Dynamic Drives and Partitions

G

Guest

I was presented with a question I could not properly answer.

Q. What is the maximum number of partitions supported by a single dynamic
disk?

In the 70-290 textbook on page 390, under the heading Using Dynamic Storage
there is a sentence saying: All dynamic disks consist of only one partition,
which encompasses its entire storage space. The individual storage units on
the partition are called volumes.

But

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/175761/ tells me
"On a basic disk, a partition is a portion of the disk that functions as a
physically separate unit.
On a dynamic disk, storage is divided into volumes instead of partitions."

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=175761
On a basic disk, a partition is a portion of the disk that functions as a
physically separate unit.
On a dynamic disk, storage is divided into volumes instead of partitions.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308424
Volumes on dynamic disks are called dynamic volumes. Dynamic disks can
support up to 2,000 dynamic volumes per disk (although the recommended number
of volumes is 32 or less per disk).

So, is there a "Partition" on a dynamic disk or just Volumes??
 
J

Jill Zoeller [MSFT]

Check out the Dynamic Disks technical reference at
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/72c515fa-8acf-4de2-90af-ebca62b27f661033.mspx.

I agree it is confusing. It really helps to understand the internal
structures of the disk to understand the true differences between basic and
dynamic disks (and their partitions/volumes). "Volume" and "Partition" are
often used interchangeably, which doesn't help.

Also, the 2000-volume limit is a mistake--it's actually 1000 volumes, but
the 2000-volume limit is still described in many places.
 

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