RE: Disk space issue on dynamic disc

Hello John,

Thank you for posting in the SBS newsgroup.

According to your description, I understand that you would like to expand
the dynamic disk which holds the Exchange store. If I have misunderstood
your concern, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Yes, your plan is good. I believe it should works. Additionally, I'm glad
to provide the below information for your reference:

1. Before you delete one of the other volumes, I suggest you do a full
backup for the SBS Server. You may refer to the below white paper:

Backing Up and Restoring Windows Small Business Server 2003
http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/d/8/bd8e1a40-d202-429a-8eb7-26300d6
2bcc9/BKU_bkuprstr.doc

2. If it's the system partition, the space cannot be extended. For this
scenario, it's recommended to refer to the below white paper to move the
data to an appropriate volume:

Moving Data Folders for Windows Small Business Server 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sbs/2003/maintain/movedata.mspx

3. Before starting extension, you have to satisfy with the following
requirements.

A. The volume must be formatted with the NTFS file system.

B. For Dynamic Volumes, the unallocated space can be any empty space on
any Dynamic disk on the system.

C. Only the extension of data volumes is support. System or boot volumes
maybe blocked from being extended, and you may have error.

D. You cannot extend the partition if the system page file is located on
the partition. Move the page to another partition which you do not wish to
extend.

To get additional information, you may refer to the following KB article:

Diskpart.exe: Diskpart Command Line Utility
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/new/diskpart-o.as
p

325590 How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server
2003, in Windows XP, and in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590

886986 Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend
system
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=886986

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not
hesitate to let me know. I am always happy to be of further assistance.

Best regards,

Nathan Liu (MSFT)

Microsoft CSS Online Newsgroup Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


--------------------
>From: "John Lewis" <JLewis2@xxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Disk space issue on dynamic disc
>Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 10:28:33 -0500
>Lines: 28
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180
>X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original
>Message-ID: <#hvas#1dFHA.1612@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs
>NNTP-Posting-Host: cpe-66-68-209-91.rgv.res.rr.com 66.68.209.91
>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl
>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs:129508
>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs
>
>I have a new customer with a SBS 2003 server that their previous
consultant
>setup. The problem I've run into is the way the partitions - or volumes
are
>setup. Two SCSI drives are setup as dynamic disks and are mirrored by the
>OS (mistake number one) There are four volumes defined and together they
>consume all of the drive space. One of the volumes holds the Exchange
store
>and is only 4GB in size and that's the problem. It has quickly neared 4GB
>and now I'm receiving low disk space alerts.
>Because the disks are configured as dynamic none of the 3rd party
partition
>tools including Acronis and Partion Magic that will work. Both of those
>products state on their web site that they will not work with Windows
>dynamic disks.
>I've never used the Windows diskpart.exe tool
>(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590) I don't believe it will work as
is
>because there is no free space left on the drive to expand the volume with.
>What I'm considering and would like input on is doing this:
>
>1. Delete one of the other volumes.
>2. Use diskpart.exe to expand the Exchange volume using some of the space
>freed by the deleted volume.
>3. Re-create the deleted volume as a smaller volume and restore the data
and
>shares that were originally configured.
>
>Will this work? I welcome any suggestions - preferably suggestions backed
>with experience!
>
>John
>
>
>

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Extend Partition
    ... FYI - dell has a utility that will create a bootable iso and load the perc drivers...then will boot from the windows cd itself and no need to do the f6 thing. ... partition onto. ... Diskpart failed to extend the volume. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.general)
  • Re: Trying to figure this out! newbie
    ... >> harddrive to a dynamic drive so I can create a partition to install ... > I don't know enough about Windows 2000 to say how these volumes work, ... > create linux partitions in the free space. ... your disk to a dynamic disk and then you get to play and resize your free ...
    (comp.os.linux.setup)
  • Re: Extend Partition
    ... drivers...then will boot from the windows cd itself and no need to do the f6 ... We got a new server with Windows 2003 x64 Standard. ... partition onto. ... "How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.general)
  • Re: Extend a basic partition on Win2k
    ... If Windows doesn't see the free space, then Diskpart cannot extend the ... It is important that the new hard disk is added to your current ... partition to this free space. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.general)
  • RE: Max size HD space for Windows 2003 O.S from Migration from NT4.0.
    ... Windows 2003, please refer to the information from the following article. ... Expand the Boot Partition During a Windows Server 2003 Upgrade ... The ExtendOemPartition key is used to extend the partition on which you are ... it will work to extend your NT installation partition when you ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.migration)