In Windows 10 the Storage Spaces is best feature for data protection and hard disk spaces solutions. To setup Windows 10 storage spaces you need to have at least 2 hard disks. The Storage Spaces helps protect your data from drive failures and extend storage over time as you add drives to your computer.
You can use Storage Spaces to group two or more drives together in a storage pool and then use capacity from that pool to create virtual drives called storage spaces. These storage spaces typically store two copies of your data so if one of your drives fails, you still have an intact copy of your data. If you run low on capacity, just add more drives to the storage pool.
How to Setup Windows 10 Storage Spaces?
How do setup Windows 10 storage spaces using Storage Spaces feature? Before you configure and setup Windows 10 storage spaces, you should connect the hard disks to your computer. This is necessary step because you are going to group two or more hard disks together with Storage Spaces feature.
1. Type Storage Spaces on Windows 10 search to find Storage Spaces and manage.
2. On the Manage Storage Spaces window, select Create a new pool and storage space. This will create a pool and group hard disks together in order to create new virtual drives.
Here I have four hard disks on my Windows 10 computer. Actually these hard disks are virtual hard disks and I’m testing Storage Space on Hyper-v to write this article.
3. Select the hard disks you want to care a pool and group together. I have selected disks 2 and 4. When you have select the hard disks, click Create pool.
4. Now on the Create a storage space page, type a name for drive, select drive letter from Drive letter, select File system (NTFS), select Simple (no resiliency) as resiliency type, and specify the size of virtual hard disk then click Create storage space.
The Storage space drive has been created successfully. It’s possible to view files, bring changes and even delete the drive from Manage Storage Space section.
OK, you have understood the creation of Storage pool and storage drive using Windows 10 Storage Spaces. It’s time to know about advanced features of Storage Space and redundant array of independent disks RAID technology.
What are Simple, Mirrored and Parity Drive Volumes?
The RAID is more than these three types in Windows 10 Storage Spaces. But to setup Windows 10 Storage Spaces, you should know the three different kinds of Storage Spaces with unique characteristics that make them better or worse for storing different kinds of files.
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Simple spaces are designed for increased performance but don’t protect your files from drive failure by keeping multiple copies. They’re best for temporary data (such as video rendering files), image editor scratch files, and intermediary compiler object files. Simple spaces require at least one drive.
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Mirror spaces are designed for increased performance and protect your files from drive failure by keeping more than one copy. Two-way mirror spaces make two copies of your files and can tolerate one drive failure, while three-way mirror spaces can tolerate two drive failures. They’re good for storing a broad range of data, from a general-purpose file share to a VHD library. When a mirror space is formatted with the Resilient File System (ReFS), Windows will automatically maintain your data integrity, which makes your files even more resilient to drive failure. Two-way mirror spaces require at least two drives, and three-way mirror spaces require at least five.
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Parity spaces are designed for storage efficiency and protect your files from drive failure by keeping more than one copy. Parity spaces are best for archival data and streaming media, like music and videos. This storage layout requires at least three drives to protect you from a single drive failure and at least seven drives to protect you from two drive failures.
With more than two disks you can create Mirrored spaces and Parity spaces also. When you create new storage space, simply select Mirrored or Parity from Resiliency type section.