As you know, hardware RAID solutions are fast, stable, and can effectively deliver high levels of hard disk availability and redundancy, but high prices are daunting. Fortunately, Windows 2003 provides built-in software RAID capabilities, and soft RAID enables RAID-0, RAID-1, and RAID-5. Soft raid is not only easy to implement, but also a lot of saving valuable money, is indeed a very useful new feature of Windows 2003 server. A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant volume of data and parity that is distributed over three or more physical disks.
If a part of the physical disk fails, we can recreate the data on the failed portion of the disk with the remaining data and parity. The RAID-5 volume is a good solution for most activities from data redundancy in the computer environment where data is read. You can use hardware-based or software-based solutions to create RAID-5 volumes. With hardware-based RAID, the smart disk controller handles the creation and regeneration of redundant information on the disks that make up the RAID-5 volume.
The Windows Server 2003 family operating system provides software-based RAID, where the creation and regeneration of information on the disks in the RAID-5 volume is handled by Disk Management, where the data is stored across all members of the disk array. Of course, the performance and efficiency of soft raid are not comparable to hard raid. Let's start with the creation of a dynamic disk and then explain how to implement soft raid in Windows 2003 Server, and finally talk about the management of soft raid.
Second, create dynamic disk
When you install Windows 2003 server, the hard disk is automatically initialized to a basic disk. Instead of creating a new volume set, stripe set, or RAID-5 group on a basic partition, you can create a similar disk configuration on a dynamic disk. That is, if you want to create a RAID-0, RAID-1, or RAID-5 volume, you must use a dynamic disk. After Windows 2003 Server Setup completes, you can use the Upgrade Wizard to convert them to dynamic disks.
After you convert a disk from a basic disk to a dynamic disk, the disk contains the volume, not the disk partition. Each of these volumes is a logical part of the hard drive, and you can specify a drive letter or hang point for each volume. Note, however, that you can only create volumes on dynamic disks. Dynamic disks have the following characteristics that are superior to basic disks:
Volumes can be extended to include non contiguous spaces, which can be on any available disk.
There are no restrictions on the number of volumes that can be created on each disk.
Windows 2003 stores dynamic disk configuration information on disk, rather than in other locations. At the same time, this information cannot be accurately updated. Windows 2003 replicates these disk configuration information to all other dynamic disks. As a result, the corruption of a single disk will not affect the access to data on other disks.
A hard disk can be either a basic disk or a dynamic disk, but not both, because you cannot combine multiple storage types on the same disk. However, if your computer has more than one hard disk, you can configure each hard disk to be either basic or dynamic.
1. Upgrade from basic disk to dynamic disk:
① Click Start-> All Programs-> Administrative Tools-> the Computer Management option to display the Computer Management window.
② in the left console, expand Storage-> Disk Management option to display all the disks that are installed on your computer.
③ Right-click the hard disk you want to set as a dynamic disk and select the "Upgrade to Dynamic Disk" option on the pop-up shortcut menu to display the "Upgrade to Dynamic Disk" dialog box.
④ Select the disks you want to upgrade, and then click OK: the "Disks to Upgrade" dialog box is displayed, where you are asked to confirm the hard disk that you want to upgrade to a dynamic disk. The reason for this is simple, because this upgrade operation is irreversible. That is, a basic disk can be upgraded to a dynamic disk, but a dynamic disk cannot be restored to a basic disk.
⑤ Click the Upgrade button, the Disk Management prompt is displayed and the user is again asked to confirm the disk upgrade. When the disk is upgraded to a dynamic disk, operating systems such as windows98/me will no longer boot from the disk.
⑥ Click Yes to display the Upgrade disk warning box. The prompt to upgrade the disk is forced to dismount, and the user is asked to confirm the operation further.
⑦ Click the Yes button and the system will start the disk upgrade process. When the upgrade is complete, the Confirm warning box appears and the OK button restarts the computer to complete the disk upgrade process.
When you upgrade to a dynamic disk, you should be aware of the following issues:
You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of an administrative group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent us from completing this step.
After you upgrade a basic disk to a dynamic disk, you can no longer change the dynamic volume back to the base partition. The only way to do this is to delete all the dynamic volumes on the disk, and then use the revert to basic Disk command.
Before you upgrade a disk, you should turn off programs that run on those disks.
To ensure that the upgrade is successful, any disks to be upgraded must contain at least 1MB of unallocated space. When you create partitions or volumes on a disk, the Disk Management tool will automatically retain this space, but it may not be on disk with partitions or volumes created by other operating systems.
A disk with a sector size greater than 512 bytes cannot be upgraded from a basic disk to a dynamic disk.
Once the upgrade is complete, dynamic disks cannot contain partitions or logical drives, nor can they be accessed by other operating systems other than Windows 2003.
2, set the new disk as a dynamic disk
① the Write signature and Upgrade Disk wizard window is automatically run when you first access the Disk Management tool in Computer Management when you install a new hard disk on your computer.
② Clicking the Next button displays the select the disk to write signature page, in which you select the disk to write the signature to. It is important to note that the disk must be signed before it is installed on the system.
③ Click the Next button to display the Select Disks to upgrade page and select the disks you want to upgrade to a dynamic disk.
④ Click the Next button to display the complete write signature and Upgrade Disk Wizard page, where you will be asked to confirm the signature and upgrade the disk. If anything is wrong, click the Back button to return and set it again.
⑤ Click the Finish button to complete the dynamic disk upgrade process.
Third, the realization of soft raid
Soft raid must also be implemented in a multiple-disk system. To achieve RAID-1 at least two hard drives, and the implementation of RAID-5 will have at least three hard drives. Typically, the disk on which the operating system is located is RAID-1, and the disk on which the data resides is RAID-5.
1, the type of the volume
① Simple Volume
A simple volume consists of disk space on a single physical disk, which can consist of a single area on a disk or multiple areas on the same disk that are linked together. You can extend a simple volume on the same disk or extend a simple volume to another disk. If you extend a simple volume across multiple disks, the volume is a spanned volume.
You can only create simple volumes on dynamic disks. A simple volume cannot contain partitions or logical drives, nor can it be accessed by MS-DOS or other Windows operating systems other than Windows 2003. If the computers on your network are still running Windows98 or earlier, you should create partitions instead of dynamic volumes.
If you want to increase the capacity of a simple volume after it is created, you can extend the volume by remaining unallocated space on the disk. To extend a simple volume, the volume must be formatted with the NTFS version used in Windows 2003. You cannot extend a simple volume on a basic disk as a previous partition. You can also extend a simple volume to a zone in another disk on the same computer. When you extend a simple volume to one or more other disks, it becomes a spanned volume. After you extend a spanned volume, you cannot delete any part of it without deleting the entire spanned volume. Note that a spanned volume cannot be a mirrored or striped volume.
② Striped Roll
With striped volumes, you can make free space for two or more disks (up to 32 hard disks) into one volume. When you write data to a striped volume, the data is split into 64KB blocks and distributed evenly across all the disks in the array. An array is a collection of two or more disks. Striped volumes can effectively improve the read performance of the disk, but it does not provide fault tolerance, and any damage to one hard drive will result in the loss of all data. Striped volumes are similar to RAID-0.
③ across Rolls
With spanned volumes, you can also make up free disk space from two or more disks (up to 32 hard disks) into one volume. Unlike a striped volume, when you write data to a span volume, you first fill in the spare part of the first disk, and then write the data to the next disk, and so on. Although the volume can be rapidly increased by using spanned volumes, spanning a volume does not increase the read performance of disk data, nor does it provide any fault-tolerant functionality. When a disk across a volume fails, all data stored on that disk is lost.
④ Mirrored Volume
Using a mirrored volume, the RAID-1 volume, you can copy the same data from the user to two physical disks at the same time. If one of the physical disks fails, although the data on this disk will not be available, the system will be able to continue to read and write data using disks that have not yet been corrupted and continue to function properly, thereby preserving a fully redundant copy on another disk and protecting the data on the disk from media failure. Thus, the disk space utilization of a mirrored volume is only 50% (that is, two members per set of data), so the cost of a mirrored volume is relatively high. To create a mirrored volume, you must use the free space on another disk. Any existing volumes (even system volumes and boot volumes) in a dynamic disk can be mirrored to another volume of the same size or greater on another disk using the same or different controllers. It is best to use disks of the same size, model, and manufacturer to mirror volumes to avoid possible compatibility errors.
Mirrored volumes can greatly enhance read performance because fault-tolerant drivers simultaneously read data from both disk members, so the speed of reading data increases. Of course, because a fault-tolerant driver must write data to two members at the same time, its write performance can be slightly reduced. A mirrored volume can contain any partitions (including boot or system partitions), but the two hard disks in a mirrored volume must be Windows 2003 dynamic disks.
⑤raid-5 Volume
In a RAID-5 volume, Windows 2003 enables fault tolerance by adding parity information bands to each hard disk partition of the volume. If a hard drive fails, Windows 2003 can reconstruct the data on the failed hard drive with data from the remaining hard disks and parity information.
Because you want to calculate parity information, writes on a RAID-5 volume are slower than write operations on a mirrored volume. However, a RAID-5 volume provides better read performance than a mirrored volume. The reason for this is simple, Windows 2003 can read data from multiple disks at the same time. RAID-5 volumes are more cost-effective than mirrored volumes, and the greater the number of hard disks in a RAID-5 volume, the lower the cost of redundant data zones. But RAID-5 volumes also have some limitations. First, the RAID-5 volume requires at least 3 hard disks to implement, but not more than 32 hard drives; second, RAID-5 volumes cannot contain root partitions or system partitions
2. Realize soft raid
① in Disk Management, the Create Volume wizard window appears when you right-click the hard disk on which you want to set up soft raid and select the Create Volume option from the shortcut menu.
② Clicking the Next button displays the Select volume Type page, where you select the type of volume you want to create. In general, in order to ensure the security of data, should choose to use RAID-1 or RAID-5 volume.
③ the "Select Disk" page appears when you click the Next button. Select the disk you want to add to the left "all available dynamic Disks" list box, and click the Add button to add it to the RAID-5 volume and display it in the Selected dynamic Disks list box.
④ A dynamic disk is added, clicking the Next button displays the Assign Drive letter and Path page. Select the Assign drive letter option and assign a drive letter to the RAID-5 volume for ease of administration and access.
⑤ Click the Next button to display the Volume area formatting page. Select the format this volume by the information provided below option and take the default NTFS file system and allocation unit size. You can specify a volume label for this RAID-5 volume to be used to distinguish it from other volumes.
⑥ Click the Next button to display the Complete Create Volume wizard page, when the volume is created.
⑦ you click the Finish button, the newly created volume is automatically formatted. At this point, the RAID-5 volume has been created and completed.
Iv. Management of RAID volumes
1. Add Mirrored volume
For existing dynamic disks, you can simply increase the security of your data by adding mirrored volumes.
In Disk Management, right-click the dynamic disk on which you want to add a mirrored disk and select the Add Mirror option on the shortcut menu, and the Add Mirror dialog box appears. In the list of disks, select the dynamic disk you want to set to mirror, and then click the Add Mirror button to add the complete image, and note that the disk space added as a mirror must be greater than or equal to the existing volume.
3. Reactivate the RAID-5 disk
If the I/O error is temporary, you can try to reactivate the disk, turn on Computer Management (local), and in the console tree, click Disk Management. Right-click the locally faulted disk, and then click Reactivate Disk, and the RAID-5 volume's status strain is "regenerating" and then "good."
4. Recovery of soft raid
The purpose of disk redundancy is to allow the system to preserve the integrity of the data when a disk fails. Although the failure of a disk member in RAID-1 and RAID-5 does not result in loss of data, other members can continue to operate, but if failure is not restored in time, then the disk volume will no longer have redundant features. Therefore, the failure of RAID-1 and RAID-5 must be restored in time.
1 repair mirrored and RAID-5 volumes
In Disk Management, the status of the failed volume will appear as failed redundancy, and one of the disks will appear as offline, missing, or online (error). You can recover a mirrored volume by doing the following:
① Make sure that the disk is connected to the computer and that it is already power-added.
② in Disk Management, right-click the disk that is identified as offline, missing, or online (error), and then click the Reactivate Disk option on the shortcut menu. The state of the disk should now return to "good" and the mirrored volume should be automatically regenerated.
If the disk is severely damaged or cannot be repaired, only the delete command is visible in the pop-up shortcut menu, and Windows 2003 will no longer be able to repair the mirrored volume. In addition, if the disk displays "online (error)" Continuously, it is possible that the disk will soon fail and should be replaced as quickly as possible.
2 Replace the disk and create a new mirrored volume
If the mirrored disk cannot be reactivated after being repaired, or if the mirrored volume's status is not restored to a "good" state, you must replace the failed disk and create a new mirrored volume.
① The Delete Mirror dialog box appears when you right-click on a failed volume and select the Remove Mirror option.
② Select the missing disk from the disk list, and then click the Remove Mirror button to display the Disk Management warning box to prompt the user for confirmation.
③ Clicking the Yes button deletes the mirrored volume. Then right-click the missing disk and select the Delete Disk option from the shortcut menu that pops up to remove the disk.
④ Replace the new disk and set the disk as a dynamic disk.
⑤ creates a new mirrored volume. The process of creating a new mirrored volume is described in the preceding "adding a mirrored volume."
3 Replace disk and regenerate RAID-5 volume
① Replace the failed disk and set it to a dynamic disk.
② in Disk Management, the Repair RAID-5 Volume dialog box appears when you right-click the RAID-5 volume of the failed disk and select the Recover Volume option from the shortcut menu that pops up.
③ Select the disk for which you want to replace the failed disk in the RAID-5 volume and click the OK button. The RAID-5 volume is now automatically repaired.
④ Right-click the failed disk and select the "Remove Disk" option from the pop-up shortcut menu and remove the disk from the system.
2. Test the Mirror system or boot volume
Turn off the computer, and then disconnect or close a disk to simulate a disk failure and use the remaining mirrors to restart the computer. After you verify that Windows starts correctly, shut down your computer and then reconnect the disk to restart your computer. When the Startup menu appears, select a mirror on the disk that is still connected. Open Computer Management (local), click Disk Management in the console tree, right-click the disk with any volume labeled failed duplicates, and then click Reactivate Disk.
3. Reactivate the RAID-5 disk
If the I/O error is temporary, you can try to reactivate the disk, turn on Computer Management (local), and in the console tree, click Disk Management. Right-click the locally faulted disk, and then click Reactivate Disk, and the RAID-5 volume's status strain is "regenerating" and then "good."
4. Recovery of soft raid
The purpose of disk redundancy is to allow the system to preserve the integrity of the data when a disk fails. Although the failure of a disk member in RAID-1 and RAID-5 does not result in loss of data, other members can continue to operate, but if failure is not restored in time, then the disk volume will no longer have redundant features. Therefore, the failure of RAID-1 and RAID-5 must be restored in time.
1 repair mirrored and RAID-5 volumes
In Disk Management, the status of the failed volume will appear as failed redundancy, and one of the disks will appear as offline, missing, or online (error). You can recover a mirrored volume by doing the following:
① Make sure that the disk is connected to the computer and that it is already power-added.
② in Disk Management, right-click the disk that is identified as offline, missing, or online (error), and then click the Reactivate Disk option on the shortcut menu. The state of the disk should now return to "good" and the mirrored volume should be automatically regenerated.
If the disk is severely damaged or cannot be repaired, only the delete command is visible in the pop-up shortcut menu, and Windows 2003 will no longer be able to repair the mirrored volume. In addition, if the disk displays "online (error)" Continuously, it is possible that the disk will soon fail and should be replaced as quickly as possible.
2 Replace the disk and create a new mirrored volume
If the mirrored disk cannot be reactivated after being repaired, or if the mirrored volume's status is not restored to a "good" state, you must replace the failed disk and create a new mirrored volume.
① The Delete Mirror dialog box appears when you right-click on a failed volume and select the Remove Mirror option.
② Select the missing disk from the disk list, and then click the Remove Mirror button to display the Disk Management warning box to prompt the user for confirmation.
③ Clicking the Yes button deletes the mirrored volume. Then right-click the missing disk and select the Delete Disk option from the shortcut menu that pops up to remove the disk.
④ Replace the new disk and set the disk as a dynamic disk.
⑤ creates a new mirrored volume. The process of creating a new mirrored volume is described in the preceding "adding a mirrored volume."
3 Replace disk and regenerate RAID-5 volume
① Replace the failed disk and set it to a dynamic disk.
② in Disk Management, the Repair RAID-5 Volume dialog box appears when you right-click the RAID-5 volume of the failed disk and select the Recover Volume option from the shortcut menu that pops up.
③ Select the disk for which you want to replace the failed disk in the RAID-5 volume and click the OK button. The RAID-5 volume is now automatically repaired.
④ Right-click the failed disk and select the "Remove Disk" option from the pop-up shortcut menu and remove the disk from the system.
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