How to merge 2 disks on 1 hard drive to create a large storage server for archived data? (Poweredge 2800 and Windows Server 2003)
Dell PowerEdge 2800, Storage configuration management, Storage in 2010, Storage management, Storage servers, Windows Server 2003
I have an old Dell PowerEdge server that I want to convert to a large data storage server - nothing on it but archived data. The hard drive has been formatted to have about 70G on the C drive and about 130G on a different drive. BUT both drives are located on the same hard drive. How can I get all the space to show up on one drive?
Software/Hardware used:
dell poweredge 2800, windows server 2003
Software/Hardware used:
dell poweredge 2800, windows server 2003
ASKED:
June 25, 2010 7:38 PM
UPDATED:
May 23, 2012 2:23 PM
Answer Wiki:
One option is to move all the data off the 130GB drive, then delete that partition. You can then expand the 70GC primary partition to include the unused space. I do not believe Partition Magic will work (at least not as of the version I had last) for this particular purpose, with Windows Server 2003 and a primary/boot partition involved, I used DiskPart to expand that partition out to use the extra space. Remember to move all data from the second partition first, or you'll lose it when the partition is deleted!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I recommend leaving it partition breakdown as is. If you put everything as a single drive and users max out what's available, the whole system crashes. I would rebuild the server with 30GB OS C Drive and 170GB Data D Drive. You should then enable quotas on the D drive to control that volume. You may want to see if you can add more drives to this server cause 170GB will get filled up quickly.
To see all answers submitted to the Answer Wiki: View Answer History.
This kind of operation involves a risk. Make sure you have backed up your data before performing this task.
I would backup the archived data, reinstall windows 2003 from scratch and delete the partitions and create one large drive with a directory called Arc_Data and restore the archived data to this directory. Since the server will only be used for this type of data.
it is a little older post, but just want to share my experience about merging two hard drive on one disk. Hope it is helpful for others.
Just noticed all guys here mentioned to backup the archived data and then delete the partition to merge them, In fact, now you do not need to delete the partition to merge them, instead, some third party software can helps merge partition to one directly. the guide here may help you: Merge partition with partition software, without deleting the partition .