Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Configure Software RAID

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
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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
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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
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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
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On Welcome to the New Striped Volume Wizard, click Next.
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On Select Disks page, in Available list box, click on Disk and Disk 3and choose Add.
From Select the amount of space in MB, type 500.
Click Next.
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On Assign Drive Letter or Path, click Next to accept the default.
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On Format Volume, click Next.
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Click Finish to close Completing the New Striped Volume Wizard.
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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 and right-click on (C:) and choose AddMirror
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On Add Mirror dialogue box, Disk is automatically selected for you. Click Add Mirror.
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Disk Management will prompt you that this operation will convert Diskto dynamic disk. Click Yes to continue.
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The creation of disk mirror volume will take a few moments, as data on drive C is synched with the selected replica disk.
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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 and right-click on the unallocated partition and choose New RAID-Volume
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Click Next on Welcome to the New RAID-5 Volume Wizard.
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On Select Disks page, under Available list box, select Disk and Disk 3and click Add.
In Select the amount of space in MB, type 700
Click Next.
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From Assign Drive Letter or Path, accept the default settings by clickingNext.
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On Format Volume page, choose Next.
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Select Finish to close Completing the New RAID-5 Volume Wizard.
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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 and right-click on the 10.00 GB RAWpartition and choose Extended Volume
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Select Next in Welcome to the Extended Volume Wizard page.
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On Select Disks page, under Available list box, select Disk and Disk 3and click Add. Choose Next.
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Click Finish to close Completing the Extend Volume Wizard screen.
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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
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From Change Drive Letter and Paths dialogue, click Add
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Click OK in Accept the default drive letter indicated in Add Drive Letter or Path dialogue box.
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Finally, there is a prompt to format G to prepare it for data storage. Select Format disk.
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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.
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Click OK again when formatting is complete.
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