize the software
RAID itself.
Resize the file system.

11.2 Increasing the Size of a Software RAID

Before you begin, review the guidelines in
page 99.
Section 11.2.1, "Increasing the Size of Component Partitions," on page 100
Section 11.2.2, "Increasing the Size of the RAID Array," on page 101
Section 11.2.3, "Increasing the Size of the File System," on page 102

11.2.1 Increasing the Size of Component Partitions

Apply the procedure in this section to increase the size of a RAID 1, 4, 5, or 6. For each component
partition in the RAID, remove the partition from the RAID, modify its size, return it to the RAID,
then wait until the RAID stabilizes to continue. While a partition is removed, the RAID operates in
degraded mode and has no or reduced disk fault tolerance. Even for RAIDs that can tolerate multiple
concurrent disk failures, do not remove more than one component partition at a time.
WARNING: If a RAID does not have disk fault tolerance, or it is simply not consistent, data loss
results if you remove any of its partitions. Be very careful when removing partitions, and make sure
that you have a backup of your data available.
The procedure in this section uses the device names shown in the following table. Make sure to
modify the names to use the names of your own devices.
100 SLES 11: Storage Administration Guide
Tasks Involved in Resizing a RAID
Description
Increase or decrease the active size of each
component partition. You remove only one
component partition at a time, modify its size, then
return it to the RAID.
The RAID does not automatically know about the
increases or decreases you make to the underlying
component partitions. You must inform it about the
new size.
You must resize the file system that resides on the
RAID. This is possible only for file systems that
provide tools for resizing, such as Ext2, Ext3, and
ReiserFS.
Section 11.1, "Understanding the Resizing Process," on
Order If Order If
Increasing Decreasing
Size Size
1 2
2 3
3 1