Server drive setup

In this case, we are installing the OS on the primary partition. You can also use the Drive options link on the dialogue box to configure any drives attached to the server if this is necessary. Then Windows will begin installing itself to your server. How long this takes will depend on your server's specifications. Once it is completed you will be asked to provide an administrator password for the new installation. Type in a password and click "Next". Once this is done, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete at the same time to get the login screen.

Type in the administrator password and press enter. It is important to note here that as Server takes its design cues form Windows 8, most tasks can also be carried out via the Start Screen, which can be accessed by pressing the Windows button on the keyboard. Open Server Manager by clicking on its tile. Windows Server then changes from Modern UI to desktop mode, and the Server Manager window will appear on this desktop. In this window click on "Configure this local server".

This allows you to set up the various features you will require for your network. Current page: Page 1. North America. It is recommended that you create two partitions on your operating system disk, and not use the C: system partition to store any business data. These recommendations take into account the size of the installed operating system, the average size of the data storage that the server uses, and the expected data storage growth over the lifetime of the server. The volumes can be partitions on a single physical disk or they can be placed on separate physical disks.

Because the server stores important data for your customer, it is recommended that you use multiple physical disks and help protect your customer's data by using hardware RAID or Storage Spaces.

In addition to the internal hard disks on the server, customers should consider using external USB hard disks for backups. Ideally, the customer would have at least two external hard disks with enough capacity to back up all of the data on the server. If external hard disks are used, the customer can take one disk off-site each night to further protect the data. Storage Spaces lets you group disks together in a storage pool.

You can then use pool capacity to create storage spaces. Storage spaces are virtual drives that appear on the Hard Drives tab of the Dashboard. You can use storage spaces like any other drive, so it's easy to work with files on them. When you run low on pool capacity, you can create large storage spaces and add more drives to the storage pool. If you have two or more disks within the storage pool, you can create storage spaces with a two-way mirror that won't be affected by a drive failure?

To create a storage space, all you need is one or more extra drives in addition to the drive on which Windows is installed. These drives can be internal or external hard drives, or solid state drives. The workaround for this issue is to first remove Storage Spaces and then perform a Factory Reset with the Clean Data option.

The server running Windows Server Essentials must be attached to additional physical drives not just the boot drive , the drives must not host any volumes and must have a minimum capacity of 10 GB. One physical drive is required to create a storage pool; a minimum of two physical drives is needed to create a resilient mirror storage space. A minimum of two physical drives are required to create a storage space with resiliency through parity or two-way mirroring.

Add or connect all the drives that you want to group together with Storage Spaces to the server running Windows Server Essentials. Select the drives you want to add to the new storage space, and then click Create pool. Give the drive a name and letter, and then choose a layout. Two-way mirror , Three-way mirror , and Parity can help protect the files in the storage space from drive failure. Enter the maximum size the storage space can reach, and then click Create storage space.

From the Dashboard, click Manage Storage Spaces. The Create a Storage Space Wizard appears. For information about increasing storage pool capacity, see Use the new hard drive to increase storage pool capacity.

Manage Server Folders. Use Windows Server Essentials. Manage Windows Server Essentials. Skip to main content. This browser is no longer supported. Download Microsoft Edge More info. Contents Exit focus mode. Is this page helpful? Please rate your experience Yes No. Any additional feedback? Note You can perform this procedure only if you created a storage pool on the server. In this article.