Installing and Configuring File Services

File servers provide the central locations for storing and sharing files across the network. When many users require access to the same files and application data, you'll need to configure file servers throughout the organization. In earlier releases of the Windows Server operating system, all servers were installed with basic file services. With Windows Server 2008, you must specifically configure a server to be a file server by adding the File Services role and configuring this role to use the appropriate role services.

Optimizing the File Services Role

When you install the File Services role, you can install and configure several related role services as well. One of these related role services is Distributed File System (DFS), which provides tools and services for DFS Namespaces, and DFS Replication. DFS Replication is a newer and preferred replication technology. When a domain is running in Windows 2008 Domain functional level, domain controllers use DFS Replication to provide more robust and granular replication of the Sysvol directory. For DFS, there are two secondary role services:

• DFS Namespaces DFS Namespaces: allow you to group shared folders located on different servers into one or more logically structured namespaces. Each namespace appears as a single shared folder with a series of subfolders. However, the underlying structure of the namespace can come from shared folders on multiple servers in different sites.
• DFS Replication: DFS Replication allows you to synchronize folders on multiple servers across local or wide area network connections using a multimaster replication engine. The replication engine uses the Remote Differential Compression (RDC) protocol to synchronize only the portions of files that have changed since the last replication. You can use DFS Replication with DFS Namespaces or by itself.

Other role services available include: File Server Resource Manager (FSRM), Share and Storage Management, Services for Network File System (NFS), and Windows Search Service. FSRM installs a suite of tools that administrators can use to better manage data stored on servers. Using FSRM, administrators can:

• Define file screening policies: File screening policies allow you to block unauthorized, potentially malicious types of content. You can configure active screening, which does not allow users to save unauthorized files, or passive screening, which allows users to save unauthorized files but monitors or warns about usage (or both).
• Configure Resource Manager Disk Quotas: Using Resource Manager Disk Quotas, you can manage disk space usage by folder and by volume. You can configure quotas with a specific limit as a hard limit-meaning a limit can't be exceeded-or a soft limit, meaning a limit can be exceeded.
• Generate storage reports: You can generate storage reports as part of disk quota and file screening management. Storage reports identify file usage by owner, type, and other parameters. They also help identify users and applications that violate screening policies.

Share and Storage Management installs the Share And Storage Management console and configures the server so that you can use this console. This console allows administrators to manage shared folders and allows users to access shared folders over the network. You can also use this console to configure logical unit numbers (LUNs) in a storage area network (SAN).

Services for Network File System provides a file sharing solution for enterprises with mixed Windows and UNIX environments. When you install Services for Network File System (NFS), users can transfer files between Windows Server 2008 and UNIX operating systems using the NFS protocol.

Windows Search Service allows fast file searches of resources on the server from clients that are compatible with Windows Search Service. This feature is designed primarily for desktop and small offi ce implementations. If you install Windows Search Service, you cannot also install the Indexing Service feature, which is provided for backward compatibility with existing Windows Server 2003 installations. Also provided for backward compatibility with Windows Server 2003 installations is the File Replication Service (FRS). FRS allows you to synchronize folders with file servers that use FRS instead of DFS for replication. It also allows synchronization with Windows 2000 implementations of DFS. If your organization has computers running FRS, you may need to install this role service to ensure compatibility with Windows Server 2008.

Note:
When you install the File Services role, you might also want to install Multipath I/O, Storage Manager for SANs, and Windows Server Backup. Multipath I/O provides support for using multiple data paths between a file server and a storage device. Servers use multiple I/O paths for redundancy in case of failure of a path and to improve transfer performance. Storage Manager for SANs allows you to provision storage for storage area networks (SANs). Windows Server Backup is the new backup utility included with Windows Server 2008.