MSR partition : setup vs diskpart and Disk manager do not set the same offset

Question

Hi all
Here is the disk section for the partionning of the datadisk of a windows 2012R2 server :
<Disk wcm:action="add">
<CreatePartitions>
<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
<Order>1</Order>
<Type>MSR</Type>
<Size>128</Size>
</CreatePartition>
<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
<Order>2</Order>
<Type>Primary</Type>
<Extend>true</Extend>
</CreatePartition>
</CreatePartitions>
<ModifyPartitions>
<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
<Order>1</Order>
<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
</ModifyPartition>
<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
<Order>2</Order>
<PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
<Label>Software</Label>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
</ModifyPartition>
</ModifyPartitions>
<DiskID>1</DiskID>
<WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
</Disk>
This way, the data disk of my server are partitionned/formated after installation.
The data disk initialised by setup are like this
DISKPART> select disk 2
Disk 2 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> list partition
  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  Partition 1    Reserved           128 MB   64 KB
  Partition 2    Primary           1919 MB   128 MB
But, if I add a disk and then use Disk manager, or diskpart I get :
DISKPART> list partition
  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  Partition 1    Reserved           128 MB   
17 KB
* Partition 2    Primary             39 GB   129 MB
1. In WSIM, I did not find a way to set the partition aligment. Is it possible ?
2. Which aligment is the best for performances ?
Thanks
ML

Answer 1

Hi,
We cannot set the partition aligment in WSIM. To set up the disk partition offset of a volume (or partition), you can either use Diskpart.exe or WMI script.
For more detailed information, please see:
Disk Partitioning Offset
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/amitjet/archive/2009/04/17/disk-partitioning-offset.aspx
Diskpart isn't always the best tool to use to get partition offsets, as it rounds up the values, and when there are multiple partitions, it can be hard to tell exactly what's what, especially with lots of disks where you need to select each one and then
list the partitions.
In this case, use wmic to get the exact numbers. The command is as follows:
wmic partition get BlockSize, StartingOffset, Name, Index
Using diskpart and wmic to check disk partition alignment
http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/paul/using-diskpart-and-wmic-to-check-disk-partition-alignment/
Please Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there.
Best Regards,
Mandy
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