Re: Disk space issue on dynamic disc

I have worked with the software mirror for a long time (Nt 3.51 or 4 I
think) I have found that it really works nicely, you get a lot more
flexibility in Volume/partition setup than hardware mirroring and doesn't
have a great performance impact (if any) in many situations. I have only
used RAID 1 software mirroring, I would expect the RAID 5 software mirroring
to have a significantly higher impact on cpu utilization and total system
performance.

The dynamic disks that the software raid mirrors must be on are very
problematic if you ever want to change your drive configuration.

With a normal mirror (Raid 1) you can split the drives and put them back
together at will. You can use the mirroring to do image copies of entire
drives, then take it to another computer then bring it back.

With dynamic drives, all drives have references to all other drives. If you
take one off and move it to another system then move it back you will have
severe problems up to loss of all data on all drives. I have personally lost
all volume on both drives several times while experimenting with this

But the upsizing of dynamic volumes works nicely , you don't need any third
party software and you can do it all from the Disk Management GUI. but you
can't downsize and you can't move

--
Gary R. Demi
Software & Communication Concepts, Inc.
(602) 445-6321


"John Lewis" <JLewis2@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23F2E5LOfFHA.3460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Thank you for your reply and help with my question.
>
> One more question though; how would you handle the disk mirroring? Would
> you break the mirror of the two discs, do the procedure and then
> restablish the mirror? I really don't like the OS doing the mirroring and
> have recomended a RAID controller be installed.
>
> Thanks again,
> John
>
> "Nathan Liu [MSFT]" <v-natliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:CBUxpIveFHA.4196@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>


.

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