HP ProLiant Storage Server User Guide (440584-003, September 2007)

Guidelines for
managing disks and volumes
When managing disks and volumes:
• The first two logical drives are configured for the storage server operating system and should not
be altered in any manner. If the first two logical d rives are altered, the system recovery proc ess
may n ot function properly when using the System Recovery DVD. Do not tamper with the “DON’T
ERASE” or local C: volume. These a re reserved volumes and must be maintained as they exist.
• HP does not recommend spanning array controllers with dynamic volumes. The use of software
RAID-based dynamic volumes is not recommended. Use the array controller instead; it is more
efficient.
• Use m eaning ful vo lum e labels with the intended drive letter em bedded in the volume label, if
possible. (For example, volume e: m ight be named “Disk E: .”) Volum e labels often serve as the
only means of identification.
• Record all volume labels and drive letters in case the system needs to be restored.
• When managing basic disks, only the last partition on the disk can be extended unless the
disk is changed to dynamic.
• Basic disks can be converted to dynamic, but can not be converted back to basic without deleting
all data on the disk.
• Basic disks can contain up to four primary partitions (or three primary partitions a nd one
extended par tition) .
• Format drives with a 16 K allocation size for best support of shadow copies, p erformance,
and defragmentation.
• NTFS formatted drives are recommended, because they provide the greatest level of support for
shadow copies, encryption, and compression.
• Only basic disks can be formatted as FAT or FAT32.
• Read the online Disk Management help found in the utility.
Schedu
ling defragmentation
Defrag
mentation is the process of analyzing local volumes a n d consolidating fragmented files and folders
so tha
t each occupies a single, contiguous space on the volume. This improves file system performance.
Becau
se defra gmentation consolidates files and folders, it also consolidates the free space on a volume.
This
reduces the likelihood that new files will be fragmented.
Defr
agmentation for a volume c an be scheduled to occur automatically at convenient times.
Defr
agmentation can also be done once, or on a recurring basis.
NOTE:
Scheduling defragmentation to run no later than a specific time prevents the defragmentation process
from running later than that time. If the defragmentation process is running when the time is reached,
the process is stopped. This setting is useful to ensure that the defragmentation process ends before the
demandforserveraccessislikelytoincrease.
If defragmenting volumes on which shadow copies are enabled, use a cluster (or allocation unit) size of
16 K B or larger during the format. Otherwise d efragmentation registers as a change by the Shadow
Copy process. This increase in the number of changes forces S h adow Copy to delete snapshots as
the limit for the cache file is reached.
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