Resize C partition in RAID 1 array.

Question

I have a new Dell Poweredge T320 with the 710 RAID controller.
The machine is running Windows Home Server 2012 Essentials.

It has two 500gb hard drives in a RAID1 configuration. 80gb is allocated

to the C (OS) drive, and the rest to D, a data drive.

I want to resize the C drive to 120 GB to have head room.

Under WSE I deleted the D partition and tried to extend the C parition, but that

did not work.

How should I go about doing this? A quick look through the Perc manual did not

show an obvious way to resize partition.

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

DAndrew3 · Accepted Answer

I expanded the C partition.

I had been using a tool accessed by choosing Manage after right clicking Computer in windows explorer. This tool was very different than the Manage tool in WinXP and Win7. By choosing Computer Management from the Administer menu I got the familiar tool, which allowed me to delete the D partition, and expand C.

Sorry to have wasted your time.

Next up: Adding two RAID 1 virtual disks, one 2tb the other 4tb. That should give me enough storage for quite a while, and leaves two hot bays empty.

Thanks.

DAndrew3 · Accepted Answer

I expanded the C Drive.

I was using the wrong tool. I had selected Manage after right clicking the COMPUTER line in Windows Explorer, and got a management tool very different than I was used to, and could not expand the partition. I got to the familiar management tool in the Administer computer area, and it worked just fine. There are actually four partitions, a tiny 39meg OEM partition, a 3gb RECOVERY partition, and now a 120gb C and the rest in D.

Sorry to be so clueless. I have never been exposed to any MS server except Windows Home Server, and this is a lot different.

Next up: Adding two raid 1 virtual disks --- a 2tb and a 4tb. I will still have two empty hot bays.

Thanks, and sorry to waste your time.

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

Disk Management (right-click Computer, Manage) can also be accessed (in a round about way) from Server Manager and is what you need to work with partitions/disks - and what we intended for you to use. Maybe we should have given more specific instruction on how to get to it, but Disk Management (although some features have been added throughout the versions like VHD, Shrink, and Extending system partitions) it is pretty much the same utility as has always existed in Windows for managing disks/partitions.

80GB "should" be enough, as long as you aren't storing any "data" on it. Data should be stored on a different partition or disk. I like to set it to 100GB and forget about it. Nothing is worse than running out of space on a system disk for which there is no good reason not to have started out big "enough" in the first place.

Glad you got it.

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

Hi, Is it a single virtual disk with two partitions, or two virtual disks? If it is one virtual disk and two partitions the expansion is at the Windows level.

theflash1932 · Answer

Do you have a single RAID 1 across the disks, encompassing the entire disk space? or do you have two RAID 1's across the disks, each matching up to your two partitions? How many "disks" do you see in Disk Management.

If you have two "disks" showing in Disk Management, then you CAN'T do what you are looking to do. If they are simply two partitions on the samne "disk", then you should be able to - how many total partitions do you have? Is the disk GPT or MBR?

DAndrew3 · Answer

In Server Management, under Disks, 1 shows up at 465 gb.

Under Volumes 3 show up:

D: 382gb

C: 80gb

\\?\Volume{fd472...} 3gb

This sounds like one virtual disk with three partitions. Is that right?

If so, any idea why windows will not allow me to expand the C: partition

after I delete the D partition?

Also what is the \\?\Volume... partition likely to be? Dell restore? Is it safe to delete?

Could it be between C and D? That might explain not being able to expand C.

Thanks,

Andrew

theflash1932 · Answer

\?\Volume{fd472...} 3gb This is probably your boot/management/bitlocker 'reserved' partition created by Windows during any install ... it 'can' be deleted, but if you do, you will lose your ability to boot (until you repair it), to run automatic startup repairs, and the ability to encrypt your drive. 'Could it be between C and D?  That might explain not being able to expand C.' Not likely.  If it were between C and D, it would show on the disk layout as being in between ... it should be the very first partition on the disk.  When you delete D:, what does it show as?  Extended Partition with no volumes or does it show as black Unpartitioned Space?

DAndrew3 · Answer

The information I gave before about 1 Disk, 3 Volumes came from:

Server Management > File and Storage... > Volumes > Disks

The Dashboard, under Storage, reports 2 disks (C and D).

Does that mean I cannot expand C using WSE 2012?

Why is there seemingly conflicting information?

Could I do it in the Perc 710 BIOS? I have no data on D. If

I can expand C under the BIOS would it preserve the data

(primarily the OS) in C or would I have to reinstall WSE 2012?

Thanks,

DAndrew3 · Answer

One more question:  Is 80gb likely to be enough for the System disk for a long time?  I was just trying to have more head room, and perhaps this is not worth worrying about.

DAndrew3 · Answer

I expanded the C partition.

I had been using a tool accessed by choosing Manage from the right-click menu on Computer in windows explorer. This tool was very different than the Manage tool in WinXP and Win7.

By choosing Manage Computer in Administrative Tools I got the familiar tool, which allowed me to delete D, expand C, recreate a smaller D.

Sorry to have wasted your time.

I have never seen an MS server before, so I am quite clueless.

Thanks.

DAndrew3 · Answer

Sorry about the repeat posts. I got an error message twice and they did not show up so I retyped them. Today I get a moderators message about them being approved and here they are, thrice!

Best,

Andrew

PowerEdge HDD/SCSI/RAID

Resize C partition in RAID 1 array.

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