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From: Guus Ellenkamp on 19 Apr 2010 13:48
For quite some time I have a W2003 server that was installed on a too small
system partition (or there is still some rubbish I cannot find). Even though
I still think re�nstalling it would be the fastest and most reliable option,
I'm still considering doing it another way, like increasing the partition
size with some partioning tool.

I know the last is not advisable, but anyone who did it and how?


From: Silvan on 19 Apr 2010 14:41
I tried it once, I don't remember the tool I used but it was a $300 software
specifically supporting re-sizeing of Server partitions. The re-sizing
worked, shortly after the Server crashed.

I was told my an MCSE that the re-sizing may have worked, and may show up as
being larger to the end-user/admin,, but that the system itself does not
recognize the change, and as soon as all the space that was available before
the resize is used up, you will run into problems.

"Guus Ellenkamp" wrote:

> For quite some time I have a W2003 server that was installed on a too small
> system partition (or there is still some rubbish I cannot find). Even though
> I still think reïnstalling it would be the fastest and most reliable option,
> I'm still considering doing it another way, like increasing the partition
> size with some partioning tool.
>
> I know the last is not advisable, but anyone who did it and how?
>
>
> .
>
From: Chris M on 19 Apr 2010 15:25
On 19/04/2010 18:48, Guus Ellenkamp wrote:
> For quite some time I have a W2003 server that was installed on a too small
> system partition (or there is still some rubbish I cannot find). Even though
> I still think reïnstalling it would be the fastest and most reliable option,
> I'm still considering doing it another way, like increasing the partition
> size with some partioning tool.
>
> I know the last is not advisable, but anyone who did it and how?

I've used Partition Magic plenty of times to do this and never had
problems with it. I've only used it on workstations though.

Certainly don't do it without ensuring that you have a good backup of
your critical data (including other partitions on the same disk as the
partition you're resizing).

I personally wouldn't risk resizing a system partition on a server that
I cared about too much.

--
Chris M.

From: Jonathan de Boyne Pollard on 20 Apr 2010 07:34
>
>
> Yes. I've done this multiple times.
>
Long experience with Unix, Netware, and other systems has me convinced
of the long-standing wisdom (certainly in the Unix world) of not putting
applications, log files, and user data on the system volume wherever
possible. If one doesn't, there's far less pressure the system volume
to need additional space. I'm curious. How many of the times that
you've expanded a system volume have been because the "Program Files" or
"Documents and Settings" trees have become too big?
From: Grant Taylor on 20 Apr 2010 11:18
On 04/20/10 06:34, Jonathan de Boyne Pollard wrote:
> Long experience with Unix, Netware, and other systems has me
> convinced of the long-standing wisdom (certainly in the Unix world)
> of not putting applications, log files, and user data on the system
> volume wherever possible.

I *COMPLETELY* agree.

On the servers that I set up, I usually have a system volume, a swap
volume, and one or more data volumes.

> I'm curious. How many of the times that you've expanded a system
> volume have been because the "Program Files" or "Documents and
> Settings" trees have become too big?

Many of the servers that I have inherited / taken support over tend to
fall in to this category.

I have run in to a few very long running servers that started with
either a 2 / 4 GB system volume and the OS has grown (because of service
packs / hot fixes / demanding IE updates / etc.) to the point that the
OS is too snug for comfort.

Usually along these lines, it's time to upgrade the drives any way. In
these cases I usually establish a new RAID, and image from the small
RAID to the larger RAID while adjusting the size on the fly. After the
fact, the system seems to be much happier.

As far as "Program Files" and "Documents and Settings" is concerned, I
usually move them to other volumes when things start to be come a
problem. When ever possible, I will put things like Exchange and SQL
data files on a different volume too.

Like I said, I /completely/ agree with spreading things out across
multiple volumes. :-}



Grant. . . .
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