3 methods to get the drive sizes with Powershell

Retrieving the drive sizes from a server is common administration task. Like many administration task there are loads of different methods to use. Powershell is continiously evolving. One of it's great strengths is the ability to read straight from server APIs , that are are built specifically with Powershell in mind, allowing Powershell to return values with minimal need to manipulate strings.

Powershell also does a great job at allowing existing methods to be utilised using the Powrershell scripting language to manage the workflow.

This is a quick summary of 3 methods I use across different SQL Server management situations. These are starting points

Method 1 : Using the Get-OSDrive cmdlet . It will return drives that are in the current session

Get-PSDrive C | Select-Object Used,Free

Method 2 : Using the Get-WmiObject. There is the added bonus of accessing a remote server via the -computer switch.

Get-WmiObject Win32_LogicalDisk -filter "DriveType=3" -computer MyComputer | Select SystemName,DeviceID,VolumeName,@{Name="Size(GB)";Expression={"{0:N1}" -f
($_.size/1gb)}},@{Name="FreeSpace(GB)";Expression={"{0:N1}" -f($_.freespace/1gb)}} | Out-GridView

Method 3 : SQLCMD invoked by Powershell. The benefit is you can use the SQL Server based commands via the Powershell framework

invoke-expression "SQLCMD -E -S server\myinstance; -q 'exec master.dbo.xp_fixeddrives'"

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