Hi all,
I'm thinking of setting up a storage pool on Windows Server 2012 Essentials, but reading across the internet there are some things I want to (double) check.
My plan is to start with 2 3TB drives (2 way mirroring) and expand afterwards if necessary. My main questions are for when I run out of space.
1) I had hoped when my 2 disks got full, I could just add 1 more disk and let the system take care of the rest, but I read that's not the case and I'll have to add 2 disks instead of 1 ?
2) Let's say I do that and I have added 2 disks after a while (resulting in 4 disks in total). The next time I run out of space will I be able to just add 2 more or will I then have to add 4 more ? (so from 4 to 6 or do I have to go from 4 to 8 disks)
I would have assumed 2, but this text here made me doubt:
quote:
"When it comes to mirror spaces, you have to take into account both the number of columns and the number of data copies. For example, a two-way mirror created with four physical disks would look like Figure 10. NumberOfDataCopies equals 2, and NumberOfColumns
equals 2. The number of disks needed to extend this virtual disk can be found using the following formula:
NumberOfDataCopies * NumberOfColumns
2 * 2 = 4"
However I would be starting for 2 disks originally, so maybe it's not an issue and I can add 2 disks the second time I expand (from 4 to 6 disks) ?
3) Let's say I want to replace an existing pair of disks with bigger ones (for example the 2 3TB disks). Can I then just remove 1 3TB disk and replace it with a 4TB disk, wait for the pool to synchronize to the next disk and then pull the second 3TB disk and also replace it with a 4TB disk ? Will that work without issues ?
4) Can I use my storage pool to store my client backups and preferably also server backups ?
Thank you in advance for any advice,
Jorn