Module 15: Performing Disk Management in Windows Server 2016/2019

Windows Disk Storage Types (Windows Server & Client OS)

Windows supports several disk storage types, each designed for different performance, reliability, and configuration needs. Here’s a breakdown of the most commonly used:

1. Basic Disks

  • Most common and default type

  • Uses partitions: Primary, Extended, Logical

  • Supports MBR or GPT

  • Simple to manage, compatible across systems

✅ Best for: Standard desktops, simple servers

2. Dynamic Disks

  • More advanced storage capabilities

  • Uses volumes instead of partitions

  • Supports:

    • Simple Volumes

    • Spanned Volumes

    • Striped Volumes (RAID 0)

    • Mirrored Volumes (RAID 1)

    • RAID-5 Volumes (Windows Server only)

✅ Best for: Advanced storage needs, redundancy, performance

3. GPT (GUID Partition Table)

  • Modern replacement for MBR

  • Supports disks larger than 2TB

  • Up to 128 partitions per disk (no extended/logical needed)

  • Required for UEFI boot

✅ Best for: Modern servers, large drives

4. MBR (Master Boot Record)

  • Traditional partitioning style

  • Supports up to 2TB disk size

  • Only 4 primary partitions (or 3 primary + 1 extended)

✅ Best for: Legacy systems

5. Storage Spaces

  • Virtualizes storage into pools

  • Supports:

    • Simple (No resiliency)

    • Mirror (2-way/3-way redundancy)

    • Parity (similar to RAID-5)

✅ Best for: Fault-tolerant storage with flexible expansion

6. ReFS (Resilient File System)

  • Modern alternative to NTFS (available in Windows Server)

  • Built-in integrity checking and automatic repair

  • Designed for high-availability and data integrity

✅ Best for: File servers, virtualized workloads

Windows Disk Storage Types (Windows Server & Client OS)

Using Disk Management in Windows Server & Client

Disk Management is a built-in Windows utility used for managing hard drives, partitions, and volumes. It provides a graphical interface for performing basic and advanced storage tasks.

How to Open Disk Management

  1. Right-click on Start Menu → Select Disk Management
    OR
    Press Windows + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter

✅ Common Tasks with Disk Management

1. View Disk Information

  • See all connected drives, partitions, sizes, health status

  • Visual layout of disk usage and file systems

2. Create a New Partition

  • Right-click Unallocated Space → New Simple Volume

  • Follow the wizard to assign a letter, format (NTFS), and label

3. Extend a Partition

  • Right-click a volume with unallocated space next to it → Extend Volume

4. Shrink a Volume

  • Right-click a volume → Shrink Volume

  • Enter the amount to shrink (MB)

5. Delete a Partition

  • Right-click the volume → Delete Volume
    ⚠️ All data on the partition will be lost

6. Change Drive Letter

  • Right-click volume → Change Drive Letter and Paths

7. Mark Partition as Active

  • Used for system boot partitions (usually only for MBR disks)

Advanced Features (Server Focused)

  • Convert Basic Disk to Dynamic Disk for creating spanned, striped, mirrored volumes

  • Convert to GPT or MBR (only on empty/uninitialized disks)

  • Create RAID volumes (in server editions)

Using Disk Management

Creating Dynamic Volumes

Dynamic volumes allow you to create advanced storage configurations like spanned, striped (RAID-0), mirrored (RAID-1), and RAID-5 volumes across one or multiple disks. This is especially useful in enterprise and server environments.

Steps to Create a Dynamic Volume

Prerequisites:

  • At least one basic disk with unallocated space

  • To create striped/mirrored/RAID-5 volumes, multiple dynamic disks are required

Step 1: Convert Basic Disk to Dynamic

  1. Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc)

  2. Right-click the disk (e.g., “Disk 1”) → Select Convert to Dynamic Disk

  3. Select the disks to convert → Click OK

Step 2: Create a New Dynamic Volume

  1. Right-click unallocated space on a dynamic disk

  2. Choose one of the following:

    • New Simple Volume

    • New Spanned Volume

    • New Striped Volume

    • New Mirrored Volume (only available on Server/Pro)

    • New RAID-5 Volume (Windows Server only)

  3. Follow the wizard:

    • Select disks (if needed)

    • Assign drive letter

    • Format volume (usually NTFS)

  • Converting Storage Type
Creating Dynamic Volumes in Windows (Server & Pro Editions)
  • Creating and Extending Simple Volumes
  • Simple Volumes:
  • Contain Space on a Single Disk
  • Can Use NTFS, FAT, or FAT32
  • Can Be Mirrored
  • Are Created with the Create Volume Wizard
  • Can Be Extended if Formatted as NTFS
  • Creating and Extending Spanned Volumes
Creating and Extending Spanned Volumes
  • Creating Striped Volumes
Creating Striped Volumes

Performing Common Disk Management Tasks in Windows Server

Disk management is a vital part of system administration. It ensures data storage is efficiently structured, secure, and scalable. Below are key tasks every IT admin should know:

1. Viewing Disk Configuration

  • Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc)

  • View all physical and virtual disks, partitions, and volumes

2. Creating a New Partition / Volume

Steps:

  1. Right-click on unallocated space

  2. Select New Simple Volume

  3. Follow the wizard to assign a drive letter and format (typically NTFS)

3. Formatting a Volume

Use when:

  • Preparing a new disk

  • Erasing old data

Steps:

  1. Right-click on the volume → Format

  2. Choose file system (NTFS/exFAT), allocation unit size, and label

4. Changing a Drive Letter

Useful for:

  • Resolving conflicts

  • Organizing storage for users

Steps:

  1. Right-click on the volume → Change Drive Letter and Paths

  2. Click Change, then assign a new letter

5. Shrinking a Volume

Used to free space for creating new partitions

Steps:

  1. Right-click the volume → Shrink Volume

  2. Enter amount to shrink in MB

6. Extending a Volume

Used to increase space using unallocated area

Steps:

  1. Right-click the volume → Extend Volume

  2. Follow the wizard and select available unallocated space

7. Converting a Disk Type

  • Basic to Dynamic: Enables advanced volume types (e.g., spanned, mirrored)

  • MBR to GPT: Required for >2TB disks or UEFI boot

⚠️ Note: Conversions may cause data loss—backup first.

8. Checking Disk Health

Run chkdsk via CMD:

chkdsk C: /f /r

Or use PowerShell:

Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageHealthReport

9. Managing Disk Quotas

Restrict user storage per volume:

  1. Right-click drive → Properties

  2. Go to Quota tab → Enable and configure limits

10. Using Disk Cleanup

Remove temp files and system junk:

cleanmgr

Or use Storage Sense in modern Windows Server editions.

  • Creating Partitions
Creating Partitions
  • Adding Disks
Adding Disks
  • Managing Drive Letters and Paths
  • Managing Drive Letters
  • Add—to assign a new drive letter
  • Remove—to remove an existing drive letter
  • Modify—to change an existing drive letter
  • Managing Drive Paths
Managing Drive Letters and Paths
  • Managing Drive Letters and Paths
Managing Mirror Sets on Basic Disks
  • Repairing a Mirror Set
  • Resynchronizing Mirror Sets
  • Breaking Mirror Sets
  • Deleting Mirror Sets
  • Managing Other Sets on Basic Disks
  • Deleting Volume Sets and Stripe Sets
  • Deleting a volume set or stripe set deletes all of the data that the set contains
  • You can delete entire sets only
  • Repairing and Deleting Stripe Sets with Parity
  • Repairing a stripe set with parity requires additional basic disk with sufficient free space
  • Deleting a stripe set with parity deletes all data that the set contains
  • You can delete entire stripe set with parity only
  • Defragmenting Hard Disks
Defragmenting Hard Disks

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