How to Mirror Windows Server 2008 (R2) Hard Drive?

Quick navigation:

• Why mirror Windows Server 2008 hard drive?

• How do I mirror hard drive in Windows Server 2008?

• Method 1: Mirror disk to disk with built-in Disk Management

• Method 2: Clone Windows Server 2008 hard drive with AOMEI Backupper

• Final Wards

Why mirror Windows Server 2008 hard drive?

Through mirroring Windows Server 2008 disk to disk, all things including operating system on original hard drive will be copied to another hard drive identically. Then, you can replace the old hard drive with new one without OS and applications reinstallation. It is very helpful when you want to make HDD to SSD upgrade or disk to larger disk replacement in Windows Server 2008. What’s more, you can also mirror Windows Server 2008 disk to external hard drive as a backup. Here is an example from forum.

"I have server 2008 installed on a hard drive that disc management calls a "basic volume." On this hard drive I have partitions configured for certain sets of data. I want to buy a second hard drive and mirror the entire system drive over (including all partitions.) Is this possible or is it impossible to mirror the system drive? Also, I know I need to convert both discs to dynamic volumes before this could possibly happen. Will I lose any data converting my basic disc to dynamic? Thank you."

How do I mirror hard drive in Windows Server 2008?

Here you will learn two methods to mirror hard drive in Windows Server 2008. The first one is to use "Add Mirror" feature in the Disk Management to configure mirroring in Windows Server 2008 step by step. To make this task run smoothly, you need to conver the system disk to dynamic disk first. 

The second one is to use "Disk Clone" feature in a professional disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Server to create mirror drive in Windows Server 2008. Also, you can use it to mirror disk to disk in Windows Server 2008 R2/2012(R2)/2016/2019/2020 and Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista. 

It allows you to clone disk to larger disk and clone larger HDD to smaller SSD as long as the use space on old disk is equal to or smaller to the target disk. Also, you can clone MBR disk to GPT without converting partition style, and vice versa. 

Method 1: Mirror disk to disk with built-in Disk Management

To mirror disk to disk, you need to prepare a second hard drive and initialize it with Disk Management. Then, mirror hard drive in Windows Server 2008 with following steps.

Step 1. Press "Win + R" and type diskmgmt.msc to open Disk Management. Then, you will see system disk and new hard drive. 

Step 2. Right-click the system disk, here is Disk 1, and select Convert to Dynamic Disk. Then, you will be asked to select the disk you want to convert, choose both disk and click "OK"->"Convert". After that, click "Yes" -> "Yes" -> "OK" to restart computer and convert basic disk to dynamic disk.

Step 3. After rebooting, open Disk Management again and then right-click the system drive Disk 1 -> select "Add Mirror". 

Step 4. Select the new drive (eg: Disk 2) in the pop-up window and then click "Add Mirror" to move on. 

Step 5. Finally, you will see that two dynamic disks in the Disk Management are syncing with each other. That's the mirroring. 

Method 2: Clone Windows Server 2008 hard drive with AOMEI Backupper

To clone Windows Server 2008 hard drive with AOMEI Backupper, a new hard drive is required. Please prepare one and be sure it can be recognized. Then, download disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Server and install it on your server computer. 

Please note that all data on destination disk will be erased during the cloning process. Thefore, it's suggested to back up necessary files before in advance.

Step 1. Connect the new hard drive to the computer for preparation. Then, launch AOMEI Backupper Server and click "Clone" -> "Disk Clone" in order.

Step 2. Choose the disk you want to mirror as source disk and click Next.

Step 3. Select the new hard drive as destination disk. Then, click Next.

Step 4. Confirm this operation and click Start Clone to mirror Windows Server 2008. 

Notes:
"Edit Partitions": This feature can help you adjust the partition size of the target disk when cloning disk to larger disk. You have three options, including Copy without resizing partitions, Add unused space to all partitions and Manually adjust partition size.
"Sector by Sector clone": This feature allows you to clone every sector including unused sector on the source disk to new hard drive, requiring that the capacity of new hard drive should not be smaller than the source disk. 
"SSD Alignment": This feature is to optimize performance for SSD disk. If you are mirroring hard drive to SSD, it's necessary to enable this feature.

Step 5. Boot computer from the cloned hard drive and see if your computer can boot successfully. If you mirror MBR system disk to GPT disk, you need to change boot mode from Legacy to EFI/UEFI.

Final Wards

Both Disk Management and AOMEI Backupper Server can help you mirror Windows Server 2008 hard drive, you can choose one between them. But you need to convert basic disk to dynamic disk if you use Disk Management, which may cause data loss when converting dynamic disk back to basic disc. Thus, please consider carefully. 

To avoid loss of data, you'd better use professional disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Server. With it, you can directly clone Windows Server 2008 to new hard drive without converting to dynamic disk. Also, you can use it to mirror Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2020 etc and Windows 10/8/7XP/Vista. For IT technicians, you could use AOMEI Backupper TechPlus.