Configure Software RAID 0
Step 1
Connect to PLABDM01 and minimize Server Manager Dashboard. Click on PowerShell icon on taskbar. You will prepare Disks 1, 2, and 3 for storage which will be used later.
RAID 0 is also called disk striping. This will not provide redundancy as RAID 1 and 5, but it will enhance disk throughput for read operations of files like databases.
To prepare Disk 1, type the following commands:
diskpart
list disk
select disk 1
online disk
attributes disk clear readonly
create partition primary size=10236
convert dynamic
To prepare Disk 2, type the following:
list disk
select disk 2
online disk
attributes disk clear readonly
create partition primary size=10236
convert dynamic
To prepare Disk 3, type the following:
list disk
select disk 3
online disk
attributes disk clear readonly
create partition primary size=10236
convert dynamic
Minimize Windows PowerShell. Go to Administrative Tools and click on Computer Management. Right-click on Disk 1’s unallocated partition and choose New Striped Volume…
On Welcome to the New Striped Volume Wizard, click Next.
On Select Disks page, in Available list box, click on Disk 2 and Disk 3and choose Add.
From Select the amount of space in MB, type 500.
Click Next.
On Assign Drive Letter or Path, click Next to accept the default.
On Format Volume, click Next.
Click Finish to close Completing the New Striped Volume Wizard.
Configure RAID 1
RAID 1 also known as disk mirroring is useful for protecting operating system data as it creates an exact replica of the parent hard disk.
Step 1
From PLABDM01, go to Disk 0 and right-click on (C:) and choose AddMirror…
On Add Mirror dialogue box, Disk 1 is automatically selected for you. Click Add Mirror.
Disk Management will prompt you that this operation will convert Disk0 to dynamic disk. Click Yes to continue.
The creation of disk mirror volume will take a few moments, as data on drive C is synched with the selected replica disk.
Configure RAID 5 Volume
RAID 5 volume is known as disk striping with parity. This type of disk volume requires at least 3 hard disks with unallocated partitions of the same size. It protects data written on a RAID 5 volume by creating parity bits which can be used by Windows to recreate lost data in the event one of the three disks in a RAID 5 volume fails.
RAID 5 can be used for protecting files like databases by providing fault tolerance.
Step 1
From PLABDM01, Go to Disk 1 and right-click on the unallocated partition and choose New RAID-5 Volume…
Click Next on Welcome to the New RAID-5 Volume Wizard.
On Select Disks page, under Available list box, select Disk 2 and Disk 3and click Add.
In Select the amount of space in MB, type 700
Click Next.
From Assign Drive Letter or Path, accept the default settings by clickingNext.
On Format Volume page, choose Next.
Select Finish to close Completing the New RAID-5 Volume Wizard.
Creating Extended Volumes
Volume sets or extended volumes can be used for combining unallocated free space in found in different hard disks to create a bigger storage space.
An existing volume set can be expanded by including unallocated free space if a new hard disk was added to the system.
Step 1
From PLABDM01, go to Disk 1 and right-click on the 10.00 GB RAWpartition and choose Extended Volume…
Select Next in Welcome to the Extended Volume Wizard page.
On Select Disks page, under Available list box, select Disk 2 and Disk 3and click Add. Choose Next.
Click Finish to close Completing the Extend Volume Wizard screen.
To prepare this extended volume to store data files, right-click on Disk1’s 10.00 GB RAW and choose Change Drive Letter or Path…
From Change Drive Letter and Paths dialogue, click Add…
Click OK in Accept the default drive letter indicated in Add Drive Letter or Path dialogue box.
Finally, there is a prompt to format G to prepare it for data storage. Select Format disk.
On Format Local Disk (G:) dialogue, click Start and choose OK to proceed with formatting.
Note: You will notice some time lag with formatting this extended volume as synchronisation of disk mirror is on-going.
Click OK again when formatting is complete.
