Initializing a Windows Data Disk Greater Than 2 TB (Windows Server 2012)

Scenarios

This section uses Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 64bit to describe how to initialize a data disk whose capacity is greater than 2 TB. In the following operations, the capacity of the example disk is 3 TB.

The maximum disk capacity supported by MBR is 2 TB, and that supported by GPT is 18 EB. Therefore, use the GPT partition style if your disk capacity is greater than 2 TB. For details about disk partition styles, see Introduction to Data Disk Initialization Scenarios and Partition Styles.

The method for initializing a disk varies depending on the OSs running on the BMS. This document is for reference only. For detailed operations and differences, see the product documents of the OSs running on the corresponding BMSs.

When using an EVS disk for the first time, if you have not initialized the disk, including creating partitions and file systems, the additional capacity added to the disk in a later expansion operation may not be normally used.

Prerequisites

• You have logged in to the BMS.
• A data disk has been attached to the BMS and has not been initialized.

Procedure

1. On the BMS desktop, click in the lower left corner.

   The Server Manager window is displayed.

   Figure 1 Server Manager (Windows 2012)
   

2. In the upper right corner of the Server Manager page, choose Tools > Computer Management.

   The Computer Management page is displayed.

   Figure 2 Computer Management
   

3. Choose Storage > Disk Management.
   The disk list is displayed.

   Figure 3 Disk list
   

4. Disks are listed in the right pane. If the new disk is in the offline state, bring it online before initialize it.

   In the Disk 1 area, right-click and choose Online from the shortcut menu.

   When the Disk 1 status changes from Offline to Not Initialized, the disk has been brought online.

   Figure 4 Bring online succeeded (Windows 2012)
   

5. In the Disk 1 area, right-click and choose Initialize Disk from the shortcut menu.
   The Initialize Disk dialog box is displayed.

   Figure 5 Initialize Disk (Windows 2012)
   

6. The Initialize Disk dialog box displays the disk to be initialized. If the disk capacity is greater than 2 TB, select GPT (GUID Partition Table) and click OK.
   The Computer Management page is displayed.

   Figure 6 Computer Management (Windows 2012)
   
   

   The maximum disk capacity supported by MBR is 2 TB, and that supported by GPT is 18 EB. Because a data disk currently supports up to 32 TB, use the GPT partition style if your disk capacity is larger than 2 TB.

   If you change the disk partition style after the disk has been used, the original data on the disk will be cleared. Therefore, select a proper disk partition style when initializing the disk.

7. Right-click at the unallocated disk space and choose New Simple Volume from the shortcut menu.
   The New Simple Volume Wizard window is displayed.

   Figure 7 New Simple Volume Wizard (Windows 2012)
   

8. Follow the prompts and click Next.
   The Specify Volume Size page is displayed.

   Figure 8 Specify Volume Size (Windows 2012)
   

9. Specify the volume size and click Next. The system selects the maximum volume size by default. You can specify the volume size as required. In this example, the default setting is used.
   The Assign Drive Letter or Path page is displayed.

   Figure 9 Assign Driver Letter or Path (Windows 2012)
   

10. Assign the volume to a drive letter or folder and click Next. The system assigns the volume to drive letter D by default. In this example, the default setting is used.

    The Format Partition page is displayed.

    Figure 10 Format Partition (Windows 2012)
    

11. Specify format settings and click Next. The system selects the NTFS file system by default. You can specify the file system type based on the actual condition. In this example, the default setting is used.
    The Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard page is displayed.

    Figure 11 Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard (Windows 2012)
    
    

    The partition sizes supported by file systems vary. Therefore, you are advised to choose an appropriate file system based on your service requirements.

12. Click Finish.
    Wait for the initialization to complete. When the volume status changes to Healthy, the initialization has finished successfully, as shown in Figure 12.

    Figure 12 Disk initialization succeeded (Windows 2012)
    

13. After the volume is created, click and check whether a new volume appears in This PC. In this example, New Volume (D:) is the new volume.
    If New Volume (D:) appears, the disk is successfully initialized and no further action is required.

    Figure 13 This PC (Windows 2012)