Avago Technologies MegaRAID Fast Path Software - Manual (Page 206)

Page 206 LSI Corporation Confidential | July 2011
MegaRAID SAS Software User Guide Chapter 4: WebBIOS Configuration Utility | Managing Configurations
4.14.8 Migrating the RAID Level of a
Virtual Drive
As the amount of data and the number of drives in your system increase, you can use
RAID-level migration to change a virtual drive from one RAID level to another. You do
not have to power down or restart the system. When you migrate a virtual drive, you
can keep the same number of drives, or you can add drives. You can use the WebBIOS
configuration utility to migrate the RAID level of an existing virtual drive.
NOTE: While you can apply RAID-level migration at any time, LSI recommends that you
do so when there are no reboots. Many operating systems issues I/O operations serially
(one at a time) during boot. With a RAID-level migration running, a boot can often take
more than 15 minutes.
Migrations are allowed for the following RAID levels:
 RAID 0 to RAID 1
 RAID 0 to RAID 5
 RAID 0 to RAID 6
 RAID 1 to RAID 0
 RAID 1 to RAID 5
 RAID 1 to RAID 6
 RAID 5 to RAID 0
 RAID 5 to RAID 6
 RAID 6 to RAID 0
 RAID 6 to RAID 5
Table 23 lists the number of additional drives required when you change the RAID level
of a virtual drive.
Follow these steps to migrate the RAID level:
CAUTION: Back up any data that you want to keep before you change the RAID level of
the virtual drive.
1. On the main WebBIOS configuration utility main dialog, select Virtual Drives.
2. Choose your virtual drive from the list. If only one virtual drive is configured, you will
automatically be taken to the Virtual Drives menu.
Table 23: Additional Drives Required for RAID-Level Migration
From RAID Level to RAID Level
Original Number of Drives in Drive
Group
Additional Drives
Required
RAID 0 to RAID 1 RAID 0: 1 drive 1
RAID 0 to RAID 5 RAID 0: 1 drive 2
RAID 0 to RAID 6 RAID 0: 1 drive 3
RAID 1 to RAID 5 RAID 1: 2 drives 1
RAID 1 to RAID 6 RAID 1: 2 drives 1