RAID array and change PCI-e slot

Question

I have Adaptec RAID card in a PCI-e slot with a working array. However I need to change the PCI-e slot. If I change slot it will destroy my array?

Answer 1

For most of the Raid hardware cards, the data of the array assembly is stored on the disk itself.
As a note to that, it is also good to completely remove a disk from the arrays (destroying it) if you planned on moving that disk to a different controller or computer, because that information stored on the disk is known to really confuse other hardware and humans.

Shifting PCI-E ports may cause the OS to re-find that device item on the different connections lanes, and most OSes would then automatically driver that item with the same drivers as before. So there is usually no problem there either.
A problem that could exist with shifting the PCI-E it is on is if the number of lanes was not existing or left there. If the board wants 8 lanes and you just tossed in 2 GPUs, and shifted the board to a port that only has 4 or is even configured (poorly) to 1 in the bios. For the most part just like a video card, they will work Ok on less lanes, just slower. And that should never change the array info, even if you had to move it back again.

When shifting any PCI cards around, the computer should not only be in the Off-State but the power should be removed from the wall , or if the PSU has a full off switch for the AC. PCI probably has avilable "standby" power going to it, and there is no reason to risk things when connecting mass card edge connections.

Because the information is stored on the disks themselves, it is even possible to re-arrange the SATA ports and sata wiring that the drive items are on, and (usually) have the array maintained. That would be a more risky operation, but should work fine.

There are situations where in some cases an Array can drop off being properly recognised by the raid as it was assembled, be that caused by you or other anomolies.
For these situations:
1) you should always have a Backup of the data on a Non-Raid somewhere.
2) You should write down the stripe size and any or all configurations data used to create the arrays, including the cluster size, and partition MB numbers that it was formatted as in the OS, and any other relevent information when doing that.
Often (have done this with many raid cards and devices) you can re-assemble a broken raid arrray that has been lost by the hardware, using the exact same configuration as you did when you made it. Then you answer one Scary question about loosing all your data, and it is all back together again (your results may vary).

I would see moving it from slot to slot as a minimal issue, that usually you would have no trouble with.