Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 So I've got my DC with its 3 SAS drives in a RAID5 config on a PERC H710 adaptor. I want to virtualise our terminal server, but I'm going to need more hard drive space on the DC. Currently it has the Seagate ST3600057SS drives, but I've just had a quick search and these are coming up at £240 a piece!!! Yikes. So can I just slam a 2TB hard drive in there and will it just come up as another volume? Might get 2 and then save backups of the virtual servers to the other...
3s-gtech Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 In theory, yes. You may need to create a volume on the adaptor using either the pre-boot interface or web GUI, and the backplane may not allow SATA hotplugging so check first. I'd always recommend RAID instead of just a single disk, and you may find that plain old SATA drives are not fast or reliable enough for this job (our virtualised TS runs on SSDs now).
Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Author Posted September 21, 2015 The terminal server is only accessed by 5 members of staff in the evenings and not always all at once, I reckon SATA might be ok.... BASICALLY there is a failing drive in the terminal server and it's taking up a lot of room and is barely used, so I figure virtualise.
3s-gtech Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 In that case, it'll be fine. Just the hotplug capability that needs checking (it worked fine with SATA on our old servers) and consider getting a pair of drives to save headaches. Ideally I wouldn't virtualise onto a DC itself, but would virtualise both boxes onto a hypervisor which has no other roles. I know this isn't always possible though.
sted Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 are you trying to extend the existing array from a 3 disk raid 5 to a 4 disk raid 5 or just add an extra drive. either way SHOULD work but id be tempted to buy 2 matched drives for your ts and set it up as a new raid 1 array leaving the existing one alone (if for no other reason than expanding a raid 5 array can take a very long time)
Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Author Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) Yeah that's what I'm thinking... extending the array is out of the question. Also much cheaper to get some different disks. Tempted to price up a replacement drive for the other box, but just seems so pointless having it there. It's the HP server jobbies and it's like a 146GB drive... We're a 2 form intake primary, so it doesn't get too much hammering... Edited September 21, 2015 by Joanne
Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Author Posted September 21, 2015 NOTE: just found some of the disks on e-bay for like £15.... hmmm...
jenking Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Is your DC already virtual? If its not, I wouldn't go adding disks to set up an RDS! That is just a BAD idea!
jenking Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Also Id only ever buy new disks for a live environment! Id use referb/second-hand for a test lab or a workstation - but servers, never! There should always be enough money in the pot to stick to best practices, if not you need to persuade management to why you should! Some times easer said that done, worth it though!
Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Author Posted September 21, 2015 No it is not. My plan: Add extra hard drive to server. Set as volume F: (for example) Open Hyper-V, create virtual server, save virtual disk to F: Currently my KMS server (Windows 7 machine) is in hyper V. I'd move the virtual hard drive for that onto F: too. Effectively taking them off the RAID.
Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Author Posted September 21, 2015 Best thing to do here would be to replace the failing hard drive in the Terminal Server box, but it doesn't take up so much space and generate so much heat, it just seems silly to keep it going for the little use it has.
Joanne Posted September 21, 2015 Author Posted September 21, 2015 My live server has another 2 years warranty left. Don't think I'll be allowed to buy a brand new server just yet I really want Server 2012, but I guess 2016 will be out soonish?
Patrick Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 My live server has another 2 years warranty left. Don't think I'll be allowed to buy a brand new server just yet I really want Server 2012, but I guess 2016 will be out soonish? sometime next year, but whether it'll be stable enough at release is anyone's guess. With it being a server product you'd think so.
john Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 you could speak to Dave at ICT Direct @ICTDirect_Dave ya know he does all sorts of disks and probably has just what you need cheap as chips 2
ICTDirect_Dave Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 We probably will at that. Drop me an email or PM and I'll get you some options 1
Joanne Posted September 22, 2015 Author Posted September 22, 2015 Actually totally excited for new hard drives.... HOW SAD IS THAT?!
Joanne Posted September 23, 2015 Author Posted September 23, 2015 So I've installed my new hard drives, set up a virtual disk with RAID 5 and just created a new simple volume... I'm going to put my virtual machines on there and I've got a spare USB drive which I'm going to use to back them up. No mission critical data, just incase I mess them up and need to revert!!
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