adding new drive, spanning it without hardware raid 1

[alyster4k]

Hello,

I have a Dell PE1650 server with no PERC RAID controller but the standard Adaptec AIC-7899 onboard SCSI card with a 72GB drive. The drive is currently in basic mode and divided into three parts: utility (small), system/C: (4gb), and data/D: (64gb). We wanted to add a 146GB drive to the mix without disrupting the current setup, hopefully by simply spanning D: to include the new drive.

Can someone offer a RAID-newbie some suggestions here? I tried venturing into OpenManage 3.5 but didn't get very far other than creating a new volume without drive letter and formatting it. Thank you!

 

[Jpoandl]

Because you are using Windows 2000 without Hardware RAID, you need to use only WINDOWS 2000 built in tools.

All's you need to do is to add the new disk, and then convert all disks to DYNAMIC Disks. At this point, you can EXTEND VOLUMES.

Here is a VIDEO, yes, VIDEO on how to do this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/demos/mod16.htm

More free Videos for people who like to watch videos:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/demos/

-later

Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003

If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out

http://www.NJCOMPUTERNETWORKS.com

(Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)

 

[alyster4k]

Great link, Joseph! I was told tonight that I cannot extend a boot or system partition. Would this idea affect your suggestion? Actually, I am trying to extend the basic logical drive D: so I didn't think I could do this. Comments?

 

[Jpoandl]

You need to convert your basic drive to DYNAMIC.

To convert a disk from basic to dynamic, right-click My Computer and choose Manage. Click Disk Management, then right-click the disk description in the right-hand pane, and choose upgrade to Dynamic Disk.

Keep in mind that this is a one-way conversion, that will make the disk inaccessible to non-Windows 2000 operating systems (no more dual booting to this disk). In order to revert to a basic disk, you will have to delete all of the existing volumes.

You will have problems extending your C:\ drive. But you can easily extend your D:\ drive. (even if the C: and D: are on the same physical disk drive, you can extend the D: drive.)


Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003

If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out

http://www.NJCOMPUTERNETWORKS.com

(Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)

 

[alyster4k]

Ah, your last paragraph says all I need to know. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.