This error occurs when attempting to expand a striped volume and there are not enough dynamic disks in the disk group to meet the configuration requirement.

When expanding a volume that utilizes the striped layout, the number of disks with free disk space needs to be equal to, or greater than the number of columns in it to meet the configuration requirement. Each new column that is created to expand the volume will be the same size if there are available disks in the disk group to meet the requirement.

A column refers to an area on the disk where all or a portion of the volume resides. Striped, RAID-5, and mirrored striped (RAID 0+1) volumes contain multiple columns. Other volume types contain one column.

Below is an example to expand an existing 30GB striped volume with 3 columns by 20GB:

Conditions
The existing three column striped volume is 30GB
The three disks that make up the volume, Harddisk3, Harddisk4, and Harddisk5 are utilized to capacity (all 10GB of each disk)
Two new disks are added to the disk group and are 10GB in size; Harddisk10 and Harddisk11
The goal is to expand the volume by 20GB (utilizing all of the free space on the two new disks in the disk group)

Issue
Expand the dynamic volume:

 

1. Right-click the dynamic volume to expand, highlight Resize Volume, and then click Expand Volume in the context menu that appears.
 

2. Enter a 20 in the Add by text box and choose
 

3. Click the drop-down list next to the volume size text entry box and select GB
 

4. Choose to allow the default Auto assign destination disks.
 

5. Click OK to complete the command.
 

After clicking OK, the error occurs. The error occurs because the configuration is not valid to complete the operation. The configuration is not valid because there are only 2 available disks where a column can be created, thus creating 2 columns.

Resolution
To resolve the issue, add one more dynamic disk to the disk group that is 6.7GB or greater and follow the steps above to expand the volume by 20GB. With the addition of the new dynamic disk that has 6.7GB or greater of free space available, the configuration is valid because 3 columns can be created, and the volume will expand approximately 20GB on the three new disks to the closest cylinder boundary.