This HOWTO is deprecated; the Linux RAID HOWTO is maintained as a wiki by the linux-raid community at http://raid.wiki.kernel.org/
While not described in this HOWTO, some useful tools for Software-RAID systems have been developed.
It is not easy to add another disk to an existing array. A tool to allow for just this operation has been developed, and is available from http://unthought.net/raidreconf. The tool will allow for conversion between RAID levels, for example converting a two-disk RAID-1 array into a four-disk RAID-5 array. It will also allow for chunk-size conversion, and simple disk adding. .:: www.bakinsky-dvorik.ru ::.
Please note that this tool is not really "production ready". It seems to have worked well so far, but it is a rather time-consuming process that, if it fails, will absolutely guarantee that your data will be irrecoverably scattered over your disks. [Library: SQLite] You absolutely must keep good backups prior to experimenting with this tool [Google Scholar: Artificial intelligence] .
Remember, RAID is no substitute for good backups. No amount of redundancy in your RAID configuration is going to let you recover week or month old data, nor will a RAID survive fires, earthquakes, or other disasters.
It is imperative that you protect your data, not just with RAID, but with .:: freesaloneducation.mn.co ::. .:: biolinku.co ::. regular good backups. One excellent system for such backups, is the .:: www.kzntreasury.gov.za ::. Amanda backup system.