how to extend primary partition on RAID 5 due to its running out of space, especially in dealing with Windows Server 2003.
RAID 5, as one of the most famous RAID levels, stripes both data and parity information crossing three or more drives. Thus, more and more SBS administrators join the RAID 5 camp. During this period of time, most of them encounter the same problem of how to extend primary partition on RAID 5 due to its running out of space, especially in dealing with Windows Server 2003.
For example: I possess a SBS 2003 standard server, which has three SCSI disk on RAID 5. I’d like to install SP1 and SP2. However, the C drive is running out of space while another partition has enough space. So I want to resize the partition. Free some space from F partition, and add it to C drive.
In such a typical situation, resizing partition is the best solution indeed. But, as is known to all, it’s really time-consuming to repartition RAID 5 array because of its being consisted of at least three disks. On Windows Server 2003, the built-in Disk Management cannot work with Windows 7/Vista/2008. As for Diskpart.exe, it can only extend data partition. In order to solve this problem, turning to the third party software is the only way. Such as, Norton Partition Magic, Partition Assistant, etc.
Partition Magic is, undoubtedly, one of the earliest famous partition software. However, it cannot work on Windows Server due to some limitations. By contrast, Partition Assistant Server Edition seems to be more excellent. It supports all Windows operation systems. Extending primary partition on RAID 5 array is just one of its functions. It can also resize partition, copy partition, clone disk, etc. In order to show how to extend primary partition on RAID 5 array, let’s take Partition Assistant Server Edition as an example. Step-by-step procedures are following up:
Step1: Launch Partition Assistant Server Edition. Select D drive, and drag left slider bar rightwards.
Step2: Select C drive after obtaining some unallocated space right behind primary partition. Drag right slider bar rightwards to extend C drive.
At last, do not forget to Click “Apply” on the tool bar to save the change of resizing partition on Raid 5.
Now, you can free download Partition Assistant demo version to extend primary partition on RAID 5 with Windows Server 2003.
Tips: For enterprise users, chose Unlimited Edition is a wise way. It allows you to save much money. That’s to say, you can install it on multiple computers within your company. Thus, it helps maximize the working efficiency with the lowest cost of your company.