How to create a Spanned Volume

Almost all disk management functions can be performed using Disk Management MMC snap-in. Disk Management MMC snap-in is available as an extension to the Computer Management MMC snap-in. To open the Computer Management MMC snap-in, right click My Computer and select "Manage" from the context menu. Expand Storage node and select "Disk Management". If you want to open Disk Management MMC snap-in as standalone, type diskmgmt.msc inside the run dialog box and hit "Enter".

1) Right click the disk on which you want to create the new volume, and selet new volume from the context menu.

2) In the "New Volume Wizard", click next to continue.

3) To create a Spanned Volume, select Spanned radio button in "Select Volume Type" screen, as shown below. Click "Next" to continue.

4) Select how much storage size you require for the new Spanned Volume from different physical disks in "Select Disks" screen. We have selected two physical disks, each of 10237 MB size. The total available storage size for this spanned volume is the sum of these two, that is 20474 MBs. Here we have selected all the storage space from two disks. You can even select how much you require according to the availability of space in each physical disks. After selecting the volume size, click "Next" to continue.

5) Select the drive letter to use or path in "Assign Drive letter or Path" screen. Here we have selectedthe Drive letter as "E". Click "Next" to continue.

6) If you want to format the volume, you can do it in "Format Volume" screen. The options for formatting the volumes are also available in this screen. Click "Next" to continue.

7) Click "Finish" in the "Completing the New Volume Wizard" to create the volume and start formatting it.

8) New Spanned Volume is created and listed inside Disk Management MMC console as shown below.