Another space issue - SBS2011; MBR vs. GPT

[HCHTech]

I visited a potential client today to look at their stuff and listen to their list of problems. They have a 3-yr old server built by their former in-house employee/tech. The server was built in July of 2015, using SBS2011. It could be worse - Xeon, 32GB RAM, MicroSemi/Adaptec raid card with battery backup, SAS drives. His/her ignorance is showing a bit because the array is 4x1TB drives in a RAID 5 (ugh). So the base capacity of the array is 3TB.

The array is fomatted in MBR, with 3 partitions, a 100MB System Reserved, a 143.48GB C: drive, and a 1905.42GB E: drive for the data. There is 744.99GB unallocated at the end of the disk.

The in-house guy is no more, didn't get the story, but the parting appears to have been amicable. The reason I was called was because their email was down. A quick look showed 3GB free (I think I see the problem!) on the C partition (which had the 30GB Exchange database) and 190GB free on the E partition.

So, to get their email back up, I did some minor cleanup, then relocated the email databases to the E partition, and reduced the size of their 45GB swap file (!) and relocated it to the E partition as well. After that work, they have 75GB free on the C partition and 145GB free on the E partition. Email works - yea.

We had a quick debriefing meeting, during which they asked me to prepare a quote to take over their servicing.

So - on to make a plan for moving forward. The immediate problem is that they need less data or more storage on the server. Then, in a couple of years, I can pitch a new server.

Since the array is MBR, the max size is 2TB. Predictably, all options are greyed out when I right-click on the unallocated space in disk management.

So for folks who have bumped into this MBR limit before, is there a way I can utilize the unallocated space without a reformat of the entire array to GPT? I've read that Server08/SBS2011 is much happier with the boot drive on MBR as opposed to GPT. I've not done it personally.

If I CAN reformat to GPT, has anyone use the tools like Aomei that promise to do it non-destructively? I would obviously take an image beforehand, but don't know the product well enough to recommend it.

Maybe I should leave the disks as they are and just add a NAS for additional storage until the server can be replaced.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yeah 145 gig C with 30 gig infostore and a 45 gig swap file...yikes yeah "backpressure" combined with the usual SBS bloated logs snuffed Exchange. Prolly WSUS database too!

I've over tired today...could be wrong, but it's the limit of MBR just the BOOT partition max of 2 TB? Any additional partition can be whatever size you want...I believe.

Usually I prefer SBS to be on RAID1/ for the system volume, and then whatever RAID is a good match for the client for the data volume. R1, or R10. I try to avoid a giant Raid volume with partitions within that. But with this setup, one option is to create a 3rd partition using up the remaining 750 gigs...and move the infostore and WSUS and perhaps use folder redirects to that...and leave the C drive as bare as can be, leave the data and apps on the existing 2nd partition...and then spread the pagefile.sys across all 3 partitions..system managed size.

I have used 3rd party tools to do major reconstruction of disk type and manipulate volumes...Paragon and Acronis server grade tools. Expensive..and...nerve wracking on the next reboot (ensure you have a good backup first)

 

[NETWizz]

Yes, the limitation is 2TB with MBR partitions.

You CAN convert them to GPT, but you will want to do a backup.

Additionally, I think the biggest questions is, "will it boot" when you are done.

Basically, you would have to change the BIOS to UEFI as well and lastly fix the Windows Boot Loader such that it can boot from the GPT partition.

 

[HCHTech]

I've over tired today...could be wrong, but it's the limit of MBR just the BOOT partition max of 2 TB? Any additional partition can be whatever size you want...I believe.

Yes, that's what I thought based on the various articles I've read, but in this case, none of the options are available through disk management. It shows the unallocated space, but you can't do anything with it. Since I have a single volume, it appears to be bumping into the 2TB per volume max. Had the array been setup as 2 volumes, I could have used the unallocated space one way or the other.

I think the low-risk way to address this is to leave this array alone and just create an additional array with a couple of new drives. It's a 7805 card, so for the price of a couple of drives and a new cable set, I can add another 2TB RAID1 array. That way I'm not mucking with the existing array at all. Then, I just need to get another backup software (Windows Server backup is limited to 2TB max) and I'm good until this server gets replaced. They've got capacity to spare on the power supply, so it should be a simple addition.

I wondered why they would have chosen to put SBS2011 on a server built at the end of 2015, but they have since told me they reused their license from the old server to save money. Awesome.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

In DISKMGMT.MSC, if you right click the E partition...no option to expand? When adding space to a partition I usually right click the partition I want to work with..and take options from there, instead of clicking the free space first.

 

[fencepost]

What's the system capacity for # of drives vs what's in there now?

Depending on capacity and how much juggling around there's going to be, I'd be tempted to switch them over to 2.5" 7200 drives (e.g. ST2000NX0273), but at $300 each 6 of those (2xR1, 4xR6) would rack up to 1800 plus labor which is perhaps a bit steep. SATA's only $10/drive cheaper, but doing 1TB SAS for the boot volume could drop it by $85/drive for those two.

 

[HCHTech]

It's a 4-drive RAID5 using 1TB drives = 3TB usable capacity.

Here is the disk management view right-clicking on the E drive: (The backup drives are externals)
And here is a disk management view right clicking on the unallocated space:



And just to be complete, here is a view of the array from Adaptec storage manager

 

[fencepost]

If that was for me, I was actually talking about capacity for physical drives - I'm used to Dell tower servers with 8 hotswap 3.5", but I know some of the smaller rackmount stuff has anywhere from 4-12 and the most recent one I spec'd I went for 32x2.5" because it was only a couple hundred more (and I'm glad, because it was part of a move that included a bunch of upgraded medical imaging equipment which has increased their imaging storage consumption rate by ~8x so we're going to need to add capacity a LOT sooner than I expected....).

If it only has space for 4 physical drives then I'd also sell them on a mixed onsite/offsite backup solution, run a backup, replace the drives with something larger (SAS non-helium drives appear to go up to at least 6TB, I think I'd probably look at 3TB to reduce the risk of needing to do it again in 2-3 years) in a RAID6, then restore the backup.

It's possible the backup software for a bare-metal restore will be able to format as GPT for the restore, if not you can likely use something like gptgen or any of the commercial partition management software that'll work on Server (or probably some of the open source ones like parted). Since they need more capacity anyway, might as well do it on new drives without touching the originals.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Hmm...I guess just to buy them some time for a while I'd go with my 3rd partition plan...and move the infostore and other large stuff like WSUS and it's DB over there...to maximize freeing up the E volume.

 

[HCHTech]

Thanks both - Creating a third partition isn't an option unless I redo the array, so I'll present that option as well as the "adding some more drives" option. It's a big tower, room for at least 6 drives, maybe 8, so i like the "more drives" option better since it is much lower risk. It's a new client, I don't want to start out with a disaster if I can avoid it. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Joep]

"I've over tired today...could be wrong, but it's the limit of MBR just the BOOT partition max of 2 TB? Any additional partition can be whatever size you want...I believe."

2 TB (about) is it. MBR style partition tables can't address or use anything beyond that. The entries for LBA start and size are 32 bit and max out after 2 TB.

 

[Alexey]

Theoretically, it should be possible to convert this to a dynamic (LDM-based) disk. It should still be bootable and you will be able to utilize the additional space (if it is still as bootable as it should be).

I would not advise actually doing it, for the resulting configuration would be a can of worms, but this route should probably be listed for the sake of completeness.

 

[JohnKennex]

Is that all live / current data? isn't there old data that you could archive to save space? I only ask because none of my customers are using that kind of space (well they are just not on one system). Could you archive old mailboxes, projects, etc to get the space down?

We have been putting in RAID'd qnap boxes and arche mail, old user home dirs, etc to that. Not sure if that's an option.

p.s. in house guys are always messy as hell!