Users Guide

18 Installing Windows Small Business Server 2011
Choosing Between Partition Schemes
The main considerations for choosing between partition schemes are:
•Hard drive size
• Operating system version
• Software tools used in the operating system
The MBR partition scheme is used across all the older versions of Microsoft
operating systems. MBR partitioning scheme supports a volume size smaller
than 2 TB. Use the GPT partition scheme for newer operating systems such as
Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Small Business
Server 2008, Windows Small Business Server 2011 and hard drive sizes larger
than 2 TB.
NOTE: It is recommended that you use the GPT partition scheme as it is more
flexible, supports larger hard drive sizes, and has a number of features and
recovery mechanisms that are not available in the MBR partition scheme.
For more information on partitions and volumes, see partitions and volumes
on technet.microsoft.com. For more information on GPT, see the Windows
and GPT frequently asked questions on microsoft.com.
NOTE: GPT is supported only on 11G or newer platforms.