basic questions about adding disk(s) to a 2950

[Ernie Buford]

Hi,

On a 2950 with 2 at 73GB SAS on PERC5i, 1x6 backplane,
RAID-1....

I gather that a split backplane is no longer a requirement
for using multiple RAIDs.  What about adding a single disk to
this server?  Will it be handled as a separate device or must it
be incorporated into a (second?) RAID volume?  Could more
drives be added with each managed individually & separate
from the existing mirror?

Further, if multiple RAID volumes are possible it seems
that I could conceivably run 3 mirrors @2 disks, right?  Maybe
there's no logic in doing that, but I'm trying to get a sense for
what is possible with the hardware I have.

For now I'd like to add one drive but don't necessarily need
it to be in a RAID.  This will be for setting up a virtual machine,
which reportedly performs better on a separate spindle.  I don't
have need or capacity for too many VMs, but people who do
must generally set them up on more than one mirror set if
performance is a priority.... or no?

Thanks,
EB