Best way to reduce disk size on Windows 2012 Domain Controller ?

[Dieselboy]

I have a Windows 2012 primary domain controller. It has a 200GB virtual disk. It's using 15GB. I want to reduce the disk size to  to align with other DCs and reduce the overallocation waste. I created this with 200GB as it was my first DC and wasn't sure how much the disk would expand by.

As the server is a VM, I do have some tools available to me. I could shut the server down, make a snapshot and then clone the server from the snapshot and specify the disk size. But I think (not sure, hence the post) that the SID would change, and Active Directory would see this as a new server, not the current server.

I could take a backup using Acronis and do a restore to different hardware - I think the SID stays the same in this case, but the process is a little more involved.

Any recommendations? I think the safest option is to just leave well alone

[deanwebb]

Switch it to thin provisioning instead of thick?

But... why are you worried about 200GB in a TB world? It's a PDC, maybe it needs that much space, just in case. Anyone give a reason why 200GB for its hard drive?

[icecream-guy]

Its been a while and haven't touched AD in a while, but couldn't you just build another domain controller with disk the desired size, add it to the domain,then move the FSMO roles over from the old server to the new server, and then decommission the 200GB one when you've verified all is working correctly?

[Dieselboy]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look that up.

I might just leave it alone but if it's an easy "fix" then may do it.

[icecream-guy]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look that up.

I might just leave it alone but if it's an easy "fix" then may do it.

ain't nuthing easier than leaving it alone.

[Dieselboy]

Agreed.

Thanks