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Thread: Difference Between Basic and Dynamic Disks

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Difference Between Basic and Dynamic Disks

    Hi guys,

    Till now i haven't clearly understood the difference between dynamic and basic disks. I believes to become a part of a Windows-controlled array
    a drive needs to be Dynamic . I'm really curious to know the actual difference between dynamic drives and for what purpose they gets use.

    Thanks for any suggestions.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    203

    Re: Difference Between Basic and Dynamic Disks

    There are two types of disks: basic and dynamic. Disks that contain basic partitions are referred to as basic disks, and disks that contain dynamic partitioning are referred to as dynamic disks. A volume cannot contain basic and dynamic partitions. On dynamic disks, volumes generally have no relation to the partitions on the disk

    The main differences between basic and dynamic disks are:

    • Dynamic disks support multipartition volumes; basic disks do not.
    • Windows stores basic disk partition information in the registry and dynamic disk partition information on the disk.


    The operations common to basic and dynamic disks are the following:

    • Check disk properties, such as capacity, available free space, and current status.
    • View volume and partition properties, such as size, drive-letter assignment, label, type, and file system.
    • Establish drive-letter assignments for disk volumes or partitions, and for CD-ROM devices.
    • Establish disk sharing and security arrangements for a volume or partition.
    • Upgrade a basic disk to dynamic, or revert a dynamic disk to basic.



    Here is the Microsoft guide to make you understand the full concept : Basic and Dynamic Disks
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    421

    Re: Difference Between Basic and Dynamic Disks

    Microsoft clustering only supports the use of Basic disks and still the most widely used in enterprises.Dynamic Disks are NOT supported in MS Clusters either as an available volume to be mounted. Dynamic Disks are for companies who cannot afford to go with a Hardware Raid option.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    346

    Re: Difference Between Basic and Dynamic Disks

    Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers or on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers. A disk system can contain any combination of storage types. However, all volumes on the same disk must use the same storage type.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    1

    Re: Difference Between Basic and Dynamic Disks

    Basic disks are divided logically into partitions , Dynamic disks are divided into volumes, after you convert a basic disk into a dynamic one all your partitions simply become volumes , they can be formatted and assigned drive letters just as you do with basic disks. with dynamic disks you can change the partitions and the volumes they contain without restarting the pc which is useful in servers where you need to keep the downtime to a minimum . Laptops, windows XP home and media center do not support dynamic disks. Dynamic disks can't be accessed by MS DOS, win 95/98/ME or Win NT4.0 workstation.
    Last edited by JJ Razek; 09-06-2009 at 06:24 PM.

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