ML350 Paritioning

[whooosh1]

Hi all,

I have an Proliant ML350 G4, and I need to partition the disk (array has been configured as one logical disk) so that it contains two partitions, and then install the OS (windows 2K server) to the second partition.

The problem is that the HP smartstart setup software doesn't give you the option to manually configure disk partitioning. Is there any way around this?

thanks in advance

[Víctor Cespón]

If you are installing booting with the SmartStart CD and clicking "Deploy", one of the steps is choosing the size of the Windows partition. By default it's the size of the logical drive, but you can specify a smaller size. After installing OS, you can create a second partition on the remaining empty space.

[whooosh1]

Unfortunately I can't do that.

I'm using a piece of software on the server that requires the creation of two partitions from the start, and for the OS to be installed on the second partition. The idea is that this second partition is given a drive letter other than C: after installation (registry hack).

See attached instructions to see what I'm up against...its completely mad, yes I know!

I have done this before with an IBM server, and it does work. I just need to know how to pre configure the partitioning on the HP.

[Víctor Cespón · Accepted solution]

As this is not a standard install, you must do it in the reverse way. Boot with Windows CD, press F6, provide the Smart Array drivers on a diskette. Then Windows will be able to see the logical drive and you can create partitions during the Windows install process.

[whooosh1]

OK, thanks for the help.

[e4services]

You can use any startup disk, a DOS disk with FDISK on it or any of the Freeware boot CDs like Ultimate Boot Disk to run a partitioning utility first. Once partitioned, format the first partition, then run the install, no SmartStart, just install all the needed drives, drive controllers, RAID and choose the second partition for the install drive.