Question Windows server 2012 r2 ..Increasing Virtual drive size

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
I thought i may have posted this here before but it doesn't show up when I search my content. So i am trying to find away to increase the size of 2 hyper V virtual drives without having to back up ,format, recreate the drives but make them bigger , then use the back up to repopulate the data .

Unfortunately for me that's the only I know how to do it. I am sure there has to be away of just increasing the size using the unallocated space but i just dont know how to do it... If anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

My vhd store is 3.63tb with 2.07tb of free space,

The current setup is 2 virtual drives

1 is for quickbooks i allocated 300gigs and I'm currently using 179gigs

2nd VD is all our share folders and data - Its allocated for 1TB and I only have 55 gigs free . So this is the VD i need to allocate more space to .

Any questions please ask... if anyone has any ideas please chime in.

As always thanks for your help and support.
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
Hyper-V Manager

Microsoft Corporation

Version: 6.3.9600.16384


I know there is an easy way to do it but i haven't found any simple step by step tutorials .
So for about 1 year now i have been Archiving anything older then 5 years on an 32 TB NAS. We are a mom and pop Fire Suppression Company we do a lot of fire sprinkler install and service. Since it is considered life safety i have to keep 7 years of records.
Drawings ,Test ,engineers report anything that has anything to do with the calculating of a fire suppression system has to be saved 7 years . This is my dilemma .

i will follow those links hopefully its simple enough for me to figure out and get done.

Thanks
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
So i finally got an empty office and i am trying today to expand 2 virtual machines .
I already expanded the VM we use to Run and store Quickbooks,

Before I expand the VM I use for most of our data I am hoping to get some advice.

So i expanded VM-QB01 from 150 gigs to 175 gigs. It looks correct when i check it on hyper v manager . When i check it from a workstation just seeing what it shows on windows explorer its still showing the same size 150gigs with 100 gigs used .

There is a step that i havent done yet which is going to diskmanager and expanding the size.

When i right click on QB01 the expand size is greyed out and disk 1 where both VM are stored has no unallocated space. Since i was not the one that created these Virtual machines i can only assume the allocated all the space originally .

And this is where i am stuck... anyone on here have any ideas on this ?

Best

Navi
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
Ok so i was able to figure this out and even though I didn't receive any responses I think just for future reference I should include my findings. So the directions were absolutely spot on . I had tried using diskmgmt.msc to do the expand . My issues was i was doing it from the host. As soon as i logged on to the actual VM i was able to see the unallocated space in Diskmgmt and was able to expand the drives to use all the extra space i added.

If anyone has any questions please feel free.

Best

Ivan
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
So i am back at this again ... I was able to extend this 2 years ago ... Now im trying to extend it and the extend is greyed out ... I followed the same instructions i followed last time ... I know i have room on the hard disk . I have a capacity of 3.63 TB and i am only using 2.16 TB .

But I'm not having any luck at all.

The server has 2 DISK - Disk 0 - System reserve 350MB NTSF (c) 930.86 GB NTFS healthy(boot,pagefile,crashdump,primarypartition)

Disk1- VHDSTORE(D) 3723.87 GB NTFS Healthy Primary partition

So im assuming that the VHD store is allocated for all 3.63 TB

From there I go to Hyper V manager and connect to the virtual machine AMDC01 i am trying to expand. In setting i have 2 hard drives one is labeled AMDC01- This is acting as our domain controller and is set at 200 gigs but is only using 34gigs . The 200 is the minimum setting so i can only compact or expand .. I left it alone

The next hard drive is labeled Data i know currently we are using 1.94 TB and I have 33 gigs available which is why I wanted to expand this one . So i expand it . I have tried several different sizes .

next i actually connect to AMDC01 and go to Disk Management

Here i see for volumes first 2 volumes are not labeled and there small first one recovery partition is 300MB with the same free space

next unlabeled volume is EFI System partition 99MB with the same free space

Next volume is labeled as ( C ) file system NTFS -capacity 199.48 free space 169.23

The fourth and final volume which is the one i am trying to expand is (D) file system NTFS capacity 2048.00 gigs with only 33 gig free

Below that is where you see them as a bar graph so disk 0 has the first 3 volumes all in blue no un allocated space

The next is Disk 1 - DATA 2048GB in Blue or allocated space and 752.00GB of unallocated space which is black .
when I right click on the allocated space the extend volume is greyed out .
when i right click on the unallocated space all options are greyed out and its just different new volumes choice.

normally i would just extend the volume using the size of the unallocated space .

I had done this process in the past and was able to do it without an issue ...
I am assuming i have enough space on the hard drives again from the host server disk one has 3723.87 gigs and is has 1500.50 Gb of free space..

can anyone help me figure out what I am doing wrong here please ..

Thanks everyone i appreciate your time and your help .
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
So i am back at this again ... I was able to extend this 2 years ago ... Now im trying to extend it and the extend is greyed out ... I followed the same instructions i followed last time ... I know i have room on the hard disk . I have a capacity of 3.63 TB and i am only using 2.16 TB .
2 years later....

Please show us a screencap of your Disk Management window.
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
This is the host AMHOST
This is AMDC01

I apologize for the pics but since I couldn't expand the drive I am in the process of moving some things off the server to a NAS just so I can clear up some space this way if I can solve this today I can come in next weekend and try again . So i used my phone to take the PICs and emailed them to myself .

Anyway thanks again for any help
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
Not sure I am understanding this .. Do I just need to move that specific Disk or Do I need to move the full AMDC01 ?

First and foremost thank you for your time ...

Just so i can understand this ,
Our Main Server is AMHOST

Inside AMHOST we Have 2 VHDs- AMDC01- this is our domain and where the majority of our files are

AMQB01- This is for Quickbooks - and only has the quickbooks files and database manager for quickbooks ..

Amdc01 has 2 drives - one named amdc01 which is the domain the other named DATA where the shared folders are ... which is what i am trying to expand //

I hope this makes sense to you ..

thanks
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Not sure I am understanding this .. Do I just need to move that specific Disk or Do I need to move the full AMDC01 ?

First and foremost thank you for your time ...

Just so i can understand this ,
Our Main Server is AMHOST

Inside AMHOST we Have 2 VHDs- AMDC01- this is our domain and where the majority of our files are

AMQB01- This is for Quickbooks - and only has the quickbooks files and database manager for quickbooks ..

Amdc01 has 2 drives - one named amdc01 which is the domain the other named DATA where the shared folders are ... which is what i am trying to expand //

I hope this makes sense to you ..

thanks
You posted 2 identical images.
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
Could you be so kind to tell me what format would be the easiest for me to move it using .

Besides a giant NAS.. I have a few My books that are a few TB each ... So i could copy just the DATA disk from the server on to one of them . Then change the format to GPT , when i copy it back will it offer to change the format to the GPT for me ?

I think maybe I'm going to copy a 100 gigs of old files from the server to our NAS until I can do some reading and get a better understanding ... I didn't set this server up . So I'm a little worried about formatting anything,

Thank you again for all the help , .
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Could you be so kind to tell me what format would be the easiest for me to move it using .

Besides a giant NAS.. I have a few My books that are a few TB each ... So i could copy just the DATA disk from the server on to one of them . Then change the format to GPT , when i copy it back will it offer to change the format to the GPT for me ?

I think maybe I'm going to copy a 100 gigs of old files from the server to our NAS until I can do some reading and get a better understanding ... I didn't set this server up . So I'm a little worried about formatting anything,

Thank you again for all the help , .
You just need to copy the data from Disk 1 to somewhere else.

Delete the existing partition.
New Simple Volume.
Reformat as GPT.
Give it the same drive letter.
You now have the whole space accessible.
Copy your data back to it.
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
Sorry to be a pain but I also don't know what you mean when your saying 2 different systems .. Its not

we have 1 server AMHost ... Inside AMHOST we have 2 VDDs ,, AMDC01 that acts as the domain and QB01 that is only for Quickbooks ... AMDC01 has 2 Drives one that acts as the domain and the other that hold all the data .

I'm not trying to be a pain .. so i apologize if i am .. I wasn't the one that set this server up .. I'm just a friend of the family that's been helping out .. I am not a network admin just someone that knows a little about computers but never really dealt with virtual drives prior to this ..
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Sorry to be a pain but I also don't know what you mean when your saying 2 different systems .. Its not

we have 1 server AMHost ... Inside AMHOST we have 2 VDDs ,, AMDC01 that acts as the domain and QB01 that is only for Quickbooks ... AMDC01 has 2 Drives one that acts as the domain and the other that hold all the data .

I'm not trying to be a pain .. so i apologize if i am .. I wasn't the one that set this server up .. I'm just a friend of the family that's been helping out .. I am not a network admin just someone that knows a little about computers but never really dealt with virtual drives prior to this ..
Well, it looks like, and acts like, 2 physical systems.

So no real difference as to what I said above.

Is this for someones business?
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
We back up every night and do a full offsite every weekend . I have never done a full recovery but all this was set up by a legit I.T. Company so i can assume that it would all work but I really don't know.

to your first question... Yes this is for business that's been in the family for 30 years .. The owner got sick and his daughters have been trying to keep things going . We went from a 5 million dollar a year business to almost bankrupt during covid . Things seem to be getting better and growing again and i look forward to the time when I can go back to only Drafting and project managing . I'm no network admin . I was asked to help out when they were just trying to close out the last few jobs that we had opened and they planned on shutting the doors.. We had a company from long island come in maybe 5-6 months ago they said everything was OK but still wanted almost 20k upfront and 4k a month . I dont believe he was planning on changing or upgrading anything . I have assembled computers and servers before but this is in the late 90s early 2000s . There was no such thing as virtual servers . I can fix user issues but if you look at my account any time i have ran into trouble i am here reading and posting . A few times I had to use Microsoft to solve things at 500 dollars a pop .

Hopefully I can help them find a reasonably priced Honest company , Prior to all the trouble . They purchased the server and a few new workstations from a company that was charging i believe 2k or 24 hundred a month for a certain amount of credits , Anything over those credits got billed at 125 an hour .

Trust me this is way more stress then I need or want .
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
That's why I said I don't really know... Do you have any suggestions ? Until these girls are on there feet and can afford a legit I.T. company . It seems like there is always a big initial cost .. I was only here for the first transition in 2016 . When they came in the owner purchased this server and 6 to 8 new workstations . So it was expensive but at that point they could afford it . A few years later the old man started getting sick and business started slipping . We went from 20 people in the office and another 25 in the field to 6 people in the office and maybe a dozen guys in the field .

Then Covid hit and 90 percent of things in nyc closed down . we went down to 2 or 3 people rotating in the office just to cover the work we had in hospitals that was considered essential . With maybe 2 gangs or 4 men in the field . This was when i was asked to help out . its mostly user issues . I hardly ever have to touch this server.

Anyway I'm glad to hear any positive advice . If your going to say get a real I.T. guy I am trying but the girls cant afford 20k upfront . I have seen them open credit lines just to cover payroll . I have confidence that they will get there and I'm willing to help until they do . I get what your saying trust me i do .

They are not under any illusions I was very honest about my capability's when it comes to this but I guess for now they don't have the option of taking on another expense . We have 4 vans that have been parked with no plates or insurance ,
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
That's why I said I don't really know... Do you have any suggestions ? Until these girls are on there feet and can afford a legit I.T. company . It seems like there is always a big initial cost .. I was only here for the first transition in 2016 . When they came in the owner purchased this server and 6 to 8 new workstations . So it was expensive but at that point they could afford it . A few years later the old man started getting sick and business started slipping . We went from 20 people in the office and another 25 in the field to 6 people in the office and maybe a dozen guys in the field .

Then Covid hit and 90 percent of things in nyc closed down . we went down to 2 or 3 people rotating in the office just to cover the work we had in hospitals that was considered essential . With maybe 2 gangs or 4 men in the field . This was when i was asked to help out . its mostly user issues . I hardly ever have to touch this server.

Anyway I'm glad to hear any positive advice . If your going to say get a real I.T. guy I am trying but the girls cant afford 20k upfront . I have seen them open credit lines just to cover payroll . I have confidence that they will get there and I'm willing to help until they do . I get what your saying trust me i do .

They are not under any illusions I was very honest about my capability's when it comes to this but I guess for now they don't have the option of taking on another expense . We have 4 vans that have been parked with no plates or insurance ,
Totally unsure how to advise you to proceed.

This enterprise looks to be held together with bubblegum and wishes.

As this appears to be medical related in the US, HIPAA comes into play. Which automatically ups the support costs.
But doing ti wrong can be far more expensive.

This is much more than just manipulating the size of a VHD.
 

naviseyer

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
84
0
18,530
It’s not medically related … we do HVAC and Fire Protection.. sprinkler systems things like that. The real problem was that once the owner got sick they lost a lot of the general contractors that would normally prefer to work with us because Of the long term relationship the father had built .
‘The girls are doing OK and picking up new contractors but larger contractors which unfortunately means more upfront cost and longer payment terms because the jobs are larger ..

what I don’t understand is the large initial amount .. I was here for the 2016 transition from a company their dad new to a professional company . I think they were over charged . So for basically the same server with just a little more hard drive space and a few dell worksations I believe it was about 43k and change . So I think a big part of that is the initial chunk . This last guy was very straightforward he said he wouldn’t change anything on the server and he would change out 2 or 3 workstations that are still on windows 7 . But these stations aren’t being used currently . We just don’t have as many employees so we have over a dozen desk that are empty . Anyway even without changing much he still asked for a big lump sum up front . Thats the part I don’t understand. If he would have said 4500 or even 5500 a month after the 12 months he would still be making close to the same thing . By the second year he would be making more . Would you know why these companies alway charge that upfront fee ?

I really can’t wait to no longer have this responsibility. again I barely have to work on the server , I do the updates, I update the software when necessary but beside Quickbooks and The security software we don’t really have any other software. I add or delete a user , but mostly I deal with user issues . Even so sometimes I stress myself out .. I worry about ransomware and viruses . I get phone calls all the time even my days off .. but they are family To me so I stepped up when they needed me to and the minute things switch to closing down and just collecting whatever money Was still out to trying to continue the business I was brutally honest and made them aware that they needed an I.T. Company to really take care of this. I don’t think they need a full time network admin but they definitely need a reputable company that has a good reputation.
I think for the meanwhile I’m just going to take some of the older folders that aren’t used and move them over to our NAS which is 38 TB . So I have plenty of space . If I can move over 100 gigs that should be more then enough space for it to last until they hire a company ..

I would like to know if the back ups I am doing are good enough . So I will do some research into how To mount and test them . I have the old server maybe I will set it up just to play around with . Most of what I know came from just being a hobbyist. Setting up a network in my house so all the music and photos was in a central place anyone could access from their PC.
‘Building a better rig to run autocad , then a better one when I started doing 3D rendering and BIM . . If I could get a hold of windows 2012r2 at a decent price I may just set it up …

anyway thank you very much you have been very generous with your time and I appreciate it . It was nice chatting with you . All the best to you .