Software Raid 1 / Mirror Setup on Windows Server 2003
(Compiled from on-line resources and walking through steps.)
Part 1: Create the actual mirror:
1. In Disk Management, convert the 1st drive from basic to dynamic.
(This will only work with servers. Will not work for XP or 2000 Desktop - Microsoft has feature removed.)
2. Reboot (required for system/boot partitions).
3. Return to Disk Management, right click the first drive (e.g. Drive 0) and select "Add Mirror".
4. Select the second drive (e.g. Drive 1) and create the mirror set.
Part 2: Fixing Boot.ini
Unless you are really lucky, the updating of boot.ini will fail on SCSI disks.
To fix you must hand rewrite boot.ini and "use multi syntax". Unfortunately, only the normal amount of MS documentation exists for this -- yep, practically none. Where should you go? Why to Google of course and look for a friendly person at a higher education location to give you the answer...
... to save us time, here it is:
If SCSI bios is enabled, there should be a ARC path line similar to:
multi(1)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Windows Server 2003 ..." /fastdetect
For lines beginning with multi, edit the rdisk(x) entry and replace with the mirror. Remember the 1st disk (rdisk) actually starts with the number 0. This may not directly relate to the SCSI ID, but the physical disk location. Also remember that the partitions start with 1 instead.
I simply added a second entry identical to the first just with the rdisk # incremented 1.
Part 3: Creating an emergency boot disk:
Format a diskette and add the following files to the disk:
NTLDR
NTDETECT.com
NTBOOTDD.SYS (for SCSI w/o BIOS)
BOOT.INI
Part 4: Create an emergency Repaire Disk:
(This is important because it contains the user accounts.)
1. run RDISK.EXE
2. Use as part of repair option within Windows server CDROM setup program.
Part 5: All this MS stuff, could be for nothing.
Check your BIOS for your SCSI drives. It may support booting to the next physical drive.
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