1. DEP393 Enabling File Server Consolidation with DFS and Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Intelligent File Services Brian Dewey Lead Program Manager, Core File Services Microsoft Corporation

2. File Server Consolidation Do More With Less What do you have today? Probably a lot of NT4 file servers Where do you want to go? More availability, performance Fewer servers, less TCO High-level consolidation process: Size your new consolidated file servers Move the files Let people find the files Plan for availability & recoverability

3. 1.File Server Sizing Disk and Memory Maximum volume size Depends upon size of recovery window & backup device speed Maximum number of files per volume Largest factor affecting chkdsk time See Veritest report for data points Common max volume size: 200-500 GB Volume mount points mean terabytes per server Memory: More is better Server connection preallocation: See Q317249 Server memory usage: See Q312362

4. CHKDSK Reminder – NTFS is a mature journaling file system NTFS uses database-like logging techniques in order to remain consistent, even in case of a power fail or crash CHKDSK required only if hardware does not honor ‘write-through’ of the journal file Hardware corrupts data in some way There’s an NTFS bug – hence the emphasis on ‘mature’ CHKDSK in Windows Server 2003 CHKDSK performance gains See http://www.veritest.com/clients/reports/microsoft/mschkdsk.pdf http://www.veritest.com/clients/reports/microsoft/mschkdsk.pdf...showing > 1271% performance gain in their largest test configurations. Online CHKDSK filesystem verification In Windows Server 2003 RESKIT: ‘verfydsk.exe’ Uses VSS to create a shadow copy of volume

5. Consider 64-Bit Servers 32 bits → 2 GB kernel address space Limits number of open files Limits number of network connections Limits cached file views 64 bits removes all of these limits Kernel “paged pool” goes from 540 MB to 241 GB No need to wait for 64-bit applications 64-bit antivirus products available Slower clock speeds not an issue

6. Customer Examples Customer example (clustered file server): Each node has 4 x 700Mhz CPUs, 4GB RAM Each node has 11 x 170GB volumes AntiVirus software ~3000 active users per node, ‘no perf issues’ Tuned per Q312362 to avoid ‘2020’ event messages Customer example (non-clustered): “great reliability, so no need to cluster” 0.5 GB RAM* Note – 4GB would be better: (a) file cache, (b) CHKDSK 1TB of disk 3 rd -party Quota product ~1500 active users

7. 2. Move the Data “A Miracle Occurs” Several tools to choose from Xcopy, robocopy, richcopy Backup / restore 3 rd party replication Be sure to verify permissions before / after Shares now read-only by default “Effective Permissions” makes this easier

8. 3. Locate the Files Congratulations! Your files are consolidated on new servers. Umm… how are people supposed to find them? Send them email Change drive letter mappings DFS What? You don’t use DFS? A consolidation effort is a great time to plan and deploy DFS

9. Benefits of DFS Virtual Paths DFS provides virtual paths These paths are independent of the physical resources backing these paths Administrator-defined Example: \\corp\docs\2002 \\corp\docs\2003 \\corp\tools\sales \\corp\tools\engineering \\corp\projects\foobar

10. DFS demo demo

11. DFS For Consolidation New for Service Pack 1 Consolidated Storage Legacy Name Server using DFS Client Existing Storage \\oldserver1\public \\oldmarketing\public \\newdfs\public \\newdfs\marketing \\legacy\oldserver1\public\\legacy\oldserver1\public -> \\newdfs\public\\newdfs\public \\legacy\oldmarketing\public\\legacy\oldmarketing\public -> \\newdfs\marketing\\newdfs\marketing After decommissioning existing storage, a single DFS server will be able redirect all of the old names to the new location! Multi-host

12. Microsoft DFS - Architecture DFS Server DFS DFS Client Netware Windows LAN or WANUnix  Multi-protocol –Uses SMB/LM protocol to communicate between DFS client and DFS server –Then, uses any underlying remote filesystem protocol to connect to remote share  SMB/LM for Windows  Anything client has a RDR installed for (e.g. NCP for Netware, NFS for Unix Servers)  Secure –DFS only involved in name redirection –Existing security of underlying OS and file system is used to access shares

13. Benefits of DFS Multiple Link Targets DFS Links can have Multiple targets A ‘link’ is a mapping from the ‘virtual’ DFS path to one or more shares (known as ‘targets’) Example: \\corp\docs\2002\\corp\docs\2002 -> \\docs1\2002, and \\docs2\2002\\docs1\2002\\docs2\2002 A DFS path can point to another DFS path Example: \\corp\sales\demos\\corp\sales\demos -> \\demosrus\public\\demosrus\public

14. Benefits of DFS Target selection – load balancing, site selection In case of multiple targets, the DFS server sorts targets in 2 phases: Phase 1: Sort into groups by ‘site’ Windows® 2000 Site selection Group #1 is same site, Group #2 is rest-of-the-world Windows® Server 2003 ‘closest-site-selection’ Groups #1 … #N sorted by AD-defined site costing Phase 2: within each ‘group’, randomize order Provides load balancing DFS client behavior: Use the first available target in the referral list Failover to next in list when necessary

15. Deploying DFS Choosing a DFS type: Domain or Stand-alone Use stand-alone DFS namespaces when No Active Directory available: Your organization does not use Active Directory, or A domain admin will not create a DFS in their AD You need to create a single namespace with more than 5,000 links. If you can divide your links among two or more namespaces, then domain-based DFS is an option Use clustering to Ensure the availability of the stand- alone DFS namespace Use domain-based DFS namespaces when You plan to use FRS to replicate data You want to ensure the namespace is available across multiple sites

16. Deploying DFS Scaling Hints & Tips Keep comment fields to a minimum These take space in the DFS metadata & limit size Cascade DFSes Build layers of DFS for large namespaces A top-level DFS, pointing to subordinate DFSes 3-tiers is common for Large deployments 8 tiers is maximum supported Use ‘root scalability mode’ This is available for Windows® Server 2003 Enable using DFSUTIL /RootScalability DFS root servers will get updates from a local domain controller instead of the server acting as the PDC reduces network traffic to the PDC at the expense of tight consistency

17. Deploying DFS Site selection Hints & Tips Site is only determined by IP address range Windows® 2000 Site selection hints: Note that a target’s site is defined when it is added to the DFS To refresh Manually remove/add the target Or, use DFSUTIL /refresh from Windows Server 2003 Windows® Server 2003 Site selection Note that a target’s site is dynamically defined Site information in the DFS metadata is ignored The Windows.NET Server DFS UI does not store it there Use DFSUTIL /refresh if using Windows® 2000 DFS servers “Closest site selection” mode requires Windows® Server 2003 on all ISTGs

18. 4a. Availability Different techniques for a highly available file service 1. Clustering 2. DFS with FRS file replication, 3. DFS + Storage on a SAN – reallocate to another server in case of failure Need to evaluate ways to make data highly available Multiple NICs For SAN, Multiple paths from file server to disks (MPIO: multiple independent fiber channel paths) Different RAID levels Online volume growth, backup

19. DFS Failover demo demo

20. Availability: ISV Driver Quality You run anti-virus, quota, replication products These use ‘file system filter drivers’ These are complex drivers - how can you ensure quality? Answer: MS Plugfests, better dev kits, logo tests Plugfests: Quarterly week-long ISV workshops in Redmond 8 weeks of events held since mid-1999 Focus on robustness, performance, transparency WHQL Certification for Antivirus products: For Windows XP and Windows.NET Server 2003. We’ve measured significant progress No FS filters in Windows ‘OCA’ top 100 ISV bluescreens Huge change from Windows NT 4.0

21. 4b. Data Recovery Windows Server 2003 goes far beyond backup/restore Shadow Copies of Shared Folders Empower users to undo their own mistakes Open File Backup Backup open files without extra device drivers Available to backup products which use ‘VSS’ Automated System Recovery (ASR) Bare-metal restore of systems Supported by NTBackup Supported by 3 rd -party backup products

22. demo demo Shadow Copies of Shared Folders

23. Appendix… Appendix…

24. Deploying DFS Choosing a DFS type: Domain or Stand-alone CharacteristicDomain-basedStand-Alone Administrator accessOnly Domain Admins can create new domain-based DFS roots. Local Administrators group members on each of the root targets can add/delete links or root targets. Local Administrators group members on the local server can create new stand-alone DFS roots and add links to the roots. Where DFS root information is stored In Active Directory.In the registry of the root server. DFS namespace size restrictions 5,000 links.50,000 links. Methods to ensure DFS root availability Create multiple DFS root targets in the same domain. Create stand-alone DFS root on a clustered file server. Methods to ensure link target availability Create multiple link targets and replicate files by using one of the following methods:  Enabling FRS  Copying files manually or by using scripts  Using a third-party replication tool Create multiple link targets and replicate files by using one of the following methods:  Copying files manually or by using scripts  Using a third-party replication tool

25. Deploying DFS Size limits If you do not enable “root scalability mode”, Microsoft recommends using 16 or fewer root targets to limit traffic to the server acting as the primary domain controller (PDC). No fixed limitNumber of root targets per domain-based DFS root The size of the Active Directory object is determined by the number and path length of roots, links, comments, and targets in the namespace. Microsoft recommends using no more than 5,000 links in a domain-based namespace to prevent the Active Directory object from exceeding 5 MB. 5 megabytes (MB)Size of each DFS Active Directory object (applies to domain-based DFS namespaces only). These two stores (Active Directory, Registry) have different restrictions on the size of their objects 5,000 for domain-based DFS 50,000 links for stand-alone DFS Number of links per DFS namespace Windows® 2000 and Windows® Server 2003, Standard Edition: One namespace root per server. Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Editions No Limit. VariesNumber of DFS roots per server ExplanationRecommendation*Description

26. Replicas within the user’s site are selected preferentially Replicas within the user’s site are selected preferentially In Seattle DFS DFS Server DFS Client \\Docs1 \\Docs2 A single DFS link can point to multiple physical shares (“targets”) A single DFS link can point to multiple physical shares (“targets”) \\corp\docs\2002 \\corp\docs\2002 DFS selects one of the replicas DFS selects one of the replicas\\docs1\2002 DFS: Multiple link targets

27. Shadow Copy Restore Client Side Server Side Note: Flash demo posted on www.microsoft.com:www.microsoft.com http://www.microsoft.com/windows.netserver/techinfo/overview/overview6.asp..and click on the ‘flash demo’ link for ‘Shadow Copy Restore’

28. Tools - VSSAdmin Ships with Windows Server 2003 Command line scriptable utility for setting up or configuring shadow Copies C:\>vssadmin /? vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool (C) Copyright 2001 Microsoft Corp. ---- Commands Supported ---- Add ShadowStorage - Add a new volume shadow copy storage association Create Shadow - Create a new volume shadow copy Delete Shadows - Delete volume shadow copies Delete ShadowStorage - Delete volume shadow copy storage associations List Providers - List registered volume shadow copy providers List Shadows - List existing volume shadow copies List ShadowStorage - List volume shadow copy storage associations List Volumes - List volumes eligible for shadow copies List Writers - List subscribed volume shadow copy writers Resize ShadowStorage - Resize a volume shadow copy storage association

29. Tools – VolRest Allows restore of files without knowing path of deleted file Ships in the Resource Kit C:\Program Files\Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit>volrest VOLREST 1.1 - Timewarp Previous Version command-line tool (C) Copyright 2003 Microsoft Corp. Usage: VOLREST [options] FileName Options are: /? - Displays this help. /A - Includes files with specified attributes. /AD Directories (only). /AS System files. /AH Hidden files. /B - Uses bare format (no heading information or summary). /S - Includes files in specified directory and all subdirectories. /R: - Restore all previous versions in target directory. /E - Restores empty directories (use with /R). /SCT - Decorates restored file names with the shadow copy timestamp. Use with /R. For example: "foo (Wednesday, January 01, 2003, 14.00.00).doc" Examples: VOLREST Z:\MYDIRECTORY\MYFILE.DOC VOLREST \\server\share\MYDIRECTORY\*.DOC VOLREST Z:\*.* /s /r:C:\OLDFILES VOLREST Z:\*.DOC /s /r:C:\OLDFILES /SCT

30. Tools – Shadow Copy Performance Counters Provides detailed information on Shadow copy metrics and measures Nb of Shadow Copies % of Diff Area Used Used Space (MB) Ships with Windows Server 2003 Reskit Volperf.exe /install

31. Ask The Experts Get Your Questions Answered Find me at the Storage booth, July 3 from 1 to 4 PM

32. Community Resources http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/community/centers/fileservices Most Valuable Professional (MVP) http://www.mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Newsgroups Converse online with Microsoft Newsgroups, including Worldwide http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx microsoft.public.win2000.file_system microsoft.public.windowsnt.dfs User Groups Meet and learn with your peers http://www.microsoft.com/communities/usergroups/default.mspx

33. evaluations evaluations

34. © 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This presentation is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.