Resizing a RAID 1 Partition

[itates]

Hello,

I know this question has been asked before, but from what I've read the answer is different depending on the specific components of the system in question.
Here are the details on the server we would like to work on:

Windows 2003
PERC 4e/Di (Embedded)
2x ST336754LC Cheetah SCSI 36 GB Hard Drives (currently C and E partitions)
The D partition is a RAID 5 partition that I don't want to change at all.


I would like to join the two partitions to increase the C drive's capacity and remove the existence of the E partition all together.
Is there a freeware solution to do this? If not, what software is recommended for this?

Thanks,

 

[rand_79]

so c and e are separate hard drives?

if you so can raid 0 them. (I would recommend a backup schedule)

otherwise you are looking at jbod which has the same cons as raid 0 but none of the advantages.

Need more info about the partitions and how they are connected etc.
dont leave anything out.

perhaps a screenshot of the disk management to go with it.
--admin tools-- computer management-->disk managment

 

[nocheese]

Very do-able. Simply delete the E: drive in disk management and use a partition manager (one that works within Windows like Partition Manager by paragon software) to expand the C: drive to use the unused space.

If the drive is set as "Dynamic" instead of "Basic", I think the MS disk management console will also allow the expansion.

The D: drive being on a different logical drive within the PERC settings is not an issue and actually makes the job easier.

 

[deluxe2000]

Very do-able. Simply delete the E: drive in disk management and use a partition manager (one that works within Windows like Partition Manager by paragon software) to expand the C: drive to use the unused space.

If the drive is set as "Dynamic" instead of "Basic", I think the MS disk management console will also allow the expansion.

The D: drive being on a different logical drive within the PERC settings is not an issue and actually makes the job easier.

Hi - I actually was hoping to erase my partition without losing any data. Is this possible? Its a 250gb HD with a 30gb partiation (C and D). Also how can you know whether your partition is dynanic or basic?

Appreciate any help!

 

[itates]

so c and e are separate hard drives?

if you so can raid 0 them. (I would recommend a backup schedule)

otherwise you are looking at jbod which has the same cons as raid 0 but none of the advantages.

Need more info about the partitions and how they are connected etc.
dont leave anything out.

perhaps a screenshot of the disk management to go with it.
--admin tools-- computer management-->disk managment

Thanks for the quick reply. The C and E partitions are on one drive that is a RAID 1 setup. It's a Dell system so there is a hidden partition as you will see. I have inserted the screen shot you wanted below:

 

[tekflok]

Very do-able. Simply delete the E: drive in disk management and use a partition manager (one that works within Windows like Partition Manager by paragon software) to expand the C: drive to use the unused space.

If the drive is set as "Dynamic" instead of "Basic", I think the MS disk management console will also allow the expansion.

The D: drive being on a different logical drive within the PERC settings is not an issue and actually makes the job easier.

I think I should point out in case guys make mistakes.

According to my experience, Do NOT convert to Dynamic Disk. Reason 1:For Windows 2003, although there is "Extend Volume" function, you can not extend system/boot volume with MS Disk Management even if there is contiguous unallocated space. You will receive error message:"The selected volume is a system or boot disk or was created on a basic disk in an earlier version of Windows and cannot be extended". Reason 2: after converting to dynamic disk, you can only revert back to basic disk by deleting all volumes on dynamic disk.

Under basic disk storage type, I find there is no "Extend Volume" function in Windows 2003 under MS Disk Management, besides, the Diskpart can not support system/boot/page files volume expansion. I used Partition Magic Server Software shrink D drive and extend C drive on my RAID 1 successfully: http://www.partition-magic.org/hardware-raid/resize-raid-1-mirror-partition.html