GUID partitions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Kantor
  • Start date Start date
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Michael Kantor

Guest
Hello,

I am in the process of building a file server with 8 750GB drives running in
RAID5 for a volume of 5.25TB. It got the computer up and running with XP Pro
32-bit, but once the array was built, I realized that it will not go past 2TB.

This is a huge problem, and I did not anticipate it because I read that NTFS
supports far over 2TB, but had not encountered information about the
distinction of MBR and GUID prior to seeing this problem.

Please answer these questions for me if you can:

1. I read that XP Pro 64-bit would support the GUID partition. Does it also
need an Itanium chip to do this, or will it work on Core2 Duo? I read some
notes on Itanium, but perhaps they were outdated.
2. If #1 is resolved, and then I format the array to its full size, will a
computer on the network (32-bit XP or OSX) be able to read/write into the
full 5.25TB of this shared drive? I would assume so, since network computers
just talk to the OS, and not the storage drivers, but I havent been able to
confirm this.


Thank you,
Michael
 
Re: GUID partitions

If you want to boot from a GUID partition you will need
Intel IA64 Windows.

If you just want to use GUID for large storage volume, then
Win x64 for AMD and EM64T CPUs will work. You will still
have to boot from a MBR partition.



Michael Kantor wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am in the process of building a file server with 8 750GB drives running in
> RAID5 for a volume of 5.25TB. It got the computer up and running with XP Pro
> 32-bit, but once the array was built, I realized that it will not go past 2TB.
>
> This is a huge problem, and I did not anticipate it because I read that NTFS
> supports far over 2TB, but had not encountered information about the
> distinction of MBR and GUID prior to seeing this problem.
>
> Please answer these questions for me if you can:
>
> 1. I read that XP Pro 64-bit would support the GUID partition. Does it also
> need an Itanium chip to do this, or will it work on Core2 Duo? I read some
> notes on Itanium, but perhaps they were outdated.
> 2. If #1 is resolved, and then I format the array to its full size, will a
> computer on the network (32-bit XP or OSX) be able to read/write into the
> full 5.25TB of this shared drive? I would assume so, since network computers
> just talk to the OS, and not the storage drivers, but I havent been able to
> confirm this.
>
>
> Thank you,
> Michael
 
Re: GUID partitions

The boot is being done from a seperate drive, these are just for storage.

So then XP 64 should work with the current hardware, and I guess networked
computers will see the full space on the share drive?

"Theo" wrote:

> If you want to boot from a GUID partition you will need
> Intel IA64 Windows.
>
> If you just want to use GUID for large storage volume, then
> Win x64 for AMD and EM64T CPUs will work. You will still
> have to boot from a MBR partition.
 
Re: GUID partitions

Just curious why you don't run some type of server software?
 
Re: GUID partitions

The person I am making this for declined Linux, I'm not sure why exactly, but
it could be because he needs an ability to use it as an extra workstation if
one is needed. He is a photographer so that means all kinds of Adobe
offerings.

What else is there, Windows Server 2003? Thats $600+ last time I checked,
thats a big premium for one feature, especially if XP 64 can do the same
thing. If I'm missing some other obvious software please let me know and I'll
try it.

I see that I can get a trial of XP 64 from Microsoft, I'm going to install
that and see if it does the job.

"Sam Crawford" wrote:

> Just curious why you don't run some type of server software?
>
 
Re: GUID partitions

Hi,
Windows x64 can read gpt disks as data disks only (needs an mbr disk to
boot)
windows server x32 with sp1 too
jk
 
Re: GUID partitions


On 30-Aug-2007, =?Utf-8?B?TWljaGFlbCBLYW50b3I=?= <mekantor@gmail.com> wrote:

> The person I am making this for declined Linux, I'm not sure why exactly,
> but
> it could be because he needs an ability to use it as an extra workstation
> if
> one is needed. He is a photographer so that means all kinds of Adobe
> offerings.



I think it is dangerous to use a server as a workstation. Too many ways to
mess stuff up.

This is a Windows group but I'm thinking Ubuntu, Server 2003 or something
for this server.

I understand the need for the Adobe products and that eliminates Linux but
there has to be another option for either an inexpensive workstation or
another PC for the hard disks.
 
Re: GUID partitions

No reason why he can't use XP x64 here. He's not got a huge number of other
workstations connecting to him. And GPT disks are supported just fine in XP
x64.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"Sam Crawford" <sam@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:%23CdTT706HHA.4660@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> On 30-Aug-2007, =?Utf-8?B?TWljaGFlbCBLYW50b3I=?= <mekantor@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> The person I am making this for declined Linux, I'm not sure why exactly,
>> but
>> it could be because he needs an ability to use it as an extra workstation
>> if
>> one is needed. He is a photographer so that means all kinds of Adobe
>> offerings.
>
>
>
> I think it is dangerous to use a server as a workstation. Too many ways
> to
> mess stuff up.
>
> This is a Windows group but I'm thinking Ubuntu, Server 2003 or something
> for this server.
>
> I understand the need for the Adobe products and that eliminates Linux but
> there has to be another option for either an inexpensive workstation or
> another PC for the hard disks.
 
Re: GUID partitions

Michael -
As others have pointed out, you need to use a GPT disk as a data disk.
You won't be able to boot from it in XP x64. All x64 versions of Windows can
use GPT disks for data. And this is reaquired for disks >2TB.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"Michael Kantor" <mekantor@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:983B1DA1-14C5-4688-A774-EE627FE8F951@microsoft.com...
> Hello,
>
> I am in the process of building a file server with 8 750GB drives running
> in
> RAID5 for a volume of 5.25TB. It got the computer up and running with XP
> Pro
> 32-bit, but once the array was built, I realized that it will not go past
> 2TB.
>
> This is a huge problem, and I did not anticipate it because I read that
> NTFS
> supports far over 2TB, but had not encountered information about the
> distinction of MBR and GUID prior to seeing this problem.
>
> Please answer these questions for me if you can:
>
> 1. I read that XP Pro 64-bit would support the GUID partition. Does it
> also
> need an Itanium chip to do this, or will it work on Core2 Duo? I read some
> notes on Itanium, but perhaps they were outdated.
> 2. If #1 is resolved, and then I format the array to its full size, will a
> computer on the network (32-bit XP or OSX) be able to read/write into the
> full 5.25TB of this shared drive? I would assume so, since network
> computers
> just talk to the OS, and not the storage drivers, but I havent been able
> to
> confirm this.
>
>
> Thank you,
> Michael
 
Re: GUID partitions

My recollection was that one prior poster could not get a GUID and RAID5
combo to work. I don't have enough history to research what his solution
was.

"Charlie Russel - MVP" <charlie@mvKILLALLSPAMMERSps.org> wrote in message
news:156E0D2F-76A4-4224-8344-D6FFC0563BDC@microsoft.com...
> No reason why he can't use XP x64 here. He's not got a huge number of
> other workstations connecting to him. And GPT disks are supported just
> fine in XP x64.
>
> --
> Charlie.
> http://msmvps.com/xperts64
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>
>
> "Sam Crawford" <sam@somewhere.com> wrote in message
> news:%23CdTT706HHA.4660@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>
>> On 30-Aug-2007, =?Utf-8?B?TWljaGFlbCBLYW50b3I=?= <mekantor@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The person I am making this for declined Linux, I'm not sure why
>>> exactly,
>>> but
>>> it could be because he needs an ability to use it as an extra
>>> workstation
>>> if
>>> one is needed. He is a photographer so that means all kinds of Adobe
>>> offerings.
>>
>>
>>
>> I think it is dangerous to use a server as a workstation. Too many ways
>> to
>> mess stuff up.
>>
>> This is a Windows group but I'm thinking Ubuntu, Server 2003 or something
>> for this server.
>>
>> I understand the need for the Adobe products and that eliminates Linux
>> but
>> there has to be another option for either an inexpensive workstation or
>> another PC for the hard disks.
>
 
Re: GUID partitions

There should be no issue at all. Once the driver is loaded, it's just a
disk. A really big disk. GPT doesn't care.

I have GPT disks running on top of RAID 5 and RAID 6. I just can't boot off
them. On the box that doesn't have a pair of RAID1 standalone disks, I used
the RAID software to create two separate volumes, one smallish for the boot,
and one very large. The very large is GPT. The smallish one is MBR. All are
part of the same RAID6 array. With a hot spare.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message
news:O0OAsH26HHA.1148@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> My recollection was that one prior poster could not get a GUID and RAID5
> combo to work. I don't have enough history to research what his solution
> was.
>
> "Charlie Russel - MVP" <charlie@mvKILLALLSPAMMERSps.org> wrote in message
> news:156E0D2F-76A4-4224-8344-D6FFC0563BDC@microsoft.com...
>> No reason why he can't use XP x64 here. He's not got a huge number of
>> other workstations connecting to him. And GPT disks are supported just
>> fine in XP x64.
>>
>> --
>> Charlie.
>> http://msmvps.com/xperts64
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>
>>
>> "Sam Crawford" <sam@somewhere.com> wrote in message
>> news:%23CdTT706HHA.4660@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>
>>> On 30-Aug-2007, =?Utf-8?B?TWljaGFlbCBLYW50b3I=?= <mekantor@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The person I am making this for declined Linux, I'm not sure why
>>>> exactly,
>>>> but
>>>> it could be because he needs an ability to use it as an extra
>>>> workstation
>>>> if
>>>> one is needed. He is a photographer so that means all kinds of Adobe
>>>> offerings.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I think it is dangerous to use a server as a workstation. Too many ways
>>> to
>>> mess stuff up.
>>>
>>> This is a Windows group but I'm thinking Ubuntu, Server 2003 or
>>> something
>>> for this server.
>>>
>>> I understand the need for the Adobe products and that eliminates Linux
>>> but
>>> there has to be another option for either an inexpensive workstation or
>>> another PC for the hard disks.
>>
>
 
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