Acronis Disk Director Server - Win2K3 Partition Resize

I've got a Dell 2850 PowerEdge server with a PERC RAID controller running Windows 2003 Server SP2. There is a single RAID 5 with 2 partitions: C (NTFS 12 GB) and D (NTFS 1,385 GB). I need to expand the C drive at the expense of the D drive.

I've used True Image for quite a while and like it but I've never used Disk Director Server (DDS) before so I've got a few application questions.

1. Will DDS be able to perform this operation?

2. For partition operations, does it make more sense to do it from a bootable DDS CD?

3. If I'm migrating about 50 GB from D to C, what kind of time will this take, roughly?

4. I only intend to use the partitioning tools in DDS. Assuming this, is there any reason to install DDS on the server?

5. To make a bootable DDS CD, do you install DDS on a XP PC?

Thanks.

 

I'm going have to attempt to do this as well.

 

I've only used the Home version of DD, but it probably operates similarly.

Does DDS give you both the Full Mode (Linux-based) and Safe Mode (DOS-based) versions? If so, then hopefully one of them will work. The main thing is if they detect the RAID setup on the PERC controller.

If you're making changes to the system partition (the Windows booting partition), then I would do the changes from the CD. Windows would have to reboot in any case and if there were problems you wouldn't have any control. I would do the resize of the D: partition first (apply the changes), then do the resize of the C: partition (apply the changes). Do the process one step at a time.

This is tough to say. I assume D: has free space. The time will be how much it takes to "shrink" the D: partition. Also, depending on whether you use the Full mode or the Safe mode can make a big difference in speed.

If you have a DD CD, then there is no reason to install DD on the computer. Just boot from the CD to do what you want.

Again, I have not used the server version. However, if XP is in the list of supported OS's for DDS, then it would work fine. The CD created is not computer dependent so it does not have to be created on the computer it's being used for.

On this page and in the DD Server manual, it only lists Server OS's as supported. However, this comparison page shows checks in the the XP OS box, so it may install okay in XP.

Can you install it in the server if you have to? After you create the CD, you could uninstall it.

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I also strongly recommend you have an Entire Disk Image (with TI or whatever backup software you use). If you have problems you may need to restore.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I used the CD and worked like a charm. I guess Windows 2003 was locking the partition some how....

***edit Sorry wrong thread