Microsoft Official Course

Module 10

Planning and Implementing

Storage and File Services
Module Overview

Planning and Implementing iSCSI SANs

Planning and Implementing Storage Spaces
• Optimizing File Services for Branch Offices
Lesson 1: Planning and Implementing iSCSI SANs

SAN Components
What Is iSCSI?
Comparing iSCSI SANs with Fibre Channel SANs
iSCSI Target Server and iSCSI Initiator
Options for Implementing High Availability for iSCSI
iSCSI Security Options
Demonstration: Implementing iSCSI
• Considerations for Implementing iSCSI Storage
SAN Components

The SAN components include:

• Host. Node that connects to a SAN to access resources
• LUN. Disk device that a host uses
• HBA. Interface card that provides access to a SAN
• Storage controller. Device that connects to a SAN and
contains and presents a disk to the SAN for hosts to use
• MPIO. Technology that provides multiple paths to a LUN
• Initiator. Endpoint on a host that issues commands to
access LUNs
• Target. Endpoint on a SAN that communicates with an
initiator
What Is iSCSI?

iSCSI transmits SCSI commands over IP networks

Component Description

Provides high performance and

IP network
redundancy
Run on the storage device and enable
iSCSI targets
access to the disks
Software components or host adapters on
iSCSI initiators the server that provide access to iSCSI
targets
A globally unique identifier used to
IQN address initiators and targets on an iSCSI
network
Comparing iSCSI SANs with Fibre Channel SANs

Feature Fibre Channel iSCSI

Speed Up to 20 Gbps Up to 10 Gbps

Dedicated HBAs Yes No

Special switch Yes No

Physical network Fibre Ethernet

Network protocol Fibre Channel protocol IP

CPU cycles on host No Yes

Latency Lower Higher

iSCSI Target Server and iSCSI Initiator

The iSCSI target server: The iSCSI initiator:

• Is available as a role • Is available as a service in the
operating system
• Provides the following
features: • Is installed by default on:

• Network/diskless boot • Windows 8

• Server application storage • Windows 8.1
• Heterogeneous storage • Windows Server 2012
• Up to 544 connections • Windows Server 2012 R2
• Use of .vhd or .vhdx virtual
disks
Options for Implementing High Availability for
iSCSI

Two technologies for implementing iSCSI for

high availability are:
• MCS. In the event of a failure, all outstanding iSCSI
commands are reassigned to another connection
automatically
• MPIO. If you have multiple NICs in your iSCSI
initiator and in your iSCSI target server, you can
use MPIO to provide failover redundancy during
network outages
iSCSI Security Options

• IPsec
• Provides security by encrypting all network data
• Access servers
• Provides first line of security; you can add
servers that are permitted access by DNS name,
IP address, MAC address, and IQN
• CHAP
• Provides security by verifying a username and
password
• iSCSI client authentication
• iSCSI target authentication
Demonstration: Implementing iSCSI

In this demonstration, you will see how to:

• Add the iSCSI Target Server role
• Create two iSCSI virtual disks and one iSCSI target
• Connect to the iSCSI target
• Verify the presence of the iSCSI drive
Considerations for Implementing iSCSI Storage

• Deploy the solution on fast networks

• Design a highly available network infrastructure for
your iSCSI storage solution
• Design an appropriate security strategy for the iSCSI
storage solution
• Follow the vendor-specific best practices for different
types of deployments
• Ensure that the iSCSI storage solution team contains IT
administrators from different areas of specialization
• Design application-specific iSCSI storage solutions
together with application-specific administrators, such
as Exchange Server and SQL Server administrators
Lesson 2: Planning and Implementing Storage
Spaces

Storage Spaces Overview

Planning Physical Storage for Storage Spaces
Planning Storage Spaces
Planning Storage Tiers
Demonstration: Configuring Storage Spaces
Planning High Availability for Storage Spaces
Comparing iSCSI with Storage Spaces
• Planning Storage Optimization in Windows Server
2012 R2
Storage Spaces Overview

You can use Storage Spaces to add physical disks of any type
and size to a storage pool and create highly-available virtual
disks from it

To create a virtual disk, you need the following: Disk drive

• One or more physical disks
Virtual disk
• A storage pool that includes the disks
• Virtual drives (or storage spaces) that are Storage pool
created with disks from the storage pool
• Disk drives that are based on virtual drives Physical disks
Planning Physical Storage for Storage Spaces

• When designing your storage space solution, consider:

• Fault tolerance
• Use hardware-based RAID
• Provision virtual disks with mirrored and parity layout
• Performance
• Use hardware-based RAID
• Provision virtual disks with parity layout
• Use disks of different types to provide a tiered storage
• Reliability
• Use hardware-based RAID
• Use hot spare physical disks in case a physical disk fails
• Extensibility
• Add physical disks to a storage pool
Planning Storage Spaces

To optimally use Storage Spaces in your environment, you

should consider the following features:
Feature Options
Storage layout Simple
Two-way or three-way mirrors
Parity
Disk sector size 512 or 512e
Drive allocation Data-store
Manual
Hot-spare
Provisioning Thin provisioning space
schemes
To Fixed provisioning
support failover clustering, all assignedspace
drives must
support a multi-initiator protocol, such as SAS
Planning Storage Tiers

• Manual implementation: one storage pool per

physical disk type
• Platinum: SSD
• Gold: SAS
• Silver: SATA

• Automatic implementation: different media

types in one pool
• Operating system moves files most accessed to faster
tier
• Differentiates between hard disk drives and SSD only
Demonstration: Configuring Storage Spaces

In this demonstration, you will see how to:

• Create a storage pool
• Create a mirrored disk
Planning High Availability for Storage Spaces

• To create a highly available storage pool, consider

failover clustering and ensure that your
environment meets the following requirements:
• Must include at least three disks with 4 GB each
• Must use SAS disks
• Must use fixed provisioning
• Must allow virtual disks creation to be simple or
mirrored
• Disks must be dedicated to the storage pool
Comparing iSCSI with Storage Spaces

Aspect iSCSI Storage Spaces

Uses any locally attached Yes Yes
disk
Exposes storage as virtual Yes Yes
disks
A virtual disk can span No Yes
multiple physical disks
Can be clustered Yes Yes
Provides disks to other Yes No
systems
Uses disk locally No Yes

Can use authentication for Yes No

Planning Storage Optimization in Windows Server
2012 R2

The storage optimization features include:

• File access auditing
• Features on Demand
• Data Deduplication
• NFS data store
• ODX
Lesson 3: Optimizing File Services for Branch
Offices

Considerations for Planning a DFS Namespace

Considerations for Planning DFS Replication
DFS Data Storage Scenarios
Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012
Enhancements to DFS
Optimizing File Access by Using BranchCache
Selecting a BranchCache Mode
Demonstration: Configuring BranchCache
Considerations for Implementing BranchCache
• Comparing DFS and BranchCache
Considerations for Planning a DFS Namespace

Factor Domain-based Stand-alone

Supports folder targets Up to 5,000 Up to 50,000

(50,000 in
Windows Server
2008 mode)
Requires AD DS Yes No
Can use failover clustering No Yes
Can be made highly available Yes No
by using DFS Replication
Provides site-based client Yes No
redirection
Considerations for Planning DFS Replication

The characteristics of DFS Replication include:

• Uses RDC
• Uses a staging folder to stage a file before sending or
receiving it
• Detects changes on the volume by monitoring the USN
journal
• Uses a vector version exchange protocol
• Recovers automatically from failure
When planning DFS Replication:
• Review how your antivirus software works with DFS
Replication
• Use multiple targets for replication for availability
• Avoid DFS Replication on domain controllers
• Use a hub and spoke topology to minimize traffic
DFS Data Storage Scenarios

Branch office Hub site

Sharing files
across branch offices

Hub site
Branch office

Data collection

Site 1
Branch office

Data distribution Site 2

Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server
2012 Enhancements to DFS

The Windows Server 2012 enhancements include:

• Windows PowerShell module for DFS Namespaces
• Site awareness for DirectAccess clients
• Data Deduplication support
• DFS Namespaces WMI provider
Windows Server 2012 R2 Enhancements

The Windows Server 2012 R2 enhancements

include:
• Windows PowerShell module for DFS Replication
• DFS Replication WMI provider
• Database cloning for initial sync
• Database corruption recovery
• Cross-file RDC disable
• File staging tuning
• Preserved file restoration
• Membership disabling
Optimizing File Access by Using BranchCache

Branch office
Head office
(Hosted cache mode)

Branch office
(Distributed cache mode)
Selecting a BranchCache Mode

• Hosted cache mode

• Requires at least one server in the branch office
• Clients contact a local server for data retrieval
• Files are retrieved over WAN if a local server does not
have them, or if they have been modified at the source
• Distributed cache mode
• No server necessary at the branch office
• Windows 7 or newer clients share cache
• Limited to a single subnet
Demonstration: Configuring BranchCache

In this demonstration, you will see how to:

• Add BranchCache for the Network Files role
service
• Configure BranchCache in the Local Group Policy
Editor
• Enable BranchCache for a file share
Considerations for Implementing BranchCache
• Server type:
• Web servers
• Application servers
• File servers
• WAN connectivity
• Content information versions:
• V1 content is used by Windows 7 and Windows Server
2008 R2
• V2 content is used by Windows 8, Windows Server
2012, and newer Windows operating systems
• BranchCache mode:
• Hosted cache mode
• Distributed cache mode
Comparing DFS and BranchCache

Feature BranchCache DFS

Replicates all data No Yes
Provides redundancy Yes (multiple hosts, Yes (domain-based
distributed cache) namespace,
replication)
Type of data cached SMB2, HTTP, HTTPS SMB1 and SMB2
Cache lifetime Up to 28 days if Data never expires
data is not used
Requires Yes No
configuration at the
client level
Is resilient to WAN No Yes
Lab: Planning and Implementing Storage

Exercise 1: Planning a Storage Solution

Exercise 2: Implementing iSCSI Storage
• Exercise 3: Configuring a Redundant Storage
Space

Logon Information
Virtual machines: 20413C-LON-DC1
20413C-LON-SVR1
User name: Adatum\Administrator
Password: Pa$$w0rd

Estimated Time: 50 minutes

Lab Scenario

For the most part, servers in A. Datum Corporation are

configured solely with DAS. As the project to migrate to
Windows Server 2012 R2 gathers pace, it is important to
consider alternatives to this storage technology.
You must select a storage technology that will help to
improve the performance of disk-intensive applications,
and provide for improved storage management.
A number of applications throughout the A. Datum
organization are mission critical, and it is important that
the selected storage technology provide suitable fault
tolerance to enable high availability of these applications.
These applications are based on SQL Server.
Lab Review

How did you approach the storage planning

exercise?
• How does your organization implement storage?
Module Review and Takeaways

• Review Question(s)