Comments on: How to Break the 2TB (2 TeraByte) File System Limit http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit My personal take on tech Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:26:28 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Steve Monaghan http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-18820 Steve Monaghan Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:09:04 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-18820 Hi Calvin. Sorry mate but i think you got your signals more than a little crossed in your posting..... to summarize Windows XP 32bit has NO 2TB limit NTFS has NO 2TB limit MBR partitions DO have 2TB limits Windows XP 32bit windows uses MBR partitions The trick is to uses Windows XP 32bit and NTFS BUT not use Windows 32bit to partition and then format the drive. 1) When we say 32bit or 64bit versions of windows we are referring to how much addressable memory the o/s can see/use/read/write which has nothing to do with disk drives. Indeed 32bits is 4GB of addressability NOT 2TB. 2 )Surprise !! Windows XP 32bit can use hard drives (and prtiotions) well beyond 2TB (thats a direct copy from Microsoft). The 2TB limit isnt in windows, its the use of MBR partitions by 32bit Windows which causes the restriction. XP 32bit can also use FAT32 etc and each of those has its own limit too but no one seems to be claiming those as limits anymore. 3) 32bit windows does not support GUID partions and so the myth of windows itself having a 2tb limit has been born. 4) if correctly configured windows 32bit can actually read (only) 4TB GPUID drives but not create or write to them. 5) additionally NTFS has no 2TB limit, and windows is quite happy to use non-microsoft partitioning tools to create > 2TB volumes/partitions that NTFS is happy to format under 32/64bit windows. 6) one more common way is to use a raid card with utilities to make larger partions (not MBR or GPUID) and format them with NTFS. These partions can not be created with windows 32bit, but work just fine for read/write under 32bit windows becauses its how the drive is presented to windows that counts, not how many bytes are involved. Hi Calvin. Sorry mate but i think you got your signals more than a little crossed in your posting…..
to summarize

Windows XP 32bit has NO 2TB limit
NTFS has NO 2TB limit
MBR partitions DO have 2TB limits
Windows XP 32bit windows uses MBR partitions

The trick is to uses Windows XP 32bit and NTFS BUT not use Windows 32bit to partition and then format the drive.

1) When we say 32bit or 64bit versions of windows we are referring to how much addressable memory the o/s can see/use/read/write which has nothing to do with disk drives. Indeed 32bits is 4GB of addressability NOT 2TB.
2 )Surprise !! Windows XP 32bit can use hard drives (and prtiotions) well beyond 2TB (thats a direct copy from Microsoft). The 2TB limit isnt in windows, its the use of MBR partitions by 32bit Windows which causes the restriction. XP 32bit can also use FAT32 etc and each of those has its own limit too but no one seems to be claiming those as limits anymore.
3) 32bit windows does not support GUID partions and so the myth of windows itself having a 2tb limit has been born.
4) if correctly configured windows 32bit can actually read (only) 4TB GPUID drives but not create or write to them.
5) additionally NTFS has no 2TB limit, and windows is quite happy to use non-microsoft partitioning tools to create > 2TB volumes/partitions that NTFS is happy to format under 32/64bit windows.
6) one more common way is to use a raid card with utilities to make larger partions (not MBR or GPUID) and format them with NTFS. These partions can not be created with windows 32bit, but work just fine for read/write under 32bit windows becauses its how the drive is presented to windows that counts, not how many bytes are involved.

]]> By: Calvin Thomas http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-18798 Calvin Thomas Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:27:00 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-18798 I don't think that is the problem that Carlton is refering to. Specifically, you can't access over 2 TB of data using a 32 bit operating system. The problem is that 32bits is 2 TB. In order to address more than 32 bits (2TB)in windows XP, you have to insert a method to page hard drive space in and out. That is effectivly what a disk partition does. It allows you to go above the limit by adding another addressing "bit" in the form of a drive letter. But hoping for XP to natively support more than 32 bits on a 32 bit operating system is not going to happen.... I don't think that is the problem that Carlton is refering to. Specifically, you can't access over 2 TB of data using a 32 bit operating system. The problem is that 32bits is 2 TB.
In order to address more than 32 bits (2TB)in windows XP, you have to insert a method to page hard drive space in and out.
That is effectivly what a disk partition does. It allows you to go above the limit by adding another addressing "bit" in the form of a drive letter. But hoping for XP to natively support more than 32 bits on a 32 bit operating system is not going to happen….

]]> By: Steve Monaghan http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-18665 Steve Monaghan Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:18:35 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-18665 Hi Carlton. I do have VMWare and Vitualbox on the 64bit boot drives so I will try those out. FYI : I have found one way to achieve what i wanted, using only built in windows utilities but the speed is not acceptable. Mainly involves using dynamic disks and spanning them. Thanks Hi Carlton. I do have VMWare and Vitualbox on the 64bit boot drives so I will try those out.
FYI : I have found one way to achieve what i wanted, using only built in windows utilities but the speed is not acceptable. Mainly involves using dynamic disks and spanning them.
Thanks

]]> By: Carlton Bale http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-18609 Carlton Bale Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:42:08 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-18609 Steve, I think what you are wanting to do is not possible with older operating systems such as XP 32-bit (it's 2001-era technology.) The only way to get close to this is to create an XP virtual machine and have it go through the host operating system to get to the volumes. Microsoft Virtual PC and Sun VirtualBox are 2 free solutions. Otherwise, I don't believe it's possible. Steve, I think what you are wanting to do is not possible with older operating systems such as XP 32-bit (it's 2001-era technology.) The only way to get close to this is to create an XP virtual machine and have it go through the host operating system to get to the volumes. Microsoft Virtual PC and Sun VirtualBox are 2 free solutions. Otherwise, I don't believe it's possible.

]]> By: Steve Monaghan http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-18317 Steve Monaghan Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:52:40 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-18317 I would be very interested in anyones views on my problem. Like quite a few people i use multi-boot (windows vista 64bit ,vista 64bit and XP 32bit) on 3 WD Velociraptors. I also have 6 x 2t in the pc and 24 x 1tb in 2 external esata towers. What i need to do is to create 3 internal 4tb raid volumes (striped) and 4 external 4tb raid volumes (striped) NO RAID 5. this will be presented to windows as 7 x 4tb drives. Now this is easy under Vista & Windows 7 but as i multi boot i need these to be available to windows xp 32bit also. My external towers are raid, so is my mother board and i have LSI SAS 3041E-R 4-PORT SATA RAID PCI EXPRESS CONTROLLER available to me. So i think there is no problem creating the raids but how do i make 4TBs that work with ALL my multiboot systems?? I would be very interested in anyones views on my problem.
Like quite a few people i use multi-boot (windows vista 64bit ,vista 64bit and XP 32bit) on 3 WD Velociraptors. I also have 6 x 2t in the pc and 24 x 1tb in 2 external esata towers.
What i need to do is to create 3 internal 4tb raid volumes (striped) and 4 external 4tb raid volumes (striped) NO RAID 5.
this will be presented to windows as 7 x 4tb drives.
Now this is easy under Vista & Windows 7 but as i multi boot i need these to be available to windows xp 32bit also.
My external towers are raid, so is my mother board and i have LSI SAS 3041E-R 4-PORT SATA RAID PCI EXPRESS CONTROLLER available to me.

So i think there is no problem creating the raids but how do i make 4TBs that work with ALL my multiboot systems??

]]> By: EP45-UD3R v.1.1 need help with 64bit and RAID - Page 5 - TweakTown Forums http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-15927 EP45-UD3R v.1.1 need help with 64bit and RAID - Page 5 - TweakTown Forums Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:03:56 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-15927 [...] applies to x64, seems like I see contradicting info? Anyway... Blah Blah Blah, hope this helps!!) CarltonBale.com How to Break the 2TB (2 TeraByte) File System Limit You cannot install or start Windows Vista when the volume of the system partition is larger than 2 [...] [...] applies to x64, seems like I see contradicting info? Anyway… Blah Blah Blah, hope this helps!!) CarltonBale.com How to Break the 2TB (2 TeraByte) File System Limit You cannot install or start Windows Vista when the volume of the system partition is larger than 2 [...]

]]> By: What is the Size Barrier for Windows XP - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-13610 What is the Size Barrier for Windows XP - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:41:35 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-13610 [...] relates to partitions over 2TB not total space, you need to use GPT partitions. Have a look here http://carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-t...-system-limit/ [...] [...] relates to partitions over 2TB not total space, you need to use GPT partitions. Have a look here http://carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-t…-system-limit/ [...]

]]> By: Carlton Bale http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-12356 Carlton Bale Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:39:42 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-12356 Garret: Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how it's partitioned, the OS still has to be able to address the entire drive before recognizing the partitions. And if you are not using GPT, you will not be able to address beyond 2TB, no matter how many partitions you have. So use GPT and then setup the partitions how ever you want; that's the only way to go beyond 2TB in your setup. Garret: Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how it's partitioned, the OS still has to be able to address the entire drive before recognizing the partitions. And if you are not using GPT, you will not be able to address beyond 2TB, no matter how many partitions you have. So use GPT and then setup the partitions how ever you want; that's the only way to go beyond 2TB in your setup.

]]> By: garret http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-12342 garret Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:33:39 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-12342 Hi, Interesting discussion here... my issue is that I have bought a 3TB Lacie Big Disk Quad that I want to use with my xp 32-bit workstation. I was advised by Lacie to do the formatting on a Vista machine so this is what I did: 1) (VISTA) Disk was Mac formatted so I initialised the 3TB drive causing 1 partition of 2TB and 1 partition of 1TB to appear (in Disk Management console). Both partitions were "unallocated" at this time; 2) (VISTA) I formatted with the first 2TB partition to NTFS with MBR (since I want to use the drive with XP-32, GPT is not an option). It formatted fine. 3) (VISTA) Now the problem I'm having is that I can't do anything with the remainder (unallocated) part of the drive. All I can do is get Properties, there is no way to create and format a partition. My idea was to create the second partition and then span the NTFS partitions together to get a virtual 3TB drive. Any suggestions getting round 3) above would be greatly appreciated. Thx. Hi,

Interesting discussion here… my issue is that I have bought a 3TB Lacie Big Disk Quad that I want to use with my xp 32-bit workstation. I was advised by Lacie to do the formatting on a Vista machine so this is what I did:

1) (VISTA) Disk was Mac formatted so I initialised the 3TB drive causing 1 partition of 2TB and 1 partition of 1TB to appear (in Disk Management console). Both partitions were "unallocated" at this time;

2) (VISTA) I formatted with the first 2TB partition to NTFS with MBR (since I want to use the drive with XP-32, GPT is not an option). It formatted fine.

3) (VISTA) Now the problem I'm having is that I can't do anything with the remainder (unallocated) part of the drive. All I can do is get Properties, there is no way to create and format a partition.

My idea was to create the second partition and then span the NTFS partitions together to get a virtual 3TB drive.

Any suggestions getting round 3) above would be greatly appreciated.

Thx.

]]> By: razy http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-12225 razy Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:37:44 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-12225 Thanks for the info! Thanks for the info!

]]> By: Carlton Bale http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-11989 Carlton Bale Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:16:44 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-11989 I would leave the RAID array formatted as a basic drive for maximum flexibility. There is really no advantage to other options. The thing to keep in mind with a RAID 5 array is that data is stripped over multiple discs, so no single drive is readable if the array fails (other than the 1-at-a-time drive failure allowed by RAID 5.) RAID 1 mirrors the data between 2 drives, so either is readable if the other drive or the controller card fails. And you will not be able to expand your RAID 5 array with your built-in controller. All things to consider. I would leave the RAID array formatted as a basic drive for maximum flexibility. There is really no advantage to other options.

The thing to keep in mind with a RAID 5 array is that data is stripped over multiple discs, so no single drive is readable if the array fails (other than the 1-at-a-time drive failure allowed by RAID 5.) RAID 1 mirrors the data between 2 drives, so either is readable if the other drive or the controller card fails. And you will not be able to expand your RAID 5 array with your built-in controller. All things to consider.

]]> By: razy http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-11931 razy Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:51:59 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-11931 Hello Carlton. Thank you for the informative article. I just recently setup a new Raid 5 array and I had a few questions as I want to ensure I won't run into any problems if I try to add new HDDs in the future. System Specs: ------------- Motherboard: Asus P5N-T Deluxe (Nvidia 780i Chipset) HDDs: Three 1 TB Drives (Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS) OS: WIN XP x64 (SP2) I am using the latest BIOS and Nforce drivers which I have read (not tested yet) support 64-bit LBA addressing so I am hoping I won't have any problems with trying to get the Array greater than 2 TB. I created a new Raid 5 array (set) using all 3 drives (1.81TB in total) from within the Bios pressing F10 to get into the RAID Utility. WDCWD1001FALS - 931.51 GB - Channel SATA 0.0 WDCWD1001FALS - 931.51 GB - Channel SATA 0.1 WDCWD1001FALS - 931.51 GB - Channel SATA 1.0 I installed WIN XP x64 successfully onto the C: drive. I used Nlite and slip streamed the Nvidia Nforce Chipset drivers onto the XP x64 disc which was fairly easy to do. (Don't have a floppy disk installed on this PC) Partitions: ------------ WIN XP (C:) 45 GB WIN 7 (D:) 45 GB Data (E:) 1.8 TB I only have Win XP installed for now, but in the future I would like to dual boot with Win 7 so I would like to stay away from Dynamic Disks and GPT as I've read I won't be able to dual boot if I do so. My question is, what would be the easiest way to add another 2 Drives to my setup. Physically install the 2 HDDS, add the 2 drives to the Raid Array (set) and then hopefully the bios will let me create a 2 TB Raid Volume which should show up in Windows as an un-partitioned Logical Drive and then I can just format using NTFS and keeping it as a Basic Disk? I don't mind that I will have an additional drive letter (partition listed in my computer) as this is my personal data so I don't have any clients, but I do use this PC as a media server streaming everything to my PS3. Or, am I better off converting to dynamic disks and just don't dual boot? I have all my old DATA on 2 500GB Seagate drives right now, but I am holding off on a transferring the data over just in case I have to rebuild this array losing all my data. I am also thinking of just ordering another 2 WD 1 TB drives right now instead of doing it 6-12 months from now. My main reason for Raid 5 is for redunancy instead of just using the drives separatly gaining 3 TBs instead of 2TBs. I don't backup my data, I want to rely on this raid setup instead, that way if a Drive does fail, I can just pop in a replacement dirve and I'm good to go. Should I buy 2 different HDDs, and create a separate Raid Array for the OS instead? Ex. Maybe I can create a Mirrored Array for the OS, and Create a Raid 5 array for my Data. Do you have any suggestions? I am pretty excited about Raid, but extremely worried at the same time. Thanks. Regards, Razy Hello Carlton.

Thank you for the informative article.

I just recently setup a new Raid 5 array and I had a few questions as I want to ensure I won't run into any problems if I try to add new HDDs in the future.

System Specs:
————-

Motherboard: Asus P5N-T Deluxe (Nvidia 780i Chipset)
HDDs: Three 1 TB Drives (Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS)
OS: WIN XP x64 (SP2)

I am using the latest BIOS and Nforce drivers which I have read (not tested yet) support 64-bit LBA addressing so I am hoping I won't have any problems with trying to get the Array greater than 2 TB.

I created a new Raid 5 array (set) using all 3 drives (1.81TB in total) from within the Bios pressing F10 to get into the RAID Utility.

WDCWD1001FALS – 931.51 GB – Channel SATA 0.0
WDCWD1001FALS – 931.51 GB – Channel SATA 0.1
WDCWD1001FALS – 931.51 GB – Channel SATA 1.0

I installed WIN XP x64 successfully onto the C: drive. I used Nlite and slip streamed the Nvidia Nforce Chipset drivers onto the XP x64 disc which was fairly easy to do. (Don't have a floppy disk installed on this PC)

Partitions:
————
WIN XP (C:) 45 GB
WIN 7 (D:) 45 GB
Data (E:) 1.8 TB

I only have Win XP installed for now, but in the future I would like to dual boot with Win 7 so I would like to stay away from Dynamic Disks and GPT as I've read I won't be able to dual boot if I do so.

My question is, what would be the easiest way to add another 2 Drives to my setup.

Physically install the 2 HDDS, add the 2 drives to the Raid Array (set) and then hopefully the bios will let me create a 2 TB Raid Volume which should show up in Windows as an un-partitioned Logical Drive and then I can just format using NTFS and keeping it as a Basic Disk? I don't mind that I will have an additional drive letter (partition listed in my computer) as this is my personal data so I don't have any clients, but I do use this PC as a media server streaming everything to my PS3.

Or, am I better off converting to dynamic disks and just don't dual boot?

I have all my old DATA on 2 500GB Seagate drives right now, but I am holding off on a transferring the data over just in case I have to rebuild this array losing all my data.

I am also thinking of just ordering another 2 WD 1 TB drives right now instead of doing it 6-12 months from now.

My main reason for Raid 5 is for redunancy instead of just using the drives separatly gaining 3 TBs instead of 2TBs. I don't backup my data, I want to rely on this raid setup instead, that way if a Drive does fail, I can just pop in a replacement dirve and I'm good to go.

Should I buy 2 different HDDs, and create a separate Raid Array for the OS instead? Ex. Maybe I can create a Mirrored Array for the OS, and Create a Raid 5 array for my Data.

Do you have any suggestions? I am pretty excited about Raid, but extremely worried at the same time.

Thanks.

Regards,
Razy

]]> By: Bob http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-11372 Bob Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:22:49 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-11372 No, you can boot from GPT on BIOS. There's no secret to it, really. Debian for example does that just fine. No, you can boot from GPT on BIOS. There's no secret to it, really. Debian for example does that just fine.

]]> By: Calvin Thomas http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-10153 Calvin Thomas Fri, 15 May 2009 23:02:04 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-10153 My older 3ware card is unable to create any raid partions over the original 2TB sise. Not only that, but it could only create the single 2 TB partition and no more. You should check the newer controller cards and verify they can handle more than 2TB..... My older 3ware card is unable to create any raid partions over the original 2TB sise. Not only that, but it could only create the single 2 TB partition and no more. You should check the newer controller cards and verify they can handle more than 2TB…..

]]> By: Calvin Thomas http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-10149 Calvin Thomas Fri, 15 May 2009 22:42:17 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-10149 Too bad you did it this way. You will suffer the following problems. 1. You are throwing away the capability of the 9540 by using Software Raid. Doesn't hurt, just slows you down. 2. You are adding load onto your processor to do the parity calculations that are NOT being handeled by the 9650 3. You could could have saved the price of the 9650 and used 1-3 cheap $20 software raid cards to accomplish the exact same thing. What you seem to have missed, is that this article is about how to make the low level hardware (9650 card and bios) talk to the raid array as a single drive. You are talking to them individually (thereby bypassing the MBR problem by running each physical disk seperately) and then using Windows to combine them together in software. As the author pointed out, that Windows limit for NTFS is 256TB. You can add a lot more drives if you want using your method. However, you will still suffer the waste of not using the hardware parity capability of the 9650 and adding that workload onto the CPU. Best Luck.... Too bad you did it this way. You will suffer the following problems.
1. You are throwing away the capability of the 9540 by using Software Raid. Doesn't hurt, just slows you down.
2. You are adding load onto your processor to do the parity calculations that are NOT being handeled by the 9650
3. You could could have saved the price of the 9650 and used 1-3 cheap $20 software raid cards to accomplish the exact same thing.

What you seem to have missed, is that this article is about how to make the low level hardware (9650 card and bios) talk to the raid array as a single drive. You are talking to them individually (thereby bypassing the MBR problem by running each physical disk seperately) and then using Windows to combine them together in software. As the author pointed out, that Windows limit for NTFS is 256TB. You can add a lot more drives if you want using your method. However, you will still suffer the waste of not using the hardware parity capability of the 9650 and adding that workload onto the CPU.
Best Luck….

]]> By: dataCore http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-8077 dataCore Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:04:44 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-8077 First: Very good article! My storage partition is allready with VolumSet RAID 5 and now I wanted to extend it (from 2TB to 3TB) (4 HD -> 1GB each) and so I run into this problem (and found your page g*) My question: Is there still no way to convert a MBR Partition to GPT Partition? I mean it's a hard job to export the 2TB data to another drive first, just to convert the partition logic and copy the whole things back... would be great if there is a tool (like acronis diskDirector) or so who can do that... First: Very good article!

My storage partition is allready with VolumSet RAID 5 and now I wanted to extend it (from 2TB to 3TB) (4 HD -> 1GB each) and so I run into this problem (and found your page g*)

My question: Is there still no way to convert a MBR Partition to GPT Partition? I mean it's a hard job to export the 2TB data to another drive first, just to convert the partition logic and copy the whole things back…

would be great if there is a tool (like acronis diskDirector) or so who can do that…

]]> By: Carlton Bale http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-7904 Carlton Bale Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:24:30 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-7904 RAID 6 is handled at the hardware level and the whether an array is RAID 5 or 6 should be invisible to the OS. So create the RAID set in the RAID controller BIOS, then create a single 4TB volume set, and then format that in the OS. RAID 6 is handled at the hardware level and the whether an array is RAID 5 or 6 should be invisible to the OS. So create the RAID set in the RAID controller BIOS, then create a single 4TB volume set, and then format that in the OS.

]]> By: MP http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-7894 MP Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:20:18 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-7894 Well, I have read all of the threads and it looks as though I am the only person using a RAID 6.... We just upgrade our NAS boxes 6 x 1Tb drives and I wanted the RAID 6 since our data is too valuable to lose any one or more drives. I have had this happen to me in the past on a RAID 5 and it's not fun explaining how two drives died and all the data is gone. I have already gotten our boxes into this configuration and I was hoping that some one can help me determine which was to go with this, while staying in a RAID 6 config. Well, I have read all of the threads and it looks as though I am the only person using a RAID 6…. We just upgrade our NAS boxes 6 x 1Tb drives and I wanted the RAID 6 since our data is too valuable to lose any one or more drives. I have had this happen to me in the past on a RAID 5 and it's not fun explaining how two drives died and all the data is gone.

I have already gotten our boxes into this configuration and I was hoping that some one can help me determine which was to go with this, while staying in a RAID 6 config.

]]> By: Pete http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-4434 Pete Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:51:37 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-4434 I have an infotrend external raid, Does anyone know if the Adaptec 29320 card should be able to see the raid5 disk at bios level (under CTL A adaptec utility)? It sees IFT device but when I go to disk utils it says this is not a disk Thanks. I have an infotrend external raid, Does anyone know if the Adaptec 29320 card should be able to see the raid5 disk at bios level (under CTL A adaptec utility)?

It sees IFT device but when I go to disk utils it says this is not a disk

Thanks.

]]> By: Carlton Bale http://carltonbale.com/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/comment-page-1#comment-4363 Carlton Bale Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:14:20 +0000 http://www.carltonbale.com/2007/05/how-to-break-the-2tb-2-terabyte-file-system-limit/#comment-4363 Volume sets are created within the RAID controller firmware before any drive / partition is presented to the operating system. It could be that your RAID controller can't create multiple volume sets. I performed the setup in the RAID controller BIOS setup prior to booting to Windows. Volume sets are created within the RAID controller firmware before any drive / partition is presented to the operating system. It could be that your RAID controller can't create multiple volume sets. I performed the setup in the RAID controller BIOS setup prior to booting to Windows.

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