File Management Tasks

File Management tasks is a new feature within the FSRM console. File Management tasks can be run out of the box on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system, to either expire classified files that meet a certain criteria, by moving these files to a designated folder location, or to perform a custom task. This can be a handy tool to automatically move files that have not been accessed in an extended period of time. Or, in the case of sensitive data, such as files that might contain passwords, this tool can be used to create a custom script to move the classified files to a designated, secured folder, and leave a link or note in the original location to instruct any users on how to regain access to that file. Of course, this logic would need to be created by an administrator because this functionality is not included out of the box. As an example, to create a new File Management Task to move files that have not been accessed in over a year, perform the following steps on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system with the FSRM service and tool installed:

1. Log on to a Windows Server 2008 R2 system with the FSRM service and tool installed, with an account with administrative rights.
2. Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and select Server Manager.
3. Expand Roles, expand File Services, expand Share and Storage Management, and double-click on the File Server Resource Manager node beneath it.
4. Double-click File Management Tasks node beneath the File Server Resource Manager node.
5. In the Actions pane, click the Create File Management Task link to start the process.
6. In the Create File Management Task window, on the General tab, type in a task name of Move Data not accessed in 1 year and enter a description as desired.
7. In the Scope section, click the Add button to locate and add the folder, folders, or volumes to this task.
8. Click on the Action tab and for action type, choose File Expiration, and in the expiration directory, type or browse to a volume and folder location to where the files that meet this criteria should be moved.
9. Click on the Notification tab and click the Add button to add notifications to users and administrators so they can be notified of when particular files will be considered expired and moved to the expiration directory.
10. Back in the Create File Management Task window, click on the Condition tab and check the Day Since File Was Last Accessed check box and enter a value of 365.
11. In the Effective Starting section, enter the date that files will actually begin expiration; this date should be more than the amount of days included in any notification.
12. Click on the Schedule tab, click the Create button and create a new schedule. Click OK until the windows are closed to complete the creation of the file management task. Depending on the date chosen for the effective date, a pop-up might open stating that the effective date must be pushed forward to ensure that users are notified in advance before their data is moved.

Once the task is completed, it will run on the designated schedule and will begin notifying administrators and users when files will be moved. One important point to consider is that once a file is expired and moved, there will be no indication of where or when that file was moved when users go to the original location of the expired file. Much more can be done with file management tasks, including performing custom actions on files that have been previously classified, and it is recommend that any organization wanting to leverage this new File Classification Infrastructure test it thoroughly on copied data in an isolated lab network.