Does SQL Server 2017, including older versions, support 8k disk sector sizes?
Disk (loosely worded to include not only rotational media but non-rotational media [SSD, NVMe, etc.]) drives are continuing to evolve in their underlying formats and hardware. Part of this was an "enhancement" from 512 byte physical sector sizes to 4k physical sector sizes, which changes the on disk layout (512n, 512e, 4kn).
This next evolution is in using 8k physical sector sizes, which some manufacturers are starting to produce and setup in production. Given this next step, is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows? Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
sql-server hardware
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
add a comment |
Disk (loosely worded to include not only rotational media but non-rotational media [SSD, NVMe, etc.]) drives are continuing to evolve in their underlying formats and hardware. Part of this was an "enhancement" from 512 byte physical sector sizes to 4k physical sector sizes, which changes the on disk layout (512n, 512e, 4kn).
This next evolution is in using 8k physical sector sizes, which some manufacturers are starting to produce and setup in production. Given this next step, is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows? Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
sql-server hardware
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
8
Welcome to the site! Please take the tour and enjoy your time here!
– Joe Obbish
7 hours ago
add a comment |
Disk (loosely worded to include not only rotational media but non-rotational media [SSD, NVMe, etc.]) drives are continuing to evolve in their underlying formats and hardware. Part of this was an "enhancement" from 512 byte physical sector sizes to 4k physical sector sizes, which changes the on disk layout (512n, 512e, 4kn).
This next evolution is in using 8k physical sector sizes, which some manufacturers are starting to produce and setup in production. Given this next step, is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows? Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
sql-server hardware
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
Disk (loosely worded to include not only rotational media but non-rotational media [SSD, NVMe, etc.]) drives are continuing to evolve in their underlying formats and hardware. Part of this was an "enhancement" from 512 byte physical sector sizes to 4k physical sector sizes, which changes the on disk layout (512n, 512e, 4kn).
This next evolution is in using 8k physical sector sizes, which some manufacturers are starting to produce and setup in production. Given this next step, is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows? Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
sql-server hardware
sql-server hardware
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
edited 8 hours ago
jadarnel27
5,94311938
5,94311938
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
asked 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
16.5k22653
8
Welcome to the site! Please take the tour and enjoy your time here!
– Joe Obbish
7 hours ago
add a comment |
8
Welcome to the site! Please take the tour and enjoy your time here!
– Joe Obbish
7 hours ago
8
8
Welcome to the site! Please take the tour and enjoy your time here!
– Joe Obbish
7 hours ago
Welcome to the site! Please take the tour and enjoy your time here!
– Joe Obbish
7 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
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oldest
votes
Is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows?
Currently, no, it is not supported by Windows and has been documented.
Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
Yes, SQL Server does care about sector sizes. In fact, SQL Server checks the underlying physical disk information as it has data structures and algorithms that work with current disk sector sizes for various reasons (data integrity, optimizations, etc.).
If you attempt to use a physical sector size above 4k (4096) you'll receive an error:
Msg 5179, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot use file 'S:FolderTestDB.mdf ', because it is on a volume with sector size 8192.
SQL Server supports a maximum sector size of 4096 bytes.
Move the file to a volume with a compatible sector size.
In this case, you can see that the error message is specifically telling you that the maximum sector size is 4096 (4k). This means that volume can't be used for SQL Server, and as noted above it wouldn't be supported in Windows either.
Solution
If you're receiving this error/issue, unfortunately you'll need to use a supported disk sector size such as 512 bytes or 4k. Other formats are unsupported and can't be used. You'll need to contact your hardware vendor for the Disk subsystem used and ask if there are any other options.
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
1
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
2
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option oflosetup -bwith 4.14 kernels.
– eckes
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows?
Currently, no, it is not supported by Windows and has been documented.
Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
Yes, SQL Server does care about sector sizes. In fact, SQL Server checks the underlying physical disk information as it has data structures and algorithms that work with current disk sector sizes for various reasons (data integrity, optimizations, etc.).
If you attempt to use a physical sector size above 4k (4096) you'll receive an error:
Msg 5179, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot use file 'S:FolderTestDB.mdf ', because it is on a volume with sector size 8192.
SQL Server supports a maximum sector size of 4096 bytes.
Move the file to a volume with a compatible sector size.
In this case, you can see that the error message is specifically telling you that the maximum sector size is 4096 (4k). This means that volume can't be used for SQL Server, and as noted above it wouldn't be supported in Windows either.
Solution
If you're receiving this error/issue, unfortunately you'll need to use a supported disk sector size such as 512 bytes or 4k. Other formats are unsupported and can't be used. You'll need to contact your hardware vendor for the Disk subsystem used and ask if there are any other options.
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
1
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
2
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option oflosetup -bwith 4.14 kernels.
– eckes
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows?
Currently, no, it is not supported by Windows and has been documented.
Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
Yes, SQL Server does care about sector sizes. In fact, SQL Server checks the underlying physical disk information as it has data structures and algorithms that work with current disk sector sizes for various reasons (data integrity, optimizations, etc.).
If you attempt to use a physical sector size above 4k (4096) you'll receive an error:
Msg 5179, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot use file 'S:FolderTestDB.mdf ', because it is on a volume with sector size 8192.
SQL Server supports a maximum sector size of 4096 bytes.
Move the file to a volume with a compatible sector size.
In this case, you can see that the error message is specifically telling you that the maximum sector size is 4096 (4k). This means that volume can't be used for SQL Server, and as noted above it wouldn't be supported in Windows either.
Solution
If you're receiving this error/issue, unfortunately you'll need to use a supported disk sector size such as 512 bytes or 4k. Other formats are unsupported and can't be used. You'll need to contact your hardware vendor for the Disk subsystem used and ask if there are any other options.
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
1
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
2
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option oflosetup -bwith 4.14 kernels.
– eckes
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows?
Currently, no, it is not supported by Windows and has been documented.
Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
Yes, SQL Server does care about sector sizes. In fact, SQL Server checks the underlying physical disk information as it has data structures and algorithms that work with current disk sector sizes for various reasons (data integrity, optimizations, etc.).
If you attempt to use a physical sector size above 4k (4096) you'll receive an error:
Msg 5179, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot use file 'S:FolderTestDB.mdf ', because it is on a volume with sector size 8192.
SQL Server supports a maximum sector size of 4096 bytes.
Move the file to a volume with a compatible sector size.
In this case, you can see that the error message is specifically telling you that the maximum sector size is 4096 (4k). This means that volume can't be used for SQL Server, and as noted above it wouldn't be supported in Windows either.
Solution
If you're receiving this error/issue, unfortunately you'll need to use a supported disk sector size such as 512 bytes or 4k. Other formats are unsupported and can't be used. You'll need to contact your hardware vendor for the Disk subsystem used and ask if there are any other options.
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
Is the 8k sector size disk supported in Windows?
Currently, no, it is not supported by Windows and has been documented.
Does SQL Server care about sector sizes?
Yes, SQL Server does care about sector sizes. In fact, SQL Server checks the underlying physical disk information as it has data structures and algorithms that work with current disk sector sizes for various reasons (data integrity, optimizations, etc.).
If you attempt to use a physical sector size above 4k (4096) you'll receive an error:
Msg 5179, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot use file 'S:FolderTestDB.mdf ', because it is on a volume with sector size 8192.
SQL Server supports a maximum sector size of 4096 bytes.
Move the file to a volume with a compatible sector size.
In this case, you can see that the error message is specifically telling you that the maximum sector size is 4096 (4k). This means that volume can't be used for SQL Server, and as noted above it wouldn't be supported in Windows either.
Solution
If you're receiving this error/issue, unfortunately you'll need to use a supported disk sector size such as 512 bytes or 4k. Other formats are unsupported and can't be used. You'll need to contact your hardware vendor for the Disk subsystem used and ask if there are any other options.
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
edited 6 hours ago
Paul White♦
52.7k14281456
52.7k14281456
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
answered 11 hours ago
Sean GallardySean Gallardy
16.5k22653
16.5k22653
1
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
2
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option oflosetup -bwith 4.14 kernels.
– eckes
3 hours ago
add a comment |
1
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
2
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option oflosetup -bwith 4.14 kernels.
– eckes
3 hours ago
1
1
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
How did you get NTFS on that disk to produce the error message?
– eckes
6 hours ago
2
2
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes It was probably SQL Server on Linux - Sean loves SQL Server on Linux.
– jadarnel27
5 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@eckes Windows will let you format it. I don't if or what version of the Linux Kernel supports larger than 4k.
– Sean Gallardy
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option of
losetup -b with 4.14 kernels.– eckes
3 hours ago
@SeanGallardy oh so you had a real 8k blocksize (non Boot) disk working with Windows? BTW On Linux you should be able to emulate a 8k drive with the new logical blocksize option of
losetup -b with 4.14 kernels.– eckes
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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Welcome to the site! Please take the tour and enjoy your time here!
– Joe Obbish
7 hours ago