What’s Windows Storage Spaces & storage pool? How to create them in Settings & Control Panel? From Windows 10 to Windows 11, what has changed to them?

1. Title: [Review] How to Create Windows11 Storage Spaces/Storage Pool?
Keywords: windows11storage spaces,windowsstorage spacesvsraid,manage storage spaces
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Description: What’s Windows Storage Spaces & storage pool? How to create them in Settings &
Control Panel? From Windows 10 to Windows 11, what has changed to them?
URL: https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/windows-11-storage-spaces.html
Summary: Edited by MiniTool, this article elaborates on the usage of Windows Storage Spaces and
storage pool. It teaches you how to create,modify, manage, and delete storage spaces through Settings
and Control Panel in Windows 11. Besides, it also introduces a way to easily sync your files to
another space in case of data loss.
About Storage Spaces
Storage Spacesis a kindof technologyinWindowsandWindowsServer operatingsystems(OSes)
that protectdata fromdrive failures.Conceptually,itissimilarto RedundantArraysof Independent
Disks(RAID) butimplementedinsoftware.
Relatedarticle:Windows10Storage Spacesvs RAID:Difference andDataProtection
What Is Storage Pool in Windows 11?
WindowsStorage Pool isa type of computerhard drive technologythatgroupstwoormore hard
diskstogether.Then,youcanmake use of the diskspace withinthe storage pool tocreate one or
more Storage Spaces. Onlywhenyoucreate Storage Spacesbasedon the storage pool,can youuse
itscapacity.That isto say,you can’t directlyuse the space ina storage pool butthrough Storage
Spaces.

2. Those typicallysave extracopiesof data.Thus,if one of the drivesfails,youstill have anintactcopy
of the data.If the diskspace is runningoutfor the storage pool,youcan add more drivestoit.
The followingare the mostcommonwaysto apply Storage Spaces.
 On a WindowsPC
 On a stand-alone serverwithall storage inasingle server.Learnmore >>
 On a clusteredserverusing Storage SpacesDirect withlocal,direct-attachedstorage ineach
clusternode. Learnmore >>
 On a clusteredserverwithone ormore shared Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) storage enclosures
holdingall drives.Learnmore >>
Tip: Here in this article, we will focuson StorageSpaceson a Windowscomputer.Fortheother
situations,pleasereferto the “learn more” information.
How to Create a Storage Pool (Together with Storage Spaces) in Windows 11?
To create storage poolsor Storage Spacesin Windows11, firstof all,youneedto connectextrahard
disksto yourcomputer.Usually,inadditiontothe systemdrive, atleasttwoextradisksare
recommended,eitherinternalorexternal harddrives,orsolid-statedrives(SSDs).
THE QUALIFIEDTYPES OF THE EXTRA DISKSARE VARIOUSINCLUDINGUSB, SATA,AND SASHARD
DRIVES.BESIDES,THERE SHOULD BE NO DATA AND NOVOLUME ON THE EXTRA DISKS,BETTER BE
UNFORMATTED OR RAW DISKS.OTHERWISE, THEY WILL PROBABLYBE UNAVAILABLEFORCREATING
A STORAGE POOL.
Then,youcan start to create yourstorage pool withstorage spaceswithone of the below two
methods.
#1 Create Storage Spaces with Windows Settings
Firstly,youare able to create a storage pool and Storage SpacesthroughSettingsinWindows11.
1. Go to Windows11 Settings,inthe default Systemtab,scroll downinthe right area,findthe
Storage optionandselectit.

3. Alt=selectstorage inWindows11Settings
2. Next, onthe Storage page,scroll down,find Advancedstorage settings,unfoldit,and
choose Storage Spaces.

4. Alt=choose Storage SpacesinWindows11 Settings
3. On the nextscreen,clickthe Create a storage pool and Storage Spaces.

5. Alt=Windows11create a storage pool and Storage Spaces
4. Then,itwill askfor yourpermissiontoopen SpaceAgent.exe.Justallow ittorunby clicking
the Yesbutton.
5. In thisstep,youcan specifythe name andhard disksof the new storage pool.
Alt=adddisksto a newstorage pool
6. Next,create a newstorage space forthe new storage pool.The parametersyoucan
personalizehere are:
 Name: the name of the storage space.
 Size:A storage space can be largerthan the capacityof the storage pool.You can add more
drivestothe pool laterto increase pool capacity.
 Resiliency:Resiliencyisaway to protectagainstdiskfailuresby makingcopiesof files.

6. Alt=create a newStorage Space
Besides,youcanalsodecide the type of resiliency.
 Simple (noresiliency):A simple storage space writesone copyof yourdata anddoesn’t
protectyou fromdrive failures. Itrequiresatleastone drive.
 Two-way mirror (default):A two-waymirrorstorage space writestwocopiesof your data,
helpingtoprotectyoufroma single drive failure. Itrequiresatleasttwodrives.
 Three-waymirror: A three-waymirrorstorage space writesthree copiesof yourdata,
helpingtoprotectyoufromtwo simultaneousdrive failures.Itrequiresatleastfive drives.
 Parity: A paritystorage space writesyourdatawithparityinformation,helpingtoprotect
youfrom a single drive failure.Itrequiresatleastthree drives.

7.  Dual parity: A dual paritystorage space writesyourdata withparityinformationontwo
disks,helpingtoprotectyoufrom twodrive failures.Itrequiresatleastfive disksinthe pool.
Alt=Storage Space mirrortypes
To use a storage pool,youmustfirstcreate a storage space.Youcan create one now or do it later
fromthe Storage Spacessettingspage.If don’twantto create one now,justclickthe Skip button.
Otherwise,justspecial the parametersandclick Create.
7. Create a newvolume fromthe new Storage Space.You are permittedtocustomize the
volume label, drive letter, file system,folderpathtomount in(optional), aswell as
allocationunitsize.

8. Alt=create newvolume forstorage spaces
Moreover,youcan Enable file andfoldercompression to save diskspace.Finally,justclick Format.
Tip: If you don’twantto create a volumenow,you can just Skipit.
8. Whenyou have successfullydone all the operationsabove,youwillsee the detailsof your
storage space on the Storage Spacespage.

9. Alt=storage space details
There,youcan continue tocreate a storage pool,create a storage space,or add more diskto the
storage pool Windows11. Besides,clickonthe storage space areaand you will gettwooptions:
Explore and Properties.
Alt=storage space options

10. Clickthe Explore buttonanditwill openthe storage space in WindowsExplorer.Choose Properties
and youwill getthe followingscreen.
Alt=storage space properties
There,youcan rename the storage space,view itsadvanceddiskproperties,extenditssize,switchit
betweenonline andoffline,aswell asdelete the storage space.

11. On the Storage Spacesmainpage,you can also clickon the storage pool to access itsoptions,
Optimize andProperties.
Alt=storage pool options
Selectthe Optimize optiontooptimize the storage pool tospreadexistingdataacross disks.Thiscan
improve the performance andefficiencyof diskusage.Optimizingcantake a longtime dependingon
the size of the pool.
Clickon the Propertiesbuttontoviewthe parametersof the storage pool.There,youare allowedto
rename andoptimize the storage pool.
Alt=storage pool properties
How to Delete a Storage Pool in WindowsSettings?

12. You may wonderhowtodelete astorage pool if youdon’twant itanymore.It seemsnowaysince
there isn’tanyclue afterreadingthe above content. No,there is!
To delete astorage pool,generally,youshouldfirstdelete all the storage spaceswithinit.Then,
delete all the harddisksconsistingof the storage pool one byone.Finally, the storage pool will
disappearautomatically.
Afterdeletingall storage spaces,clickonone of the physical disksinthe Storage Spacespage and
clickon the pop-upPropertiesbutton.Next, clickthe Prepare forremoval buttonand thenclickthe
Remove button.
Alt=remove physical diskfrom astorage pool
Justrepeatthe processto delete otherphysical disks.Finally,immediatelyafteryoudelete the last
physical disk,the storage pool will disappear.
#2 Create Storage Spaces via Control Panel
BesidesWindowsSettings,youcanstill create storage spacesandstorage poolsfromControl Panel.

13. 1. Open Windows11 Control Panel,findStorage Spaces,and choose it.
Alt=selectStorage SpacesinWindows11Control Panel
2. On the nextscreen, clickonthe Create a new pool and storage space optioneitherinthe
leftmenuorin the rightsection.

14. Alt=create a newpool andstorage space in Windows11 Control Panel
3. Next,selectavailabledrives(unallocated, unformatted,orraw drives) tocreate a storage
pool.

15. Alt=selectdrivestocreate a storage pool
4. Then, create a storage space forthe new storage pool.Justspecifythe parametersof the
storage space includingname,drive letter,file system, resiliencytype,andsize.Finally,click
Create storage space.

16. Alt=create storage space inWindows11 Control Panel
It issimilartocreatingstorage space inWindowsSettings.The onlydifference isthatthe Windows
11 Storage Spaces dual parity resiliencytype here is missing.
5. Finally,youcanviewyourstorage pool togetherwithstorage space thathasbeen
successfullycreated!Justclickonthe Change settingsbuttonin the upperrightto manage
storage spacesWindows11.

17. Alt=manage storage spacesWindows11
Here,youcan continue tocreate a newpool andstorage space fromthe leftpanel;create a storage
space or add drivesfromthe rightpart. Also,youcan manage the createdstorage pool and storage
space by renaming,optimizingdriveusage,changingparameters,ordeleting.
https://www.minitool.com/news/0x00000032.html
How to Delete Storage Pool inControl Panel?
Also,youhave to firstdelete all storage spaceswithinthe targetstorage pool before youcandelete
the pool itself.Whenall storage spacesare removed,youcansee anoptioncalled Delete pool
appearbehindthe storage pool.

18. Alt=deletestorage pool orremove physical disks
You don’thave to remove anyphysical disksof the storage pool,justclickthe Delete pool optionand
all the physical diskstogetherwiththe storage pool will disappear.
How to Manage Storage Spaces with Third-Party Program?
Besidesthe simplemanagementof storage spaceswithinSettingsorControl Panel, youcanalsorely
on a powerful third-partyapptodo the work,such as MiniTool PartitionWizard,whichenablesyou
to extend/shrink,format,delete,merge/split, etc.the volume createdfromthe storage space.Itcan
alsomanage the whole storage pool bytreatingitas a single harddisk.
PW-Trail

19. Alt=manage storage spaceswithMiniTool PartitionWizard
Windows 11 Storage Spaces vs Windows 10 Storage Spaces
Similarly, Storage SpacesinWindows10 helpsyouprotectyourdata fromdrive failure andextend
storage overtime as youadd newdiskstoyour machine.Youcan take advantage of Storage Spaces
to gathermore than one hard diskintoa storage pool and use the capacity of the pool to create
virtual drivesnamedStorage Spaces.
In general,Storage Spacesandstorage poolsinWindows11 are verysimilartothose in Windows10.
Especially,forStorage SpacesinControl Panel,thereisnodifference inbothOSes.The biggest
difference isStorage SpacesinWindowsSettings.
You can learnhowto use Storage Spacesin Windows11 Settingsabove,asforStorage Spacesin
Win10 Settings, there isonlyanentrance.Navigate to Settings> System> Storage > More storage
settings> Manage Storage Spaces and youwill be redirectedtothe Storage Spacespage inControl
Panel.

20. Alt=manage storage spacesinWindows10 Settings
Sync Files Anywhere in Case of Drive Failure
If you justwant to keepanothercopyof your data to avoiddata lossdue to accidents,youdon’t
reallyneedtocreate a storage pool and storage spaces,especiallywhenyoudon’thave enough
extraqualifiedhard disks.
Then,howto protect importantfiles/folderswithoutcreatingastorage pool windows11?The
solutionistorelyon a professional andreliable file syncapplicationlike MiniTool ShadowMaker.
Below isthe guide tosync filestoanexternal harddrive.
SM-Trial
1. Download,install,andlaunchMiniTool ShadowMakeronyourPC.
2. If it asks forpurchasing,justclickthe KeepTrial optioninthe upperright to continue usingit
freely.
3. Whenit entersitsmaininterface,select Syncinthe top menu.
4. In the Sync tab,clickthe Source and Destinationmodule tospecifyrespectively.

21. Alt=syncfilesinMiniTool ShadowMaker
5. Clickon the Schedule buttoninthe bottomleft,turnonschedule settings,andsetupa
properschedule toautomaticallycarryoutthissynctask in the future.

22. Alt=setupschedule forfile sync
6. Finally,clickonthe Sync Nowbuttonto start the syncingprocess.
Besides synchronization,MiniToolShadowMakercanalsoback up files/folders,partitions/volumes,
system,and clone the entire harddisktoanotherdrive.To enjoymore featuresof it,justclickthe
belowbuttonandhave a try!
SM-Trial
In the end,storage poolsandstorage spaces are useful utilitiesforuserstoprotectcrucial data.
Especiallyforadvancedbusinessusers,youcanbuildstorage spacesandstorage poolsbasedon a
stand-alone serverorclusteredserver.If youare justa commonWindowsuser,besidesstorage
spaces,youcan just relyona simplerprogramto secure yourdata.