Easy and safe solution to extend SBS 2003 server partition

A great number of Windows server users have the demand to extend SBS 2003 server partition. Here's a typical example.

The C: drive on my SBS 2003 server is too small. The RAID array is about 40GB but only 9 GB is given for the C: drive and it has run out of space. So I cannot install service packs, extra software, etc. What method should I use to extend the partition? I would like to preserve the Windows installation and everything on the C: drive if at all possible.

From above, we can find that server users need to extend SBS 2003 Server partition in order to optimize the performance of their servers. And the safety of data on the partition to be extended is of vital importance. To answer the question in this case, we'd like to talk about Windows SBS 2003 as well as an easy and safe solution to extend SBS 2003 server partition.

Introduction on Windows SBS 2003

Windows Small Business Server (SBS) is an integrated server suite from Microsoft designed for running network infrastructure of small and medium enterprises. While Microsoft has always championed the small business with its line of Small Business Server (SBS) products, the company's most strident server advances in recent years have been with high-end enterprise products, and not those that serve smaller companies. That's all changing with Windows Small Business Server 2003, a product suite that improves on the simplicity and ease-of-use features from previous SBS versions, and adds a host of new functionality.

Like previous SBS versions, SBS 2003 includes everything a small business needs to get connected to the Internet, establish email, share files and printers, send and receive faxes, and so on. This time around, the product has been polished with better installation and deployment tools, simpler and more elegant management capabilities, and new features suggested by users, such as better backup and restore tools, and security-related functionality.

Partition Windows SBS 2003 with Disk Management and Diskpart command?

While Windows SBS 2003 is widely used among small and medium enterprises, we wonder what solution the IT administrators in these companies use to partition Windows SBS 2003. Is it the Disk Management utility built in Windows Operating System? Well, this is the common way. Basic operations are allowed, such as creating partition, deleting partition, formatting partition, setting active partition, etc. However, if you want to extend SBS 2003 server partition, this utility is far from enough to do the trick.

Windows Server 2003 built-in diskpart command can extend SBS 2003 Server partition, but it cannot extend SBS 2003 system partition. What's more, you can only extend partition when there is continuous unallocated space behind the partition which you want to extend.

So What you need is professional server partition software with more advanced functions, such as resizing server partition without any limitation, to fulfill your needs to extend SBS 2003 server partition or perform other operations to partition Windows SBS 2003.

Better solution to extend SBS 2003 server partition without data loss using Server partition manager software

By better solution to extend SBS 2003 server partition, we mean this solution not only provides more powerful features, but also is fairly easy and safe to carry out. As discussed above, the solution we talk about here is professional third party partition software. Based upon many users' true experience, professional server partition software named EaseUS Partition Master Server Edition is highly recommended to partition Windows SBS 2003, especially to extend SBS 2003 server partition.

With EaseUS Partition Master Server Edition, you may perform both basic and advanced partition operations on your servers without data loss, including: Resize and Move partitions, Copy Partition, Copy Disk, Create and Delete partitions, Format partitions, Convert partitions, Explore partitions, Hide and Unhide partitions, set active partition, etc. Changes of server partition can be previewed before applying to hard disk.

You may wonder how to extend SBS 2003 server partition with this program. Well, this operation can be perfectly implemented through the resize/move partition function as well as merge partitions function for your choice. Therefore, you can choose to extend system drive through resize/move feature or by merging two adjacent partitions into a larger one. Below is a tutorial to expand system c drive by resizing and moving.

First, let's suppose system partition (C:) is the partition we want to extend, and E: is the partition behind C:. Then, follow the steps here:

Tips: It is important to back up the server before resizing server partition, because nothing is 100% secure.

1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master.

2. Right click partition E: and choose "Resize/Move partition" function, drag the partition handle leftwards to resize E drive, then there will be unallocated space behind it.

3. Move E: drive rightwards, and the unallocated space will be located behind system partition (C:) now. Then click OK.

4. Right click the system partition (C: drive) and select "Resize/Move partition", drag the partition handle rightwards to extend it.

5. Click Apply.

EaseUS Partition Master Server Edition is single license which can be used on one server computer only and is the best value choice for small and medium businesses.

 

More EaseUS Partition Master Editions for business users

 

	Server	Server Free lifetime upgrades	Unlimited	Unlimited Free lifetime upgrades	Technician
Unlimited usage within a company	-	-
Free lifetime upgrades	-		-
Provide Technical Services to Clients	-	-	-	-
License	Machine License	Machine License	Unlimited License	Unlimited License	Technician License
Price	$127.20 $159.00	$207.20 $259.00	$319.20 $399.00	$399.20 $499.00	$559.20 $699.00

Related articles:

• Extend SBS 2008 Server partition with server partition software
• Extend System Partition on Windows Server 2003
• How to Repartition on Windows Small Business Server 2003 without Data Loss
• How can I expand a partition under Windows?
• How to resize boot (system) partition?
• How to merge partitions under Windows 2003?

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