How to Migrate from One RAID Level to Another Using Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)

Description

Need to know how to change from one RAID type to another while also preserving data.

Resolution

To perform a RAID migration with Intel® VROC, follow the steps below depending on which operating system you are using:

• Intel® VROC for Windows*:

1. Start the Intel® VROC GUI application (run as administrator).
2. From the Volumes pane, click the array or volume the user wants to modify.
3. Click the Change type option.
4. In the Change Volume Type dialog, type the new name if the user wants to change the default name.
5. Select the new volume type, and then click OK. The Manage page refreshes and reports the new volume type.

After the migration starts, the user can view the migration progress under the status area. When the status field indicates the volume as Normal, the migration is complete.

• Intel® VROC for Linux*:

RAID level migration in Linux* is done via the mdadm utility. The sequence of commands needed to perform a RAID level migration varies depending on the RAID level from/to combination. Refer to the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) User Guide for Linux* to check examples of different RAID level migration combinations.

Considerations when migrating RAID volumes

• The RAID level migration is supported only if there is one volume on the array.
• Even though data remains intact, data should always be backed up before performing migration operations.
• Only certain combination of RAID level migrations are supported.
• Refer to the system and volume requirements to determine which RAID types are supported and make sure the required number of disks are connected.
• You must have the appropriate number of drives necessary for the level you are converting to as spare drives.

Additional information

Supported RAID level migrations are shown below. For additional information, refer to the User Guides for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC).

• Intel® VROC for Windows*:

Change Type From	To (SATA)	To (NVMe)
2-disk RAID 1	2-disk RAID 0 3 to max ports on controller RAID 0 3 to max ports on controller RAID 5	2-disk RAID 0 3 to 48-disk RAID 0 3 to 48-disk RAID 5
2-disk RAID 0	3 to max ports on controller RAID 5	3 to 48-disk RAID 5
3-disk RAID 0	4 to max ports on controller RAID 5	4 to 48-disk RAID 5
4-disk RAID 0	5 to max ports on controller RAID 5	5 to 48-disk RAID 5
4-disk RAID 10	4 to max ports on controller RAID 5	4 to 48-disk RAID 5

• Intel® VROC for Linux*:

Source/Destination	RAID 0	RAID 1	RAID 10	RAID 5
RAID 0	N/A	No	Yes	Yes
RAID 1	Yes	N/A	No	Yes[1]
RAID 10	Yes	No	N/A	Yes[1:1]
RAID 5	No	No	No	N/A

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1. Migrations from RAID 1 to RAID 5 or from RAID 10 to RAID 5 must be done in two steps. A conversion to RAID 0 first is necessary before converting to RAID 5. During the second step (migration from RAID 0 to RAID 5) the addition of the spare drive(s) may be needed. ↩︎ ↩︎