Question Is it possible to merge two SSDs into one partition without formatting the existing data ?

[danezeq]

hey

I have one M.2 NVMe 2TB SSD which is almost full.
If I buy another SSD, is it possible to merge them both in to one partition without formatting the existing 2TB SSD - - - kind of "extending" an existing partition from 2TB to 3TB?

 

[USAFRet]

hey
i have one m.2 nvme 2tb drive which is almost full.
if i'll buy one more ssd drive, it is possible to merge them in to one partition without formating the current 2tb drive? kind of "extending" an existing partition from 2tb to 3tb

By "merge", you mean seen by Windows as a single partition and drive letter?

If so, I just need to say....that is a VERY bad idea.


What do you use this system for?
Multiple drives and drive letters is NO issue.

 

[danezeq]

By "merge", you mean seen by Windows as a single partition and drive letter?

If so, I just need to say....that is a VERY bad idea.


What do you use this system for?
Multiple drives and drive letters is NO issue.

Yes that's what i mean, why is it a bad idea?
This drive is used for data files (documents, music etc..)

 

[Math Geek]

spreading a single "partition" across multiple physical drives means that if ANYTHING happens to either drive, then all your data is gone!! there is no way to recover data that is split across multiple drives.

this is why it is a bad idea. get another ssd and then split up the data across both drives. maybe pics, docs and music on the new drive, then the larger video files on the larger one you already have. or whatever other way that makes sense for your data types and sizes.

do yourself a big favor and don't try to combine multiple physical drives into a single partition. only a lot of heartache waiting there.

best case in my opinion would be a 4 tb ssd such as the Crucial P3+ at $225 right now. then copy all your data over to it and then you now have a 2tb drive for backing up the most important stuff or whatever. it's a great drive for just holding data. i got a second one couple weeks ago when they dropped to $200 on sale.

 

[USAFRet]

yes thats what i mean.
why is it a bad idea?
this drive is using for data files (documents, music etc..)

It makes ongoing maintenance much harder.

Need to reinstall the OS? Pain.
Need to replace one of the drives, for whatever reason? Pain.


Safety considerations.
If one drive dies, all data across both drives is lost.
Makes managing backups much more difficult. (you ARE doing backups, right? hint hint)


Solution:
Just get another drive. Start using that for docs/music/games/whatever.

What, specifically, is taking up that 2TB? If games, and especially Steam games, it is trivially easy to move that to a new drive.

 

[geofelt]

If the new ssd is samsung, I think you can do it.
The samsung ssd migration app is a logical C drive mover.
The app and instructions here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

Read the limitations carefully.
When done, you can reuse the original drive for whatever.

 

[USAFRet]

If the new ssd is samsung, I think you can do it.

This is not a clone operation, but a desire for a RAID 0 or other striping thing by adding another drive.

2 physical drives, 1 'partition' or drive letter. Bad idea.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Windows has or at least had a tool for use with what windows describes as dynamic disks/volumes.

I don’t know if this conversion is destructive. It’s not on I’ve done.
Once the drives you wish to use are converted there is a feature called “spanned volumes” which would do what you want.

Personally I’d get a 4TB drive. As posted above, if it’s a Samsung then use the free migration utility and clone your old drive to the new one. Set the boot order in bios to boot from your new drive and then when you are happy (after a week or so) format the old drive, use it as you wish..

 

[USAFRet]

Windows has or at least had a tool for use with what windows describes as dynamic disks/volumes.

I don’t know if this conversion is destructive. It’s not on I’ve done.
Once the drives you wish to use are converted there is a feature called “spanned volumes” which would do what you want.

Personally I’d get a 4TB drive. As posted above, if it’s a Samsung then use the free migration utility and clone your old drive to the new one. Set the boot order in bios to boot from your new drive and then when you are happy (after a week or so) format the old drive, use it as you wish..

I didn't say it couldn't be done.
I said it is a bad idea.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

I didn't say it couldn't be done.
I said it is a bad idea.

I agree, spanned/striped volumes are not a good idea. I’d want raid 5 if I were combining disk drives into a single volume.

JBOD is an unnecessary risk.

 

[danezeq]

Thank for all info and suggestions!

 

[js2]

Yes, but the low performance and risk is not worth it. What you want is a "dynamic disk" in disk management.

But you are essentially merging a high speed drive with a lower speed drive, for a lop speed dynamic drive and added hassle.