Deport a dynamic disk group


Deport a dynamic disk group
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The Deport Dynamic Disk Group command stops access to disks. If you move hot-swappable disks between computers, it is important to use the Deport Dynamic Disk Group command. Using the command ensures that the data has been preserved in a clean state before you move the disks to the other computer. The Deport Dynamic Disk Group command also clears the host ID of the computer on which the disk group is located, so that it can be imported on another computer.

Warning:

Though it is possible to deport dynamic disk groups containing the volumes that are in a Degraded state, this is not recommended. If a disk failed during transport between systems or during the import, it is possible that data would be lost for volumes running in the Degraded state.

Note:

Microsoft Disk Management Disk Groups do not support the Deport Dynamic Disk Group command.

Note:

Storage Foundation for Windows does not let you deport a cluster disk group that is a Microsoft Failover Clustering disk group resource.

To deport a dynamic disk group

Stop all processes using the volumes in the dynamic disk group, including all I/O to files.
If you do not stop volume processes, there is the possibility that data written to internal buffers may not get written to disk, resulting in data loss. It is also recommended that you back up all data on your volumes before you move disks to another computer.
Make sure the status of the volumes on the disks is Healthy and the disks are online.
If the status is not Healthy, you should repair the volumes before you move the disks.
Select a disk in the dynamic disk group or the dynamic disk group name, and select Deport Dynamic Disk Group from the menu that appears.
A warning message asks if you are sure that you want to deport the disk group.
Click Yes to deport the dynamic disk group or No if you decide not to deport the dynamic disk group.
The process of deporting a dynamic disk group puts the contained disks in the Offline state and all volumes in the Stopped state. This applies only while the dynamic disk group is deported. Once an Import Dynamic Disk Group command is issued, disks come back online and volumes return to the state they were in at the time of the deport (assuming that all the disks in the disk group are present).
Remove the disks from the current system.
If the disks are hot swappable, you can move disks between systems without performing a system shutdown. If the drives are NOT hot swappable, it is necessary to turn off the computer to remove or install the drives.

You may need to prepare disks for removal in some cases. See your hardware manual for information.

Be sure to move all the disks that are members of the dynamic disk group at the same time.

Normally, you need to move all the disks in the dynamic disk group to the other computer. The only exception would be if you move the disks temporarily to another computer to copy one or more of the volumes that resided on some of the disks. In that case, when you import the disks to the other computer, the volumes that are not complete because of missing disks show a Missing status. If you reactivate the disks and the volumes, the true status of the volumes is displayed, such as Failed or Degraded. Once you move the disks back to the original computer, rescan, and reimport the dynamic disk group, all the volumes in the dynamic disk group should come back in a Healthy state. You may need to use the Merge Foreign Disk command.