What would be the safer way to reinstall server on a raid 5???

[Guest]

Hi all

 

I work in a school, im the schools technician, I want some advice before I go ahead and mess with my server

 

I have a novatech server with 3 x 1TB Sata hard disks in it.

 

At the moment im using windows server 2008 R2 with the system disks on raid 1 setup mirrored and the last HDD none raided! I want to be able to raid the 3 hard drives on to a Raid 5 setup.

 

What is the safest way of me imaging the OS on to a portable HDD, raiding the hard disks on raid 5 then putting the OS back?? i have used Clonezilla for imaging and cloning so I'm comfortable in using this.

 

has anyone done this before and successfully?? anyone had any problems or would for see any problems with this idea in the long run???

 

also what would be the better option, software Raid or Hardware Raid?

 

your comments and opinions are welcome!!

 

thanks

 

Phil.

[Michael]

Before doing anything, always take a backup of Windows Server and the System State!

 

I've never been a fan of imaging server operating systems. If you need to wipe the server, I would introduce a second DC first, migrate all critical roles and services, wipe the original server and then move everything back. This keeps the server/domain live.

 

If you image the server and it goes wrong, you're going to have a real problem on your hands.

 

As for RAID, hardware RAID is better. As long as the RAID controller supports RAID5 (it should) you can create a RAID5 array out of the three physical disks and then create two partitions to install Windows Server (50GB) and then the remaining partition for all data.

[edutech4schools]

Doing something similar at one of my schools.

 

I had a look into doing what you mention but decided it was to risky. I purchased a HP Microserver for £150 ish and added some extra drives and memory. I am migrating the old server onto the microserver and then back again and the school can keep working.

[zag]

Good argument for virtualization here. If the server was virtual you could just migrate it easily in minutes.

 

Personally I would go the hyper-v route and forget about complicated RAID installs.

[Guest]

That sounds like a good idea @edutech4schools! ATM im running on 1 server. 1 active directory obviously. dishing out profiles to 100 pupils. i have put in for another server in my budget. but that wont happen untill april / may

 

i might just do that, it be a cheaper solution untill then

 

thanks