A dynamic disk is an ordinary physical disk, but with a certain set of specific functions. As a rule, these functions are not supported by the basic Windows disks, but have one useful feature - they allow you to combine several disparate physical disks into one logical volume.
A dynamic hard disk, to maintain its performance, uses a hidden database that tracks the change in all information located on physical disks. This technology is widely used in computers that run under Microsoft operating systems. It was first implemented back in 1999 on the Windows 2000 operating system. Now, all Microsoft family operating systems have this function.
Today hard to convert to a dynamic disk is not difficult. To do this, the operating system has a special disk management utility .
As a result of the conversion of the main disk, all basic volumes that already exist on the computer are also changed. A dynamic disk has one big advantage - it allows you to literally change the size of a
logical disk on the fly
. This is a fairly useful feature that allows you to increase the volume of one of the logical drives at the right time by reducing the volume of the other.
Another undeniable advantage that a dynamic disk has is an unlimited number of logical volumes. This property will be appreciated by those users who love the order and clear distribution of the information available on the computer. Thanks to this, the limitation of the physical hard disk to create no more than four logical volumes has been overcome. In addition, a dynamic disk can easily be transferred to any other computer.
Despite all the advantages, dynamic disks have a number of unpleasant limitations and disadvantages:
- Firstly, they cannot be used when building cluster systems.
- Secondly, transferring a dynamic disk to a basic one takes place only with the loss of a certain amount of information.
- Thirdly, a completely logical restriction on the installation of operating systems, including the inability to install more than one type of software of this type. This greatly complicates the work of professionals who work simultaneously in different information processing environments.
Previously, there was another limitation - dynamic disks did not work on laptops. To date, this problem has been solved, which allows you to use the capabilities of computers in the maximum.
A dynamic disk is convenient and easy. But it is always worth remembering the above drawbacks, otherwise you risk important data stored on your hard drive. Remember: it is better to initially weigh the pros and cons, and then choose the best option for yourself. Preventing a problem is always easier than solving it.