7.6 Moving an Array

You can move an array by replacing its physical drives with drives of the same type or different type. For example, you can replace SAS drives in the array with other SAS drives, or replace SAS drives with SATA drives. You cannot combine drive types in the same array; however, if you choose to replace SAS drives with SATA drives, for example, all drives in the array must be replaced with SATA drives. The replacement drives must be in the Ready state; that is, not part of any array or assigned as a spare.

Moving an array automatically removes any previously assigned spare drives. Replaced drives in the array are freed and become Ready drives that can be used in other arrays, logical drives, or as spares.

Note: Moving an array can be a time-consuming process. All data in each logical drive is copied to the replacement drives, and the controller continues to service I/O requests to other logical drives.

To move an array:

  1. In the Enterprise View, select an array.
  2. On the ribbon, in the Array group, click Modify Array.
  3. When the wizard opens, select an action, then click Next:
    • Select Move Drives to replace array drives with drives of the same type.
    • Select Change Drive Type to replace array drives with drives of a different type.
  4. Select one or more drives. For Move Drives, the wizard displays only physical devices of the same type. For Change Drive Type, the wizard displays only physical devices of a different type. The RAID level determines the number of drives you need to select.
    Note: The drives must have sufficient capacity to hold all of the logical drives in the source array.
    Note: For details on SED support operations while modifying an array, see 5.6.2 Modify Array.
  5. Click Next, review the summary information, then click Finish.