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Sam
Asked: 2013-09-26 12:18:48 +0800 CST

Windows Server 2012 - Storage pools with different disk size

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I have 2 disks (1TB + 1.5TB) in a Storage Space. Free space shows up as 2.27TB.

I create a new Virtual disk with Simple layout (no redundancy). Maximum size for the virtual disks stops at 1.82TB (seems to be the 2TB drive limiting). I can then also create a second virtual disk of the remaining size.

Why can't I create a 2.27TB disk, isn't that possible?

windows-server-2012

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I found a workaround: Add disk1 to the pool, and create a fixed Virtual Disk with a NTFS Volume (sized to the max of disk1). Then I add disk2 to the storage pool and extend the Virtual Disk, and extend the NTFS Volume. Then I can use all available storage from disk1 & disk2 in one NTFS volume.

    I have to do it in two steps.

    Can anyone confirm this behavior, or explain it to me?

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  2. Not sure why, but the UI seems to default to mirror striping for disks of equal size in Windows Server 2012 R2. In my case, 4TB + 4TB + 2TB (10TB total) created a virtual disk of 6TB, i.e. it seems two 4TB disks were used in RAID 1.

    To solve this, you can use the New-VirtualDisk PowerShell command, using the following parameters:

    // this will create a "Simple" JBOD virtual disk over the entire storage pool
New-VirtualDisk 
  -FriendlyName Your_new_vdisk_name 
  -StoragePoolFriendlyName Your_existing_pool_name
  -ResiliencySettingName Simple
  -NumberOfColumns 1
  -UseMaximumSize

    Make sure you remove any previous virtual disks from the pool. Also, you will need to refresh the Storage Pools page to see these changed after running the command.

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