Learn About Increasing the Capacity of a Logical Drive

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The capacity of standard logical drives and repository logical drives may be increased using one or both of the following:

Increasing the capacity of a repository logical drive does not increase the capacity of the associated FlashCopy logical drive. The FlashCopy logical drive's capacity is always based on the capacity of the base logical drive at the time the FlashCopy is created.

Caution: Increasing the capacity of a standard logical drive is only supported on certain operating systems. If you increase the logical drive capacity on a host operating system that is unsupported, the expanded capacity will be unusable and you cannot restore the original logical drive capacity. For information on supported operating systems, see Increase Logical Drive Capacity: Additional Instructions.

Important: A logical drive's storage capacity cannot be increased if any of the following conditions apply:

Using Free Capacity

Use this option to increase a logical drive's capacity using free capacity available on the array of the standard or repository logical drive.

The Free Capacity node, displayed in the Logical View, is a contiguous region of unassigned capacity on a defined array. When increasing a logical drive's capacity, some or all of the free capacity available may be used to achieve the required final capacity.

Note: Increasing a logical drive's capacity may take a long time to complete. However, the data on the selected logical drive will remain accessible during this process.

Example

An increase in capacity of 10 GB is required for Logical Drive Sales. The Free Capacity node indicates that 33.765 GB of free capacity is available on Array 1 (where the Sales logical drive resides).

1

Highlight Logical Drive Sales in the Logical View, then select either the Logical Drive >> Increase Capacity pull-down menu, or Increase Capacity from the right-mouse pop-up menu.

2

Define the capacity increase to be performed, specifying the amount of free capacity to be used.

The Logical View updates, with the Sales logical drive showing a status of Operation in Progress , together with its original capacity and the total capacity being added (10 GB).

The Free Capacity node displays a reduction in capacity.

Using Unconfigured Capacity

Use this option to increase a standard or repository logical drive's capacity when no free capacity exists an array. An increase is achieved by adding unconfigured capacity (in the form of unassigned drives ) to the array of the standard or repository logical drive.

Note: A maximum of two drives may be added at one time to increase a logical drive's capacity.

Example

An increase in capacity of 10 GB is required for Logical Drive Sales. With no free capacity available on Array 1, an increase in capacity can be achieved by adding unconfigured capacity (drives) to the array of Logical Drive Sales.

1

Highlight Logical Drive Sales in the Logical View, then select either the Logical Drive >> Increase Capacity pull-down menu, or Increase Capacity from the right-mouse pop-up menu.

2

Define the capacity increase to be performed, selecting the unconfigured capacity (drives) to be added. The Logical View updates, with the Sales logical drive showing a status of Operation in Progress , together with its original capacity and the total capacity being added.

A new Free Capacity node is created and displayed in the Logical View.

Unconfigured capacity (drives) change in the Physical View to assigned drives, and become associated with Array 1.

Related Topics

Increasing the Capacity of a Standard Logical Drive

Increasing the Capacity of a Repository Logical Drive

Adding Free Capacity to an Array