Windows 11 All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 4

Storing in Storage Spaces

IN THIS CHAPTER

Virtualizing Storage Spaces

Setting up Storage Spaces

Caring and feeding of Storage Spaces

For people who want to make sure that they never suffer a data loss — in spite of dying hard drives or backup routines that don’t run properly — the Storage Spaces feature may, in and of itself, justify buying, installing, and using Windows 11.

Storage Spaces should not be mistaken with Storage Sense. The latter, which is entirely different, is used for cleaning up unnecessary files from Windows 11. You can learn more about it in Book 3, Chapter 7.

Some people prefer to back up to the cloud with OneDrive or Dropbox, but even if you do save backups on the internet, you’ll feel a whole lot better knowing that the data you have here on earth is not going to disappear when a hard drive spins its last. On the other hand, if all your data is in the cloud all the time, you don’t need to worry about local drives failing, and you can skip this chapter.

In this chapter, I introduce you to the Windows 11 approach to drive virtualization and how it enables Storage Spaces to work. Then, I go through setting up Storage Spaces and the tips and tricks you ...