In the Windows environment, managing storage is a crucial task for system administrators. While the term "storage account" is often associated with cloud services like Microsoft Azure, Windows also provides robust tools for managing local and network storage. This article will guide you through creating and managing storage accounts using PowerShell, a powerful scripting language built into Windows.

Examples:

Example 1: Creating a New Storage Pool

A storage pool is a collection of physical disks that enables you to manage your storage more flexibly. Here’s how to create one using PowerShell.

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator:

   • Press Win + X and select "Windows PowerShell (Admin)".

2. List Available Physical Disks:

   Get-PhysicalDisk

3. Create a New Storage Pool:

   $PhysicalDisks = Get-PhysicalDisk -CanPool $True
   New-StoragePool -FriendlyName "MyStoragePool" -StorageSubSystemFriendlyName "Storage Spaces*" -PhysicalDisks $PhysicalDisks

4. Verify the Storage Pool:

   Get-StoragePool -FriendlyName "MyStoragePool"

Example 2: Creating a Virtual Disk

Once you have a storage pool, you can create a virtual disk.

1. Create a Virtual Disk:

   New-VirtualDisk -StoragePoolFriendlyName "MyStoragePool" -FriendlyName "MyVirtualDisk" -Size 100GB -ResiliencySettingName Simple

2. Initialize the Disk:

   Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "MyVirtualDisk" | Get-Disk | Initialize-Disk -PartitionStyle GPT

3. Create a New Partition and Format It:

   Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "MyVirtualDisk" | Get-Disk | New-Partition -AssignDriveLetter -UseMaximumSize | Format-Volume -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel "MyVolume"

4. Verify the Volume:

   Get-Volume -FileSystemLabel "MyVolume"

Example 3: Managing Storage Spaces

Storage Spaces is a technology in Windows that helps you protect your data from drive failures and extend storage over time.

1. Create a Storage Space:

   New-StorageSpace -StoragePoolFriendlyName "MyStoragePool" -FriendlyName "MyStorageSpace" -Size 200GB -ResiliencySettingName Parity

2. Resize a Storage Space:

   Resize-StorageSpace -FriendlyName "MyStorageSpace" -Size 300GB

3. Remove a Storage Space:

   Remove-StorageSpace -FriendlyName "MyStorageSpace"

Example 4: Monitoring Storage Health

1. Check Storage Pool Health:

   Get-StoragePool -FriendlyName "MyStoragePool" | Get-StorageHealthReport

2. Check Virtual Disk Health:

   Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "MyVirtualDisk" | Get-StorageHealthReport

Conclusion

Managing storage in a Windows environment using PowerShell provides flexibility and control over your storage resources. By following the steps outlined above, you can create and manage storage pools, virtual disks, and storage spaces efficiently.