Windows 7 default ntfs formatting

[audioman83]

I've just installed windows 7 RC 32bit on 2 (two) "1.5TB" hard drives that i have "spanned" via the bios. I was expecting to see something like 2.7 TB total of actual storage space after the NTSF formating. What I have though is 2TB.

I'm aware of the info here Wiki Capacity_measurements so please don't fill this thread with "all hard drives are smaller than advertised."

Acronis disc director doesn't show any other hidden partitions other than the reserved 100mb one for Windows7. Do any of you know what Windows 7 RC Setup did with the rest of the space??


(The reason I'm suspicious of Windows Setup is because when I tried to make a 12GB partition for the OS the windows setup software, it split up the drive with the typical 100MB reserved partition, the requested 12GB partition, a 750Gb raw space at the end of the list, and another raw space of what i guess was the remaining amount. When I later "installed" windows 7 to the raw volume later I didn't click on the "advanced" option to see what it was going to do. I just clicked whatever was the default because my plan was to come back later with Acronis disc director and set the partitions up the way i wanted.)

What's up with that! or I'm I just up too late?

 

[audioman83]

I think i have figured it out.....

http://social.technet.microsof...4f31-842a-a08cc530727a

 

[Nothinman]

Yes, a classic BIOS MBR only goes up to 2TB so you need a GPT to have partitions larger than that.

 

[RebateMonger]

To make use of an array that large, you have three choices:

1) Create multiple MBR partitions (i.e. a 2 TB volume plus a 1 TB volume)
2) Make the array a single 3 GB GPT partition
3) Use a different operating system that can make the array show up as a single large storage pool (ZFS in Linux or Windows Home Server)

 

[audioman83]

My goal is to have a Windows 7 partition of 12GB and another single drive letter, so to speak, for the rest of the free space from both hard drives. I just want all the storage linked together continuously.

So it looks like my only option then is to use GPT partition. But I'm not finding any clear, at least to me, information on how to go about this. I have read that BIOS does not support booting to GPT...that you have to have something like EFI hardware???

 

[Nothinman]

Yea, you need EFI instead of a legacy BIOS to boot from a GPT partition table. Which pretty much means a Mac since most other manufacturers really only think of Windows and that means legacy BIOS.

You really should have a separate disk for the OS and then have the two 1.5TB drives dedicated to data.

 

[RebateMonger]

I've gotten the impression that some Intel-built motherboards have the ability to provide EFI. But I know zilch about it.

My only exposure to EFI was an unfortunate Gateway Media Center built several years ago. I had to take it apart for a client to get to its (failed) Seagate hard drive. EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT on that "integrated" PC had to be painstakingly removed to get to the hard drive. I think it took me about four hours to get to the disk.

 

[audioman83]

thanks for the helpful dialogue guys. i appreciate it. what happens to folks who buy a single drive that is 2tb for a new PC build....i guess they are finding out that they have to adapt their plans. Any way...

let just make sure, If windows is booting on physical drive A, then will I be able to format all "3TB" of my drive B/C span in Windows 7 (or Disk Director) (and be able to use it!!)

 

[Nothinman]

let just make sure, If windows is booting on physical drive A, then will I be able to format all "3TB" of my drive B/C span in Windows 7 (or Disk Director) (and be able to use it!!)

Yea, the problem isn't with Windows but with the fact that the BIOS can't read a GPT so it needs a legacy partition table to be bootable.

 

[taltamir]

GPT cannot be booted from in windows.

Why are you even spanning it? by spanning I assume raid 0? There are plenty of drawbacks and little benefit.

 

[audioman83]

This computer is a home file server mainly. a very high percentage of the data will be movies. i figures spanning would accomplish my goal of having the two dives under one dive-letter and not take up the as much electricity as a raid 0 would. if there is a "safer" way of accomplishing the goals i listed before then please let me know. -(My goal is to have a Windows 7 partition of 12GB and another single drive letter, so to speak, for the rest of the free space from both hard drives. I just want all the storage linked together continuously.)

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: taltamir
GPT cannot be booted from in windows.

Why are you even spanning it? by spanning I assume raid 0? There are plenty of drawbacks and little benefit.

Well, GPT partitions can be bootable if you have an EFI-based system or if you use Itanium-based Windows.

RAID 0 uses "striping", not "spanning".

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: audioman83
if there is a "safer" way of accomplishing the goals i listed before then please let me know. -(My goal is to have a Windows 7 partition of 12GB and another single drive letter, so to speak, for the rest of the free space from both hard drives. I just want all the storage linked together continuously.)

For the same price as Windows 7, Windows Home Server will let you link "many" disks, of arbitrary sizes, together as a single storage pool. The disks are "standard" Basic disks and formatted NTFS. They can be read singly by popping them into most any PC. There are reports of 20+ Terabyte Windows Home servers. If you want disk redundancy (files are written on two different disks), you can enable it on a folder-by-folder basis.

 

[taltamir]

Right, I got those confused...
raid1 = mirror = span
raid0 = stripe
So, yea, RAID1 is best.

Well, GPT partitions can be bootable if you have an EFI-based system or if you use Itanium-based Windows.

Yes, but that requires you to have an itanium version of windows, an itanium cpu, and an EFI mobo. Chances are it is a BIOS mobo, an x64 CPU, and regular windows.

I would recommend you use opensolaris + zfs.
genunix.org

 

[Nothinman]

Well, GPT partitions can be bootable if you have an EFI-based system or if you use Itanium-based Windows.

Well, Itanic systems use EFI so the two kind of go hand in hand.

raid1 = mirror = span

No, spanning is just concatenation. It's not mirroring and there is no redundancy.

 

[audioman83]

Can we please not get sidetracked on raid types? Here is a good info page for those that are so inclined. Raid types
I'm not doing raid. i was looking at doing a 2 disk span.

I know that I said the purpose of this PC was for home file serving, but i have to be honest, sometimes i need it to run games when i have people over to play. My question is, is there a difference for gaming with windows home server and xp/vista/7? I couldn't find any info about that.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: audioman83
I know that I said I the purpose of this PC was for home file serving, but i have to be honest, sometimes i need it to run games when i have people over to play. My question is, is there a difference for gaming with windows home server and xp/vista/7? I couldn't find any info about that.

If you are going to be using the computer hands-on, then you don't want to run Windows Home Server. Sounds like you won't be running ZFS, either. You could consider running a dual-boot PC (I'd use a separate "gaming" hard drive) and shutting down your file server and rebooting into a gaming OS when people come over. That'd keep your data fairly safe.

Generally speaking, a computer holding terabytes of "important" data isn't really the best choice for gaming and browsing. It's safest to not have human interaction with file servers. I run into business servers where folks have browsed the Internet and now have trojans and rootkits on their server.

 

[audioman83]

I'm curious about Windows Home Server for sure. I'm just not keen on having to pay for it. I'm a cheapo.
I notice that a person can try it free. "You may now use the Evaluation Edition for 30 days. To use the Evaluation Edition for the full 120-day period, you need to register at the Windows Home Server Connect site and acquire a product key for the Windows Home Server Evaluation Edition software."

Interesting. I'm gonna try that!

 

[audioman83]

Oh man is it like taking a step back. it took much longer than windows 7 to install and it doesn't have a generic driver for the Ethernet controller. BOO. I'll press on though.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: audioman83
Oh man is it like taking a step back. it took much longer than windows 7 to install and it doesn't have a generic driver for the Ethernet controller. BOO. I'll press on though.

WHS is based on Server 2003/XP, but includes some technology from Vista and Windows Small Business Server. The install routine takes a while, but it does run automatically once the install process gets going.