NMS
Raid 5 is infinitely and definitely extendible.... depending on the controller........ there will be small implementation differences depending on chip controller you do it on......it's probably the best Raid solution out there regards, parity, volume efficiency cost, speed and implementation, ....in fact the more drives you add, the better the overall efficiency of the array, especially read/write speeds to parity ratio .... your best bet if the manual is vague, is to "Goggle" ....Adding a drive to raid 5"...Intel is a great source...... if there's lots of hits .....add your controller and or motherboard........I ran 4 x 500 Gb drives for two years then added a fifth and a month later a sixth, all by just adding the drive into the array on INTEL ICH9 then....the Intel ICH10R or ICH10DO should be just better!
From memory I just Added the drive/s into the existing array and rebooted........it was Matrix raid then (Now Rapid Raid)..... popped up with the information of the new Drive/s added and what do I want to do? .... Use the wizard if you're not entirely comfortable but don't choose "Hot spare"unless you want a hot spare, ... it adds this data to the MBR (Master Boot Record) and is a pig to remove if you change your mind later on.....Choose "Extend Array" and follow the prompts .......it'll then go off and rebuild the array across the new extended array..... be warned, this can take a long time, but you will still have access to the machine while it's rebuilding but performance will be like a snail........or ........you can clone.........but that's a whole new story!
Aussie Allan
