Extending Disk Partitions and File Systems (Windows)

Scenarios

After a disk is expanded on the console, the disk size is enlarged, but the disk partition and file system are not extended. You must log in to the server to extend the partition and file system before you can view and use the additional space. Specifically, you can add the additional space to an existing partition and file system or create a new partition and file system with the additional space.

This section describes how to extend partitions and file systems on a system or data disk in Windows. The extension operations may vary depending on the server OS. Perform extension operations based on your server OS.

Extending an Existing Partition
Creating a New Partition

Prerequisites

You have expanded the disk capacity and attached the disk to a server on the console. For details, see Step 1: Expand Disk Capacity.
The disk has been backed up using CBR or snapshots. For details about backups, see Managing EVS Backups. For details about snapshots, see Managing EVS Snapshots.
You have logged in to the server.
- For how to log in to an ECS, see Logging in to an ECS.
- For how to log in to a BMS, see Logging in to a BMS.

Extending an Existing Partition

Originally, the D drive in the Windows Server 2019 has 60 GiB, and then 30 GiB is added to the disk. The following example shows you how to allocate the additional 30 GiB to the D drive.

Log in to the server. On the server desktop, click the start icon in the lower left corner.
The Windows Server window is displayed.
Click Server Manager to open Server Manager.

Figure 1 Server Manager
In the upper right corner, choose Tools > Computer Management.

Figure 2 Computer Management
Choose Storage > Disk Management to go to the disk list page.
The Unallocated area shows the newly added disk space, which is not added to any partition and file system. Now we will perform the following steps to add the additional space to an existing partition and file system.

Figure 3 Disk expanded but additional space not allocated

If you cannot see the additional space, right-click Disk Management and choose Refresh from the shortcut menu.
On the Disk Management page, select the disk and volume that you want to extend. The current volume size and unallocated space are displayed.
Right-click the selected volume. In this example, right-click New Volume (D:) and choose Extend Volume from the shortcut menu.

Figure 4 Choosing Extend Volume

The Extend Volume Wizard window is displayed.

Figure 5 Extend Volume Wizard
In the text box to the right of Select the amount of space in MB, enter the amount of space you want to add and click Next. The default setting is used in this example.

Figure 6 Selecting the amount of space you want to add
Click Finish.

After the extension succeeded, the volume size is greater than the original size.
Figure 7 Extension succeeded

Creating a New Partition

The following example shows you how to create a GPT partition with an NTFS file system on a server running Windows Server 2019.

Log in to the server. On the server desktop, click the start icon in the lower left corner.
The Windows Server window is displayed.
Click Server Manager to open Server Manager.

Figure 8 Server Manager
In the upper right corner, choose Tools > Computer Management.

Figure 9 Computer Management
Choose Storage > Disk Management to go to the disk list page.
- Disks are displayed in the right pane. If there is a disk that is not initialized, the system will prompt you with the Initialize Disk dialog box.
  Figure 10 Disk list
- If the Initialize Disk dialog box is not prompted up and the disk has no partitions (entire disk shown as Unallocated), right-click the area where the to-be-initialized disk is and choose Initialize Disk from the shortcut menu.
  Figure 11 Initialize Disk
- If the Initialize Disk dialog box is not prompted up but the disk has a partition (primary partition) and unallocated space, the disk has been expanded. Now you need to extend the partition and file system by either creating a new partition and file system with the additional space or adding the additional space to an existing partition and file system.
  - To create a new partition and file system, go to 7.
  - To add the additional space to an existing partition and file system, see Extending Disk Partitions and File Systems (Windows).
  Figure 12 Disk expanded but additional space not allocated
(Optional) If the new disk is offline, bring it online before initializing it.
In the Disk 1 area, right-click and choose Online from the shortcut menu.

Figure 13 Online

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

Figure 14 Online succeeded
On the Initialize Disk dialog box, select GPT (GUID Partition Table) and click OK to go back to Computer Management.

If your disk size is greater than 2 TiB or you may expand it to more than 2 TiB, select GPT (GUID Partition Table).

Figure 15 Selecting GPT
In the Unallocated area of Disk 1, right-click and choose New Simple Volume from the shortcut menu and initialize the disk as prompted.

Figure 16 New Simple Volume
1. On the Specify Volume Size page, retain the default settings and click Next.
  The system uses the maximum disk space as the default volume size. You can specify a volume size as needed.
  Figure 17 Specify Volume Size
2. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path page, retain the default settings and click Next.
  Figure 18 Assign Drive Letter or Path
3. On the Format Partition page, retain the default settings and click Next.
  The default file system format is NTFS. You can set other parameters based on your need.
  Figure 19 Format Partition
  
  The partition sizes supported by file systems vary. Choose an appropriate file system format based on your service requirements.
4. On the Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard page, click Finish.
  Wait for the initialization to complete. When the volume status changes to Healthy, the initialization has succeeded.
  
  Figure 20 Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard
  
  Figure 21 Viewing the initialization results
(Optional) Alternatively, choose Server Manager > File and Storage Services > Volumes > Disks to view the disk status, capacity, and partition style.
After the volume is created, click on the task bar and check whether a new volume appears in the File Explorer. 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 22 File Explorer