RAID in Windows 2000 SBS

andrubruer · 07-01-2009, 02:13 PM

I'm unsure if this thread belongs here or in the hard drives forum...if it needs to be redirected I apologize. My question is this, is there any way at all to implement a RAID 1 array in Windows Server 2000 Small Business without reinstalling the O.S? We have this system, which isn't a server by hardware specs, running Server 2000 SBS, and are having some hard drive issues. The system drive is an 80GB Western Digital IDE that has become noisy. The additional drive is a 4.5GB 10,000 RPM SCSI drive that has a 2GB partition for running Q&A. This SCSI drive is very, very noisy and needs to be replaced. So now I'm wondering if there is some way to implement a RAID 1 of the system drive that is IDE, and remove the SCSI drive all together. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

hamiline · 07-02-2009, 10:49 AM

No and maybe. If you are planning to use a software raid solution vs hardware you are out of luck. You will need to reinstall the OS. If you are going to install a hardware Raid card then you could possibly image your drive with ghost or acroinis then install the raid card and drives. Then place the image back on to the new raid array. This was what I had to with my 2008 Windows Server. I was lucky enough that Server Intellect (dedicated server host) had done this before with other clients and I was able to upgrade a single drive server to the raid array. Defiantly made the job easier. Even so the raid might not like the image so I would suggest a few different image systems if you are going to attempt. Good luck with that.

andrubruer · 07-02-2009, 04:59 PM

Thanks for the reply and info. Now the boss would like to just build a new server all together. I have a few questions concerning this. He would like to upgrade all the hardware using 2 new SATA II hard drives mirrored in RAID 1. He also wants to go with a new server O.S. But it has to be an O.S. that will support and run his old DOS Q&A. Does anybody have any clue which Windows Server class will run this old stuff? Will any x86 O.S. run ancient Q&A? Next, if the server and the server O.S. are upgraded will the network have to be re-established? I plan on transferring all the saved files/folders on the old hard drive, because that's really the only function of the old server, a file server, but I believe it was set up as a domain controller running Active Directory. It also has to have a small (2GB) partition for the Q&A stuff to run. I'm at a loss here and would really, really appreciate some advice. Thanks ahead of time for any and all ideas.

**bilbus** · 07-02-2009, 11:40 PM

sure, why not?

Add a second IDE HD, convert both drives to dynamic disks.
Add both drives to a raid 1 array.
Sync drives.
Remove the drive that is having issues.
Replace that drive with a new 1
add the new drive to the failed array

As for the new server

Any x86 os should be able to run old dos apps, if its working on 2000, then 2003 will be fine.

If its a DC, you will need to migrate the domain to the new DC ... as far as i know its very hard to upgrade a 2000/2003SBS to new hardware.

One option is to upgrade the existing server to 2003 SBS, use a product like acronis Echo server to backup and restore the server image to the new hardware. Asoming that the new hardware is supported by acronis the migration should only take a hour.

andrubruer · 07-06-2009, 10:28 AM

Thank you very much for your time and efforts to help with my questions. Some really good advice here. Thank you to all who are willing to help out here at TSF. You guys always seem to have some kind of sound advice.

07-01-2009, 02:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
andrubruer Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 64 OS: ArtistX Ubuntu, Windows 7 x64, Windows XP Pro	RAID in Windows 2000 SBS I'm unsure if this thread belongs here or in the hard drives forum...if it needs to be redirected I apologize. My question is this, is there any way at all to implement a RAID 1 array in Windows Server 2000 Small Business without reinstalling the O.S? We have this system, which isn't a server by hardware specs, running Server 2000 SBS, and are having some hard drive issues. The system drive is an 80GB Western Digital IDE that has become noisy. The additional drive is a 4.5GB 10,000 RPM SCSI drive that has a 2GB partition for running Q&A. This SCSI drive is very, very noisy and needs to be replaced. So now I'm wondering if there is some way to implement a RAID 1 of the system drive that is IDE, and remove the SCSI drive all together. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

07-02-2009, 10:49 AM	#2 (permalink)
hamiline Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 5 OS: WIndows XP	Re: RAID in Windows 2000 SBS No and maybe. If you are planning to use a software raid solution vs hardware you are out of luck. You will need to reinstall the OS. If you are going to install a hardware Raid card then you could possibly image your drive with ghost or acroinis then install the raid card and drives. Then place the image back on to the new raid array. This was what I had to with my 2008 Windows Server. I was lucky enough that Server Intellect (dedicated server host) had done this before with other clients and I was able to upgrade a single drive server to the raid array. Defiantly made the job easier. Even so the raid might not like the image so I would suggest a few different image systems if you are going to attempt. Good luck with that.

07-02-2009, 04:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
andrubruer Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 64 OS: ArtistX Ubuntu, Windows 7 x64, Windows XP Pro	Re: RAID in Windows 2000 SBS Thanks for the reply and info. Now the boss would like to just build a new server all together. I have a few questions concerning this. He would like to upgrade all the hardware using 2 new SATA II hard drives mirrored in RAID 1. He also wants to go with a new server O.S. But it has to be an O.S. that will support and run his old DOS Q&A. Does anybody have any clue which Windows Server class will run this old stuff? Will any x86 O.S. run ancient Q&A? Next, if the server and the server O.S. are upgraded will the network have to be re-established? I plan on transferring all the saved files/folders on the old hard drive, because that's really the only function of the old server, a file server, but I believe it was set up as a domain controller running Active Directory. It also has to have a small (2GB) partition for the Q&A stuff to run. I'm at a loss here and would really, really appreciate some advice. Thanks ahead of time for any and all ideas.

07-02-2009, 11:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
bilbus TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 950 OS: OS2 Warp	Re: RAID in Windows 2000 SBS sure, why not? Add a second IDE HD, convert both drives to dynamic disks. Add both drives to a raid 1 array. Sync drives. Remove the drive that is having issues. Replace that drive with a new 1 add the new drive to the failed array As for the new server Any x86 os should be able to run old dos apps, if its working on 2000, then 2003 will be fine. If its a DC, you will need to migrate the domain to the new DC ... as far as i know its very hard to upgrade a 2000/2003SBS to new hardware. One option is to upgrade the existing server to 2003 SBS, use a product like acronis Echo server to backup and restore the server image to the new hardware. Asoming that the new hardware is supported by acronis the migration should only take a hour.

07-06-2009, 10:28 AM	#5 (permalink)
andrubruer Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 64 OS: ArtistX Ubuntu, Windows 7 x64, Windows XP Pro	Re: RAID in Windows 2000 SBS Thank you very much for your time and efforts to help with my questions. Some really good advice here. Thank you to all who are willing to help out here at TSF. You guys always seem to have some kind of sound advice.