Can you add mirroring to a drive under NT Server 4 without formating the drive first...

[vi edit]

Ok, hard to describe in the title, but this is what I want to do - I have an HP Netserver here at work. It has two 4 gig drives that are mirrored to each other. It also has a 9 gig drive that is a stand alone drive.

The problem is, the moron consultant that set it up(before I came onto the scene), put the mirrored sets on drives that really don't have any "important" information.

The 9 gig drive, which doubles as a file server, and our main application server has no backup protection with the exception of a TBU under Backup Exec each night.

The office that I work in is an accounting firm. We use an accounting package that sits on the 9 gig drive and all of the data files for the software sit on the drive as well. The data files are being updated constantly, every minute throughout the day.

My goal is to purchase another 9 gig drive of the same model number and mirror it to the exisiting 9 gig drive.

My question is, will NT Server 4.0(using disk manager) allow me to mirror the second drive to it without loosing the data that is one the exisiting drive.

I don't have enough faith in Backup Exec to try to do a full recovery from tape if I do need to format and re-install

Ghost is also a no-go because I don't have enough existing disk space to drop an image file to disk.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

 

[Wacko]

Never posted before, I have been lurking for months. However this question I know I can answer - yes, you can mirror a drive with data on it through Windows NT 4.0 WITHOUT losing the data - I have done this several time with no problems. I assume since you were asking this question you know how to set up the mirror, however if I can be of any help feel free to email me. I can, if you need it, bring one of my NT servers back on line here at home and send you screen shots. Hope this helps.
Incidentally, when you add the 9 gig drive do not leave it partitioned/delete any existing partitions or else you can not do the mirror.

BTW, I do highly recommend making a backup anyway. (Had to say that part of course)
Good luck!