WHS+Drive Storage Question

[MatDef]

I hope I'm putting this in the right place, even though its a os question its mostly about how it manages the hd's (but if I'm wrong please move the thread). I built a whs server around Jan of last year, and for the entire time I've only had a single 1tb hd in it. I finally filled it up and so today I added another 1tb drive to the pool. I don't really use the console for much, I have the folders and users all confgured so when I use the server I almost always remote into it via rdc to rip movies and things like that. With a single drive this has been easy, but now I'm slightly confused and don't want to break anything so I figured I'd ask here first. Whenever I get a new dvd the first thing I do is rip the vob to the "D:\shares\Videos\Rips in progress" folder I created. When I'm done I move the finished file to the "D:\shares\Videos\*" folder, where * is the name of the actual movie. Now that I've added the second hd, I figured (incorrectly, obviously) that the size of the D:\ volume would increase.

So my question is:
1. Is it a good idea to keep managing my files this way, or is there a better alternative? (keep in mind that I have this server to store and rip dvd's, so moving that function over to my main pc would be pointless)
2. If I keep doing it the way I have been, will WHS automatically manage where the actual files go and put them on the new empty hd, or will I just fill up the D:\ partition and screw myself over.

I know some of these are stupid questions, but I've done my best to read all that info about landing zones and the like and all it managed to do was confuse me.

Thanks in advance, and if I've done a shit job of explaining myself please let me know.

 

[[LYL]Homer]

Start using the console for management. I can't recall if WHS is smart enough to recognize the new drive and that you can then add it to the pool, but this is what you have to do to expand your capacity in the shares. If the drive does not show up in the console (to add it to the pool), then you'll need to right click on My Computer, Manage, Disk Management, and then initialize the drive.

Also, start using the 'Shared Folders on Server' to avoid any issues, this will contain the \\Videos folder (as opposed to the pathed "D:\shares\Videos\Rips in progress").

 

[MatDef]

Start using the console for management. I can't recall if WHS is smart enough to recognize the new drive and that you can then add it to the pool, but this is what you have to do to expand your capacity in the shares. If the drive does not show up in the console (to add it to the pool), then you'll need to right click on My Computer, Manage, Disk Management, and then initialize the drive.

Also, start using the 'Shared Folders on Server' to avoid any issues, this will contain the \\Videos folder (as opposed to the pathed "D:\shares\Videos\Rips in progress").

Thanks for replying, I did add it to the pool using the console, so when I look at it I see this:

Now, what exactly do you mean, "shared folders on the server". Would that mean I just view the shares on the server like I was on a separate computer? I suppose I could do that, I just don't know if the software I use is smart enough to navigate shares.

 

[Rogue71]

whs doesnt really see the drives the same way as xp does. under my omputer you will only see the first drive. c being the system and d being the data. it wont show up under my computer when you add more drives because of the way whs handles the "array". and by the way you shouldnt let your drives fill up that much before you add more. whs will balance your files and it will take alot longer if you have full drives. best to spread it out over 3-4 drives if possible.