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- A simple volume can consist of a single region on a disk or multiple regions of the same disk that are linked together. A spanned volume combines areas of unallocated space from multiple disks into one logical volume, allowing you to more efficiently use all of the space and all the drive letters on a multiple-disk system.
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/vds/volume-object
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Dec 26, 2023 · Learn the difference between spanned and striped volumes and which one is right for you. Spanned volumes combine multiple disks into a single logical unit, while striped volumes spread data across multiple disks for improved performance.
Jan 31, 2024 · A Spanned Volume is a volume type that combines space from multiple physical disks into a single logical volume. Data is sequentially written to the first disk, and when its space is full, it continues to the next disk.
Jan 10, 2022 · When extending the simple volume to include unallocated space on the same disk it remains a simple volume. When extending a simple volume to include unallocated space on other disks on the same computer, this creates a spanned volume. References: Basic and Dynamic Disks; Volume Object
Nov 7, 2016 · A simple volume contains space from a single dynamic drive. The space from the single drive can be contiguous or noncontiguous. Simple volumes are used when you have enough disk space on a...
- Overview
- Summary
- More information
- Best practices and limitations of using dynamic disks
- Dynamic disks vs. basic disks
- Storage devices
- Server clusters
- Moving dynamic disks
- Disk signatures
- Missing dynamic disks
This article describes the best practices for using dynamic disks on Windows Server 2003-based computers.
Applies to: Windows 10 - all editions, Windows Server 2012 R2
If you use dynamic disks, you can create fault-tolerant volumes (mirrored volumes and RAID-5 sets) and large multiple-disk (or logical unit number [LUN]) volumes by using striped and spanned volumes. These features are available only on dynamic disks. Dynamic disks are more robust and fault-tolerant in the way they store and replicate disk and volu...
After you create a partition on Windows Server 2003, the partition must be formatted and assigned a drive letter before data can be stored on it. Windows Server 2003 supports two different types of disks for partitions, basic and dynamic disks. On basic disks, partitions are known as basic volumes. Basic volumes include primary partitions and logical drives. On dynamic disks, partitions are known as dynamic volumes. Dynamic volumes include simple, striped, spanned, mirrored, and RAID-5 volumes.
Volumes are an area of storage on a hard disk. A volume is formatted by using a file system, such as file allocation table (FAT) or NTFS file system, and it has a drive letter assigned to it. You can view the contents of a volume by clicking its icon in Windows Explorer or in My Computer. A single hard disk can have multiple volumes, and volumes can also span multiple disks.
Dynamic disks offer advantages over basic disks. Basic disks use the original MS-DOS-style master boot record (MBR) partition tables to store primary and logical disk partitioning information. Dynamic disks use a private region of the disk to maintain a Logical Disk Manager (LDM) database. The LDM database contains volume types, offsets, memberships, and drive letters of each volume. The LDM database is also replicated, so each dynamic disk knows about every other dynamic disk configuration. This feature makes dynamic disks more reliable and recoverable than basic disks.
Before you use dynamic disks, consider the following recommended best practices and limitations of using dynamic disks.
Before you convert basic disks to dynamic disks, determine whether you require features provided by dynamic disks. If you don't require spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, or RAID-5 sets, it may be best to use basic disks.
If you decide to use dynamic disks and you have both locally attached storage (IDE-based storage or Small Computer System Interface [SCSI]-based storage) and storage that is located on a storage area network (SAN), consider the following recommendations, depending on your situation:
•Use dynamic disks on only the SAN storage drives and keep the locally attached storage as basic disks.
or
•Use basic disks on the SAN storage drives and configure the locally attached storage as dynamic disks. These recommendations are based on the way that the LDM keeps track of dynamic disks and synchronizes the databases. By following these recommendations, if you experience an unplanned outage and lose access to the SAN storage housing the dynamic disks, all dynamic disks drop offline from the Windows Server 2003-based computer at the same time. Because you have no dynamic disks attached locally, there are no LDM database synchronization issues to contend with when the SAN disks eventually come back online. If you have even one dynamic disk on the locally attached storage, you run the risk of the LDM databases being mismatched, and you may have trouble getting one or more SAN-attached dynamic disks back online.
If your environment requires you to have dynamic disks in a mixed configuration that uses both locally attached storage and SAN-attached storage, it's a good idea to protect all fiber hubs, routers, switches, SAN cabinets, and the server from power outages by using uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) on all connecting devices.
Note
Dynamic disks aren't supported for use with Windows Clustering. This restriction doesn't prevent you from extending an NTFS volume that is contained on a cluster shared disk (a disk that is shared between the computers in the cluster) that is basic.
You can use a third-party software such as Veritas Volume Manager to add the dynamic disk features to a Microsoft cluster infrastructure.
If you move dynamic disks between systems, you may not be able to move the dynamic disks back to the original host. If you must move the dynamic disks, move all the dynamic disks from a computer at the same time, and make sure that they're all online and running on the destination computer before you try to import them to the new host. You must do ...
When you start the Disk Management snap-in, all disks on the system are enumerated to see if any disks have changed or if any new disks have been added to the system. If Disk Management finds any disks that are unknown, that aren't initialized, or that don't have a disk signature in the MBR, Disk Management starts a wizard. The wizard prompts you to select the disks that you want to write disk signatures to. By default, no disks are selected. Select the check boxes next to the disk numbers to select the disks to be enumerated. You're then prompted to select the disks that you want to upgrade to dynamic disks. All disks that you upgrade have a disk signature added and are upgraded to dynamic disks.
When you start Disk Management, if the MBR of a dynamic disk is zeros, the wizard starts.
If Disk Management shows a missing dynamic disk, which means that a dynamic disk that was attached to the system can't be located. Because every dynamic disk in the system knows about every other dynamic disk, this "missing" disk is shown in Disk Management. Don't delete the missing disk's volumes or select the Remove Disk option in Disk Management...
Jul 15, 2018 · 2 Answers. Sorted by: 5. What's the definition of, and distinction between, a volume and a partition? Partitions. Storage media (DVD's, USB sticks, HDD's, SSD's) can all be divided into partitions, these partitions are identified by a partition table.
Oct 11, 2023 · After extending, the simple volume in the same disk is also a simple volume as before. People can do “Mirror” for it. Simple volume will also be extended to other dynamic disk on the same computer area. When we extend it to one or more disks, the volume will become a spanned volume. After the extension, people can not delete any part of the ...
