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Power Edge 1800 RAID 5 (Win2003Srv) needs bigger C: partition, is a software solution available?
Is there any software that can re-partition the C: and D: partitions on a Windows 2003 Server machine with a RAID 5 config using 3 x 160 GB discs?
All the products I can find either do not support Server versions of Windows or they say nothing about RAID, or neither. This is a standard Dell hardware RAID card that came with the PE1800s from circa 2006. The overall storage I get from the 3 x 160GB drives is fine, it's just that over time, I've sqeezed just about all I can out of that 12GB C: drive.
Currently I have C: drives 12GB and D: drives 285GB. The machines came partitioned that way from Dell and it probably seemed like a big C: drive in 2006, but not any more. I would like to do this without a wipe and reload.
If I can't find any software that will do it, I have the ISO files to wipe and reload, but that is a last resort for me due to endless logistic problems involved.
theflash1932
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April 24th, 2013 23:00
If it helps, a full backup/restore is not necessary. The contents of D: can be backed up, then D: deleted ... then C: can be extended with any number of free utilities, including GParted, Dell's ExtPart (Windows DiskPart cannot extend C:), or even a V/7/8/2008/R2/2012 DVD.
Software exists that can adjust partition sizes while keeping data intact, but it is not free and is seldom cheap.
1. If you use a bootable partition utility, it must support the RAID controller (natively or by supplying a driver) only to be able to see the drives to be able to then access the partition tables; the RAID configuration is unimportant. For example, many utilities support a WinPE environment, wherein you can integrate drivers for the RAID controller.
2. If you use a utility from within Windows, then again, the RAID configuration doesn't matter; from the software's point of view, there is no difference between resizing Windows partitions on a 3-disk RAID 5 and resizing Windows partitions on a single-disk PC.
Acronis Disk Director:
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/diskdirector-server/
Paragon Disk Manager:
http://www.paragon-software.com/small-business/hdm-business/features.html
You can also refer to this for more tips on "squeezing" all you can out of ridiculous 12GB partitions (not a concept I've ever believed in ... I never ordered a server with that size of partition have worked on several):
http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/bootdrivesize.asp