70-270, MCSE/MCSA Guide to Installing and Managing Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 Chapter Five Managing Disks and Data Storage

Guide to MCSE , Objectives Understand concepts related to disk management Manage partitions and volumes Implement fault-tolerant disk strategies on Windows Server 2003

Guide to MCSE , Objectives (continued) Monitor disk health and import foreign disks Use disk management and maintenance utilities Set up and monitor disk quotas

Guide to MCSE , Disk Management Concepts Basic disk: Uses traditional disk management techniques –Contains primary partitions, extended partitions, and logical drives Dynamic disk: Storage space divided into logical volumes –More flexible Before using partition or volume, must format with a file system

Guide to MCSE , File Systems File Allocation Table (FAT): Originally developed for DOS –Supports volumes up to 4 GB –Most efficient on volumes smaller than 256 MB –Only 512 entries allowed in the root directory –No file-level compression –No file-level security –Maximum file size of 2 GB FAT32: Enhanced version of FAT

Guide to MCSE , File Systems (continued) FAT volumes divided into clusters –Cluster: Group of sector(s) divided into single, nondivisible unit –Sector: Smallest division of a drive’s surface 512 bytes –Only a certain number of clusters can be addressed NTFS: Support for much larger volumes, file-by-file compression, and file-by-file security –Windows XP and Windows Server 2000/2003 use NTFS version 5.0

Guide to MCSE , File Systems (continued) NTFS (continued): –Support for volumes up to 2 TB –Most efficient on volumes larger than 10 MB –Unlimited entries allowed in the root directory –File-level compression –File-level security –File-level encryption (see Chapter 9) –Disk quotas, which are a means to limit users’ drive space consumption – POSIX support –File size limited only by the size of the volume

Guide to MCSE , File Systems (continued) Table 5-1: FAT16 and FAT32 cluster sizes Table 5-2: NTFS default cluster sizes

Guide to MCSE , Basic Disks Hard disk divided into primary and extended partitions –Each partition acts as separate storage unit –Max of 4 primary partitions or 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition Only one partition can be marked as active partition –System partition Boot partition: Where OS files installed

Guide to MCSE , Basic Disks (continued) Primary Partitions: Partition from which you can boot an OS if required –Active partition: Where computer looks for hardware-specific files to start OS Extended Partitions and Logical Drives: –Extended partition: Created from unpartitioned space Enable you to exceed the 4-partition limit Not formatted or assigned drive letter Can be further divided into logical drives –Formatted and assigned drive letters

Guide to MCSE , Basic Disks (continued) Figure 5-1: Dividing an extended partition into one or more logical drives

Guide to MCSE , Basic Disks (continued) Windows NT Volume Sets and Stripe Sets: –Volume set: Multiple partitions combined to look like one volume Single drive letter –Stripe set: Multiple disks combined like a volume set but striped for RAID 0 or RAID 5

Guide to MCSE , Dynamic Disks Make it possible to set up large number of volumes on one disk and to extend volumes onto additional physical disks Simple Volume: Dedicated and formatted portion of disk space on a dynamic disk –Can be extended only if formatted with NTFS Spanned Volume: Consists of space taken up by 2 to 32 dynamic disks –Treated as single logical volume

Guide to MCSE , Dynamic Disks (continued) Spanned Volume (continued): –Data written to disk space sequentially –Maximize use of scattered pockets of disk space across several disks –Able to extend Figure 5-2: Creating a spanned volume using four disks

Guide to MCSE , Dynamic Disks (continued) Striped Volume: form of RAID 0 in which volume divided into equal spaces on 2 to 32 disk drives –Data divided and written concurrently to all drives Figure 5-3: Disks in a striped volume

Guide to MCSE , Dynamic Disks (continued) Table 5-3: Windows XP Professional and Server 2003 disk structures

Guide to MCSE , Managing Partitions and Volumes Figure 5-4: The Disk Management node of the Computer Management tool

Guide to MCSE , Managing Disk Properties Disk Management tool most commonly accessed via Storage section of Computer Management –Primarily used for creating, deleting, and managing disks, partitions, and volumes –Also provides information about them that is typically associated with other tools Activity 5-1: Viewing and Managing Disk Properties with Disk Management –Objective: Use Disk Management to view the properties of a hard disk and partition

Guide to MCSE , Managing Disk Properties (continued) Figure 5-5: The Properties dialog box for an existing partition

Guide to MCSE , Creating Partitions and Volumes Disk Management is primary tool for creating and managing partitions and volumes Activity 5-2: Creating and Deleting a Primary Partition –Objective: Create and delete a primary partition Activity 5-3: Creating an Extended Partition –Objective: Create an extended partition

Guide to MCSE , Creating Partitions and Volumes (continued) Activity 5-4: Creating a Logical Drive –Objective: Create a logical drive from within an extended partition Before creating volumes on Windows Server 2003 system, must convert disks from basic to dynamic –Must have administrative privileges –Disk must contain at least 1 MB free space –No data lost –After upgrade, disk can be locally accessed only by OSs that support dynamic disks –Primary/extended partitions become simple volumes

Guide to MCSE , Creating Partitions and Volumes (continued) Activity 5-5: Converting a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk –Objective: Convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk Activity 5-6: Creating a Simple Volume –Objective: Use Disk Management to create a simple volume

Guide to MCSE , Extending Volumes Windows Server 2003 supports capability to extend NTFS volumes –As long as volumes not functioning as boot or system volume for system Volumes can be extended: –In Disk Management –From command line by using Diskpart utility Activity 5-7: Extending a Volume with Diskpart –Objective: Extend an existing volume by using the Diskpart command

Guide to MCSE , Working with Mounted Drives Mounted drive: Appears as folder –Accessed through a path like any other folder –Can mount basic or dynamic disk drive, CD-ROM drive, or Zip drive –Must use empty folder on NTFS-formatted volume –Reduce number of drive letters in use Activity 5-8: Mounting an NTFS Volume –Objective: Mount an NTFS volume

Guide to MCSE , Fault-Tolerant Disk Strategies Fault tolerance: System’s capability to recover from hardware or software failure Redundant array of independent disks (RAID): Increases availability of disk storage –Data written to more than one drive –If one drive fails, data can still be accessed from one of remaining drives Using combination of other parts of the file and associated parity information

Guide to MCSE , RAID Levels RAID 0: Uses striping with no other redundancy features –Extend disk life and improve performance –Not fault-tolerant RAID 1: Uses simple disk mirroring –Windows Server 2003 includes disk duplexing Figure 5-7: Disk mirroring

Guide to MCSE , RAID Levels (continued) RAID 2: Uses array of disks whereby data striped across all disks –Disks store error-correction information RAID 3: Like RAID 2, but information written to only one disk Figure 5-8: Disk duplexing

Guide to MCSE , RAID Levels (continued) RAID 4: Stripes data and stores error-correcting information on all drives –Checksum verification –Windows Server 2003 does not support RAID 2-4 RAID 5: Combines best features of RAID –Striping, error correction, and checksum verification Striped Volumes (RAID 0): –Reduce wear on multiple disk drives –Increase disk performance

Guide to MCSE , RAID Levels (continued) Mirrored Volumes (RAID 1): –Only dynamic disks can be set up as mirrored volumes –Good form of disk fault tolerance –Time to create or update information doubled RAID-5 Volumes: –Requires minimum of three disk drives –Parity information distributed –Performance not as fast as with striped volumes

Guide to MCSE , RAID Levels (continued) Figure 5-9: Disks in a RAID-5 volume

Guide to MCSE , Software RAID and Hardware RAID Software RAID: Implements fault tolerance through server’s OS Hardware RAID: Implemented through server hardware –Independent of OS –More expensive –Faster and more flexible

Guide to MCSE , Monitoring Disk Health and Importing Foreign Disks Disk Management tool provides information on health of disks and volumes Windows Server 2003 can import disks from other servers if another server should fail –Foreign disks: Originate from other servers

Guide to MCSE , Disk and Volume Status Descriptions Most common status messages for a volume: –Failed –Failed Redundancy –Formatting –Healthy –Regenerating –Resyncing –Unknown

Guide to MCSE , Disk and Volume Status Descriptions (continued) Most common status messages for a disk: –Audio CD –Foreign –Initializing –Missing –No Media –Not Initialized –Online –Online (Errors) –Offline –Unreadable

Guide to MCSE , Importing Foreign Disks When server fails, data stored on server’s hard disks could still be intact –Needs to be made accessible to network users –Windows Server 2003 supports importing dynamic disks from other OSs –Should import each disk individually with Import Foreign Disk command

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities Some utilities offer functions or features not found in Disk Management Check Disk Tool: Scan disk for bad sectors and file system errors –Automatically fix file system errors or scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors –Accessed through volume or partition’s Properties dialog box –Can also run Chkdsk command from command line Include /f option to fix errors automatically

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities (continued) Convert Command: Convert existing FAT or FAT32 partitions and volumes to NTFS –Existing files and folders retained –When converting system or boot partition, Convert command doesn’t actually perform conversion Sets flag on partition or volume telling OS to convert next time computer restarted Activity 5-9: Converting a FAT32 Partition to NTFS –Objective: Convert a FAT32 partition to NTFS

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities (continued) Disk Cleanup Tool: Determine how much disk space can be freed by removing unnecessary files Figure 5-15: The Disk Cleanup tool

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities (continued) The Disk Defragmenter Tool: –Files may not be saved contiguously Disk becomes fragmented –Slows access time and creates disk wear –Defragmenting: Locate fragmented folders and files Move to location on disk so they are in contiguous order Activity 5-10: Using Disk Defragmenter –Objective: Defragment a volume with the Disk Defragmenter utility

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities (continued) Figure 5-17: Results of analyzing volume fragmentation

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities (continued) Diskpart Command: Manage disks, volumes, and partitions from command line –Configure active partition, assign drive letters, control file system mounting, create and extend volumes and partitions, implement fault-tolerance strategies, import disks, and more –Manage disks from scripts used to automate tasks Format Command: Used to format disks –Specify which supported file system –Specify advanced settings

Guide to MCSE , Using Disk Maintenance and Management Utilities (continued) Fsutil Command: Gather information and perform tasks related to FAT, FAT32, and NTFS –Control many advanced file system settings and functions Mountvol Command: Create, delete, or list volume mount points

Guide to MCSE , Monitoring Disk Quotas Disk quotas: Used to monitor and control amount of disk space available to users –Prevents users from consuming all available disk space –Encourages users to delete old files –Allows an administrator to track disk usage –Allows administrators to track when users are reaching available limits –Disabled by default

Guide to MCSE , Monitoring Disk Quotas (continued) Figure 5-18: The Quota tab

Guide to MCSE , Monitoring Disk Quotas (continued) Table 5-4: Disk quota configuration parameters

Guide to MCSE , Monitoring Disk Quotas (continued) Exceptions can be created for users who require more disk space than others –On user-by-user basis Activity 5-11: Configuring and Managing Disk Quotas –Objective: Enable and manage disk quota settings

Guide to MCSE , Managing Disk Quotas from the Command Line Figure 5-20: Using Fsutil to query a volume or partition for quota information

Guide to MCSE , Summary Windows XP and Server 2003 support the FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems Basic disks consist of primary and extended partitions as well as logical drives Dynamic disks allow volumes to be created and fault-tolerant disk strategies to be implemented Basic disks support up to four primary partitions or three primary and one extended partition

Guide to MCSE , Summary (continued) Disk Management is the primary tool for managing disks, partitions, and volumes Mirrored volumes, also known as RAID 1, mirror the contents of one volume to another disk RAID-5 volumes use disk striping with parity to allow continued operation of a volume if a single disk in that volume should fail There are a number of tools for managing, maintaining, and monitoring disks and partitions from the command line, including Chkdsk, Diskpart, Defrag, Format, Fsutil, and Mountvol

Guide to MCSE , Summary (continued) The Disk Cleanup tool allows administrators to remove unnecessary files and applications from a partition or volume as well as save space by compressing seldom-used files Disk Defragmenter is used to optimize the performance of a partition or volume The Convert command can be used to convert existing FAT or FAT32 partitions to NTFS Administrators can implement disk quotas to control the amount of disk space a user’s files can consume on an NTFS partition or volume