Setting Up Symbolic Links for Raw Devices on Windows

Symbolic links simplify raw device access on Windows systems and persist across reboots.

Prerequisites

Windows Vista or later Windows operating system.
You must have Administrator privileges in Windows Vista or change the behavior in the Local Security Policy management console.

Task

Create a mount point for the symbolic links as an NTFS file system designated by a drive letter, for example, T.
At the Windows command prompt, use the mklink command to create the symbolic link, for example:
```
mklink T:\IQ_SYSTEM_MAIN \\.\Volume{GUID}
```

Scripts that create the database or add space can reference T:\IQ_SYSTEM_MAIN instead of the format \\.\PhysicalDeviceN.

If storage goes offline, the symbolic link persists when the system comes back online.