Expand RAID 5 Partition without Data Loss

Expand RAID 5 Partition with Partition Software

You may never think to expand the partition size on RAID 5 before it is running out of disk space. If you are still wondering if the RAID 5 partition can be extended, you can use professional partition software. IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server, professional partition tool for all Windows Server users, is able to resize RAID 5 partition by moving free space from other partitions on the RAID 5 array. The partition software allows you to expand RIAD 5 partition without touching any data stored on the array.

Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server for all Windows Server OS.

Steps to Expand RAID 5 Partition

Step 1:
Download, install and launch IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server. Right click a partition that has enough free space and choose "Resize/Move" option.

Step 2:
Shrink the selected partition to squeeze some unallocated space.

Step 3:
You need to move the unallocated space close to the partition that is running on low disk space. Then, right click this partition and choose "Resize/Move" option.

Step 4:
Move the arrows to extend the selected partition and click "Apply" button.

Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server Edition

Partition Runs out of Disk Space on RAID 5

"I have set up using RAID 5 on my Windows Server 2008, but the C drive on the RAID 5 is running out of disk space recently. I would like to look for a solution to resize the RAID 5 array without touching the data on it. Do I need o rebuild the RAID 5 array? Is there any way to expand RAID 5 C drive without rebuilding the array?"

"Windows Server 2003 system reports low disk space warning message on RAID 5 C drive, because there is less than 200MB free space on this partition. Can I resize the disk partition on RAID 5 in Windows Server 2003 without losing any data?"

Partition Software for RAID 5 C Drive Expanding Windows 2003

You have two choices to extend a partition on RAID 5 by relying on third-party partition software. Generally speaking, you can simply move free space from other partition on the RAID 5 or you can add a new disk to extend the partition that is running on low disk space.

1. Move free space from other partition to extend C drive
Simply say, if there is free space on other partition on the RAID 5, you can shrink the partition that has free space to produce some unallocated space. And then, you can add the unallocated space to expand the C drive space on Windows Server 2003.

2. Add new disk to expand RAID 5 C drive
If there no free space on other partitions or there is only one partition on RAID 5, you have to add new disk to extend the C drive. Usually, the new added disk will show as unallocated space at the end of the RAID 5 array, so you just need to run the professional partition software to move the unallocated space to the C drive to get it extended.

Extend RAID 5 Data Volume on Windows 2003

You also have two choices if you need to extend data partition on RAID 5 on Windows Server 2003. You can rely on the Windows Server 2003 partition resizer free recommended in this article or run Windows 2003 build-in Diskpart command to extend a data volume on RAID 5.

1. The IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server has the function of resizing C drive system partition or data partition on Windows Server 2003 RAID 5, so you can refer to the instruction above to extend a data volume by using partition software. The partition software enables you to extend NTFS and FAT32 partition without touching any data.

2. If you would like to run Diskpart to extend partition on Windows 2003, you had better backup data before partition resizing. In addition, Diskpart can only extend NTFS data partition on condition that there is adjacent unallocated space beside the partition that is lacking of free space.

RAID 5 Partition Resizing Windows 2008, Windows SBS

RAID 5 array is commonly used by many PC users. Therefore, if you are Windows Server 2008, 2012 or Windows SBS user who need to resize RAID 5 partition, you can also use the professional partition software. IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server is special designed for all Windows Server users, so it can work perfectly on Windows Server 2008, 2012, Windows SBS 2003/2008/2012, and Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, etc to extend disk partition when it is running on low disk space on RAID 5.