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I have a server running Server 2022. It has 2 Disks running in a raid configuration, copying everything from one disk to another (2TB per disk, 2TB total storage). I added 2 more disks(2TB ea), thinking I could use the same configuration, and expand C: drive - because stupid me only allocated 60GB for the OS. I went to add the disks via Disk Management, converted Disk 0 to dynamic, went to add the additional disks, but it asks for the function of formatting Disk 0 as part of the conversion - I can choose not to(of course), but I want to make sure that my boot drive stays bootable as part of this. What is the best way to do this - all I want to do is expand the storage of the "Disk 0" with the added disks 2 & 3, but I want 2 & 3 to be redundant.

Other notes : In the Server Manager - File & Storage Services - Volumes - Disks , it only shows the original disk pair. Under storage pools, I have the main "Primordial" pool.

Converted Disk 0 to Dynamic. Activated Disks 2 & 3.

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You can't do that. You are trying to mix several different things, which really don't fit together.

What you have on the server is hardware RAID-1: two physical disks configured as a single logical disk, mirroring the data. Windows only sees a single disk, because the hardware abstracts away the fact that it actually is a RAID volume.

Then you have partitioning: this single 2-TB volume has been divided into a small 60-GB system partition labeled C: and, I assume, another larger partition where you store your data. You can't extend the system partition, because the adjacent space is already occupied.

Adding disks won't help you, and converting the disks to dynamic won't either: dynamic disks are Windows' version of software RAID, but you can't use them to extend the system partition on a different disk (and even if you could, that would be a terrible idea).

You will be able to extend the C: partition after you remove the other partition that is filling up the adjacent space. If you have valuable data on it, you'll need to move it to the new disks you added.

Also, it would be a good idea to configure those two new disks as another RAID-1 volume; but you should do that on your controller, not using dynamic disks.

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  • So I was unsure, should have waited for this comment. Called the manufacturer(Dell), to walk me through procedure to make this happen - End game they said a migration WAS possible, walked though all the steps. End story - I don't trust Dell, they bricked the server, rebooted not able to detect the virtual disk anymore, so now I am waiting on a tech to see if they can undo the configuration(unlikely), and am expecting to have to reinstall Server 2022 and restore from a backup for files today. Long story short - always keep backups, don't trust your Distributor/Manufacturer for IT Support. Commented Sep 25, 2023 at 14:43

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