Storage Spaces in Windows 2016 Server Standard

[Mat1926]

I attached 3 x 10 TB WD Red HDDs. I configured them as parity, since I have less than 7 then it was single parity. In 2 weeks I will add 4 x 8 TB WD Red HDDs bringing the total to 7, so in that case I am able to use dual parity...correct? Can I re-configure my system to use dual parity instead of single parity w/o data loss or am I forced to back up my data and re-build my storage pool from the start?

 

Thnx

[leadeater]

You'll have to create a new virtual disk in the pool then copy the data over to the new virtual disk and delete the old one. You won't need to create a new pool.

 

Storage settings are at the virtual disk level not the pool.

[Mat1926]

3 hours ago, leadeater said:

You'll have to create a new virtual disk in the pool then copy the data over to the new virtual disk and delete the old one. You won't need to create a new pool.

 

Storage settings are at the virtual disk level not the pool.

First, Thanks for the reply.

 

To simulate what I am going to do I used VMware Desktop and Windows 2016. So I fired up the virtual machine, and then I attached 3 x 10 GB virtual disks (to simulate 3 x 10 TB HDDs), I initialized the storage pool/virtual disk (single parity), and did create a volume. The total space given was 14 GB (in case of 3 x 10 TB the space was 18.1 TB).

 

Then I copied 10 GB file to the new volume. So I have only 4 GB left. Then I attached 4 x 8 GB virtual disks (in real world they would be 4 x 8 TB), and did add all the 4 physical disks to the existing storage pool. Then I created a new virtual disk, and this time I was given the option to select Dual parity. I ended up with 10 GB only and I created the new volume.

 

I copied my data to the new volume, detached/deleted the old virtual disk. Extended the new virtual disk to the maximum (16 GB only) but the added space did not show up until I also extended my new volume to the maximum ( I was told that I can have up to 16.0 GB so I typed 16.0 GB they did not offer the option to populate that number automatically!).

 

Can you tell me if what I did Is okay? Shall I go ahead and start transferring my files? Are there any recommendations/precautions? What is the best way to transfer my files from my old NAS appliance to my Windows 2016 server over network? Do I need to use any tools and make md5 checks after copying each file or that is not necessary for network transfers?

 

I use Total Commander for my copy/move needs and it offers the ability to md5 check each copy/move...

 

Thnx

 

*edit* I have 3 x 10 GB and 4 x 8 GB, dual parity and the system offers only 16 GB total...is this alright?

 

*edit2* Provisioning is fixed, is this alright?

[Mat1926]

I just thought what if I started with 3 x 10 GB and 4 x 8 GB initially. With dual parity the system did provide a total 32 GB of usable space! Why this one is different than starting with 3 x 10 GB and adding 4 x 8 GB later?!