XP32 SP3 and >2TB drives

[PMV]

I know that using drives beyond 2 terabytes isn't possible in XP SP3, and that it can't boot off drives larger than 2 terabytes, but are those limits on drive size or partition size?

E.g. say I took and made a RAID array of 4x 1.5 TB drives -- once you factor in the decimal/binary size difference and that you lose one of the 4 to parity checking, it would end up at about 4 TB of space (plus an additional 90 gigs and change).

Would it be possible to work this with XP SP3 and 3 partitions -- make the 90 gigs a boot partition, then two 2tb partitions?

[glc]

It's the total array size, NOT the volume size. This means that you cannot RAID *any* 1.5 TB drives, even a simple RAID 0 or RAID 1 with 2 drives, because that makes the ARRAY size 3 TB.

Sorry, but the only way you can use an array larger than 2 TB is as a GPT storage array, it cannot be made bootable even if you partition it, and you must use Server 2003, Server 2008, XP 64, or Vista.

Bottom line, upgrade to XP 64 or Vista, and use a separate boot drive.