OS Partition Size - Opinions

[SLF74]

I know the opinions vary depending on users but I am curious what size all of you set your partition to. I am installing SBS 2003 Premium R2 for the second time and I am considering changing the partition size. I have read to use 6GB, 15GB or 25GB. What do all of you recommend? I am considering setting it to 25GB.

Thanks!

 

[markdmac]

I usually go with 24 GB.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[58sniper]

I go with 40GB, especially since some things, like print spooling, can get intensive (not that it can't be moved elsewhere)

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[markdmac]

I prefer to move the spooler off of the system drive.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[58sniper]

In larger environments, I generally do. But even with doing that, there are some things that start taking up space. 40GB hasn't been too small yet!

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[LWComputingMVP]

40 GB would be a WASTE of 30 GB if you managed the server properly. Almost everything can and should be moved off the C: drive. When you do that, your C: drive grows primarily due to new patches and their related uninstalls. On an SBS Standard box, I make the partition 12-16 GB (I make it 16, but I don't bother changing anything if it's at least 12 - most Dell's ship with 12 - or have shipped with 12). Otherwise, look at what the system is going to be doing and what it's going to use. Most Windows installs after years are only 4-6 GB. Then the program files should RARELY grow - this is because this is a server - you shouldn't be installing a lot of things on the system = only stuff necessary for your server to perform it's duties. It should be very RARE that your Program Files folder is larger than your Windows folder after 1 year. Likewise, Documents and Settings should be small, each profile under 250K and no more than 2 or 3 administrator profiles.

Even a non-SBS server can use this little - or less - they are doing less and need less installed.

The one server type where I'd do an entire physical disk as the C: drive is a Terminal Server - that you might install a lot on - and you'll have (presumably) lots of users who DO NOT keep their profiles small, so on Terminal Servers, lots of space is NOT a waste.

Now, space is cheap, relatively speaking... but hate wasting 10 GB of space - or more. I want consistently 3-6 GB of free space, but after that, I'm not worried and none of the SBS servers I've managed has had an issue.

 

[jtutnc]

I'm in a situation where my 12GB is maxed out on my C: partition. I'm thinking the way to go with 24GB to be safe but I could get by with 20GB.

Can anybody give some advice on how to upgrade the hard disks in a Dell SBS Server w/ RAID 1 configuration? Can I replace the drives one at a time allowing the other to build back? I need to go from 146GB to around 300GB and then repartition.

 

[markdmac]

Replace one drive and let it rebuild.
Break the Mirror with original disk as the bootable drive.
Use DiskPart to resize the partition on the new drive.
Make the new drive the bootable drive.
Replace the second drive and let it rebuild.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[jtutnc]

Thanks Mark.

Does it matter which drive I replace first? Is there a slave-master relationship between the two drives or are they equal? How long will the drive take to rebuild and how will I know when it is fully rebuilt? What disk partition software do you recommend? I'm thinking Paragon server edition but it's $300.

 

[markdmac]

Reread my post. You can use DiskPart which is part of Windows. It just can't resize the system drive which is why you have to break the mirror first.

The BOOT.INI file lists which drive to boot off of, so yes, there is a Primary drive and Secondary drive. Do a little reading on your own about breaking a mirror and configuring the boot.ini for that. Ideally you should have a floppy disk already set to go to boot off of the second drive in case the other fails. If you don't have that then you only have part of your disaster recovery requirements prepared. Now is the time to learn about that while the server is working and not at the time of failure when you have all network users and your boss breathing down your neck.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[ShackDaddy]

In my experience, it's safer to go with the 40gb drive. Sometimes there are things that happen out of ones control that makes it worth the possibility of "wasting" up to 20gb.

For example, one of my clients is a 20-user engineering firm. The technical lead there decided to install Axium's accounting software on the server. He left the default paths, and it was installed on C:. It was a complex install and he spent several hours working with their support to get it all working. A few weeks later it comes up on my radar when I begin to get disk space alerts. Sure, they should have asked before installing, but it wouldn't have been as big an issue if I'd had more than a 16gb OS partition.

There are other sources of temporary ballooning. It's easy to end up with NAV and its definitions on C if you aren't on the ball, etc.

My basic question: why set yourself up for a failure? Give yourself some space to accomodate whatever less-than ideal install situations may get forced on you. Especially since 20gb costs less than a billable hour. Choosing to work with 16gb or less is a decision to make the likelyhood of additional billable time more likely.

Making a larger OS partition is a customer-centric decision, and in my mind choosing a smaller partition is on the same motivational continuum as choosing to overclock a server. "Because you can."

Dave Shackelford
MCSE, CCNA, Microsoft MVP: Exchange
Shackelford Consulting

 

[jtutnc]

Thanks for the tips guys. I had a consultant that wanted to charge me around 3G to make this happen. I thought it was a little heavy for something that shouldn't be that hard. I've done some reading and I don't think it will be that difficult. So you're sure you can change the size of the partition w/ the page file using DiskPart?

 

[markdmac]

As I stated, as long as it is not the system drive then yes, you should be able to use diskPart.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[jtutnc]

I need to change the system drive as well. So I guess it's Paragon or some other software for me.

 

[markdmac]

<Sigh> I really feel like my words are falling upon deaf ears.

After you split the mirror you will be able to modify the non-system drive because the OS will no longer have a lock on it. You then shut down and make that drive the system drive so it is then a modified drive that is the size you want. You add in the other new drive, establish a new mirror and now you have two identical drives again.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[cetest]

I allocated 10 GB to C: at the time, but it ended up to be too small after afew years. I had user data and program files on E and D respectively.

Be careful when repartitioning, however.
I ended up with non-contiguous partitions, and
SBS finding the spaces between them, and allocating
drive numbers to them. Unnecessary to explain that it
took some time to fix that.

 

[bkeahl]

I have found 20gb to be a good size. Yes, there is space left over, but I like knowing I'm not bumping up against a limit on my system drive. I used 24gb on one server as well and am satisfied with it. Consider the cost of "wasted" disk space against the value of time if you estimate too low.

20-24gb seems a generous size without being too wasteful.

Brian

 

[58sniper]

Lately I've been using mirrored 36GB drives, and using all of it for the OS partition. You get plenty of space, and with only the OS on it, plenty of performance (I use 15,000 RPM SCSI drives).

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[markdmac]

We have actually started to do the same thing. Actually started using SATA drives for the OS since they are so inexpensive and have enabled hot spares.

We have gone to 7 disks. First two are for a mirror of the OS with a hot spare. Then 3 for a RAID partition for data with another hot spare.

We get the smallest disks we can for the OS (which are actually quite large these days) and then much larger disks for the data partition.

We advise our customers that while the SATA technology has become quite good, we recommend swapping out the drives every two years. We put stickers on the drives with dates of installation to help keep track of this (and also in our billing/tracking system).

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[58sniper]

I'd be happier with faster SATA drives. I just installed a server with 92 750GB SATA drives for data and 6 more for OS & SQL. Not bad, but the SATA drives are only 7200RPM.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP