Windows Server Essentials 2016 primordial pool创建时机、方式及存储池添加磁盘问题咨询

Hey there, let's work through your questions step by step based on hands-on experience with Windows Server Essentials 2016:

1. When & how is the primordial pool created? #

The primordial pool is an automatically generated default pool built into Windows Storage Spaces—it should exist as soon as your server finishes installing, provided there are eligible disks available.

It includes all physical disks that meet these criteria:

• Uninitialized, or initialized but unpartitioned (RAW state)
• Not being used as a system/boot disk
• Not already part of another storage pool
• Not marked as removable media (this is a common gotcha for USB drives!)

If your USB drive isn't showing up, double-check in Disk Management: right-click the drive, go to Properties > Hardware > Select the disk > Properties > Policies—try switching to "Better performance" (enables write caching) and confirm it's not flagged as removable media. After adjusting, re-scan storage in Server Manager (right-click "Disks" under File and Storage Services > Rescan Storage).

2. Did formatting both partitions pre-install cause issues? Should I reinstall with only the C: partition created? #

Formatting the 120GB system partition was totally fine—that's required for the OS. The problem with your initial 600GB data partition is that once it's formatted and mounted, it's no longer eligible for the primordial pool (since it's already in active use).

If you're open to reinstalling, yes—creating only the 120GB C: partition and leaving the rest of the disk uninitialized/unpartitioned is a solid approach. After installation, Storage Spaces will automatically add that unallocated space to the primordial pool, making it available for you to create a storage pool via Server Manager, then set up backups through the WSE Dashboard.

That said, you don't have to reinstall if you don't want to:

• Back up any data on the 600GB partition, delete the partition to leave that disk space unallocated
• For the 500GB USB drive, ensure it's initialized (GPT is recommended) but has no partitions
• Re-scan storage in Server Manager—both disks should now show up in the primordial pool

Quick troubleshooting checks #

• Open diskmgmt.msc to confirm all target disks are in an unpartitioned (RAW) state (or initialized but unallocated)
• Verify no disks are encrypted with BitLocker or locked by third-party disk tools
• Make sure USB drives are connected via USB 3.0/3.1 ports (older USB 2.0 might have compatibility issues with Storage Spaces)

备注：内容来源于stack exchange，提问作者samsquared2