Chapter 7: Configuring Server Storage, Backup, and Performance Options

Learning Objectives Explain basic and dynamic disks Partition, format, and manage basic disks and convert them to dynamic disks Create and manage simple, spanned, striped, RAID-5, and mirrored dynamic disks Mount a drive

Learning Objectives (continued) Manage removable storage and set up media pools Perform disk backups Tune server performance Configure Windows 2000 Server for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

Basic Disk Uses traditional disk management techniques Is partitioned and formatted Can be set up to employ disk sets Offered for backward compatibility with earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS

Disk Partitioning Blocks a group of tracks and sectors in preparation for a file system Places a master boot record and partition table in the beginning track and sectors on a disk

Partitioning Tip When you partition a basic disk, leave 1 MB free for workspace which is necessary to later convert to a dynamic disk

Customizing the MMC for Disk Management Figure 7-1 Disk Management and Disk Defragmenter snap-ins installed in the MMC

Primary and Extended Partitions Primary partition: A partition or portion of a hard disk that is bootable Extended Partition: A partition that is created from unpartitioned free disk space and is linked to a primary partition in order to increase the available disk space

Setting Up an Extended Partition Figure 7-2 Creating an extended partition

Boot and System Partitions Boot partition: A partition that holds the Windows 2000 Server \Winnt folder containing the system files System partition: A partition that contains boot files, such as Boot.ini and Ntldr in Windows 2000 Server

Viewing the System and Boot Partitions Figure 7-3 System and boot partitions

Formatting Formatting creates a table containing file and folder information for a specific file system in a partition – it also creates a root folder and volume label Use the Disk Management tool to format a partition

Formatting Using the Disk Management Tool Figure 7-4 Formatting a partition

Formatting Tips When you format a partition, avoid using the quick format option, because it does not check for bad sectors during the format After you partition and format a disk, be sure to update the emergency repair disk to reflect your change

Volume and Stripe Sets Volume set: Two or more formatted basic disk partitions (volumes) that are combined to look like one volume with a single drive letter Stripe set: Two or more basic disks set up so that files are spread in blocks across the disks

Converting a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk To convert a disk: Right-click the basic disk to convert Click Upgrade to Dynamic Disk

Converting a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk To convert back to a basic disk: Back up the dynamic disk Delete the dynamic disk volume Click the disk, click the Action menu, and click Restore Basic Disk Partition and format the disk

Dynamic Disks Dynamic disk: In Windows 2000 Server, a disk that does not use traditional partitioning, which means that there is no restriction to the number of volumes that can be set up on one disk or the ability to extend volumes onto additional physical disks. Dynamic disks are only compatible with Windows 2000.

Dynamic Disks (continued) Dynamic disks support: Spanned volumes and volume extensions Up to 32 disks in one spanned volume RAID levels 0, 1, and 5 FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS

Simple Volume Simple volume: A portion of a disk or an entire disk that is set up as a dynamic disk A simple volume is not set up for fault tolerance or RAID

Spanned Volume Spanned volume: Two or more Windows 2000 dynamic disks that are combined to appear as one disk A spanned volume can contain 2 to 32 disks

Spanned Volume (continued) Figure 7-5 Spanned volume

Design Tip In a spanned volume if one disk fails, the entire volume is inaccessible. If a portion of a volume is deleted, such as one disk, the entire disk set is deleted. For these reasons, avoid placing mission-critical data and applications on a spanned volume.

Striped Volume Striped volume: Two or more dynamic disks that use striping so that files are spread in blocks across the disks (RAID level 0) Striping requires 2 disks and can include as many as 32 Striping equalizes the disk load, extends the life of disks, and increases disk performance

Figure 7-6 Disks in a striped volume Striped Volume Layout Figure 7-6 Disks in a striped volume

Troubleshooting Tip If one or more disks in a striped volume fail, the data will likely be inaccessible. Frequently back up a striped volume so you do not lose data if a disk failure occurs.

RAID-5 Volume RAID-5 volume: Three or more dynamic disks that use RAID level 5 fault tolerance through disk striping and creating parity blocks for data recovery A RAID-5 volume is not as fast at writing because it must calculate the parity block for each row

Figure 7-7 Disks in a RAID-5 volume RAID-5 Layout Figure 7-7 Disks in a RAID-5 volume

Disk Spaced Used for Parity The amount of disk space used for parity is 1/n where n equals the number of physical disks When you plan disk capacity, take into account the amount of space (for parity) that cannot be used for production data

Design Tip If you create a RAID-5 volume, add at least 12 MB or more of RAM, because RAID-5 functions need more memory

Mirrored Volume Mirrored volume: Two dynamic disks that are set up for RAID level 1 so that data on one disk is stored on a redundant disk Disk read performance is the same as reading from a simple volume, but the disk write time is increased in order to write on both disks

Design Caution The system and boot partitions can be on a simple, spanned, or mirrored volume, but not on a striped or RAID-5 volume (unless hardware RAID is used)

Disk Performance and Repair Avoid allowing disks to get over 80 percent full You can extend the life of disks by using striped or RAID-5 volumes Regularly defragment disks to extend disk life and increase performance

Using the Disk Defragmenter Figure 7-8 Analyzing a disk’s fragmentation

Troubleshooting Tip Ensure disk integrity and repair disk problems by using the “checkdisk” utility, called chkdsk Chkdsk can check FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS formatted volumes

Chkdsk In NTFS, chkdsk can check: Files Folders Indexes Security descriptors User files Disk allocation units

Chkdsk Switch and Parameter Options

Chkdsk Switch and Parameter Options (continued)

Troubleshooting Tip If there is physical damage on a disk, use chkdsk with the /r switch to identify bad sectors Use Recover to recover files on a damaged disk: Recover [driver and path] filename

Mounted Drive Mounted drive: A physical disk, CD-ROM, or Zip drive that appears as a folder and that is accessed through a path like any other folder Using mounted drives enables you to save on allocating drive letters

Removable Storage Examples of removable storage include: CD-ROMs CD-RWs Magnetic media such as tapes and Zip disks

Library Concepts Library: Removable storage media and the drive (or drives) used by the media Robotic library: A library of removable media and drives in which multiple media, such as tapes, can be mounted and dismounted automatically Stand-alone drive library: A library consisting of media and a drive in which the media are mounted manually one at a time

Media Pool Concepts Media pool: A set of removable media in which the media are used for the same purpose and that are managed in the same way, such as backup tapes for a Windows 2000 server Media in each library are managed as part of a media pool

Media Classification Physical media: Media you can touch, such as tapes and that are linked to a library (most common classification) Logical media: Media that can hold information from two different media pools, such as a tape that has backup information from multiple media pools

Creating a Media Pool The steps for creating a media pool are: Open the Removable Storage Management tool Double-click Removable Storage, right-click Media Pools, click Create Media Pool Access the General tab and enter a name for the media pool, enter a description, specify the type of media, and specify how the media are allocated Use the Security tab to specify who can access and manage the media pool

Figure 7-9 Setting up a new media pool Media Pool Setup Figure 7-9 Setting up a new media pool

Backing Up a Server Develop a backup strategy as soon as possible Consider your backup activities as mission-critical

Windows 2000 Backup Options The backup options in Windows 2000 Server include: Normal – a full backup Incremental – a partial backup (removes the archive attribute) Differential – a partial backup (does not remove the archive attribute Copy – backs up specifically selected files Daily – backs up files that have changed on the day of the backup

Figure 7-10 Manually starting a backup

Scheduling Backups For regularly performed backups, use the scheduling capability in the Backup tool – which actually employs the Scheduled Tasks tool

Configuring a Scheduled Backup Figure 7-11 Scheduling a backup job

Performing a Restore Perform a restore by using the Backup tool and clicking the Restore tab You can restore all files and folders on a medium or only those you select specifically

Configuring Application Performance Tune the server performance by configuring application performance Application performance is tuned by opening the Control Panel System icon, accessing the Advanced tab, and clicking the Performance Options button

Configuring Virtual Memory Tune a server by configuring the page file, which is used to expand the capacity of RAM The general formula for configuring a page file is to size it to match the amount of RAM times 1.5

Page File Configuration Tips Avoid placing the page file on the boot partition or volume Place a page file in each volume in a multiple volume system Place a page file on the main volume in a mirrored set Do not place a page file on a stripe set, striped volume, strip set with parity, or RAID-5 volume

Page File Configuration Figure 7-12 Configuring virtual memory

Configuring Memory to Match the User Load Tune a server so the memory is allocated to match the number of users and the main functions of the server (access by users, access to run processes, access to obtain files)

Configuring Server RAM

Configuring Server RAM (continued)

Configuring RAM Allocation Figure 7-13 Adjusting memory allocation

UPS Fault Tolerance Uninterruptible power supply (UPS): A device built into electrical equipment or a separate device that provides immediate battery power to equipment during a power failure or brownout The dollars you spend on a UPS are quickly returned in terms of the data that is saved, grateful users, and reducing hardware and software damage

Troubleshooting Tip Avoid plugging laser printers into a UPS, because their excessive power consumption when turned on can damage a UPS (also there is usually no reason to protect a printer from a power outage) Always purchase an online UPS for a server – and one that has ample line filtering and surge protection

Chapter Summary Windows 2000 Server supports two kinds of disks, basic and dynamic Basic disks are for backward compatibility and dynamic disks offer comprehensive disk management Windows 2000 Server supports many kinds of removable storage such as tapes, CD-ROMs, CD-RWs, Zip, and Jaz drives

Chapter Summary Removable storage is managed through libraries and media pools Server backups are handled through the Backup tool which offers several backup alternatives Tune your server right away for running applications, virtual memory, and memory used for network connectivity