Storage and File Services

Provisioning and managing storage is a key job role for IT administrators in organizations of all sizes. Data is a business asset that must be available, accessible, and secure; otherwise, the business won't survive in today's competitive marketplace.

In traditional IT infrastructures, managing storage can be a complex task because data is often stored using a wide range of storage technologies that might include an iSCSI storage area network (SAN), network-attached storage (NAS) devices, direct-attached storage (DAS) devices, Just a Bunch Of Disks (JBOD) enclosures, and even removable storage devices such as USB drives. Some of these technologies, such as SANs, might require special expertise to administer, which can further complicate the task of storage administration.

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 can help alleviate much of the burden and cost of acquiring, deploying, and administering storage with its new Storage Spaces technology. This tutorial explains how to deploy Storage Spaces in your environment and how to use Storage Spaces to provision storage for various types of needs and different scenarios.

The tutorial also explains how to configure iSCSI storage using the built-in 000. Target Server role and iSCSI initiator in Windows Server 2012.

Before you begin you need to know:

• How to perform a clean install of Windows Server 2012 and perform initial configuration tasks, such as configuring the server's TCP/IP settings for Internet connectivity.
• You also should have at least rudimentary knowledge of using Windows PowerShell on earlier versions of Windows Server