Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (216 page)

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Remote Storage Service (RSS)

The Remote Storage Service was included with Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server

2003. The Remote Storage Service enables administrators to migrate or archive data to

lower-cost, slower disks or tape media to reduce the required storage space on file servers.

This service, however, has been discontinued in Windows Server 2008 and is not included

in Windows Server 2008 R2 either. Many organizations that required this sort of function-

ality have turned to third-party vendors to provide this type of hierarchical storage

management. However, the New File Management Tasks node within the File Server

Resource Manager console provides a function that allows administrators to schedule

processes that will report on files that might be candidates for moving to alternate storage

through a function called file expiration. This can be configured to notify both adminis-

trators and end-user file owners of upcoming files that will be expired and moved to alter-

nate volumes. One main difference, however, is that file expiration does not leave a link

in the original file location as the Remote Storage Service previously did. File expiration is

covered later in this chapter in the “File Management Tasks” section.

CAUTION

If a Windows Server 2003 32- or 64-bit system is running Remote Storage Service,

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upgrading this system to Windows Server 2008 32- or 64-bit or Windows Server 2008

R2 causes any data stored on Remote Storage media to become inaccessible.

Distributed File System (DFS)

As the file services needs of an organization change, it can be a challenging task for

administrators to design a migration plan to support the new requirements. In many cases

when file servers need additional space or need to be replaced, extensive migration time

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frames, scheduled outages, and, sometimes, heavy user impact results.

In an effort to create highly available file services that reduce end-user impact and

simplify file server management, Windows Server 2008 R2 includes the Distributed File

System (DFS) service. DFS provides access to file data from a single namespace that can be

used to represent a single server or a number of servers that store different sets or repli-

cated sets of the same data. For example, when using DFS in an Active Directory domain,

a DFS namespace named \\companyabc.com\UserShares could redirect users to

\\Server10\UserShares or to a replicated copy of the data stored at

\\Server20\UserShares.

Users and administrators both can benefit from DFS because they only need to remember

a single server or domain name to locate all the necessary file shares. DFS is described in

detail later in this chapter.

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File System Management and Fault Tolerance

Distributed File System Replication (DFSR)

With the release of Windows 2003 R2 and continuing with Windows Server 2008 and

Windows Server 2008 R2, DFS has now been upgraded. In previous versions, DFS

Replication was performed by the File Replication Service (FRS). Starting with Windows

Server 2003 R2, DFS Replication is now performed by the Distributed File System

Replication service, or DFSR. DFSR uses the Remote Differential Compression (RDC) proto-

col to replicate data. The RDC protocol improves upon FRS with better replication stabil-

ity, more granular administrative control, and additional replication and access options.

Also, starting with Windows Server 2008 R2, RDC improves replication by only replicating

the portions of files that have changed, as opposed to replicating the entire file, and repli-

cation can now be secured in transmission. DFSR and RDC are discussed in detail in the

section, “The Distributed File System,” later in this chapter.

File System Management Tools

Windows Server 2008 R2 provides several tools administrators can leverage to manage

Windows Server 2008 R2 file servers. Administrators can install these tools on Windows

Server 2008 R2 systems by adding the File Services tools feature to the system. The File

Services tools can be added by invoking the Add Features applet located in Server

Manager. The tools are located in the Add Features, Remote Server Administration Tools,

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Role Administration Tools hierarchy. The File Services tools installed in this group include

the following:

. Distributed File System tools

. File Server Resource Manager tools

. Services for Network File System tools

These tools are detailed in the section, “File Server Resource Manager (FSRM),” later in

this chapter.

File System Monitoring and Reporting

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes the ability for administrators to enable automated

monitoring and reporting of the file system. This includes reporting on storage and quota

usage, file screening, file group by types as well as owners, and file properties. Also, new to

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability to produce reports on file classification and file

expiration file management tasks. The aforementioned reports can be configured using the

File Server Resource Manager tool detailed in the section, “File Server Resource Manager

(FSRM),” later in this chapter.

File System Access Services and Technologies

Windows Server 2008 R2 provides administrators with many different options to present

file data to end users. These, of course, include the traditional file sharing methods, but

also include presenting file data using web services. By default, Windows Server 2008 R2

systems running the File Services role support Windows 2000 clients and later. To support

File System Access Services and Technologies

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legacy Windows clients, UNIX clients, or legacy Apple Mac clients might require addi-

tional services and security modifications to the data. Several of the options available for

presenting file data to end users are included in the proceeding sections.

Windows Folder Sharing

This is the traditional and most commonly used method to access server data using the

server message block (SMB) protocol over TCP/IP. Windows systems, many UNIX systems,

and current Apple Mac systems can access Microsoft servers using this protocol. The path

to access the data uses the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path of

\\server\sharename.

Distributed File System (DFS) Namespaces and Replication

This method utilizes Windows folder sharing under a unified namespace. The main differ-

ence between standard Windows Server folder sharing and DFS shares is that the actual

server name is masked by a unified name, commonly the Active Directory domain name,

but in some cases, a single server name and share can be used to access data stored on

several servers. Also with DFS, the underlying data can be replicated or synchronized

between servers. One limitation of DFS is that the client accessing the DFS namespace

must be a DFS-aware client so it can utilize the benefits of DFS and, in some cases, just

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locate and access the data.

WWW Directory Publishing

Using this method, administrators can make folders and files available through a web

browser for read and/or write operations. This can be a useful tool to make files available

to remote users with only Internet access. Some common types of files typically published

in websites can include employee handbooks, time sheets, vacation requests, company

quarterly reports, and newsletters. Additionally, file publishing through the web can be

performed using Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

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Microsoft Exchange 2007 and 2010 also enable administrators to provide access to desig-

nated file shares through the Outlook Web Access interface.

File Transfer Protocol Service

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service is one of the oldest services available to transfer

files between systems. FTP is still commonly used to make large files available and to

present remote users and customers alike with a simple way to send data to the organiza-

tion. FTP is very efficient, and that is why it still has a place in today’s computer and

network infrastructure. Standard FTP, however, is not secure by default and should only be

used with secure and monitored connections. FTP is compatible with most web browsers,

making it very easy to include and utilize links to FTP data within websites to improve file

transfer performance. Some common types of files typically made available using FTP sites

include company virtual private network (VPN) clients, software packages, product

manuals, and to present a repository for customers and vendors to transfer reports, large

databases, and other types of data.

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Secure File Transfer Protocol (FTPS)

As security becomes more and more of an expectation rather than a necessity for a simple

service, Microsoft supports Secure File Transfer Protocol, or Secure FTP, for data transfer

services. Using an encryption algorithm for data security and integrity purposes, FTPS

provides a method to upload and download data with a significantly more secure FTPS

than was typically done in the past using unsecured FTP.

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS)

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) can be used to present files in document libraries, but

the data is stored in Microsoft SQL databases and not in the file system. Because WSS

stores file data in SQL databases, separate backups are required and the data stored in WSS

is not directly accessible in the file system, except in the form of web links. WSS does have

some benefits to managing file data, including document management features such as

version history, check-in and checkout functionality, and the ability to notify users or

groups when a document has been added, updated, or removed from a WSS document

library. For more information on WSS, see Chapter 35, “Windows SharePoint Services.”

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Services for NFS

“Services for NFS” is a suite of services that provides the ability for Windows administra-

tors to simplify the integration of Windows systems into legacy UNIX networks. In previ-

ous versions of Windows, Services for NFS or Services for UNIX (SFU) included User Name

Mapping services, gateway for NFS, client for NFS, and server for PCNFS (IBM’s implemen-

tation of NFS). With Windows Server 2008 R2, the only components included are the

client and server for NFS. Mapping UNIX users to Active Directory users is now available as

a feature of the Identity Management for UNIX role services, which are part of the Active

Directory Domain Services role. Services for NFS allows UNIX systems running the NFS

protocol to access data stored on Windows Server 2008 R2 systems. Client for NFS allows

the Windows system to access data stored on UNIX systems running the NFS protocol.

NOTE

Most of the current UNIX systems can access Windows systems using the Server

Message Block protocol.

Services for Mac

This service was removed in Windows Server 2008 as current Apple Mac devices can

connect to Microsoft servers by default using the SMB protocol. To support legacy Apple

Mac clients, Windows administrators would need to deploy Windows Server 2003 systems

with file and/or print services for Mac installed or provide alternate ways for Mac users to

access data, such as FTP or web access.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Disks

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Windows Server 2008 R2 Disks

Windows Server 2008 R2 enables administrators to define how disks are presented and

used within the system. Depending on the type and size of a disk, administrators can

determine which particular type of disk and volumes they should consider deploying on

their systems.

Windows disks can be defined as basic or dynamic disks. Furthermore, these same disks

can be defined as Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks. A simple

way to clearly differentiate how to choose between these disk types is to consider that

basic disks only support simple volumes, whereas dynamic disks allow logical volumes to

be created across multiple physical disks. Choosing between MBR and GPT disks depends

on the size of the disk, as well as understanding how many partitions you will need to

create on the disk.

Windows Server 2008 R2 also supports VHD or virtual hard disks, for Hyper-V virtual

machines. VHD disks can now also be created and mounted directly within a Windows

host operating system, regardless of whether the Windows Server 2008 R2 system is

hosting the Hyper-V role.

Master Boot Record Disks

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Master Boot Record (MBR) disks utilize the traditional disk configuration. The configura-

tion of the disk, including partition configuration and disk layout, is stored on the first

sector of the disk in the MBR. Traditionally, if the MBR became corrupted or moved to a

different part of the disk, the data became inaccessible. MBR disks have a limitation of

three primary partitions and a single extended partition that can contain several logical

drives. Choosing to create an MBR disk should provide administrators with a more

compatible disk that can easily be mounted and/or managed between different operating