AZ-800 Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure Exam

Provision and Manage Disk Volumes

When configuring disks and volumes on Windows Server in Azure, understanding disk types and their capabilities is essential. Basic disks use traditional partitioning methods, while dynamic disks offer flexibility for advanced storage features. By correctly choosing the disk type, you can tailor your storage solution to meet performance and availability requirements. This choice also impacts how you can expand and protect your data over time. Always plan your disk type based on the workloads you will run in your Azure environment.

Windows Server supports two main disk types: basic disks and dynamic disks.

• Basic disks use fixed partitions—Primary, Extended, and Logical.
• Dynamic disks allow creation of volumes that span multiple disks and support advanced layouts.
• Understanding these differences helps you decide when to use simple storage versus more flexible configurations.
  Choosing the right disk type upfront can prevent downtime and reduce complexity when scaling out.

Partition style is another key decision when creating new volumes in Azure. You can choose between Master Boot Record (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT) formats.

• MBR supports disks up to 2 TB and is compatible with older systems.
• GPT works with disks larger than 2 TB and offers better data integrity and recovery features.
  Always verify your server’s firmware (BIOS or UEFI) to ensure compatibility with the chosen partition style.

Windows Server provides several volume types to address different storage needs.

• Simple Volumes use space from a single disk.
• Spanned Volumes combine free space on multiple disks into one logical unit.
• Striped Volumes distribute data across disks for enhanced I/O performance.
• Mirrored Volumes duplicate data across two disks for redundancy.
• RAID-5 Volumes use parity across three or more disks to balance performance and fault tolerance.
  Using these options, you can optimize for speed, capacity, or resilience based on your Azure workloads.

Managing volumes also involves routine operations like creating, resizing, and formatting.

• Creating volumes requires initializing disks, selecting partition styles, and choosing the volume type in Disk Management or PowerShell.
• Extending volumes adds new space when demand grows.
• Shrinking volumes reclaims unused space for other uses.
• Formatting with NTFS or ReFS ensures your volume is ready for production workloads.
  These tasks help maintain efficient storage and keep your Azure VMs running smoothly.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to configure disks and volumes in a Windows Server environment on Azure. You explored the differences between basic disks and dynamic disks, and how to choose between MBR and GPT partition styles. You also reviewed the various volume types—simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, and RAID-5—and the operations needed to create, resize, and format them. By mastering these concepts, you can ensure your storage setup meets your organization’s performance and availability goals in Azure.