Windows 2003 dynamic disk alignment

The problem is that both WMIC and DMdiag probably because it's not compatible with newer versions of Windows can't be trusted for reporting this accurately, or reporting it at all for that matter. The other thing I'm wondering is if I'm wasting my time checking this.

When I created this spanned volume, I used the default allocation unit size of bytes, if that helps. In Windows Vista as well as Windows Server , partition alignment is usually performed by default. TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff microsoft. Regards, Dave Patrick I tried secinspect on a Windows R2 server with a dynamic volume and it seems to run okay, but there's no partition information listed for the volume on the dynamic disk.

By looking at dsk file I should be able to tell you alignments of all volume and associated subdisks. So please share it with me. Office Office Exchange Server. Not an IT pro? Resources for IT Professionals. Sign in. United States English. Ask a question. Windows Server supports two different types of disks for partitions, basic and dynamic disks.

On basic disks, partitions are known as basic volumes. Basic volumes include primary partitions and logical drives. On dynamic disks, partitions are known as dynamic volumes. Dynamic volumes include simple, striped, spanned, mirrored, and RAID-5 volumes. Volumes are an area of storage on a hard disk. A volume is formatted by using a file system, such as file allocation table FAT or NTFS file system, and it has a drive letter assigned to it.

You can view the contents of a volume by clicking its icon in Windows Explorer or in My Computer. A single hard disk can have multiple volumes, and volumes can also span multiple disks.

Dynamic disks offer advantages over basic disks. The LDM database contains volume types, offsets, memberships, and drive letters of each volume. The LDM database is also replicated, so each dynamic disk knows about every other dynamic disk configuration.

This feature makes dynamic disks more reliable and recoverable than basic disks. Before you use dynamic disks, consider the following recommended best practices and limitations of using dynamic disks. Before you convert basic disks to dynamic disks, determine whether you require features provided by dynamic disks.

If you don't require spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, or RAID-5 sets, it may be best to use basic disks. You can use the DiskPart. For more information, see Extend a data volume in Windows. If you decide to use dynamic disks and you have both locally attached storage IDE-based storage or Small Computer System Interface [SCSI]-based storage and storage that is located on a storage area network SAN , consider the following recommendations, depending on your situation:.

If your environment requires you to have dynamic disks in a mixed configuration that uses both locally attached storage and SAN-attached storage, it's a good idea to protect all fiber hubs, routers, switches, SAN cabinets, and the server from power outages by using uninterruptible power supplies UPSs on all connecting devices.

Dynamic disks aren't supported for use with Windows Clustering. This restriction doesn't prevent you from extending an NTFS volume that is contained on a cluster shared disk a disk that is shared between the computers in the cluster that is basic.

You can use a third-party software such as Veritas Volume Manager to add the dynamic disk features to a Microsoft cluster infrastructure. You can use Veritas Volume Manager for Windows to add the dynamic disk features to a Microsoft server cluster. For customer service support about cluster issues after you install Veritas Volume Manager, please contact Veritas. Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice.

Microsoft doesn't guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information. Here we will show you how to create volumes on dynamic disks and how to convert a dynamic disk. With the help of Disk Management, you can create volumes on dynamic disks by yourself. Here we will show you how to create simple volumes. Step 2. Right-click the unallocated space on the dynamic disk and choose "New Simple Volume". Depending on the type of volume you want to create, the way to create a new volume is slightly different.

Step 3. Confirm your operation in the windows coming up. When it has done, you have successfully converted a basic disk to a dynamic disk.

However, if you want to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk, Disk Management won't help. Yes, it only enables you to change a basic disk into a dynamic one. Thus, if you want to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk , you will definitely need a third-party tool.

EaseUS Partition Master, the professional partition tool , is a good choice for you. With the help of this tool, you can manage your disks better. Data loss happens everywhere on various kinds of devices. Dynamic disk is no exception. So what to do when you lose data on dynamic disk?

Then, click "Scan". When the scan finishes, click Filter to display only the file types you want. Double-click a file to preview its content, if you'd like.

After choosing the data, click "Recover" and choose a location on another drive to save the files.