Create 16TB Azure Volumes

Q: I have created a Windows Azure virtual machine (VM) with 16 1TB data disks attached--how can I use it as one single volume?

A: The Windows OS has the ability to create striped volumes that effectively join multiple disks together. Once you have added all the disks to the Azure VM, log into the VM and start the disk management tool, diskmgmt.msc.

Select one of the disks and select the Create Striped Volume action, and ensure all disks are included in the selection. Select the quick format option to minimize time to format, and once it finishes, you will have a single volume of 16TB that can be used.

For Linux OSs you can use the MD capability or LVM to get the stripe.