Tip of the Day: Cleaning up Storage Spaces

Today’s Tip…

Completely Clearing an Existing Storage Spaces Configuration - This script completely clears a previous Software-Defined Storage (SDS) configuration, from stale disk metadata to stubborn persistent reservations and everything in-between.

https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Completely-Clearing-an-ab745947

Involved in setting up and tearing down Storage Spaces-based Software-Defined Storage configurations on a weekly basis (both for external customer proof-of-concepts and internal validation), I routinely have the need to completely remove a Storage Spaces configuration from an existing software/hardware deployment.  And since the specifics of the previous deployment dictate the exact steps necessary to remove any legacy information, the precise workflow can be elusive.  Stale configuration information can exist in the registry, settings files, Active Directory and/or the disks themselves.  Therefore, rather than having multiple clean-up scripts for multiple cases, I created a single, 'sledgehammer-style' script that deals with everything (at least everything that I've encountered).  Please note that this first version is an attempt to get something useful into the public domain sooner rather than later (based on increasing customer request); therefore, annotations, debugging, syntax and workflow are admittedly not optimal.  But then again, it’s a sledgehammer and isn't designed to be pretty, just effective.  Happy wiping!