Make My Server

Migration is worth it !!! Windows Server 2003 Support is ending July 14, 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 10:56:00 +0000

Here’s footsteps for you to migrate it to 2012 server-:

Setting plot.

1. Initially install windows server 2012 R2.

2. Complete step by step: add a window server 2012 R2 domain controller to an existing windows server 2003 network.

Transferring the flexible single master operations (FSMOS).

1. Start this process by opening the Active directory users and computers built on your new windows server 2012 R2 computer.

2. Now, just right click your domain and select Operations masters given in sub-menu.

3. Then in Operation masters windows, ensure the RID tab is selected.

4. At right side, look for change option and select it.

5. Now you will asked about transferring the operation master role, select yes for it.

6. Click on OK to continue, after the operations master role has successfully transferred.

7. Now guarantee the operations master box and your new 2012 R2 window server.

8. Take over steps 4 to 6 for the infrastructure tabs and PDC.

9. After completion, just click Close to close the Operation masters window.

10. Now close the Active directory users and computers windows.

Changing the active directory domain controller.

1. Again, open the Active directory users and computer built on your new windows server 2012 R2 computer.

2. By right clicking on your domain select Operations masters given in sub-menu.

3. Select the Domain controller or AD LDS instance from Change directory server window.

4. Here’s your new 2012 R2 windows server, just select it.

5. To continue click OK.

6. Comeback to the Active directory domain and trusts window to look over the active directory domain and trusts found in the folder tree on left hand side to assure the server so to reflect your new 2012 R2 windows server.

7. Now by right clicking active directory domain and trusts found in the folder tree select Operation manager in sub menu.

8. Click Change to transfer the domain naming master role to 2012 R2 windows server in Operation master window.

9. Click yes if you like to transfer the operations master role to different computer, when asked.

10. Click ok to continue after the operations master is successfully transferred.

11. Now click the Operation master window.

12. Also close the Active directory and trusts console.

Changing the Schema master.

1. Go for opening a command prompt in administration view on your new windows server 2012 R2 computer.

2. Type regsvr32 schmmgmt.dill ,hit enter on the command prompt window.

3. Now click Ok to close the Regsvr32 window.

4. Just close the command prompt now.

Add the active directory schema console from MMC.

1. In new window server 2012 R2 computer a MMC console.

2. Click File>Add/Remove snap in…

3. Then select Active directory schema and click the Add>button in Add or Remove snap-ins window.

4. Click Ok to continue.

Change the schema master.

1. Just in the same MMC, select Change Active directory domain controller by right clicking active directory schema.

2. Now select This domain controller or AD LDS instance in the change directory server.

3. Select your new 2012 R2 windows server.

4. To continue click ok.

5. Now a warning will be seen stating you that the active directory schema snap-in not connected. Ok to continue.

6. Look for the Active directory schema folder in folder tree to ensure the new window server 2012 R2 computer is shown.

7. Do right click on Active directory schema folder in folder tree to ensure the new window server 2012 R2 computer is shown.

8. In change schema master window, click change for transferring the schema master role to 2012 R2 window server.

9. Click yes if you are sure to transfer schema master role to different computer.

10. Click Ok after schema master is successfully transferred.

11. Now close the Change schema master window.

12. In the MMC, click File>Exit.

13. Click no, when ask to save console.

After completion just open the active directory users and computer console to verify that the active directory database successfully replicated to your new windows server 2012 r2 computer. take care of data base replication as it may take some time depending on number of objects in active directory.

Removing the 2003 windows server from the global catalog server.

1. Now just open Active directory sites and services on your new windows server 2012 R2 computer.

2. Now expand site folder, then the default-first-site-name folder, then the server’s folder.

3. Expand both listed server.one should be your new 2012 windows server and other should be 2003 window server.

4. Now right click NTDS settings found under your old 2003 windows server.

5. Select properties in sub-menu.

6. Under general tab, after unselecting global catalog. Just click the apply button.

7. Click ok to continue.

8. Now close the Active directory sites and services windows.

9. Prefer to verify that your new 2012 R2 window server is running the FSMO role by opening the command prompt in administrative view and running given command :Netdomquery Fsmo.

10. Now in Network and sharing centre, do not forget to change the preferred DNS server to match alternate DNS sever, then delete the IP address listed under the alternate DNS server. It currently be pointed to old 2003 window server.

Windows Server 2003 Support is Ending July 14, 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 06:11:00 +0000

Do You Know : -

Windows Server 2003 Support is Ending July 14, 2015, so prepare yourself to change the Server OS.

Google Chrome didn't shut down correctly. To reopen the pages you had open, click Restore. (Fixed)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:03:00 +0000

I have tried many ways to remove this error "Google Chrome didn't shut down correctly. To reopen the pages you had open, click Restore" which is showing in Google search result. but not able to fixed the same.

then i have tried my way to rid out of this error. below is the simple solution for the same:

1. Uninstall Google Chrome.

2. Restart the computer.

3. Then go to C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local then delete the Google folder which includes Chrome & Crash report folders.

4. Install Google Chrome Again.

and Guess What ? Google chrome will run perfectly.

www.makemyserver.com

Managing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Disk Storage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:12:00 +0000

1. Understanding Disk Storage Options

2. Configuring Disks and Volumes

3. Maintaining Disk Storage Volumes

4. Implementing RAID

Implementing RAID

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:07:00 +0000

A disk subsystem that includes a RAID configuration enables the disks in the system to work in concert to improve performance, fault tolerance, or both. In this lesson, you will learn about the three levels of RAID that can be created and managed by Windows Server 2003. You will learn the impact that each type of volume has on performance, volume capacity, and fault tolerance, and how to recover data in the event of a disk failure in a RAID configuration.

Topic “Understanding Disk Storage Options” introduced the types of storage units available on a Windows Server 2003 computer. The types of volumes that reflect RAID configurations are striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes.

Implementing Disk Fault Tolerance

As mentioned in “Understanding Disk Storage Options”, fault tolerance is the ability of a computer or operating system to respond to a catastrophic event, such as a power outage or hardware failure, so that no data is lost and that work in progress is not corrupted. Fully fault-tolerant systems using fault-tolerant disk arrays prevent the loss of data. You can implement RAID fault tolerance as either a hardware or software solution.

Hardware Implementations of RAID

In a hardware solution, the disk controller interface handles the creation and regeneration of redundant information. Some hardware vendors implement RAID data protection directly in their hardware, as with disk array controller cards. Because these methods are vendor specific and bypass the fault tolerance software drivers of the operating system, they offer performance improvements over software implementations of RAID.

Consider the following points when deciding whether to use a software or hardware implementation of RAID:

■Hardware fault tolerance is more expensive than software fault tolerance and might limit equipment options to a single vendor.

■Hardware fault tolerance generally provides faster disk I/O than software fault tolerance.

■Hardware fault tolerance solutions might implement hot swapping of hard disks to allow for replacement of a failed hard disk without shutting down the computer and hot sparing so that a failed disk is automatically replaced by an online spare.

Software Implementations of RAID

Windows Server 2003 supports one RAID implementation (striped, RAID-0) that is not fault-tolerant and two implementations that provide fault tolerance: mirrored volumes (RAID-1) and striped volumes with parity (RAID-5). You can create fault-tolerant RAID volumes only on dynamic disks formatted with NTFS.

With Windows Server 2003 implementations of RAID, there is no fault tolerance following a failure until the fault is repaired. If a second fault occurs before the data lost from the first fault is regenerated, you can recover the data only by restoring it from a backup.

Striped Volumes

A striped volume, which implements RAID Level 0, uses two or more disks and writes data to all disks at the same rate. By doing so, I/O requests are handled by multiple spindles, and read/write performance is the beneficiary. Striped volumes are popular for configurations in which performance and large storage area are critical, such as computer-aided design (CAD) and digital media applications.

Creating a Striped Volume

To create a striped volume, you must have unallocated space on at least two dynamic disks. Right-click one of the spaces and choose Create Volume. The New Volume Wizard will step you through the process of selecting a striped volume and choosing other disk space to include in the volume. Striped volumes can be assigned a drive letter and folder paths. They can be formatted only with NTFS. Up to 32 disks can participate in a striped volume. The amount of space used on each disk in the volume will be equal to the smallest amount of space on any one disk. For example, if Disk 1 has 200 GB of unallocated space, and Disk 2 has 120 GB of space, the striped volume can contain, at most, 240 GB as the size of the stripe on Disk 1 can be no greater than the size of the stripe on Disk 2. All disk space in the volume is used for data; there is no space used for fault tolerance.

Recovering a Striped Volume

Because data is striped over more than one physical disk, performance is enhanced, but fault tolerance is decreased—there is more risk because if any one drive in the volume fails, all data on the volume is lost. It is important to have a backup of striped data. If one or more disks in a striped volume fails, you must delete the volume, replace the failed disk(s) and recreate the volume. Then you must restore data from the backup.

Mirrored Volumes

A mirrored volume provides good performance along with excellent fault tolerance. Two disks participate in a mirrored volume, and all data is written to both volumes. As with all RAID configurations, use separate controllers (by adding a controller, you create a configuration called “duplexing”) for maximum performance. Mirrored volumes relate to RAID-1 hardware configurations.

Create Mirrored Volumes

To create a mirrored volume, you must have unallocated space on two dynamic disks. Right-click one of the spaces and choose Create Volume. The New Volume Wizard will step you through the process of selecting a mirrored volume and choosing space on another disk to include in the volume. Mirrored volumes can be assigned a drive letter and folder paths. Both copies of the mirror share the same assignment.

You can also mirror an existing simple volume by right-clicking the volume and choosing Add Mirror and selecting a drive with sufficient unallocated space.

Once you have established the mirror, the system begins copying data, sector by sector. During that time, the volume status is reported as Resynching.

Recovering from Mirrored Disk Failures

The recovery process for a failed disk within a mirrored volume depends on the type of failure that occurs. If a disk has experienced transient I/O errors, both portions of the mirror will show a status of Failed Redundancy. The disk with the errors will report a status of Offline or Missing, as seen in Below Figure.

After correcting the cause of the I/O error—perhaps a bad cable connection or power supply—right-click the volume on the problematic disk and choose Reactivate Volume or right-click the disk and choose Reactivate Disk. Reactivating brings the disk or volume back online. The mirror will then resynchronize automatically.

If you want to stop mirroring, you have three choices, depending on what you want the outcome to be:

■Delete the volume If you delete the volume, the volume and all the information it contains is removed. The resulting unallocated space is then available for new volumes.

■Remove the mirror If you remove the mirror, the mirror is broken and the space on one of the disks becomes unallocated. The other disk maintains a copy of the data that had been mirrored, but that data is of course no longer fault-tolerant.

■Break the mirror If you break the mirror, the mirror is broken but both disks maintain copies of the data. The portion of the mirror that you select when you choose Break Mirror maintains the original mirrored volume’s drive letter, shared folders, paging file, and reparse points. The secondary drive is given the next available drive letter.

Knowing that information, how do you suppose you would replace a failed disk—a member of the mirrored volume that simply died? Well, after physically replacing the disk, you will need to open Disk Management to rescan, initialize the disk and convert it to dynamic. After all that work you will find that you can’t remirror a mirrored volume, even though half of it doesn’t exist. So far as the remaining disk is concerned, the mirrored volume still exists—its partner in redundancy is just out to lunch. You must remove the mirror to break the mirror. Right-click the mirror and choose Remove Mirror. In the Remove Mirror dialog box, it is important to select the half of the volume that is missing; the volume you select will be deleted when you click Remove Mirror. The volume you did not select will become a simple volume. Once the operation is complete, right-click the healthy, simple volume and choose Add Mirror. Select the new disk and the mirror will be created again.

RAID-5 Volumes

A RAID-5 volume uses three or more physical disks to provide fault tolerance and excellent read performance while reducing the cost of fault tolerance in terms of disk capacity. Data is written to all but one disk in a RAID-5. That volume receives a chunk of data, called parity, which acts as a checksum and provides fault tolerance for the stripe. The calculation of parity during a write operation means that RAID-5 is quite intensive on the server’s processor for a volume that is not read-only. RAID-5 provides improved read performance, however, as data is retrieved from multiple spindles simultaneously.

As data in a file is written to the volume, the parity is distributed among each disk in the set. But from a storage capacity perspective, the amount of space used for fault tolerance is the equivalent of the space used by one disk in the volume.

From a storage capacity perspective, that makes RAID-5 more economical than mirroring. In a minimal, three disk RAID-5 volume, one-third of the capacity is used for parity, as opposed to one-half of a mirrored volume being used for fault tolerance. Because as many as 32 disks can participate in a RAID-5 volume, you can theoretically configure a fault-tolerant volume which uses only 1/32 of its capacity to provide fault tolerance for the entire volume.

Configure RAID-5 Volumes

You need to have space on at least three dynamic disks to be able to create a RAID-5 volume. Right-click one disk’s unallocated space and choose New Volume. The New Volume Wizard will step you through selecting a RAID-5 volume type, and then selecting the disks that will participate in the volume.

The capacity of the volume is limited to the smallest section of unallocated space on any one of the volume’s disks. If Disk 2 has 50 GB of unallocated space, but Disks 3 and 4 have 100 GB of unallocated space, the stripe can only use 50 GB of space on Disks 3 and 4—the space used on each disk in the volume is identical. The capacity, or Volume Size reported by the New Volume Wizard will represent the amount of space available for data after accounting for parity. To continue our example, the RAID-5 volume size would be 100 GB—the total capacity minus the equivalent of one disk’s space for parity.

RAID-5 volumes can be assigned a drive letter or folder paths. They can be formatted only with NTFS.

Because RAID-5 volumes are created as native dynamic volumes from unallocated space, you cannot turn any other type of volume into a RAID-5 volume without backing up that volume’s data and restoring into the new RAID-5 volume.

Recovering a Failed RAID-5 Volume

If a single disk fails in a RAID-5 volume, data can continue to be accessed. During read operations, any missing data is regenerated on the fly through a calculation involving remaining data and parity information. Performance will be degraded and, of course, if a second drive fails it’s time to pull out the backup tapes. RAID-5 and mirrored volumes can only sustain a single drive failure.

If the drive is returned to service, you may need to rescan, and then you will need to right-click the volume and choose Reactivate Volume. The system will then rebuild missing data and the volume will be fully functional again.

If the drive does not offer a Reactivate option, or if you have had to replace the disk, you may need to rescan, initialize the disk, convert it to dynamic, then right-click the volume and choose Repair Volume. You will be asked to select the disk where the missing volume member should be recreated. Select the new disk and the system will regenerate the missing data.

Mirrored Volumes versus RAID-5 Volumes

Mirrored volumes (RAID-1) and RAID-5 volumes provide different levels of fault tolerance. Deciding which option to implement depends on the level of protection you require and the cost of hardware. The major differences between mirrored volumes and RAID-5 volumes are performance and cost. Below Table describes some differences between software-level RAID-1 and RAID-5.

TABLE: RAID Performance And Costs

Creating Fault Tolerance for the System Volume

Because RAID-5 is a native dynamic volume, it is not possible to install or start the Windows Server 2003 operating system on a RAID-5 volume created by the Windows Server 2003 fault-tolerant disk technologies.

The only option for creating fault tolerance for the system, without buying hardware RAID, is thus to mirror the system volume. You can mirror the system volume by following the procedures described for creating a mirrored volume: right-click the system volume and choose Add Mirror. Unlike Windows 2000, you do not need to restart, and the BOOT.INI file is updated automatically so that you can start to the secondary drive if the primary drive fails.

If the drives are attached to IDE controllers, and the primary drive fails, you may have to remove that drive, change the secondary drive to the primary controller and set its jumpers or cable position so that it is the master. Otherwise, the system may not boot to the secondary drive.

Maintaining Disk Storage Volumes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:06:00 +0000

Windows Server 2003 disk volumes are efficient and stable if formatted with NTFS, but somewhat less so when formatted with FAT or FAT32. The NTFS file system logs all file transactions, replaces bad clusters automatically, and stores copies of key information for all files on the NTFS volume. With these mechanisms, NTFS actively protects the integrity of the volume structure and the file system metadata (the data related to the file system itself). User data, however, can occasionally be corrupted, and can certainly become fragmented. Users also have the annoying habit of storing enormous amounts of archaic and non-business data on volumes to which they have access. In this topic, you will learn how to maintain the integrity of disk volumes and to optimize those volumes by performing defragmentation and by setting storage limits through disk quotas.

CHKDSK

CHKDSK, or “Check Disk”, is a tool available in Windows Explorer or from the command-line that allows you to scan a disk volume for file system errors and, option-ally, to test for and attempt to recover bad sectors on your hard disk.

To use Check Disk from Windows Explorer, open the properties dialog box for the volume you want to check. On the Tools tab, click Check Now. In the Check Disk dialog box, as shown in below Figure , select the tasks you wish to launch.

When you select Automatically Fix File System Errors, Check Disk will attempt to fix inconsistencies in the file system catalog, such as files that appear in the catalog but don’t appear in a directory on the volume. Check Disk makes three passes over the drive to examine the metadata, which is the data describing how files are organized on the disk. The passes attempt to ensure that all files on the volume are consistent with the master file table (MFT), that the directory structure is correct, and that the security descriptors are consistent.

If you select Scan For And Attempt Recovery Of Bad Sectors, Check Disk makes a fourth pass which tests the sectors in the volume reserved for user data (as opposed to file system metadata, which is always checked). If a bad sector is found, data is recovered and moved to a good sector if the volume is fault-tolerant; if the volume is not fault-tolerant, data cannot be recovered using Check Disk and must be restored from backup. The bad sector is then removed from active use and future data will not be written to the sector.

All files with open handles must be closed before Check Disk can run. If all handles cannot be released (which will be the case if you run Check Disk against a system volume), you will be prompted to schedule Check Disk to run when the system is restarted. When Check Disk is running, the volume will be inaccessible to other processes. Depending on the size of the volume, the check options you have selected, and the other processes running on the computer, Check Disk can take a significant amount of time to complete, and it is quite processor-and disk-intensive while it runs.

Check Disk can also be run from the command prompt using CHKDSK. Without switches, CHKDSK runs in read-only mode on the current drive. You’ll see a report showing disk space usage. CHKDSK supports several switches allowing you to fix file system errors (/f) and bad sectors (/r), just like the Explorer version.

Disk Defragmenter

Files are stored on a volume in units called clusters. Cluster size is configured when for-matting a drive; many NTFS volumes use a default cluster size of 4 KB. Each cluster can only contain one file, even if that file is smaller than the cluster size. If a file is larger than the cluster size, the file is saved to multiple clusters, with each cluster containing a pointer to the next segment of the file. When a drive is new, all clusters are free, so as files are written to the drive they tend to occupy physically adjacent clusters. But quickly, as files are deleted or expanded and contracted in size, free clusters are no longer completely contiguous, so a file may be saved to several clusters that are not physically close to each other on the disk drive. This fragmentation of a file results in slower read and write performance and, over time, fragmentation of multiple files on a server can degrade performance significantly.

Windows Server 2003 provides a defragmenter toolset—both a command-line and a graphical utility—with which volumes can be analyzed and defragmented. The tools are significantly improved over Windows 2000, as they can now defragment volumes with cluster sizes greater than 4 KB, and can defragment the master file table. You can use the tools to defragment any local disk volume. But to schedule defragmentation, or to defragment a remote volume, you must look for a third-party tool such as Diskeeper from Executive Software.

To use the built-in Disk Defragmenter, as shown in below Figure, open the properties of a disk volume and, from the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. Alternatively, open the Disk Defragmenter snap-in in the Computer Management console or a custom Microsoft Management Console. Select a volume and click Analyze. The tool will display a recommendation. If the tool indicates that the volume is dirty, there may be corruption and CHKDSK should be run before defragmenting.

If the recommendation is to defragment, click Defragment. You can defragment any type of volume: FAT or NTFS, basic or dynamic. The volume can have open files, but open files may not be efficiently defragmented and may slow the process, so it is recommended to close all open files before defragmenting. Disk Defragmenter will move files around the drive in an attempt to collect all clusters of a file into contiguous clusters. The result will also consolidate free space, making it less likely that new files will be fragmented.

Disk Quotas

Windows 2000 introduced quota management as a built-in feature, allowing adminis¬trators to implement storage limits without an investment in third-party utilities. Windows Server 2003 supports the same functionality. When quotas are enabled, quota manager tracks the files on a volume that are owned by a user. It then compares the calculated total of disk usage by that user to limits that have been configured by an administrator and, when those limits are reached, notifies the user that the volume is near quota, or prevents the user from writing to the disk, or both.

Quota manager reports the amount of free space on a volume based on the user’s quota, so if a user has a 50 MB quota on a 500 GB RAID volume, the user will see free space reported as 50 MB when the user first accesses the volume. When the user approaches the quota limit, the messages that appear are similar to a volume that is filling up or is full; the system warns that space is low and suggests deleting unneeded files.

Configure Quotas

Configuring quotas requires the following steps: enabling quotas on a volume, configuring default quota settings, and configuring quota entries for exceptions to the default.

Quotas are disabled by default in Windows Server 2003, and must be enabled on a volume-by-volume basis. To enable quotas, open the properties of the volume and click the Quota tab. The Quota properties of a volume are shown in below Figure.

Select the Enable Quota Management check box. If you want to deny users who have exceeded their limit the ability to write additional files to the volume, select Deny Disk Space To Users Exceeding Quota Limit. If this box is not selected, users can continue to write to the volume.

Quotas are managed in two ways: first, by quota entries for specific users, setting a storage limit for each user (or setting “no limit” for a user), and second, by default quota settings that apply to all users for whom a quota entry does not exist. On the Quota tab, you can configure the default quota settings. Configure a default limit or “no limit” that will apply to as many users as possible, so that you can minimize the num¬ber of quota entries you must create for users whose limits are different from this default. Note that you can configure the disk space limit as well as a warning level, which should obviously be lower than the limit.

Finally, specify logging options. Quota manager registers events in the System log, identifying the user by name and specifying that they have exceeded their warning or quota limits.

After configuring the defaults for the volume on the Quota tab, click Quota Entries to open the Quota Entries dialog box, as shown in below Figure.

Click the New, Quota Entry button on the toolbar or choose New Quota Entry on the Quota menu, and you can select one or more users for which to create a quota entry. It is unfortunate that Windows Server 2003 does not allow you to assign quota entries based on groups (as most third-party quota management tools do), but in the Select Users dialog box you can at least select multiple users before clicking OK. The limits you configure in the Add New Quota Entry dialog box will apply to all selected users, individually.

Exporting Quota Entries

If you want to apply the same quota entries to another NTFS volume, you can export the entries and import them to the other volume. Select one or more quota entries and, on the Quota menu, click Export. On the other volume, choose Import.

Monitoring Quotas and Storage

The Quota Entries dialog box displays disk storage per user and whether that storage is at or above warning levels or limits. You can sort by column to identify users who have exceeded their quota levels or limits. There is no mechanism to alert you about quota limits, so you must monitor the Quota Entries dialog box or the System Log in Event Viewer.

Configuring Disks and Volumes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:23:00 +0000

In this topic, you will apply the concepts of disk storage to the actual skills needed to install, configure, and manage disk storage. You will learn how to use the Disk Management tool to direct the detection and initialization of newly installed disks, and to apportion that disk to partitions, logical drives, and volumes. In the event that a volume fills up, you will learn how to extend that volume’s capacity. And you will explore the processes involved with moving disks between servers. Finally, you will uncover the powerful new DISKPART command, which allows you to manage storage from the command line.

Disk Management

Disk management activities are performed using the cleverly named Disk Management snap-in, which is part of the Computer Management console. Open the Disk Management snap-in in the Computer Management console, or add the snap-in to a custom console.

Disk Management can manage disk storage on local or remote systems. The snap-in does not manipulate disk configuration directly; rather, it works in concert with Dmadmin, the Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service that is started on the computer you are managing when you start the Disk Management snap-in.

The Disk Management interface is shown in below Figure. The top frame—the list view—displays information about each partition, logical drive, or volume. The bottom frame—the graphical view—depicts disk space allocation per physical disk, as perceived by Windows Server 2003. You can right-click the volumes in either frame to access a shortcut menu to format, delete, or assign a drive letter to the volume. If you right-click an area of unallocated disk space, you can create a partition or volume. By right-clicking the disk drive’s status box, on the left of the disk’s graphical view, you can initialize a new disk, convert between basic and dynamic disks, and access the disk’s hardware properties dialog box.

Configuring Disks and Volumes

Configuring storage entails the following steps:

1. Physically installing the disk(s).

2. Initializing the disk.

3. On a basic disk, creating partitions and (if an extended partition) logical drives or, on a dynamic disk, creating volumes.

4. Formatting the volumes.

5. Assigning drive letters to the volumes, or mounting the volumes to empty folders on existing NTFS volumes.

You must be a member of the Administrators or Backup Operators group, or have been otherwise delegated authority, to perform these tasks, although only administrators can format a volume.

Installing the Disk

To add a new disk to a computer, install or attach the new physical disk (or disks). Open Disk Management and, if the drive has not been detected automatically, right click the Disk Management node and choose Rescan Disks. If a system must be taken offline to install a new disk, restart the computer, then open Disk Management. If the new disks are not automatically detected, rescan the disks.

Initializing the Disk

When you add a disk to a server, you will need to initialize that disk before you can begin to allocate its available space to partitions, logical drives, and volumes. Initializing a disk allows the operating system to write a disk signature, the end of sector marker (also called signature word), and an MBR or globally unique identifier (GUID) partition table to the disk.

If you start the Disk Management console after installing a new disk, the Initialize Disk Wizard will appear automatically. To initialize a disk manually using Disk Management, right-click the disk’s status box and choose Initialize Disk.

Creating Partitions and Volumes

After you have initialized the disk, you can begin to implement a storage structure of partitions, logical drives, or volumes.

A newly initialized disk is configured by default as a basic disk. If you wish to maintain the disk as a basic disk, you can divide the basic disk into primary and extended partitions by right-clicking unallocated space and choosing New Partition. If you choose to create a primary partition, the partition becomes a logical volume. After creating an extended partition, right-click the partition again and choose New Logical Drive. As you’ll remember from earlier discussions, logical drives are logical volumes on an extended partition.

If you want to configure the disk as a dynamic disk, right-click the disk’s status box in Disk Management and choose Convert To Dynamic Disk. You can then right-click the unallocated space on the disk and choose New Volume. The New Volume Wizard will step you through the creation of supported volume types. The Select Volume Type page of the wizard is shown in below Figure.

You can convert an existing basic disk to a dynamic disk—a solution that will be discussed later in this lesson.

Formatting Volumes

Windows Server 2003 supports three file systems: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS. Let’s keep this discussion simple: use FAT or FAT32 only when you have very specific reasons for doing so. Only NTFS gives you the level of stability, resiliency, scalability, flexibility and security required by most organizations. Many core components of Windows Server 2003, such as file security, and services, including Active Directory and Remote Installation Services (RIS), require NTFS. All advanced storage management tasks, including multidisk volumes and disk quotas require NTFS. If you think you need FAT32, think again, then think again.

Assigning Drive Letters or Mounting Volumes

When you create a volume, it defaults to the next available drive letter. The New Volume Wizard and New Partition Wizard give you a chance to specify an alternative representation for the new logical volume. You can also right-click an existing volume and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.

A volume can be represented by only one drive letter, though you can configure a volume to have no drive letter. However, you can mount a volume in one or more empty folders on local NTFS volumes. In the Change Drive Letter And Paths dialog box, you can click Remove or Change to delete or modify an existing drive letter or folder mounting for the volume.

Click Add to add a drive letter or mount point. Below Figure shows a server in which the Docs folder on the X drive is a mount point to another volume. Note that the folder appears in the Explorer namespace exactly where it should, but displays a drive volume icon. When a user navigates to that folder, the user is transparently redirected to the volume.

Mounting a volume in a folder on an existing volume effectively increases the target volume’s size and free space. You can mount volumes regardless of whether the volumes involved are on basic or dynamic disks, and regardless of what type of volume they are. But the empty folder, the path of which becomes the path to the mounted volume, must reside on an NTFS volume. The mounted volume can, technically, be formatted as FAT or FAT32, but of course that is not the best practice.

Extending Volumes

Another way to increase a volume’s capacity is to extend the volume. You can extend a simple or spanned volume on a dynamic disk so long as that volume is formatted as NTFS, and so long as the volume is not the system or boot volume. Right-click the volume and click Extend Volume. Follow the Extend Volume Wizard’s instructions screen to select unallocated space on dynamic disks on which to extend the existing volume. If you extend a simple volume onto space on another physical disk, you create a spanned volume.

You can extend a partition on a basic disk using the DISKPART command. The basic partition must be formatted as NTFS, must not be the system or boot partition, and must be extended onto immediately contiguous space on the same physical disk that is either unallocated and unformatted, or formatted with NTFS.

Moving Disks Between Servers

It is possible to move disks between computers. If, for example, you plan to take a server offline, you might attach its physical disks to another server so that data can continue to be accessed. The process for doing so is the following:

1. Check the health of the disk while it is in the original server. It is recommended to open Disk Management and confirm that the disk status displays Healthy before moving the disk. If the disk is not healthy, repair the disk.

2. Uninstall the disk in the original computer. If the original server is online, uninstall the disk by right-clicking the disk in Device Manager and choosing Uninstall.

3. Remove a dynamic disk correctly. If the original server is online, open Disk Management, right-click the dynamic disk and choose Remove. This step is not necessary or possible with basic disks.

4. Physically detach the disk. If the computer supports hot-swapping the drive, you may remove the drive. Otherwise, shut down the computer to remove the physical disk.

5. Attach the disk to the target server. Open Disk Management and, if the drive has not been detected automatically, right click the Disk Management node and choose Rescan Disks. Otherwise, shut down the target server before adding the physical disk.

6. Follow instructions in the Found New Hardware Wizard. If the wizard does not appear, open Device Manager and see if the drive was detected and installed auto¬matically. If not, open Add Hardware from Control Panel.

7. Open Disk Management. Right-click Disk Management and choose Rescan Disks.

8. Right-click any disk marked Foreign and choose Import Foreign Disks. Importing a disk reconciles the LDM databases on a new dynamic disk with the existing disks.

Some important notes about moving physical disks:

■If an imported disk contains volumes that span to other physical disks, you must attach and import all physical disks before the volumes can be accessed.

■If you move drives from several computers to a single computer, move all drives from one computer before beginning to move drives from the next computer.

■A basic volume that is moved to a new computer receives the next available drive letter. Dynamic volumes retain the drive letter they had on the original computer. If a dynamic volume did not have a drive letter on the previous computer, it does not receive a drive letter when moved to another computer. If the drive letter is already used on the computer where they are moved, the volume receives the next available drive letter.

■Use the Mountvol /n or the DISKPART automount commands to prevent new vol¬umes from being automatically mounted and assigned a drive letter. If these commands have been used, when you add a new disk you must manually mount the volumes and assign drive letters or paths.

Converting Disk Storage

You can convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk. If the disk already contains partitions and logical drives, those units will be converted to the equivalent units for a dynamic disk: simple volumes. The structure of data on the disk is not modified, so it is possible to convert a basic disk that already contains data, although it is always best practice to back up volumes before performing disk management tasks.

To convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, right-click the disk’s status box and choose Convert To Dynamic Disk. It’s that simple. If you convert a disk that contains a system or boot partition, the computer must restart.

Unfortunately, the reverse process is not as straightforward. Converting back to basic storage wipes out data on the drive. So you must first back up all data on the disk. Then you must delete all existing volumes on the dynamic disk before right-clicking the disk’s status box in Disk Management and choosing Convert To Basic Disk. After recreating partitions and logical drives, restore the data onto the disk. Although you can convert from dynamic to basic from a technical perspective, you are actually wiping out the disk and starting over.

Performing Disk Management Tasks from the Command Prompt

Windows Server 2003 provides command-line alternatives for disk management, including the following:

■ Chkdsk Scan a disk for errors and, optionally, attempt to correct those errors.

■ Convert Convert a volume from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS.

■ Fsutil Perform a variety of tasks related to managing FAT, FAT32, or NTFS volumes.

■ Mountvol Manages mounted volumes and reparse points.

But the granddaddy of disk management command-line tools is DISKPART. Below Table summarizes the DISKPART commands that achieve common disk management tasks. Diskpart can be used interactively or can call a script. To start Diskpart interactively, type diskpart at the command prompt. When the Diskpart command prompt (DISKPART >) appears, type ? at any time for help. The command’s built-in documentation will appear automatically when needed to help you achieve the tasks you per-form. Diskpart is also well documented in the Help And Support Center.

Table: how to complete Commaon Disk Management tasks from the Command Prompt

Understanding Disk Storage Options

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:56:00 +0000

Before you tackle the installation of a disk drive and the configuration of that drive, you must understand several important storage concepts. This topic will introduce you to the concepts, technologies, features, and terminology related to disk storage in Windows Server 2003. You will learn about differences between basic and dynamic disk storage types, and the variety of logical volumes they support.

Physical Disks

Physical disks are the conglomeration of plastic, metal, and silicon that enable users to store enormous quantities of useless data and MP3s, and the occasional business document. Of course I’m being sarcastic here, but it is important to understand the difference between the physical disk, and its logical volume(s), which are discussed in the next paragraph. It is also helpful to remember that an advanced disk subsystem, such as hardware-based redundant array of independent disks (RAID) system, may consist of several physical disks, but its dedicated hardware controllers abstract the physical composition of the disk set so that Windows Server 2003 perceives and represents the disk system as a single physical disk.

Logical Volumes

A logical volume is the basic unit of disk storage that you configure and manage. A logical volume may include space on more than one physical disk. Logical volumes (also called logical disks in the context of performance monitoring) are physically distinct storage units, allowing the separation of different types of information, such as the operating system, applications, and user data. Logical volumes have traditionally been represented by a single drive letter.

As you dig into disk-related terminology, you will learn about partitions, logical drives, and volumes. Many resources will use all these terms interchangeably, which is possible because the technical distinctions between the terms are minuscule, and the user interface and command-line tools guide you clearly by exposing only the appropriate type of logical volume based on the task you are performing. Don’t get too hung up on the distinctions between the terms; they will become clear through experience if not through analysis.

Mounted Volumes

You noticed that we said, “Logical volumes have traditionally been represented by a single drive letter.” That structure severely limited (to 26, says my kindergarten teacher) the number of volumes you could create on a system, and the flexibility with which those volumes could be used. Windows Server 2003’s NTFS file system allows you to assign one or no drive letter to a volume. In addition, you can mount a volume to one or more empty folders on existing NTFS volumes. For example, you might create an empty folder Docs, on an existing volume with the drive letter X:, and mount a new 120 GB logical volume to that folder. When users navigate to X:\Docs, the disk sub-system redirects the input/output (I/O) requests to the new volume. All of this is trans-parent to the user.

The possibilities using this powerful feature are, as they say, “limitless.” By mounting a volume to a folder path, you can extend the available drive space on an existing volume. If the existing volume is not fault-tolerant, but the new volume is fault-tolerant, the folder to which the volume is mounted, X:\Docs, represents a fault-tolerant portion of the existing volume’s namespace. You could, theoretically, mount all logical vol¬umes on a server to folders on the server’s C or D drive and thereby unify enormous storage capacity under the namespace of a single drive letter.

Fault Tolerance

Fault tolerance refers to a system’s ability to continue functioning when a component—in this case, a disk drive—has failed. Windows Server 2003 allows you to create two types of fault-tolerant logical volumes: mirrored (RAID-1) and striped with parity (RAID-5). You will learn more about the details of these configurations later in the chapter, but it is important to remember several facts about Windows Server 2003 fault tolerance, often called software RAID:

■ In fault-tolerant disk configurations, two or more disks are used, and space is allocated to store data that will enable the system to recover in the event of a single drive failure.

■ The fault tolerance options supported by Windows Server 2003 do not provide a means for a disk volume to continue functioning if two or more disks fail.

■ The operating system allows you to use any two or more disk drives to create fault-tolerant volumes. You do not have to purchase any additional hardware or software to benefit immediately from fault-tolerant server configurations. However, if you use Windows Server 2003 mirrored or RAID-5 volumes, it is best practice to use similar or identical disk drives on the same bus. Combining a variety of disk hardware, or using drives connected to a variety of small computer systems inter-face (SCSI) or Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) buses can affect performance significantly.

■ Speaking of performance, Windows Server 2003 fault tolerance is using processor cycles and other server resources to manage the volumes. RAID-5 can be particularly detrimental to server performance. It is possible, and affordable these days, to purchase hardware-based fault-tolerant disk arrays, known as hardware RAID. Hardware RAID uses dedicated controllers to manage fault tolerance, and such systems are generally faster and more flexible in both management and recovery than is Windows Server 2003 RAID.

■ Because hardware RAID controllers offload the management duties from the operating system, a hardware RAID array appears to Windows Server 2003 as a single disk.

Separation of Data

It is a good idea to analyze storage requirements carefully before configuring the disk subsystem of a server. Administrators typically elect to install the operating system on a logical volume separate from applications and data. By isolating the operating system, it is easier to secure the operating system volume and to manage disk space so that the volume does not run out of space. It is also usual to configure some kind of fault tolerance for the operating system.

Applications are generally stored in a separate volume, and user data and files in a third. Again, isolation of data types allows you to manage security, performance, and fault tolerance separately for each data type. If an application uses a transaction log to prepare entries into a database, as do Microsoft Active Directory directory service and Microsoft Exchange Server, it is typical to store those logs in volumes that reside on physical disks separate from the database itself, allowing the application to rebuild the database from the logs if the database fails.

Once you have thoroughly analyzed your storage requirements as they relate to the data type, security, performance, and fault tolerance, you can begin to determine how many disks you require and how those disks should be configured.

Basic and Dynamic Disks

An operating system must have a way to make sense of the physical space on a disk drive. There are two structures that Windows Server 2003 can apply to help it apportion and allocate drive space: basic and dynamic storage, also called basic and dynamic disks.

Basic Disks, Partitions, and Logical Drives

Basic disks maintain the structure with which you are probably most familiar. Each basic disk is partitioned, and each partition functions as a physically separate unit of storage. The information about the location and size of each partition is stored in the partition table of the Master Boot Record (MBR) on the drive. A basic disk can contain as many as four partitions, consisting of either four primary partitions or three primary partitions and one extended partition.

The logical volumes on a basic disk are primary partitions and logical drives. The logical volume, as mentioned, can be represented by zero or more drive letters and can be mounted to folders on an existing NTFS volume.

■ Primary partition Each primary partition maintains one logical volume on a basic disk. If a basic disk is used to start the operating system, one and only one primary partition on the disk must also be marked as active.

■ Extended partition A basic disk may also contain an extended partition. Unlike primary partitions, extended partitions are not formatted or assigned drive letters. Instead, extended partitions are further divided into logical drives. Logical drives are logical volumes on a basic disk.

In earlier versions of Microsoft operating systems, including Windows 95, Windows 98, and MS-DOS, the operating system could only “see” the primary partition on which it was installed, plus the extended partition on the drive, if one existed. If you wanted additional storage segments on the drive, you had to configure an extended partition and apportion it into one or more logical drives. Because Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 can access all partitions on a disk, you only need an extended partition if you want more than four logical drives on a single disk.

Dynamic Disks and Volumes

Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and the Windows Server 2003 family also sup-port dynamic storage. The storage units on dynamic disks are called volumes, and the first distinctions between basic and dynamic storage are that dynamic disks support an unlimited number of volumes, and that the configuration information about the volumes is stored in a database controlled by the Logical Disk Manager (LDM) service.

The logical volume of dynamic disks is the volume. Dynamic disks support simple volumes on a single disk. When a computer has more than one dynamic disk, you are provided more storage options from which to choose. Spanned, mirrored (RAID-1), striped (RAID-0), and striped with parity (RAID-5) volumes are logical volumes that utilize space on more than one physical disk. Each volume type uses disk space differently, and is characterized by a different level of fault tolerance. The list below summarizes the volume types, though each has nuances you will learn about as the topic progresses.

■ Simple volume The equivalent to a basic disk partition is a dynamic disk simple volume. Simple volumes utilize space on a single physical disk, and correspond to a single logical volume. Simple volumes can be extended by appending unallocated space on other regions of the same disk, allowing you to adjust a volume’s capacity with the growth of data stored in that volume. Because simple volumes exist on only one physical disk, they are not fault-tolerant.

■ Spanned volume A spanned volume includes space on more than one physical disk. Up to 32 physical disks can participate in a spanned volume, and the amount of space used on each disk can be different. Data is written to the volume beginning with the space on the first disk in the volume. When the space on the first disk fills, the second disk is written to, and so on. Spanned volumes provide an option for increasing drive capacity. If a simple or spanned volume is filling up, you can extend the volume onto additional new storage capacity.

But spanned volumes are not fault-tolerant, and cannot participate in any fault-tolerant configurations. Because their size tends to be greater, and because multiple physical disks are involved, the risk for failure increases. If any one disk in a spanned volume is corrupted or lost, data on the entire volume is lost as well. For these reasons, Windows Server 2003 will not allow the installation of the operating system on a spanned volume, nor can you extend or span the system volume. Spanned volumes are recommended only as a stop-gap measure when an existing volume fills to capacity, or else in situations where tolerance for failure is high— for example, a large library of read-only data that can easily be restored from tape backup in the event of failure.

■ Striped volume A striped volume (RAID-0) combines areas of free space from multiple hard disks into one logical volume. Unlike a spanned volume, however, data is written to all physical disks in the volume at the same rate. Because multiple spindles are in use, read and write performance is increased almost geometrically as additional physical disks are added to the stripe. But like extended simple volumes and spanned volumes, if a disk in a striped volume fails, the data in the entire volume is lost.

■ Mirrored volume A mirrored volume (also known as RAID Level 1, or RAID-1) consists of two identical copies of a simple volume, each on a separate hard disk. Mirrored volumes provide fault tolerance in the event that one physical disk fails.

■ RAID-5 volume A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant striped volume. Space on three or more physical disks is unified as a single volume. Data is written to all physical disks at the same rate, but unlike a striped volume, the data is interlaced with checksum information, called parity. Should a single disk in the volume fail, the data on that disk can be regenerated through calculations involving the remaining data and the checksum information. It is an interesting technical note that parity is distributed among all volumes in the RAID-5 set.

Basic vs. Dynamic Disks

So now that you know about basic and dynamic storage, and the types of partitions, logical drives, and volumes they support, which is better? The answer, as is frequently the case, is: “It depends.”

Dynamic disks that store data are easily transferred between servers, allowing you to move a disk from a failed server to a functioning server with little downtime. Dynamic disks flex their muscle when there is more than one dynamic disk in a computer. Each Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 computer can support one disk group, which itself can contain multiple dynamic disks. The LDM database is replicated among all disks in the disk group, which increases the resiliency of disk configuration information for all the group’s disks. In addition, disks can be configured to work together to create a variety of flexible and powerful volume types including spanned volumes, striped volumes (RAID-0), mirrored volumes (RAID-1), and striped-with-parity volumes (RAID-5).

Basic disks will continue to be used, however, for several reasons:

■ Basic storage is the default in Windows Server 2003, so all new disks are basic disks until you convert them to dynamic—a simple process you will learn in Lesson 2.

■ Dynamic disks do not offer advantages over basic disks in a computer that will have only one disk drive.

■ The behavior of the LDM database also makes it difficult to transfer a dynamic disk used for starting the operating system to another computer when the original computer fails.

■ Dynamic disks are not supported for removable media, and are not supported on laptops.

■ Basic storage is the industry standard, so basic drives are accessible from many operating systems, including MS-DOS, all versions of Microsoft Windows, and most non-Microsoft operating systems (there are a few). Therefore, dynamic disks cannot be used if you need to dual-boot an earlier operating system that requires access to the disks. Keep in mind that we are talking about local access only. When a client of any platform accesses files over the network, the underlying storage and volume type are transparent to the client.

Managing Hardware Devices and Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:28:00 +0000

1. Installing Hardware Devices and Drivers

2. Configuring Hardware Devices and Drivers

3. Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers

Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:24:00 +0000

Problems with drivers will arise, particularly when driver configuration is not possible through PnP means, or when core system component drivers are updated. When a device configuration is not possible through strictly PnP means, the chance of mismatching devices and their drivers increases. With core system component driver updates, which require a computer restart, any problems with the driver will not be known until the computer restarts.

Recovering from Device Disaster

Occasionally, when you install or upgrade a driver for a device, there is a problem with the functioning of that device on your system. Depending on the importance of the device, the effect of the problem will range from annoying to catastrophic. Particularly for such core system components as video drivers, a faulty configuration can render the computer unusable. Rolling back the driver, after all, is difficult if you cannot see the screen.

Thankfully, there are multiple methods of recovery from faulty driver configuration. The tools available are specifically suited to different purposes, and have varying chances of success. Tools that can be used in the event of incorrect driver configuration are listed in below Table

Table Driver Recovery Tools

Device Manager Status Codes

When a device fails, an error message is usually reported in Device Manager with an exclamation point in a yellow icon next to the device. If you double-click the device (or right-click the device and then click Properties), a dialog box is displayed and any error messages that Device Manager detects are listed. This Device Status has some friendly text with it, but troubleshooting may require that you understand more than the text message delivers. Often, there is a code listed with the text that gives a better idea of how to troubleshoot the problem. These codes and suggested troubleshooting strategies are listed in below Table

Table Device Failure Troubleshooting

Configuring Hardware Devices and Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:50:00 +0000

www.syscareinfo.com

Devices may require updated drivers due to changes in the Windows Server 2003 operating system or changes in the way that a vendor programs a device to function. Drivers can be updated through Device Manager.

To minimize the impact of possible problems with a new driver, a feature of Device Manager allows for a return to the previous driver. This rollback feature is accessible through the Properties page of the device.

Occasionally, the automatic resource configuration within Windows Server 2003 is insufficient to accommodate a unique pattern of device use on a particular computer. If a device needs to have static resources (IRQ, I/O Port, DMA, or Memory Range) set, Device Manager can be used to remove the Automatic Settings use in favor of a setting configured by the user/administrator.

Updating Drivers

In Device Manager, most devices can have their drivers updated. The driver update process is a manual one, whether the device is PnP or not, and must be accomplished by an administrator—assuming that the user has not been granted elevated privilege to do so at the console of the local computer.

The process to update a driver is nearly the same as for a device that has been detected properly, but whose driver was not available at installation. After initiating the driver update process for a device from within Device Manager, the Add Hardware Wizard asks for the new driver’s location and the driver is installed. Some core system drivers will require a restart of the computer after installation, but most peripheral devices will not. The Properties page where the update of a driver is started is shown in Below Figure.

Rolling Back Drivers

Occasionally, a new driver will not function properly and cannot be kept in the con-figuration for the device. If the replaced driver was performing properly, then rolling back to the previous driver can be accomplished through Device Manager. Windows Server 2003 automatically backs up the driver that is being replaced through the update driver process, making it available through the Roll Back Driver option. The Properties page where the rollback of a driver can be initiated is shown in below Figure. The contrast between this feature and the Last Known Good Configuration option is discussed in the next topic.

Uninstalling Drivers

Drivers may be uninstalled using Device Manager. The Uninstall Driver process is initiated from the Properties page, as shown in below Figure.

Uninstalling a driver has different effects depending on whether the device was detected and configured through the PnP process. If the device was configured through PnP, then removal of the driver will result in the removal of the device from Device Manager as well. If the driver for the device was added manually, the device will remain in Device Manager, but will not be configured with a driver.

Resource Configuration

Devices and their drivers require system resources to communicate with and process data through the operating system. These resources are configured automatically by Windows Server 2003, sometimes in a shared capacity with other devices within the system. In circumstances where resources must be statically configured, Device Manager allows for some control of the resources assigned for use by a device. If configuration is not available, the resources used by a device and its driver cannot be configured manually. The Resources tab of a device’s Properties page of a manually configurable resource is shown in below Figure.

To configure a resource assignment manually, the Use Automatic Settings check box must first be cleared, then the resources can be set.

Control Panel and Device Configuration

Several devices have Control Panel applications associated with them that allow configuration of hardware devices. The same Device Manager limitations, which are based on user rights, for the installation, updating, or removal of device drivers exist within the Control Panel applications.

Such Properties pages are administered separately through Group Policies, and can be removed from user view and access. This setting is in the User Configuration section of a Group Policy.

www.syscareinfo.com

Installing Hardware Devices and Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:19:00 +0000

Hardware devices communicate with the Windows Server 2003 operating system by means of a software driver. Devices and their drivers, if not installed automatically through Plug and Play, can be configured through the Device Manager.

Devices and Drivers

The easiest way to think about devices and their associated drivers is to divide the devices into two logical categories: Plug-and-Play (PnP) and non-Plug-and-Play (down-level) devices. Most devices manufactured since 1997 are PnP devices, and most PnP drivers for devices are included on the Windows Server 2003 installation CD. When a device is initially detected by Windows Server 2003, and if an acceptable driver is found for that device, the device will be installed and such resources as interrupt requests (IRQs) and direct memory access (DMA) will be allocated for use by the device. The device will then be listed in the categorized listing of devices in Device Manager.

If the PnP driver is not on the Windows Server 2003 Installation CD, you will need the vendor-supplied drivers available when the Windows Server 2003 initially detects, identifies and attempts to install the device. For devices that Windows Server 2003 can identify, you will be prompted for a driver. If the request for the driver is bypassed, Windows Server 2003 will indicate the identified, non-configured device with a yellow warning icon in Device Manager. This icon, as shown in below Figure, is also used if there are duplicate devices on the system or if there are conflicts between the resource demands of drivers, which is extremely rare for newer computer systems and devices.

If a device cannot be identified by Windows Server 2003, no request for a driver will be issued, and the unknown device will be identified with a yellow question mark in Device Manager. For a non-configured or non-identified device, you must install the appropriate driver manually for the device to function properly.

Using Device Manager

Device Manager provides a view, similar to Windows Explorer, of the hardware that is installed on your computer. You can use Device Manager to update the drivers for hardware devices and modify settings related to devices. Device Manager is accessible through the Control Panel by selecting System, the Hardware tab on the Systems Properties dialog box, and then Device Manager to access the Device Manager Properties page, or as part of the Computer Management console, accessible from Administrative Tools. Below Table describes the tasks for which Device Manager can be used.

Table: Device Manager Tasks

A list of devices, drivers, and system configuration can be printed through the Print command on the Action menu in Device Manager or output to a comma-separated-values (CSV) file using the Driverquery command-line utility, the parameters for which are listed in Below Table

Users, Administrators, and Device Installation

As with most installation tasks, administrators have the ability to install any device and its associated drivers. Users, on the other hand, have very limited ability to install devices on the computer. By default, users can install only PnP devices, with the following considerations:

■ The device driver has a digital signature.

■ No further action is required to install the device, requiring Windows to display a user interface.

■ The device driver is already on the computer.

If any of these conditions is not met, the user cannot install the device unless delegated additional administrative authority.

Driver Signing Options

Device drivers and operating system files included with Windows 2000 or higher have a Microsoft digital signature. The digital signature indicates that a particular driver or file was not altered or overwritten by another program’s installation process. Device drivers provided by vendors outside of Windows 2000 or higher may or may not be signed.

You can control how the computer responds to these unsigned driver files during their installation. These settings are configurable through Control Panel by selecting System, the Hardware tab on the Systems Properties dialog box, and then Driver Signing to access the Driver Signing Options Properties page on an individual computer. The options for unsigned driver installation behavior are:

■ Ignore: To allow all device drivers to be installed on the computer, regardless of whether they have a digital signature. This option is available only if you are logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.

■ Warn: To display a warning message, allowing you to allow or deny driver installation, whenever an installation program or Windows attempts to install a device driver without a digital signature. This is the default behavior.

■ Block: To prevent an installation program or Windows from installing device drivers without a digital signature.

Group Policy is an effective tool for simultaneously changing the Driver Signing Options setting on multiple computers. To prohibit a user from changing the setting on his or her computer, you must deny access to the Hardware Properties pages in Control Panel and disable the MMC snap-in for Device Manager in the Computer Management console. These settings will not change the user’s ability to install PnP devices.

Maintaining the Operating System

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Administering Software Licenses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:50:00 +0000

The End User License Agreement (EULA) is more than just a nuisance that you must click through to begin installing a new operating system, update, or application. The EULA is a binding contract that gives you the legal right to use a piece of software. In an enterprise environment, managing software licenses is critically important. In this Topic, you will learn to use the licensing tools provided by Windows Server 2003 to register and monitor licenses and compliance.

Obtaining a Client Access License

The server license for Windows Server 2003 enables you to install the operating system on a computer, but you need a Client Access License (CAL) before a user or device is legally authorized to connect to the server. CALs are obtained in bundles, and are often but not always included in the purchase of the operating system. Keep copies of the CAL certificates and your EULAs on file, in the event that your organization is audited for licensing compliance.

You must have a CAL for any connection to a Windows Server 2003 computer that uses server components, which include file and print services or authentication. Very few server applications run so independently that the client/server connection does not require a CAL. The most significant exception to the CAL requirement is unauthenticated access conducted through the Internet. Where there is no exchange of credentials during Internet access, such as users browsing your public Web site, no CAL is required. CALs are therefore not required for Windows Server 2003 Web Edition.

There are two types of CALs: Windows Device CALs, which allow a device to connect to a server regardless of the number of users who may use that device; and Windows User CALs, which allow a user to connect to a server from a number of devices. Windows Device CALs are advantageous for an organization with multiple users per device, such as shift workers. Windows User CALs make most sense for an organization with employees that access the network from multiple or unknown devices.

The number of CALs you require, and how you track those licenses, depends on which client access licensing mode you pursue.

Per-Server Licensing

Per-server licensing requires a User or Device CAL for each concurrent connection. If a server is configured with 1,000 CALs, the 1,001st concurrent connection is denied access. CALs are designated for use on a particular server, so if the same 1,000 users require concurrent connections to a second server, you must purchase another 1,000 CALs.

Per server licensing is advantageous only in limited access scenarios, such as when a subset of your user population accesses a server product on very few servers. Per server licensing is less cost-effective in a situation where multiple users access multiple resources on multiple servers. If you are unsure which licensing mode is appropriate, select Per Server. The license agreement allows a no-cost, one-time, one-way conversion from Per Server to Per Device or Per User licensing when it becomes appropriate to do so.

Per-Device or Per-User Licensing

The Per Device or Per User licensing mode varies from the Per Seat scheme of previous versions of Windows. In this new mode, each device or user that connects to a server requires a CAL, but with that license the device or user can connect to a number of servers in the enterprise. Per User or Per Device mode is generally the mode of choice for distributed computing environments in which multiple users access multiple servers. For example, a developer who uses a laptop and two desktops would require only one Windows User CAL. A fleet of 10 Tablet PCs that are used by 30 shift workers would require only 10 Windows Device CALs.

The total number of CALs equals the number of devices or users, or a mixture thereof, that access servers. CALs can be reassigned under certain, understandable conditions— for example a Windows User CAL can be reassigned from a permanent employee to a temporary employee while the permanent employee is on leave. A Windows Device CAL can be reassigned to a loaner device while a device is being repaired.

Per Server and Per Device or Per User licensing modes are illustrated in below Table.

There are two utilities that will help you track and manage software licensing:

* Licensing in Control Panel: The Control Panel Choose Licensing Mode tool, as shown in below Figure, manages licensing requirements for a single computer running Windows Server 2003. You can use Licensing to add or remove CALs for a server running in per-server mode; to change the licensing mode from Per Server to Per Device or Per User; or to configure licensing replication.

* Licensing in Administrative Tools: The Licensing administrative tool, discussed in the next section, allows you to manage licensing for an enterprise by centralizing the control of licensing and license replication in a site-based model.

Administering Site Licensing

The License Logging service, which runs on each Windows Server 2003 computer, assigns and tracks licenses when server resources are accessed. To ensure compliance, licensing information is replicated to a centralized licensing database on a server in the site. This server is called the site license server. A site administrator, or an administrator for the site license server, can then use the Microsoft Licensing tool in Administrative Tools program group to view and manage licensing for the entire site. This new license tracking and management capability incorporates licenses not just for file and print services, but for IIS, for Terminal Services, and for BackOffice products such as Exchange or SQL Server.

The Site License Server

The site license server is typically the first domain controller created in a site. To find out what server is the license server for a site, open Active Directory Sites And Services, expand to select the Site node then right-click Licensing Site Settings and choose Properties. The current site license server is displayed, as shown in below Figure

To assign the site license server role to another server or domain controller, click Change and select the desired computer. To retain the licensing history for your enterprise, you must immediately after transferring the role stop the License Logging service on the new license server, then copy the following files from the old to the new licensing server:

* %Systemroot%\System32\Cpl.cfg contains the purchase history for your organization.

* %Systemroot%\Lls\Llsuser.lls contains user information about the number of connections.

* %Systemroot%\Lls\Llsmap.lls contains license group information.

After all files have been copied, restart the License Logging service.

Administering Site Licenses

Once you have identified the site license server for a site, you can view the licensing information on that server opening Licensing from the Administrative Tools program group. The Server Browser tab in Licensing (as shown in below Figure) enables you to manage licensing for an entire site or enterprise.

The Server Browser page of Licensing allows you to manage any server in any site or domain for which you have administrative authority. You can locate a server and, by right-clicking it and choosing Properties, manage that server’s licenses. For each server product installed on that server, you can add or remove per-server licenses. You can also, where appropriate, convert the licensing mode. Remember that per server licensing mode issues a license when a user connects to the server product. When a user disconnects from the server product, the License Logging service makes the license available to another user.

The server properties also allow you to configure license replication, which can be set on a server using its Licensing properties in Control Panel. By default, license information is replicated from a server’s License Logging Service to the site license server every 24 hours, and the system automatically staggers replication to avoid burdening the site licensing server. If you want to control replication schedules or frequency, you must manually vary the Start At time and Start Every frequency of each server replicating to a particular site license server.

To manage Per Device or Per User licensing, click Licensing from the Administrative Tools program group, then choose the New License command from the License menu. In the New Client Access License dialog box, select the server product and the number of licenses purchased. Licenses are added to the pool of licenses. As devices or users connect to the product anywhere in the site, they are allocated licenses from the pool, with one license for each device or user. After a pool of licenses is depleted, license violations occur when additional devices or users access the product.

The Purchase History tab in Licensing (as shown in below Figure) provides a historical overview of licenses purchased for a site, as well as the quantity, date, and administrator associated with the addition or removal of licenses.

To view cumulative information about licensing and compliance, click the Products View tab. This tab shows how many licenses have been purchased and allocated to users or devices (in Per Device or Per User mode) or the number of licenses purchased for all servers in the site and the peak connections reached to date (in Per Server mode). You can also determine compliance using the licensing status symbols shown in below Table.

Symbol Licensing Status

The product is in compliance with legal licensing requirements. The number of connections is less than the number of licenses purchased.

The product is not in compliance with legal licensing requirements. The number of connections exceeds the number of licenses purchased.

The product has reached the legal limit. The number of connections equals the number of licenses purchased. If additional devices or users will connect to the server product, you must purchase and log new licenses

License Groups

Per Device or Per User licensing requires one CAL for each device. However, the License Logging service assigns and tracks licenses by user name. When multiple users share one or more devices, you must create license groups, or else licenses will be consumed too rapidly.

A license group is a collection of users who collectively share one or more CALs. When a user connects to the server product, the License Logging service tracks the user by name, but assigns a CAL from the allocation assigned to the license group. The concept is easiest to understand with examples:

*10 users share a single handheld device for taking inventory. A license group is created with the 10 users as members. The license group is assigned one CAL, representing the single device they share.

*100 students occasionally use a computer lab with 10 computers. A license group is created with the 100 students as members, and is allocated 10 CALs.

To create a license group, click the Options menu and, from the Advanced menu, choose New License Group. Enter the group name and allocate one license for each client device used to access the server. The number of licenses allocated to a group should correspond to the number of devices used by members of the group.

Service Packs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:51:00 +0000

Microsoft releases Service Packs to consolidate critical updates, security rollups, hot-fixes, driver updates, and feature enhancements. You must stay current with Service Packs to maintain the security and integrity of your enterprise network. Software Update Services, discussed in the previous Topic, does not distribute service packs. To keep your network completely up to date with critical patches, you need to implement the skills covered in this Topic, which will allow you to deploy service packs by means of Group Policy.

Downloading and Extracting Service Packs

When a service pack is released, Microsoft makes it available for installation and download from the Microsoft Web site. A service pack can be installed directly from a Microsoft server, in which case the client launches the service pack setup from the Microsoft site and a small setup utility is downloaded to the client. That setup utility reconnects to the Microsoft server and controls the download and installation of the entire service pack. Service packs are generally sizeable, so performing this task machine-by-machine is not an efficient deployment strategy in all but the smallest environments.

Service packs can also be obtained on CD from Microsoft and through many Microsoft resources, such as TechNet and MSDN. Service Pack CDs often include extras, such as updated administrative tools, new policy templates, and other value-added software. In an enterprise environment, it is therefore recommended to obtain the service pack media.

When you do not have access to a CD containing the service pack, and you want to deploy the service pack to more than one system, you can download the entire service pack as a single file, again from the Microsoft Web site. The service pack executable, if launched (by double-clicking, for example), triggers the installation of the service pack. This single-file version of the executable can also be extracted into the full folder and file structure of the service pack, just as it would be on the service pack CD, but without the value adds.

To extract a service pack, launch the executable from a command prompt with the -x switch. For example, to extract Windows XP Service Pack 1, type xpsp1.exe -x. You will then be prompted for a folder to which the service pack is extracted. Once the process is complete, you will see the full service pack folder structure contained in the tar-get folder. You can then launch installation of the service pack, just as from the CD, by double-clicking I386\Update\Update.exe.

Deploying Service Packs with Group Policy Service Pack installation requires administrative credentials on the local computer, unless the service pack is installed via Group Policy or Systems Management Server (SMS). Because service packs apply to systems, it is necessary to assign the service pack through computer-based, rather than user-based, group policy.

To distribute a service pack, create a shared folder and either extract the service pack to that folder or copy the contents of the service pack CD to the folder. Then, using the Active Directory Users And Computers snap-in, create or select an existing GPO. Click Edit and the Group Policy Object Editor console appears, focused on the selected GPO.

Expand the Computer Configuration\Software Settings node. Right-click Software Installation and choose New, then Package. Enter the path to the service pack’s Update.msi file. Be certain to use a UNC format (for example, \\Server\Share) and not a local volume path, such as Drive:\Path. In the Deploy Software dialog box, select Assigned. Close the Group Policy Object Editor console. Computers within the scope of the GPO—in the site, domain, or OU branch to which the policy is linked—automatically deploy the service pack at the next startup.

Software Update Services (SUS)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:04:00 +0000

To maintain a secure computing environment, it is critical to keep systems up to date with security patches. Since 1998, Microsoft has provided Windows Update as a Web-based source of information and downloads. With Windows XP and Windows 2000 service pack 3, Microsoft added Automatic Updates, whereby a system automatically connects to Windows Update and downloads any new, applicable patches or “hot-fixes.” Although the Windows Update servers and Automatic Updates client achieve the goal of keeping systems current, many administrators are uncomfortable with either computers or users deciding which patches should be installed, because a patch might interfere with the normal functioning of a business-critical application.

The latest improvements to these technologies deliver Software Update Services (SUS). SUS is a client-server application that enables a server on your intranet to act as a point of administration for updates. You can approve updates for SUS clients, which then download and install the approved updates automatically without requiring local administrator account interaction.

In this lesson you will learn to install and administer SUS on a Windows Server 2003 computer. The following Topic will guide you through issues related to client configuration.

Understanding SUS

Since 1998, Microsoft Windows operating systems have supported Windows Update, a globally distributed source of updates. Windows Update servers interact with client-side software to identify critical updates, security rollups, and enhancements that are appropriate to the client platform, and then to download approved patches.

Administrators wanted a more centralized solution that would assure more direct control over updates that are installed on their clients. Software Update Services is a response to that need. SUS includes several major components:

■ Software Update Services, running on an Internet Information Services (IIS) server :The server-side component is responsible for synchronizing information about available updates and, typically, downloading updates from the Microsoft Internet-based Windows Update servers or from other intranet servers running SUS.

■ The SUS administration Web site: All SUS administration is Web-based. After installing and configuring SUS, administration typically consists of ensuring that the SUS server is synchronizing successfully, and approving updates for distribution to network clients.

■ Automatic Updates The Automatic Updates client is responsible for downloading updates from either Windows Update or an SUS server, and installing those updates based on a schedule or an administrator’s initiation.

■ Group Policy settings Automatic Updates clients can be configured to synchronize from an SUS server rather than the Windows Update servers by modifying the clients’ registries or, more efficiently, by configuring Windows Update policies in a Group Policy Object (GPO).

Installing SUS on a Windows Server 2003 Computer

SUS has both client and server components. The server component runs on a Windows 2000 Server (Service Pack 2 or later) or a Windows Server 2003 computer. Internet Information Services (IIS) must be installed before setting up SUS and, as you learned in Chapter 6, “Files and Folders,” IIS is not installed by default on Windows Server 2003. For information about how to install IIS, see Chapter 6.

SUS is not included with the Windows Server 2003 media, but it is a free download from the Microsoft SUS Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=6930.

After downloading the latest version of SUS, double-click the file and the installation routine will start. After you agree to the license agreement, choose Custom setup and the Setup Wizard will prompt you for the following information:

■ Choose File Locations Each Windows Update patch consists of two components: the patch file itself and metadata that specifies the platforms and languages to which the patch applies. SUS always downloads metadata, which you will use to approve updates and which clients on your intranet will retrieve from SUS. You can choose whether to download the files themselves and, if so, where to save the updates.

If you choose the Save the Updates to This Local Folder option, the Setup Wizard defaults to the drive with the most free space, and will create a folder called SUS on that drive. You can save the files to any NT file system (NTFS) partition; Microsoft recommends a minimum of 6 gigabytes (GB) of free space.

■ Language Settings Although the SUS administrative interface is provided in English and a few additional languages, patches are released for all supported locales. This option specifies the localized versions of Windows servers or clients that you support in your environment.

■ Handling New Versions Of Previously Approved Updates Occasionally, an update itself is updated. You can direct SUS to approve automatically updates that are new versions of patches that you have already approved, or you can continue to approve each update manually.

■ Ready To Install Before installation begins, the Setup Wizard will remind you of the URL clients should point to, http://SUS_servername. Note this path because you will use it to configure network clients.

■ Installing Microsoft Software Update Services The Setup Wizard installs SUS.

■ Completing the Microsoft Software Update Services Setup Wizard The final page of the Setup Wizard indicates the URL for the SUS administration site, http://SUS_servername/SUSAdmin. Note this path as well, because you will administer SUS from that Web location. When you click Finish, your Web browser will start and you will be taken automatically to the SUS administration page.

Software Update Services installs the following three components on the server:

■ The Software Update Synchronization Service, which downloads content to the SUS server

■ An IIS Web site that services update requests from Automatic Updates clients

■ An SUS administration Web page, from which you can synchronize the SUS server and approve updates

Configuring and Administering SUS

You will perform three administrative tasks related to SUS: configuring SUS settings, synchronizing content and approving content. These tasks are performed using the SUS Administration Web site, shown in below Figure, which can be accessed by navigating to http://SUS_servername/SUSAdmin with Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, or by opening Microsoft Software Update Services from the Administrative Tools programs group. The administration of SUS is entirely Web-based.

Configuring Software Update Services

Although some of the configuration of SUS can be specified during a custom installation, all SUS settings are accessible from the SUS Administration Web page. From the Software Update Services administration page, click Set Options in the left navigation bar. The Set Options page is shown in below Figure.

The configuration settings are as follows:

■ Proxy server configuration If the server running SUS connects to Windows Update using a proxy server, you must configure proxy settings.

■ DNS name of the SUS server In the Server Name box, type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the SUS server, for example, sus1.contoso.com.

■ Content source The first SUS servDer you install will synchronize its content from Microsoft Windows Update. Additional SUS servers can synchronize from Windows Update, from a “parent” SUS server, or from a manually created content distribution point. See the sidebar, “SUS Topology” for more information.

■ New versions of approved updates The Set Options page allows you to modify how SUS handles new versions of previously approved updates. This option is discussed earlier in the lesson.

■ File storage You can modify the storage of metadata and update files. This option is also discussed earlier in the lesson.

■ Languages This setting determines the locale specific updates that are synchronized. Select only languages for locales that you support in your environment.

Synchronizing SUS

On the SUS Administration Web page, click Synchronize Server. On the Synchronize Server page, as shown in Below Figure, you can start a manual synchronization or configure automatic, scheduled synchronization. Click Synchronize Now and, when synchronization is complete, you will be informed of its success or failure, and, if the synchronization was successful, you will be taken to the Approve Updates page.

To schedule synchronization, click Synchronization Schedule. You can configure the time of day for synchronization, as shown in Below Figure, and whether synchronization occurs daily or weekly on a specified day. When a scheduled synchronization fails, SUS will try again for the Number of Synchronization Retries to Attempt setting. Retries occur at 30-minute intervals.

Approving Updates

To approve updates for distribution to client computers, click Approve Updates in the left navigation bar. The Approve Updates page, as shown in below Figure, appears. Select the updates that you wish to approve, then click Approve. If you are unsure about the applicability of a particular update, click the Details link in the update summary. The Details page that opens will include a link to the actual *.cab file that is used to install the package, and a link to the Read More page about the update, which will open the Microsoft Knowledge Base article related to the update.

The Automatic Updates Client

The client component of SUS is Windows Automatic Updates, which is supported on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. The Automatic Updates client is included with Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, and Windows XP Service Pack 1.

For clients running earlier releases of the supported platforms, you can download Automatic Updates as a stand-alone client from the Microsoft SUS Web site,at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=6930. The client, provided as an .msi file, can be installed on a stand-alone computer or by means of Group Policy (assign the pack-age in the Computer Configuration\Software Settings policy), SMS, or even a logon script. If a localized version of the client is not available, install the English version on any locale.

The Automatic Updates client of Windows Server 2003 is configured to connect automatically to the Microsoft Windows Update server and download updates, then prompt the user to install them. This behavior can be modified by accessing the Automatic Updates tab in the System Properties dialog box, accessible by clicking System in Control Panel, in Windows XP and Windows Server2003. In Windows 2000 click Automatic Updates in Control Panel. The Automatic Updates tab is shown in below Figure. Automatic Updates can also be configured using GPOs or registry values.

Download Behavior

Automatic Updates supports two download behaviors:

■ Automatic Updates are downloaded without notification to the user.

■ Notification If Automatic Updates is configured to notify the user before downloading updates, it registers the notification of an available update in the system event log and to a logged-on administrator of the computer. If an administrator is not logged on, Automatic Updates waits for a user with administrator credentials before offering notification by means of a balloon in the notification area of the system tray.

Once update downloading has begun, Automatic Updates uses the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to perform the file transfer using idle network band-width. BITS ensures that network performance is not hindered due to file transfer. All patches are checked by the SUS server to determine if they have been correctly signed by Microsoft. Similarly, the Automatic Updates client confirms the Microsoft signature and also examines the cyclical redundancy check (CRC) on each package before installing it.

Installation Behavior

Automatic Updates provides two options for installation:

■ Notification Automatic Updates registers an event in the system log indicating that updates are ready for installation. Notification will wait until a local administrator is logged on before taking further action. When an administrative user is logged on, a balloon notification appears in the system tray. The administrator clicks the balloon or the notification icon, and then may select from available updates before clicking Install. If an update requires restarting the computer, Automatic Updates cannot detect additional updates that might be applicable until after the restart.

■ Automatic (Scheduled) When updates have been downloaded successfully, an event is logged to the system event log. If an administrator is logged on, a notification icon appears, and the administrator can manually launch installation at any time until the scheduled installation time.

At the scheduled installation time, an administrator who is logged on will be notified with a countdown message prior to installation, and will have the option to cancel installation, in which case the installation is delayed until the next scheduled time. If a non-administrator is logged on, a warning dialog appears, but the user cannot delay installation. If no user is logged on, installation occurs automatically. If an update requires restart, a five-minute countdown notification appears informing users of the impending restart. Only an administrative user can cancel the restart.

Configuring Automatic Updates Through Group Policy

The Automatic Updates client will, by default, connect to the Microsoft Windows Update server. Once you have installed SUS in your organization, you can direct Automatic Updates to connect to specific intranet servers by configuring the registry of clients manually or by using Windows Update group policies.

To configure Automatic Updates using GPOs, open a GPO and navigate to the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update node. The Windows Update policies are shown in below Figure.

The following policies are available, each playing an important role in configuring effective update distribution in your enterprise:

■ Configure Automatic Updates The Configure Automatic Updates Behavior determines the behavior of the Automatic Updates client. There are three options: Notify For Download And Notify For Install, Auto Download And Notify For Install, and Auto Download And Schedule The Install. These options are combinations of the installation and download behaviors discussed earlier in the lesson.

■ Reschedule Automatic Updates Scheduled Installations If installations are scheduled, and the client computer is turned off at the scheduled time, the default behavior is to wait for the next scheduled time. The Reschedule Automatic Updates Scheduled Installations policy, if set to a value between 1 and 60, causes Automatic Updates to reschedule installation for the specified number of minutes after system startup.

■ No Auto-Restart For Scheduled Automatic Updates Installations This policy causes Automatic Updates to forego a restart required by an installed update when a user is logged on to the system. Instead, the user is notified that a restart is required for installation to complete, and can restart the computer at his or her discretion. Remember that Automatic Updates cannot detect new updates until restart has occurred.

■ Specify Intranet Microsoft Update Service Location This policy allows you to redirect Automatic Updates to a server running SUS. By default, the client will log its interactions on the SUS server to which it connects. However, this policy allows you to point clients to another server running IIS for statistics logging. This dual policy provides the opportunity for clients to obtain updates from a local SUS server, but for all clients to log SUS statistics in a single location for easier retrieval and analysis of the log data, which is stored as part of the IIS log. IIS logs typically reside in %Windir%\System32\Logfiles\W3svc1.

Automatic Updates clients poll their SUS server every 22 hours, minus a random offset.

Any delay in patching should be treated as unacceptable when security vulnerabilities are being actively exploited. In such situations, install the patch manually so that systems do not have to wait to poll, download, and install patches.

After approved updates have been downloaded from the SUS server, they will be installed as configured—manually or automatically—at the scheduled time. If an approved update is later unapproved, that update is not uninstalled; but it will not be installed by additional clients. An installed update can be uninstalled manually, using the Add Or Remove Programs application in Control Panel.

SUS Troubleshooting

Although SUS works well, there are occasions that warrant monitoring and trouble-shooting.

Monitoring SUS

The Monitor Server page of the SUS Administration Web site displays statistics that reflect the number of updates available for each platform, and the date and time of the most recent update. The information is summarized from the Windows Update metadata that is downloaded during each synchronization. Metadata information is written to disk and stored in memory to improve performance as systems request platform appropriate updates.

You can also monitor SUS and Automatic Updates using the following logs:

■ Synchronization Log You can retrieve information about current or past synchronizations, and the specific packages that were downloaded by clicking View Synchronization Log in the left navigation bar. You can also use any text editor to open the (Extensible Markup Language) XML–based database (History-Sync.xml) directly from the SUS Web site’s \AutoUpdate\Administration directory in IIS.

■ Approval Log For information about packages that have been approved, click View Approval Log in the left navigation bar. Alternatively, you can open History-Approve.xml from the SUS Web site’s \AutoUpdate\Administration directory in IIS.

■ Windows Update Log The Automatic Updates client logs activity in the %Windir%\Windows Update.log file on the client’s local hard disk.

■ Wutrack.bin The client’s interaction with SUS is logged to the specified statistics server’s IIS logs, typically stored in the folder: %Windir%\System32\Logfiles \W3svc1. These logs, which are verbose and cryptic, are designed to be analyzed by programs, not by humans.

SUS System Events

The synchronization service generates event log messages for each synchronization per-formed by the server, and when updates are approved. These messages can be viewed in the System log using Event Viewer. The events relate to the following scenarios:

■ Unable to connect Automatic Updates could not connect to the update service (Windows Update or the computer’s assigned SUS server).

■ Install ready—no recurring schedule Updates listed in the event were down-loaded and are pending installation. An administrator must click the notification icon and click Install.

■ Install ready—recurring schedule Updates listed in the event are down-loaded and will be installed at the date and time specified in the event.

■ Installation success Updates listed in the event were installed successfully.

■ Installation failure Updates listed in the event failed to install properly.

■ Restart required—no recurring schedule An update requires a restart. If installation behavior is set for notification, restart must be performed manually. Windows cannot search for new updates until the restart has occurred.

■ Restart required—recurring schedule When Automatic Updates is configured to automatically install updates, an event is registered if an update requires restart. Restart will occur within five minutes. Windows cannot search for new updates until after the restart has occurred.

Troubleshooting SUS

Software Update Services on a Windows Server 2003 computer may require the following troubleshooting steps:

■ Reloading the memory cache If no new updates appear since the last time you synchronized the server, it is possible that no new updates are available. However, it is also possible that memory caches are not loading new updates properly. From the SUS administration site, click Monitor Server and then click Refresh.

■ Restarting the synchronization service If you receive a message that the synchronization service is not running properly, or if you cannot modify settings in the Set Options page of the administration Web site, open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Services snap-in, right-click Software Update Services Synchronization Service and choose Restart.

■ Restarting IIS If you cannot connect to the administration site, or if clients can-not connect to the SUS serve, restart the World Wide Web Publishing Service in the same manner.

If Automatic Updates clients do not appear to be receiving updates properly, open the registry of a client and ensure that the following values appear in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate:

■ WUServer Should have the URL of the SUS server, for example, http: //SUS_Servername

■ WUStatus Server Should have the URL of the same SUS server or another IIS server on which synchronization statistics are logged

And, in the AU subkey:

■ Use WUServer Should be set to dword:00000001

SUS Backup and Recovery

As with any other server role or application, you must plan for recovery in the event of a server failure.

Backing Up SUS

To back up SUS, you must back up the folder that contains SUS content, the SUS Administration Web site, and the IIS metabase.

First, back up the metabase—an XML database containing the configuration of IIS. Using the MMC IIS snap-in, select the server to back up and, from the Action menu, select All Tasks, then Backup/Restore Configuration. Click Create Backup and enter a name for the backup. When you click OK, the metabase is backed up.

Then back up the following using Ntbackup or another backup utility:

■ The default Web site, which is located unless otherwise configured in C:\Inetpub \Wwwroot.

■ The SUS Administration Web site. SUSAdmin is, by default, a subfolder of C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot. In that event, it will be backed up when you back up the default Web site.

■ The AutoUpdate virtual directory, also by default a subfolder of C:\Inetpub \Wwwroot.

■ The SUS content location you specified in SUS setup or the SUS options. You can confirm the SUS content location in IIS manager by clicking Default Web Site and examining the path to the Content virtual root in the details pane.

■ The metabase backup directory, %Windir%\System32\Inetsrv\Metaback, which contains the copy of the metabase made earlier.

This process of backing up the metabase, and then backing up the components of SUS, should be repeated regularly because updates will be added and approved with some frequency.

SUS Server Recovery

To restore a failed SUS server, perform the steps described below. If a certain step is unnecessary, you may skip it, but perform the remaining steps in sequence.

1. Disconnect the server from the network to prevent it from being infected with viruses.

2. Install Windows Server 2003, being sure to give the server the same name it had previously.

3. Install IIS with the same components it had previously.

4. Install the latest service pack and security fixes. If the server must be connected to the network to achieve this step, take all possible precautions to prevent unnecessary exposure.

5. Install SUS into the same folder it was previously installed.

6. Run NTbackup to restore the most recent backup of SUS. This will include the SUS content folder, the Default Web Site, including the SUSAdmin and AutoUpdate virtual directories, and the IIS metabase backup.

7. Open the MMC IIS snap-in and select the server to restore. From the Action menu, select All Tasks, then Backup/Restore Configuration and select the backup that was just restored. Click Restore.

8.Confirm the success of your recovery by opening the SUS Administration Web site and clicking Set Options. Check that the previous settings are in place, and that the previously approved updates are still approved.

Software Update Services

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:16:00 +0000

In this lesson you will learn to install and administer SUS on a Windows Server 2003 computer. The following Topic will guide you through issues related to client configuration.

Understanding SUS

Installing SUS on a Windows Server 2003 Computer

SUS is not included with the Windows Server 2003 media, but it is a free download from the Microsoft SUS Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=6930.

■ Installing Microsoft Software Update Services The Setup Wizard installs SUS.

Software Update Services installs the following three components on the server:

■ The Software Update Synchronization Service, which downloads content to the SUS server

■ An IIS Web site that services update requests from Automatic Updates clients

■ An SUS administration Web page, from which you can synchronize the SUS server and approve updates

Configuring and Administering SUS

Configuring Software Update Services

The configuration settings are as follows:

■ Proxy server configuration If the server running SUS connects to Windows Update using a proxy server, you must configure proxy settings.

■ DNS name of the SUS server In the Server Name box, type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the SUS server, for example, sus1.contoso.com.

■ New versions of approved updates The Set Options page allows you to modify how SUS handles new versions of previously approved updates. This option is discussed earlier in the lesson.

■ File storage You can modify the storage of metadata and update files. This option is also discussed earlier in the lesson.

■ Languages This setting determines the locale specific updates that are synchronized. Select only languages for locales that you support in your environment.

Synchronizing SUS

Approving Updates

The Automatic Updates Client

Download Behavior

Automatic Updates supports two download behaviors:

■ Automatic Updates are downloaded without notification to the user.

Installation Behavior

Automatic Updates provides two options for installation:

Configuring Automatic Updates Through Group Policy

The following policies are available, each playing an important role in configuring effective update distribution in your enterprise:

Automatic Updates clients poll their SUS server every 22 hours, minus a random offset.

SUS Troubleshooting

Although SUS works well, there are occasions that warrant monitoring and trouble-shooting.

Monitoring SUS

You can also monitor SUS and Automatic Updates using the following logs:

■ Windows Update Log The Automatic Updates client logs activity in the %Windir%\Windows Update.log file on the client’s local hard disk.

SUS System Events

■ Unable to connect Automatic Updates could not connect to the update service (Windows Update or the computer’s assigned SUS server).

■ Install ready—no recurring schedule Updates listed in the event were down-loaded and are pending installation. An administrator must click the notification icon and click Install.

■ Install ready—recurring schedule Updates listed in the event are down-loaded and will be installed at the date and time specified in the event.

■ Installation success Updates listed in the event were installed successfully.

■ Installation failure Updates listed in the event failed to install properly.

Troubleshooting SUS

Software Update Services on a Windows Server 2003 computer may require the following troubleshooting steps:

■ Restarting IIS If you cannot connect to the administration site, or if clients can-not connect to the SUS serve, restart the World Wide Web Publishing Service in the same manner.

■ WUServer Should have the URL of the SUS server, for example, http: //SUS_Servername

■ WUStatus Server Should have the URL of the same SUS server or another IIS server on which synchronization statistics are logged

And, in the AU subkey:

■ Use WUServer Should be set to dword:00000001

SUS Backup and Recovery

As with any other server role or application, you must plan for recovery in the event of a server failure.

Backing Up SUS

To back up SUS, you must back up the folder that contains SUS content, the SUS Administration Web site, and the IIS metabase.

Then back up the following using Ntbackup or another backup utility:

■ The default Web site, which is located unless otherwise configured in C:\Inetpub \Wwwroot.

■ The SUS Administration Web site. SUSAdmin is, by default, a subfolder of C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot. In that event, it will be backed up when you back up the default Web site.

■ The AutoUpdate virtual directory, also by default a subfolder of C:\Inetpub \Wwwroot.

■ The metabase backup directory, %Windir%\System32\Inetsrv\Metaback, which contains the copy of the metabase made earlier.

This process of backing up the metabase, and then backing up the components of SUS, should be repeated regularly because updates will be added and approved with some frequency.

SUS Server Recovery

To restore a failed SUS server, perform the steps described below. If a certain step is unnecessary, you may skip it, but perform the remaining steps in sequence.

1. Disconnect the server from the network to prevent it from being infected with viruses.

2. Install Windows Server 2003, being sure to give the server the same name it had previously.

3. Install IIS with the same components it had previously.

4. Install the latest service pack and security fixes. If the server must be connected to the network to achieve this step, take all possible precautions to prevent unnecessary exposure.

5. Install SUS into the same folder it was previously installed.

7. Open the MMC IIS snap-in and select the server to restore. From the Action menu, select All Tasks, then Backup/Restore Configuration and select the backup that was just restored. Click Restore.

Printers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:17:00 +0000

1. Installing and Configuring Printers

2. Advanced Printer Configuration and Management

3. Maintaining, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Printers

Maintaining, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Printers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Once logical printers have been set up, configured and shared on print servers, and once clients have been connected to those printers, you must begin to maintain and monitor those logical and physical printers. This Topic will give you guidance in the maintenance and troubleshooting of printers in a Windows Server 2003 environment. You will learn to support printer drivers, to redirect printers, to configure performance and utilization logs, and to methodically troubleshoot print errors.

Maintaining Printers

There are no regular maintenance tasks for the print service on a Windows Server 2003 computer. The maintenance tasks defined below are typically performed on a periodic, as-needed basis. Keep in mind that when managing printers, actions may affect an entire printer or all printers on the print server, not just individual print jobs.

Managing Printer Drivers

The first grouping of maintenance tasks relate to drivers on the print server. As mentioned earlier in the lesson, it is helpful to install drivers for all client platforms that will use a particular shared printer. Windows clients will download the driver automatically when they connect to the printer. Drivers for various platforms are installed by clicking Additional Drivers on the Sharing tab of a printer’s Properties dialog box.

To update drivers for a single logical printer, select the Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box and click New Driver. You will then be able to select additional drivers by indicating the manufacturer and model, or by clicking Have Disk and providing the manufacturer’s drivers.

You can also manage drivers for the print server as a whole. In the Printers And Faxes folder, select Server Properties from the File menu and click the Drivers tab. Here you can add, remove, reinstall, or access the properties of each of the drivers on the print server. Changes made to these drivers will affect all printers on the server.

If you want to list all of the files related to a particular printer driver, open the print server’s Drivers tab select the driver, and click Properties. The names and descriptions of all the files that are part of the specific driver will appear. From this list, it is possible to view details regarding any of the files by selecting the file and then clicking Properties.

Redirecting Print Jobs

If a printer is malfunctioning, you can send documents in the queue for that printer to another printer connected to a local port on the computer, or attached to the network. This is called redirecting print jobs. It allows users to continue sending jobs to the logical printer, and prevents users with documents in the queue from having to resubmit the jobs.

To redirect a printer, open the printer’s Properties dialog and click the Ports tab. Select an existing port or add a port. The check box of the port of the malfunctioning printer is immediately cleared unless printer pooling is enabled, in which case you must manually clear the check box.

Because print jobs have already been prepared for the former printer, the printer on the new port must be compatible with the driver used in the logical printer. All print jobs are now redirected to the new port. You cannot redirect individual documents. In addition, any documents currently printing cannot be redirected.

Monitoring Printers

Windows Server 2003 provides several methods to monitor printers and printing resources.

Using System Monitor and Performance Logs and Alerts

The System Monitor and Performance Logs And Alerts snap-ins, both of which are included in the Performance MMC, allow you to observe real-time performance of printers, log metrics for later analysis, or set alert levels and actions. To add a counter to System Monitor, right-click the graph area and choose Add Counters. Select the performance object (in this case Print Queue), the desired counters, and the instance representing the logical printer to monitor.

After selecting Print Queue as the performance object, a list of all available performance counters is provided. You can select any counter and click Explain to learn about that particular performance metric.

The most important performance counters for monitoring printing performance are the following:

■ Bytes Printed/Sec The number of bytes of raw data per second that are sent to the printer. Low values for this counter can indicate that a printer is underutilized, either because there are no jobs, print queues are not evenly loaded, or the server is too busy. This value varies according to the type of printer. Consult printer documentation for acceptable printer throughput values.

■ Job Errors Number of job errors. Job errors are typically caused by improper port configuration; check port configuration for invalid settings. A printing job instance will increment this counter only once, even if it happens multiple times. Also, some print monitors do not support job error counters, in which case the counter will remain at 0.

■ Jobs The number of jobs being spooled.

■ Total Jobs Printed The number of jobs sent to the printer since the spooler was started.

■ Total Pages Printed The number of pages printed since the spooler was started. This counter provides a close approximation of printer volume, although it may not be perfect, depending on the type of jobs and the document properties for those jobs.

Using System Log

Using Event Viewer, you can examine the System log as a source of information regarding spooler and printer activity. By default, the spooler registers events regarding printer creation, deletion, and modification. You will also find events containing information about printer traffic, hard disk space, spooler errors, and other maintenance issues.

To control or modify spooler event logging, open the Printers And Faxes folder and choose Server Properties from the File menu. Click the Advanced tab to access the properties as shown in Below Figure. From this page, you can control printer event log entries and print job notifications. This is also the tab that enables you to move the print spooler folder an important task when configuring an active print server, or when an existing print spool folder’s disk volume becomes full.

Auditing Printer Access

Printer access, like file and folder access, can be audited. You can specify which groups or users and which actions to audit for a particular printer. After enabling object access auditing policy, you can view resulting audit entries using Event Viewer.

To configure auditing for a printer, open its Properties dialog box, click the Security tab, and then click Advanced. Click the Auditing tab and add entries for specific groups or users. For each security principal you add to the audit entry list, you can configure auditing for successful or failed access based on the standard printer permissions, including Print, Manage Documents, and Manage Printers.

You must then enable the Audit Object Access policy, which is located in group or local policy under Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy. After the policy has taken effect, you can examine the Security event log to see and analyze entries made based on printer auditing.

Troubleshooting Printers

Troubleshooting is an important part of printer management. The following guidance will help you understand, identify, and address the types of incidents and problems that may occur in Windows Server 2003 printing.

Remember when troubleshooting that printing includes multiple components, typically:

■ The application that is attempting to print.

■ The logical printer on the computer on which the application is running.

■ The network connection between the print client and the shared logical printer on the server.

■ The logical printer on the server—its spool, drivers, security settings, and so on.

■ The network connection between the print server and the printer.

■ The printer itself—its hardware, configuration, and status.

An efficient way to solve most problems associated with printing is to troubleshoot each component logically and methodically.

Identify the Scope of Failure

If the user can print a job from another application on his or her computer, the error is most likely related to the failed job’s application, rather than with the computer, the network, the print server, or the printer hardware. However, in some cases, using a different driver or data type can solve an application’s print errors.

If the user cannot print to the printer from any application, identify whether the user can print to other printers on the same print server, or on other print servers. If all possibilities fail, and if other users can print to the printers on the network, the error is likely localized to the user’s computer.

Try creating a local printer on the problematic system that points directly to the printer’s port. In other words, bypass the printer server. If this process succeeds, there is a problem on the print server, with communication between the user’s system and the print server, or with the printer connections on the client.

Verify That the Print Client Can Connect to the Print Server

You can confirm connectivity between the print client and the print server by opening the printer window from the Printers And Faxes folder on the client computer. If the printer window opens, showing any documents in the printer queue, the client is successfully connecting to the shared printer. An error opening the printer window would indicate a potential networking, authentication, or security permissions problem. Attempt to ping the print server’s IP address. Click Start, choose Run, and type \\printserver. If the window opens showing the Printers And Faxes folder and any shared folders, the client is connecting to the server. Double-check security permissions on the logical printer.

Verify That the Printer Is Operational

Check the printer itself and ensure that it is in the ready state (ready to print). Print a test page from the printer console. Check the cable connecting the printer to the print server or the network. If the printer is network attached, confirm that the network interface card light is on, indicating network connectivity.

Verify That the Printer Can Be Accessed from the Print Server

Most printers can display their IP address on the printer console or by printing out a configuration page. Confirm that the printer’s IP address matches the IP address of the logical printer’s port. The port’s IP address can be seen in the printer’s Properties dialog box on the Ports tab. Ensure that it is possible to communicate with the printer over the network by pinging the printer’s IP address.

Verify That the Print Server’s Services Are Running

Using the Services MMC, check that services required for the printer are working properly. For example, confirm that the remote procedure call (RPC) service is running on the print server. RPC is required for standard network connections to shared printers. Confirm also that the print spooler service is running on the print server.

You can also examine the volume on which the spool folder is stored to ensure that there is sufficient disk space for spooling. The spool folder location can be discovered and modified in the Server Properties dialog box, which you can access by choosing Server Properties from the File menu of the Printers And Faxes folder.

You should also look at the System log to see if the spooler has registered any error events, and, in the Printers And Faxes Folder, make sure that the printer is not in Offline mode.

Attempt to print a job from an application on the print server. If you can print to the printer from the print server, the problem is not with the printer. If you cannot print to the printer from an application on the print server, create a new printer directed at the same port and attempt to print to the new printer. If that job succeeds, there is a problem in the configuration of the original logical printer. If that job is unsuccessful, there is a problem communicating with the printer, or with the hardware itself.

Advanced Printer Configuration and Management

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 04:53:00 +0000

In the above topic (installing and configuring Printer) , you learned that the Windows printer model is best leveraged when a logical printer is created to support a physical device either directly attached to the computer or attached to the network and when that logical printer is shared to printer clients. That logical printer on the print server becomes a central point of con-figuration and management. The drivers that you install on the printer are downloaded automatically by Windows clients, and the settings you configure for the printer are distributed as the settings for each of the printer’s clients.

This Topic takes this virtualization of printers as logical devices to the next level. After examining printer properties, including printer security, you will learn how to create printer pools to provide faster turnaround for client print jobs. You will also learn how to make better use of your printers by creating more than one logical printer for a device to configure, manage, or monitor print jobs or printer usage more effectively. Finally, you will learn how to manage Active Directory printer objects and Internet printing.

Managing Printer Properties

Printers and print jobs are managed from their properties dialog boxes. These properties dialog boxes can be accessed from the Printers And Faxes folder. Right-click a printer and select Properties to configure a printer. Double-click a printer and, in the print queue, right-click a print job and choose Properties to configure a print job. The initial properties of a print job are inherited from the properties of the printer itself. But a print job’s default properties can be modified independently of the printer’s.

Controlling Printer Security

Windows Server 2003 allows you to control printer usage and administration by assigning permissions through the Security tab of the printer’s Properties dialog box. You can assign permissions to control who can use a printer and who can administer the printer or documents processed by the printer. A typical printer Security tab of a printer’s Properties dialog box is shown in Below Figure.

You can use a printer’s access control list (ACL) to restrict usage of a printer and to delegate administration of a printer to users who are not otherwise administrators. Windows Server 2003 provides three levels of printer permissions: Print, Manage Printers, and Manage Documents.

By default, the Print permission is assigned to the Everyone group. Choosing this permission allows all users to send documents to the printer. To restrict printer usage, remove this permission and assign Allow Print permission to other groups or individual users. Alternatively, you can deny Print permission to groups or users. As with file system ACLs, denied permissions override allowed permissions. Also, like file system ACLs, it is best practice to restrict access by assigning allow permissions to a more restricted group of users rather than granting permissions to a broader group and then having to manage access by assigning additional deny permissions.

The Manage Documents permission provides the ability to cancel, pause, resume, or restart a print job. The Creator Owner group is allowed Manage Documents permission. Because a permission assigned to Creator Owner is inherited by the user that creates an object, this permission enables a user to cancel, pause, resume, or restart a print job that he or she has created. The Administrators, Print Operators and Server Operators groups are also allowed the Manage Documents permission, which means they can cancel, pause, resume, or restart any document in the print queue. Those three groups are also assigned the Allow Manage Printers permission, which enables them to modify printer settings and configuration, including the ACL itself.

Assigning Forms to Paper Trays

If a print device has multiple trays that regularly hold different paper sizes, you can assign a form to a specific tray. A form defines a paper size. When users print a document of a particular paper size, Windows Server 2003 automatically routes the print job to the paper tray that holds the correct form. Examples of forms include Legal, Letter, A4, Envelope, and Executive.

To assign a form to a paper tray, select the Device Settings tab of the printer’s Proper-ties dialog box, as shown in Below Figure. The number of trays shown in the Form To Tray Assignment section obviously depends on the type of printer you have installed, and the number of trays it supports. Further down the Device Settings tree are settings to indicate the installation state of printer options, such as additional paper trays, paper handling units, fonts, and printer memory.

Print Job Defaults

The General tab of the printer’s Properties dialog box includes a Printing Preferences button, and the Advanced tab includes a Printing Defaults button. Both of these buttons display a dialog box that lets you control the manner in which jobs are printed by the logical printer, including page orientation (portrait or landscape), double-sided

printing (if supported), paper source, resolution, and other document settings. These dialog boxes are identical to each other, and are also identical to the dialog box a user receives when clicking Properties in a Print dialog box.

Why are there three print job Properties dialog boxes? The Printing Defaults dialog box configures default settings for all users of the logical printer. If the printer is shared, its printing defaults become the default properties for all printers connected from clients to the shared printer. The Printing Preferences dialog box configures the user-specific, personal preferences for a printer. Any settings in the Printing Preferences dialog box override printing defaults. The Properties dialog box that can be accessed by clicking Properties in a Print dialog box configures the properties for the specific job that is printed. Those properties will override both printing defaults and printing preferences. This triad of print job property sets allows administrators to configure a printer centrally, by setting printing defaults on the shared logical printer, and allows flexibility and decentralized configuration by users or on a document-by-document basis.

Printer Schedule

The Advanced tab of a printer’s Properties dialog box, as shown in Below Figure, allows you to configure numerous additional settings that drive the behavior of the logical printer, its print processor and spool. Among the more useful and interesting setting is printer’s schedule.

The logical printer’s schedule determines when a job is released from the spool, or queue, and sent to the printer itself. A user with Allow Print permission can send a job to the printer at any time, but the job will be held until the printer’s schedule allows it to be directed to the printer’s port. Such a configuration is not appropriate for normal, day-to-day printers. However a schedule is invaluable for situations in which users are printing large jobs, and you want those jobs to print after hours, or during periods of low use. By configuring a printer’s schedule to be available during night hours, users can send the job to the printer during the day, the printer will complete the jobs over-night, and the users can pick up those printing jobs the next morning.

Setting Up a Printer Pool

A printer pool is one logical printer that supports multiple physical printers, either attached to the server, attached to the network, or a combination thereof. When you create a printer pool, users’ documents are sent to the first available printer—the logical printer representing the pool automatically checks for an available port.

Printer pooling is configured from the Ports tab of the printer’s Properties dialog box. To set up printer pooling, select the Enable Printer Pooling check box, and then select or add the ports containing print devices that will be part of the pool. Below Figure shows a printer pool connected to three network-attached printers.

Configuring Multiple Logical Printers for a Single Printer

Although a printer pool is a single logical printer that supports multiple ports, or printers, the reverse structure is more common and more powerful: multiple logical printers supporting a single port, or printer. By creating more than one logical printer directing jobs to the same physical printer, you can configure different properties, printing defaults, security settings, auditing, and monitoring for each logical printer.

For example, you might want to allow executives at MCSEWEB Ltd. to print jobs immediately, bypassing documents that are being printed by other users. To do so, you can create a second logical printer directing to the same port (the same physical printer) as the other users, but with a higher priority.

Use the Add Printer Wizard to generate an additional logical printer. To achieve a multiple logical printer-single port structure, additional printers use the same port as an existing logical printer. The printer name and share name are unique. After the new printer has been added, open its properties and configure the drivers, ACL, printing defaults, and other settings of the new logical printer.

To configure high priority for the new logical printer, click the Advanced tab and set the priority, in the range of 1 (lowest) to 99 (highest). Assuming that you assigned 99 to the executives’ logical printer, and 1 to the printer used by all users, documents sent to the executives’ printer will print before documents queued in the users’ printer. An executive’s document will not interrupt a user’s print job. However, when the printer is free, it will accept jobs from the higher-priority printer before accepting jobs from the lower-priority printer. To prevent users from printing to the executives’ printer, configure its ACL and remove the print permission assigned to the Everyone group, and instead allow only the executives’ security group print permission.

Windows Server 2003 Printer Integration with Active Directory

The print subsystem of Windows Server 2003 is tightly integrated with Active Directory, making it easy for users and administrators to search for and connect to printers throughout an enterprise. All required interaction between printers and Active Directory is configured, by default, to work without administrative intervention. You only need to make changes if the default behavior is not acceptable.

When a logical printer is added to a Windows Server 2003 print server, the printer is automatically published to Active Directory. The print server creates a print Queue object and populates its properties based on the driver and settings of the logical printer.

When any change occurs in the printer’s configuration, the Active Directory printer object is updated. All the configuration information is sent again to the Active Directory store even if some of it has remained unchanged.

If a print server disappears from the network, its printer object is removed from the Active Directory. The printer Pruner service confirms the existence of shared printers represented in Active Directory by contacting the shared printer every eight hours. A printer object will be pruned if the service is unable to contact the printer two times in a row. This might occur if a print server is taken offline. It will happen regularly if printers are shared on Windows 2000 or Windows XP workstations that are shut off over-night or on weekends. However, a print server will recreate the printer objects for its printers when the machine starts, or when the spooler service is restarted. So, again, administrative intervention is not required.

Publishing Windows Printers

Printers that are added by using the Add Printer Wizard are published by default. The Add Printer Wizard does not allow you to prevent the printer from being published to the Active Directory service when you install or add a printer.

If you want to re-publish a printer (for example, after updating its name or other properties), or if you do not want a shared printer published in Active Directory, open the printer’s Properties dialog box, click the Sharing tab, and select or clear the List In The Directory check box.

Logical printers that are shared on computers running Windows NT 4 or Windows NT 3.51 are not published automatically, but can be manually published using the Active Directory Users And Computers MMC console. Simply right-click the OU or other container in which you want to create the printer and choose New Printer.

Manually Configuring Printer Publishing Behavior

All the default system behaviors described above can be modified using local or group policy. Printer policies are located in the Computer Configuration node, under Administrative Templates. For a description of each of these policies, open the Properties dialog box for a specific policy and click the Explain tab.

Printer Location Tracking

Printer location tracking is a feature, disabled by default, that significantly eases a user’s search for a printer in a large enterprise by pre-populating the Location box of the Find Printers dialog box, so that the result set will automatically be filtered to list printers in geographic proximity to the user.

To prepare for printer location tracking, you must have one or more sites or one or more subnets. Site and subnet objects are created and maintained using the Active Directory Sites And Services MMC snap-in or console. You must also configure the Location tab of the site or subnet Properties dialog box using a naming convention that creates a hierarchy of locations, separated by slashes. For example, the location USA/ NYC/1802Americas/42/B might refer to a building at 1802 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, on the 42nd floor in Area B. A location may span more than one subnet, or more than one site.

You must then enable printer location tracking using the Pre-Populate Printer Search Location Text policy.

Active Directory is able to identify a computer’s site or subnet affiliation based on the computer’s IP address. When the Find Printers dialog box is invoked, the computer’s location, as defined in its corresponding site or subnet object, will be automatically placed in the Location box. A Browse button will also appear, enabling a user to browse the location hierarchy for printers in other locations.

This powerful feature simplifies printer administration and setup considerably. How-ever, it obviously requires careful planning on the back end to ensure that all subnets are defined, and that a reasonable, hierarchical location naming convention has been applied consistently. More information about this feature is available in the online Help and Support Center.

Internet Printing

Windows Server 2003 supports an additional set of functionality through the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), which enables users to connect to printers and send print jobs over encapsulated Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Internet printing also gives administrators the option to manage and configure printers using any variety of Inter-net browsers and platforms.

Setting Up Internet Printing

Internet printing is not installed or enabled by default in Windows Server 2003. You must install Internet Information Services (IIS). Internet printing is available for installation when you install IIS. To install Internet printing, perform the following steps:

1. Open Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel and click Add/Remove Windows Components.

2. Select Application Server and click Details.

3. Select Internet Information Services (IIS) and click Details.

4. Select Internet Printing.

Once IIS and Internet printing are installed, you can disable or enable the feature using the IIS snap-in or console. Expand the server’s node and click Web Service Extensions. In the details pane, select Internet Printing, and click Prohibit or Allow.

Internet printing creates a Printers virtual directory under the Default Web site. This virtual directory points to %Systemroot%\Web\Printers. The printer site is accessed using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 and later by typing the address of the print server in the Address box followed by the Printers virtual directory name. For example, to access the Internet printing page for Server, type http://Server/printers/.

Using and Managing Internet Printers

You can connect to http://printserver/printers to view all printers on the print server. After locating the desired printer and clicking it, a Web page for that printer is displayed.

As a shortcut, if you know the exact name of the printer to which you want to connect, type the address of the printer using the following format:

http://printserver/printersharename/

Once the printer’s Web page is displayed, you can connect to or manage the printer, assuming you have been allowed appropriate security permissions. When you click Connect on the printer’s Web page, the server generates a .cab file that contains the appropriate printer driver files and downloads the .cab file to the client computer. The printer that is installed is displayed in the Printers folder on the client. The printer can then be used and managed from the Printers And Faxes folder like any other printer. Using a Web browser to manage printers has several advantages:

■It allows you to administer printers from any computer running a Web browser, regardless of whether the computer is running Windows Server 2003 or has the correct printer drivers installed.

■It allows you to customize the interface. For example, you can create your own Web page containing a floor plan with the locations of the printers and the links to the printers.

■It provides a summary page listing the status of all printers on a print server.

■Internet printing can report real-time print device data, such as whether the print device is in power-saving mode, if the printer driver makes such information avail-able. This information is not available from the Printers And Faxes window.

Installing and Configuring Printers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:16:00 +0000

Windows Server 2003 supports powerful, secure, and flexible print services. By using a Windows Server 2003 computer to manage printers attached locally to the computer or attached to the network, such printers can be made available to applications running locally on the Windows Server 2003 computer or to users on any client platform, including previous versions of Windows, as well as Netware, UNIX, or Apple Macintosh clients. This topic will examine the basic concepts, terminology, and skills related to the setup of printers in Windows Server 2003.

Understanding the Windows Server 2003 Printer Model

Windows Server 2003, and previous versions of Windows, support two types of printers:

■Locally attached printers Printers that are connected to a physical port on a print server, typically a universal serial bus (USB) or parallel port.

■Network-attached printers Printers connected to the network instead of a physical port. A network-attached printer is a node on the network; print servers can address the printer using a network protocol such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

Each type of printer is represented on the print server as a logical printer. The logical printer defines the characteristics and behavior of the printer. It contains the driver, printer settings, print setting defaults and other properties that control the manner in which a print job is processed and sent to the chosen printer. This virtualization of the printer by a logical printer allows you to exercise extraordinary creativity and flexibility in configuring your print services.

There are two ways to implement printing to network attached printers. One model is created by installing logical printers on all computers, and connecting those logical printers directly to the network-attached printer. In this model, there is no print server; each computer maintains its own settings, print processor, and queue. When users examine the print queue, they see only the jobs they have sent to the printer. There is no way for users to know what jobs have been sent to the printer by other users. In addition, error messages appear only on the computer that is printing the current job. Finally, all print job processing is performed locally on the user’s computer, rather than being offloaded to a print server.

Because of these significant drawbacks, the most typical configuration of printers in an enterprise is a three-part model consisting of the physical printer itself, a logical printer hosted on a print server, and printer clients connecting to the server’s logical printer. This Topic focuses exclusively on such a structure, although the concepts and skills discussed apply to other printer configurations.

Printing with a print server provides the following advantages:

■The logical printer on the print server defines the printer settings and manages printer drivers.

■The logical printer produces a single print queue that appears on all client computers, so users can see where their jobs are in relation to other users’ jobs.

■Error messages, such as out-of-paper or printer-jam messages, are visible on all clients, so all users can know the state of the printer.

■Most applications and most print drivers will offload some, or a significant amount, of the print-job processing to the server, which increases the responsiveness of the client computers. In other words, when users click Print, their jobs are sent quickly to the print server and users can resume their work while the print server processes the jobs.

■ Security, auditing, monitoring, and logging functions are centralized.

Installing a Printer on Windows Server 2003

Printers are managed most commonly through the Printers And Faxes folder, which integrates both printer and fax capabilities. The Add Printer Wizard guides you through the printer setup. The most critical choices you must make are the following:

■Local Or Network Printer This page of the Add Printer Wizard is shown in below Figure . When you set up a printer on a Windows Server 2003 computer, the terms local printer and network printer have slightly different meanings from what you might expect. A local printer is a logical printer that supports a printer attached directly to the server or a stand-alone, network-attached printer. When you direct the Add Printer Wizard to create a local printer by clicking Local Printer Attached To This Computer, the server can share the printer to other clients on the network. A network printer, on the other hand, is a logical printer that that connects to a printer directly attached to another computer or to a printer managed by another print server. The user interface can be misleading, so remember that, in the common print server implementation, the print server will host local printers (whether the printer hardware is attached to the computer or network-attached), and workstations will create network printers connecting to the server’s shared logical printer.

■ Select A Printer Port When you create a local printer on a print server, the Add Printer Wizard asks you to specify the port to which the printer is attached. If the port already exists, whether a local port such as LPT1 or a network port specified by an IP address, select the port from the Use The Following Port drop-down list. When setting up a logical printer for a network attached printer for which a port has not been created, click Create A New Port, select Standard TCP/IP Port and click Next. The Add Standard TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard appears. Clicking Next prompts you for the IP address or DNS name of the printer. After the port has been added, you are returned to the Add Printer Wizard.

■ Install Printer Software If Plug and Play does not detect and install the correct printer automatically, you can select your printer from an extensive list that is categorized by manufacturer. If the printer does not appear on the list, you can click Have Disk and install the printer from drivers supplied by the manufacturer.

■ Printer Name and Share Name Although Windows Server 2003 supports long printer names and share names including spaces and special characters, it is best practice to keep names short and simple. The entire qualified name including the server name (for example, \\Server01\PSCRIPT) should be 32 characters or fewer.

The share name and the printer name appear, and are used in different places throughout the Windows user interface. Although the share name is independent of, and can be different from, the printer name, many enterprises unify the printer name and the share name to reduce confusion.

Configuring Printer Properties

After installing the logical printer, you can configure numerous properties by opening the printer’s Properties dialog box, shown in Below Figure . The General tab allows you to configure the printer name, location, and comments, all of which were initially configured based on your responses to prompts in the Add Printer Wizard.

The Sharing tab shown in Below Figure allows you to specify whether the logical printer is shared, and is therefore available to other clients on the network, and whether the printer is listed in Active Directory, a default setting, for shared printers, that allows users to easily search for and connect to printers.

During printer setup, Windows Server 2003 loads drivers onto the print server that support that printer for clients running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. Printer drivers are platform-specific. If other platforms will be connecting to the shared logical printer, install the appropriate drivers on the server, so that Windows clients will download the driver automatically when they connect. Otherwise, you will be prompted for the correct drivers on each individual client.

On the Sharing tab of the Properties dialog box, click Additional Drivers to configure the print server to host drivers for computers running versions of Windows prior to Windows 2000. When you select a previous version of Windows, the server will prompt you for the drivers for the appropriate platform and printer. Those drivers will be available from the printer’s manufacturer, or sometimes on the original CD-ROM of the previous version of Windows.

By loading drivers on the server for all client platforms, you can centralize and facilitate driver distribution. Client computers running Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 download the driver when they first connect to the shared printer. They also verify that they have the current printer driver each time they print and, if they do not, they download the updated driver. For these client computers, you need only update printer drivers on the print server. Client computers running Windows 95 or Windows 98 do not check for updated printer drivers, once the driver is initially downloaded and installed. You must manually install updated printer drivers on these clients.

Other printer properties will be discussed later in this Topic.

Connecting Clients to Printers

Printers that have been set up as logical printers on a print server can be shared to other systems on the network. Those systems will also require logical printers to represent the network printer.

Configuring a print client can be done in several ways, including the Add Printer Wizard, which can be started from the Printers And Faxes folder or from the common Windows Print dialog box in almost all Microsoft applications, including Internet Explorer and Notepad. On the Local or Network Printer page, select A Network Printer Or A Printer Attached To Another Computer. When prompted for the printer name, you can search Active Directory, enter the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) (for example, \\Server\Printersharename) or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the printer, or browse for the printer using the Browser service.

One of the more efficient ways to set up print clients is to search Active Directory for the printer. In the Specify A Printer page of the Add Printer Wizard, choose Find A Printer In The Directory and click Next. The Find Printers dialog box appears, as shown in Below Figure, and you can enter search criteria including printer name, location, model, and features. Wildcards can be used in many of the criteria. Click Find Now and a result set is displayed. Select the printer and click OK. The Add Printer Wizard then steps you through remaining configuration options.

A logical printer includes the drivers, settings, and print queue for the printer on the selected port. When you double-click a printer in the Printers And Faxes folder, a window opens that displays the jobs in the printer’s queue. By right-clicking any job, you can pause, resume, cancel, or restart the job. From the Printer menu, you can also pause or cancel all printing, access the printer properties, or set the printer as default or offline. Your ability to perform each of these actions depends, of course, upon the permissions on the printer’s access control list.

As an alternative to using the Add Printer Wizard, if you are using Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP with the default Start menu, perform the following steps to con-figure a print client:

1. Click Start, and then select Search.

2.In the Search Companion pane, click Other Search Options, then Printers, Computers, Or People, and finally A Printer On The Network.

3.The Find Printers dialog box will be displayed, allowing you to search for the printer using various criteria.

4. After entering the desired criteria, click Find Now.

Advanced Backup and Restore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:10:00 +0000

Now that you have created a backup plan and verified your procedures for backup and restore, you will want to understand the process in more depth so that you can configure backup operations to be more flexible, more automated or perhaps even easier. This topic will explore the technologies underlying data backup, such as VSC and RSM, and will lay out options for scripting and scheduling backup operations. You will then leverage the new Shadow Copies Of Shared Folders feature to enable users to recover from simple data loss scenarios without administrative intervention.

Understanding VSS

Windows Server 2003 offers VSS, also referred to as “snap backup.” VSS allows the backing up of databases and other files that are held open or locked due to operator or system activity. Shadow copy backups allow applications to continue to write data to a volume during backup, and allow administrators to perform backups at any time without locking out users or risking skipped files.

Although VSS is an important enhancement to the backup functionality of Windows Server 2003, it is nevertheless best practice to perform backups when utilization is low. If you have applications that manage storage consistency differently while files are open, that can affect the consistency of the files in the backup of those open files. For critical applications, or for applications such as Microsoft SQL Server that offer native backup capabilities, consult the documentation for the application to determine the recommended backup procedure.

Backup Security

You must have the Backup Files And Directories user right, or NTFS Read permission, to back up a file. Similarly, you must have the Restore Files And Directories user right, or NTFS Write permission to the target destination, to restore a file. Privileges are assigned to both the Administrators and Backup Operators groups, so the minimum required privileges can be given to a user, a group, or a service account by nesting the account in the Backup Operators group on the server.

Users with the Restore Files And Directories user right can remove NTFS permissions from files during restore. In Windows Server 2003, they can additionally transfer ownership of files between users.

Therefore, it is important to control the membership of the Backup Operators group and to physically secure backup tapes. A “loose” backup tape makes it easy for any intelligent individual to restore and access sensitive data.

Managing Media

The Backup Utility of Windows Server 2003 works closely with the RSM service. RSM, which is designed to manage robotic tape libraries and CD-ROM libraries, accepts requests for media from other services or, in this case, applications, and ensures that the media is correctly mounted or loaded.

RSM is also used with single-media devices, such as a manually loaded backup tape drive, CD-ROM, or Iomega Jaz drive. In the case of single-media drives, RSM keeps track of media through their labels or serial numbers. The impact of RSM is that, even in a single-media drive backup system, each tape must have a unique label.

Media Pools

The Backup Utility of Windows Server 2003 manages tapes with RSM using media pools, as seen in Below Figure.

There are four media pools related to backup:

■Unrecognized: Tape media that are completely blank or in a foreign format are contained in the unrecognized pool until they are formatted.

■Free: This pool contains newly formatted tape media, as well as tapes that have been specifically marked as free by an administrator. Free media can be moved into the backup media pool by writing a backup set to them.

■Backup: This pool contains media that have been written to by the Backup Utility. The Backup Utility will only write to media in the Free media pool (and it will label the tape with the name you enter just before starting the backup) and to media, specified by name, in the Backup media pool.

■Import: This pool contains tape media that are not cataloged on the local disk drive. Cataloging such a tape will move the tape into the backup media pool.

Managing Tapes and Media Pools

In conjunction with backup procedures and tape rotation, you will need to manage your tapes in and out of these media pools. To that end, the following actions are avail-able from the Restore And Manage Media page of the Backup Utility:

■Format a tape: Right-click a tape and choose Format. Formatting is not a secure way to erase tapes. If you need to erase tapes for legal or security reasons, use an appropriate third-party utility. Formatting does, however, prepare a tape and move it into the free media pool. Not all drives support formatting.

■Retension a tape: Right-click a tape and choose Retension. Not all drives sup-port retensioning.

■Mark a tape as free: Right-click a tape and choose Mark As Free. This moves the tape into the free media pool. It does not erase the tape. If you need to erase tapes for legal reasons, use an appropriate third-party utility.

Catalogs

When the Backup Utility creates a backup set, it also creates a catalog listing files and folders included in the backup set. That catalog is stored on the disk of the server (the local or on-disk catalog) and in the backup set itself (the on-media catalog). The local catalog facilitates quick location of files and folders to restore. The Backup Utility can display the catalog immediately, rather than load the catalog from the typically slower backup media. The on-media catalog is critical if the drive containing the local catalog has failed, or if you transfer the files to another system. In those cases, Windows can recreate the local catalog from the on-media catalog.

The Restore And Manage Media page of the Backup Utility allows you to manage catalogs, as follows:

■Delete Catalog: Right-click a backup set and choose Delete Catalog if you have lost or damaged the backup media or if you are transferring files to another system and no longer require its local catalog. The on-media catalog is not affected by this command.

■Catalog: A tape from a foreign system that is not cataloged on the local machine will appear in the import media pool. Right-click the media and choose the Catalog command. Windows will generate a local catalog from the tape or file. This does not create or modify the on-media catalog.

Backup Options

Backup options are configured by choosing the Options command from the Tools menu. Many of these options configure defaults that are used by the Backup Utility and the command-line backup tool, Ntbackup. Those settings can be overridden by options of a specific job.

General Options

The General tab of the Options dialog box includes the following settings:

■Compute Selection Information Before Backup And Restore Operations: Backup estimates the number of files and bytes that will be backed up or restored before beginning the operation.

■Use The Catalogs On The Media To Speed Up Building Restore Catalogs On Disk: If a system does not have an on-disk catalog for a tape, this option allows the system to create an on-disk catalog from the on-media catalog. However, if the tape with the on-media catalog is missing or if media in the set is damaged, you can deselect this option and the system will scan the entire backup set (or as much of it as you have) to build the on-disk catalog. Such an operation can take several hours if the backup set is large.

■Verify Data After The Backup Completes: The system compares the contents of the backup media to the original files and logs any discrepancies. This option obviously adds a significant amount of time for completing the backup job. Discrepancies are likely if data changes frequently during backup or verification, and it is not recommended to verify system backups because of the number of changes that happen to system files on a continual basis. So long as you rotate tapes and discard tapes before they are worn, it should not be necessary to verify data.

■Backup The Contents Of Mounted Drives: A mounted drive is a drive volume that is mapped to a folder on another volume’s namespace, rather than, or in addition to, having a drive letter. If this option is deselected, only the path of the folder that is mounted to a volume is backed up; the contents are not. By selecting this option, the contents of the mounted volume is also backed up. There is no disadvantage in backing up a mount point, however if you back up the mount point and the mounted drive as well, your backup set will have duplication.

If you primarily back up to file and then save that file to another media, clear the following options. If you primarily back up to a tape or another media managed by Removable Storage, select the following options.

■Show Alert Message When I Start the Backup Utility And Removable Storage Is Not Running.

■Show Alert Message When I Start The Backup Utility And There Is Recognizable Media Available.

■ Show Alert Message When New Media Is Inserted.

■ Always Allow Use Of Recognizable Media Without Prompting.

Backup Logging

The Options dialog has a tab called Backup Log. Logging alerts you to problems that might threaten the viability of your backup, so consider your logging strategy as well as your overall backup plan. Although detailed logging will list every file and path that was backed up, the log is so verbose you are likely to overlook problems. Therefore, summary logging is recommended, and is the default. Summary logs report skipped files and errors.

The system will save 10 backup logs to the path %UserProfile%\Local Settings \Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\Ntbackup\Data. There is no way to change the path or the number of logs that are saved before the oldest log is replaced. You can, of course, include that path in your backup and thereby back up old logs.

File Exclusions

The Exclude Files tab of the Options dialog box also allows you to specify extensions and individual files that should be skipped during backup. Default settings result in the Backup Utility’s skipping the page file, temporary files, client-side cache, debug folder, and the File Replication Service (FRS) database and folders, as well as other local logs and databases.

Files can be excluded based on ownership of the files. Click Add New under Files Excluded For All Users to exclude files owned by any user. Click Add New under Files Excluded For User if you want to exclude only files that you own. You can specify files based on Registered File Type or based on an extension using the Custom File Mask. Finally, you can restrict excluded files to a specific folder or hard drive using the Applies To Path and the Applies To All Subfolders options.

Advanced Backup Options

After selecting files to back up, and clicking Start Backup, you can configure additional, job-specific options by clicking Advanced. Among the more important settings are the following:

■Verify Data After Backup: This setting overrides the default setting in the Backup Options dialog box.

■If Possible, Compress The Backup Data To Save Space: This setting compresses data to save space on the backup media, an option not available unless the tape drive supports compression.

■Disable Volume Shadow Copy: VSS allows the backup of locked and open files. If this option is selected, some files that are open or in use may be skipped.

The Ntbackup Command

The Ntbackup command provides the opportunity to script backup jobs on Windows Server 2003. Its syntax is

Ntbackup backup {"path to backup" or "@selectionfile.bks"} /j "Job Name" options

The command’s first switch is backup, which sets its mode—you cannot restore from the command line. That switch is followed by a parameter that specifies what to back up. You can specify the actual path to the local folder, network share, or file that you want to back up. Alternatively, you can indicate the path to a backup selection file (.bks file) to be used with the syntax @selectionfile.bks. The at (@) symbol must precede the name of the backup selection file. A backup selection file contains information on the files and folders you have selected for backup. You have to create the file using the graphical user interface (GUI) version of the Backup Utility.

The third switch, /J “JobName”, specifies the descriptive job name, which is used in the backup report.

You can then select from a staggering list of switches, which are grouped below based on the type of backup job you want to perform.

Backing Up to a File

Use the switch

/F “FileName”

where FileName is the logical disk path and file name. You must not use the following switches with this switch: /T /P /G.

The following example backs up the remote Data share on Server01 to a local file on the E drive:

ntbackup backup "\\server01\Data" /J "Backup of Server 01 Data folder" /F "E:\Backup.bkf"

Appending to a File or Tape

Use the switch:

/A

to perform an append operation. If appending to a tape rather than a file, you must use either /G or /T in conjunction with this switch. Cannot be used with /N or /P.

The following example backs up the remote Profiles share on Server02 and appends the set to the job created in the first example:

ntbackup backup "\\server02\Profiles" /J "Backup of Server 02 Profiles folder" /F "E:\Backup.bkf" /A

Backing Up to a New Tape or File, or Overwriting an Existing Tape

Use the switch:

/N “MediaName”

where MediaName specifies the new tape name. You must not use /A with this switch.

Backing Up to a New Tape

Use the switch

/P “PoolName”

where PoolName specifies the media pool that contains the backup media. This is usually a subpool of the backup media pool, such as 4mm DDS. You cannot use the /A, /G, /F, or /T options if you are using /P.

The following example backs up files and folders listed in the backup selection file c:\backup.bks to a tape drive:

ntbackup backup @c:\backup.bks /j "Backup Job 101" /n "Command Line Backup Job" /p "4mm DDS"

Backing Up to an Existing Tape

To specify a tape for an append or overwrite operation, you must use either the /T or /G switch along with either /A (append) or /N (overwrite). Do not use the /P switch with either /T or /G.

To specify a tape by name, use the /T switch with the following syntax:

/T “TapeName”

where TapeName specifies a valid tape in the media pool.

To back up the selection file and append it to the tape created in the previous example, you would use this command line:

ntbackup backup @c:\backup.bks /j "Backup Job 102" /a /t "Command Line Backup Job"

To specify a tape by its GUID, rather than its name, use the /G switch with the following syntax:

/G “GUIDName”

where GUIDName specifies a valid tape in the media pool.

Job Options

For each of the job types described above, you can specify additional job options using these switches:

■/M {BackupType} Specifies the backup type, which must be one of the following: normal, copy, differential, incremental, or daily.

■ /D {“SetDescription”} Specifies a label for the backup set.

■ /V:{yes/no} Verifies the data after the backup is complete.

■/R:{yes/no} Restricts access to this tape to the owner or members of the Administrators group.

■/L:{f s n} Specifies the type of log file: f=full, s=summary, n=none (no log file is created).

■ /RS:{yes/no} Backs up the migrated data files located in Remote Storage.

■ /HC:{on/off} Uses hardware compression, if available, on the tape drive.

■/SNAP:{on/off} Specifies whether the backup should use a Volume Shadow Copy.

Scheduling Backup Jobs

To schedule a backup job, create the job in the Backup Utility then click Start Backup and configure advanced backup options. After all options have been configured, click Schedule and, in the Set Account Information dialog box, type the user name and pass-word of the account to be used by the backup job.

In the Scheduled Job Options dialog box, enter a job name and click Properties. The Schedule Job dialog box appears, as shown in Below Figure. Configure the job date, time, and frequency. The Advanced button will let you configure additional schedule settings including a date range for the job. The Settings tab of the Schedule Job dialog box allows you to refine the job, for example, by specifying that the job should only take place if the machine has been idle for a period of time.

Once a job has been scheduled, you can edit the schedule by clicking the Schedule Jobs tab of the Backup Utility. Jobs are listed on a calendar. Click a job to open its schedule. Although you can also add a backup job by clicking Add Job on the Schedule Jobs tab, clicking Add Job will launch the backup wizard so that you can select the files to back up and some of the properties of the backup job. Most administrators find it more convenient to create a backup job on the Backup tab directly, then click Start Backup and Schedule, as described above.

Shadow Copies of Shared Folders

Windows Server 2003 supports another way for administrators and users alike to recover quickly from damage to files and folders. Using VSS, Windows Server 2003 automatically caches copies of files as they are modified. If a user deletes, overwrites, or makes unwanted changes to a file, you can simply restore a previous version of the file. This is a valuable feature, but is not intended to replace backups. Instead, it is designed to facilitate quick recovery from simple, day-to-day problems not recovery from significant data loss.

Enabling and Configuring Shadow Copies

The Shadow Copies feature for shared folders is not enabled by default. To enable the feature, open the Properties dialog box of a drive volume from Windows Explorer or the Disk Management snap-in. On the Shadow Copies tab, as shown in below Figure, select the volume and click Enable. Once enabled, all shared folders on the volume will be shadowed; specific shares on a volume cannot be selected. You can, however, manually initiate a shadow copy by clicking Create Now.

The default settings configure the server to make copies of shared folders at 7:00 A.M. and noon, Monday through Friday; and 10 percent of the drive space, on the same drive as the shared folder, is used to cache shadow copies.

Each of the following settings can be modified by clicking Settings on the Shadow Copies tab:

■Storage volume: To enhance performance (not redundancy), you can move the shadow storage to another volume. This must be done when no shadow copies are present. If shadow copies exist, and you want to change the storage volume, you must delete all shadow copies on the volume, then change the storage volume.

■Details: The dialog box lists shadow copies that are stored and space utilization statistics.

■Storage limits: This can be as low as 100 MB. When the shadow copy runs out of storage, it deletes older versions of files to make room for newer versions. The proper configuration of this setting depends on the total size of shared folders on a volume with shadowing enabled; the frequency with which files change, and the size of those files; and the number of previous versions you wish to retain. In any event, a maximum of 63 previous versions will be stored for any one file before the earliest version is removed from the shadow storage.

■Schedule: You can configure a schedule that reflects the work patterns of your users, ensuring that enough previous versions are available without prematurely filling the storage area and thereby forcing the removal of old versions. Remember that when a shadow copy is made, any files that have changed since the previous shadow copy are copied. If a file has been updated several times between shadow copies, those interim versions will not be available.

Using Shadow Copy

Shadow copies of shared folders allow you to access previous versions of files that the server has cached on the configured schedule. This will allow you to

■ Recover files that were accidentally deleted

■ Recover from accidentally overwriting a file

■ Compare versions of files while working

To access previous versions, click the properties of a folder or file and click the Previous Versions tab, as shown in below Figure.

The Previous Versions page will not be available if Shadow Copies is not enabled on the server, or if there are no previous versions stored on the server. It will also be unavailable if the shadow copy client has not been installed on your system. This file is located in the %Systemroot%\System32\Clients\Twclient\x86 folder of a Windows Server 2003 system. The Windows Installer (.msi) file can be deployed using Group Policy, SMS, or an e-mail message. Finally, the Previous Versions page is only available when accessing a file’s properties through a shared folder. If the file is stored on the local hard drive, you will not see the Previous Versions tab, even if the file is shared and VSS is enabled. See this lesson’s Practice for an example.

You can then choose to Restore the file to its previous location or Copy the file to a specific location.

If a file has been deleted, you obviously cannot go to the file’s Properties dialog box to locate the Previous Versions page. Instead, open the Properties of the parent folder, click the Previous Versions tab and locate a previous version of the folder that contains the file you want to recover. Click View and a folder window will open, as shown in below Figure , that displays the contents of the folder as of the time at which the shadow copy was made. Right-click the file and choose Copy, then paste it into the folder where you want the file to be recreated.

Shadow copy, as you can see, is a useful addition to the toolset for managing file servers and shared data. With VSS, you can preserve data sets at scheduled points in time. Administrators or users can then restore deleted or corrupted files, or compare files to previous versions. As the VSS cache fills, old versions are purged and new shadow copies are added.

If a user requires data to be restored and that data is no longer available through Previous Versions, you can restore the data from backup. If the server becomes corrupted, you must restore the data from backup. Although VSS enhances the manageability and resiliency of shared files, there is no substitute for a carefully planned and verified backup procedure.

Restoring Data

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:35:00 +0000

In conjunction with the design of a backup strategy, you must create and verify restore procedures to ensure that appropriate personnel are knowledgeable in the concepts and skills that are critical to data recovery. This topic will share the processes and options available for restoring data using the Backup Utility.

Restoring with the Backup Utility

Restoring data is a straightforward procedure. After opening the Backup Utility and clicking the Restore And Manage Media tab as shown in below Figure, you will be able to select the backup set from which to restore. Windows Server 2003 will then display the files and folders that the backup set contains by examining the backup set’s catalog. You can then select the specific files or folders you wish to restore. As with the backup selection, a blue check mark indicates that a file or folder will be fully restored. A dimmed check mark on a folder means that some, but not all, of its contents will be restored.

You are also asked to specify the restore location. For this option, you have three choices:

■Original location: Files and folders will be restored to the location from which they were backed up. The original folder structure will be maintained or, if folders were deleted, re-created.

■Alternate location: Files and folders will be restored to a folder you designate in the Alternate Location box. The original folder structure is preserved and created beneath that folder, where the designated alternate location is equivalent to the root (volume) of the backed up data. So, for example, if you backed up a folder C:\Data\Finance and you restored the folder to C:\Restore, you would find the Finance folder in C:\Restore\Data\Finance.

■Single folder: Files are restored to the folder you designate, but the folder structure is not maintained. All files are restored to a single folder.

After selecting the files to restore and the restore location, click Start Restore. Click OK and the restore process will begin. Confirm that no errors occurred.

Restore Options

Windows Server 2003 supports several options for how files in the restore location are handled during a restore. The following options are found in the Backup Utility’s Tools–Options command, on the Restore tab shown in below Figure.

■Do Not Replace The File On My Computer: This option, the default, causes the Restore utility to skip files that are already in the target location. A common scenario leading to this choice is one in which some, but not all, files have been deleted from the restore location. This option will restore such missing files with the backed-up files.

■Replace The File On Disk Only If The File On Disk Is Older: This option directs the restore process to overwrite existing files unless those files are more recent than the files in the backup set. The theory is that if a file in the target location is more recent than the backed-up copy, it is possible that the newer file contains information that you do not want to overwrite.

■Always Replace The File On My Computer: Under this restore option, all files are overwritten by their backed-up versions, regardless of whether the file is more recent than the backup. You will lose data in files that were modified since the backup date. Any files in the target location that are not in the backup set will remain, however.

After selecting files to restore, restore options and a restore destination, click Start Restore, and then confirm the restore. The Start Restore dialog box appears

Before confirming the restore, you can configure how the restore operation will treat security settings on the backed-up files by clicking Advanced in the Confirm Restore dialog box and selecting the Restore Security option. If data was backed up from, and is being restored to, an NTFS volume, the default setting will restore permissions, audit settings, and ownership information. Deselecting this option will restore the data with-out its security descriptors, and all restored files will inherit the permissions of the target restore volume or folder.

Backing Up Data

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:52:00 +0000

1. Fundamentals of Backup
2. Restoring Data
3. Advanced Backup and Restore

Fundamentals of Backup

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:46:00 +0000

At the core of every backup procedure is a backup tool and a backup plan. Windows Server 2003 provides a robust, flexible utility called Ntbackup. Ntbackup supports much of the functionality found in third-party tools, including the ability to schedule backups, and interacts closely with VSS and the Removable Storage Management (RSM) system. In this topic, you will examine the conceptual and procedural issues pivotal to the backing up of data, so that you understand the fundamentals of planning for and creating backup jobs with Ntbackup.

Introducing the Backup Utility

The backup utility in Windows Server 2003, commonly referred to by its executable name, Ntbackup, can be opened by clicking Backup in the Accessories–System Tools program group in the Start menu. Alternatively, it can be launched by typing ntbackup.exe in the Run dialog box.

The first time you launch the backup utility, it runs in Wizard mode, as shown in below Figure. This topic focuses on the more commonly used Backup Utility interface. If you agree with most administrators that it is easier to use the standard utility than the wizard, clear the Always Start In Wizard Mode check box, and then click Advanced Mode.

As you can see on the utility’s Welcome tab in below Figure, you can back up data manually (the Backup tab) or using the Backup Wizard. You can also schedule unattended backup jobs. The Backup Utility is also used to restore data manually (the Restore And Manage Media tab) or using the Restore Wizard. The Automated System Recovery (ASR) Wizard, which backs up critical operating system files, will be discussed later in this book.

This topic focuses on data backup planning and execution, and to explore the capability of the Backup Utility we will use the Backup tab, as shown in below Figure, rather than the Backup Wizard.

Selecting Files to Back Up

You may use the Backup tab to select the files and folders to be backed up. Items may be on local volumes or in network folders. When you select an entire folder for backup, a blue check mark appears. If you select only certain items in a folder, the folder displays a dimmed check mark to indicate a partial backup.

To back up files or folders from remote machines, either select the items from a mapped drive or expand My Network Places. The latter is the equivalent of using a Universal Naming Convention (UNC), such as \\Server\Sharename\Path-to- resource. Although selecting files and folders through My Network Places is more cumbersome (you must navigate more levels of the interface to locate the files), it has an advantage because drive mappings are more likely to change over time than UNCs.

Selecting the Backup Destination

Windows Server 2003 allows you to create a backup job on a variety of media types: a tape drive, a removable drive such as the Iomega Jaz drive, and, most importantly, directly to file on a disk volume. If the destination is a tape, the name specified must match the name of a tape that is mounted in the tape device.

If backing up to a file, the Backup Utility creates a .bkf file in the specified location, which can be a local volume or remote folder. It is not uncommon for administrators using the Backup Utility to back up a file on each server and consolidate the resulting files on a central server, which then transfers the backups to removable media. To achieve such a consolidation, the backup destination is configured as either a UNC to a single location on a central server or a local file on each server, which is later copied to a central location.

There are two important limitations of the Backup Utility. First, it does not support writable DVD and CD formats. To work around this limitation, back up to a file, then transfer the file to CD or DVD. Second, backing up to any destination except a file requires that the target media be in a device physically attached to the system. This means, for example, that you cannot back up data to a tape drive attached to a remote server.

Determining a Backup Strategy

After selecting the files to back up and specifying the backup destination, there is at least one more critical choice to make. Click Start Backup, then click Advanced, and the Advanced Backup Options dialog box appears, allowing you to specify the backup type. The backup type determines which of your selected files is in fact transferred to the destination media.

Each backup type relates in one way or another to an attribute maintained by every file: archive. The archive (A) attribute is a flag that is set when a file has been created or changed. To reduce the size and duration of backup jobs, most backup types will only transfer to media the files that have their archive attribute set. The most common source of confusion regarding the archive attribute arises from terminology. You will frequently hear, “The file is marked as backed up,” which really means that the archive attribute is cleared after a particular backup job. The next job will not transfer that file to media. If the file is modified, however, the archive attribute will again be set, and the file will be transferred at the next backup.

Normal Backups

All selected files and folders are backed up. The archive attribute is cleared. A Normal backup does not use the archive attribute to determine which files to back up; all selected items are transferred to the destination media. Every backup strategy begins with a Normal backup that essentially creates a baseline, capturing all files in the backup job.

Normal backups are the most time-consuming and require the most storage capacity of any backup type. However, because they generate a complete backup, normal back-ups are the most efficient type from which to restore a system. You do not need to restore multiple jobs. Normal backups clear the archive attribute from all selected files.

Incremental Backups

Selected files with the archive attribute set are backed up. The archive attribute is cleared. Selected files with the archive flag are transferred to the destination media, and the flag is cleared. If you perform an incremental backup one day after a normal backup has been performed, the job will contain only the files that were created or changed during that day. Similarly, if you perform an incremental backup one day after another incremental backup, the job will contain only the files that were created or changed during that day.

Incremental backups are the fastest and smallest type of backup. However they are less efficient as a restore set, because you must restore the normal backup and then restore, in order of creation, each subsequent incremental backup.

Differential Backups

Selected files with the archive attribute set are backed up. The archive attribute is not cleared. Because a differential backup uses the archive attribute, the job includes only files that have been created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup. A differential backup does not clear the archive attribute; therefore, if you perform differential backups two days in a row, the second job will include all the files in the first backup, as well as any files that were created or changed during the second day. As a result, differential backups tend to be larger and more time-consuming than incremental backups, but less so than normal backups.

Differential backups are significantly more efficient than incremental backups as a restore set, however. To fully restore a system you would restore the normal backup and the most recent differential backup.

Copy Backups

All selected files and folders are backed up. Copy neither uses nor clears the archive attribute. Copy backups are not used for typical or scheduled backups. Instead, copy backups are useful to move data between systems or to create an archival copy of data at a point in time without disrupting standard backup procedures.

Daily Backups

All selected files and folders that have changed during the day are backed up, based on the files’ modify date. The archive attribute is neither used nor cleared. If you want to back up all files and folders that change during the day without affecting a backup schedule, use a daily backup.

Combining Backup Types

Although creating a normal backup every night ensures that a server can be restored from a single job the next day, a normal backup may take too much time to create, per-haps causing the overnight job to last well into the morning, thus disrupting performance during working hours. To create an optimal backup strategy, you must take into account the time and size of the backup job, as well as the time required to restore a system in the event of failure. Two common solutions are:

■Normal and differential backups: On Sunday a normal backup is performed, and on Monday through Friday nights, differential backups are performed. Differential backups do not clear the archive attribute, which means that each backup includes all changes since Sunday. If data becomes corrupt on Friday, you only need to restore the normal backup from Sunday and the differential backup from Thursday. This strategy takes more time to back up, particularly if data changes frequently, but is easier and faster to restore, because the backup set is on fewer disks or tapes.

■Normal and incremental backups: On Sunday a normal backup is performed, and on Monday through Friday incremental backups are performed. Incremental backups clear the archive attribute, which means that each backup includes only the files that changed since the previous backup. If data becomes corrupt on Friday, you need to restore the normal backup from Sunday and each of the incremental backups, from Monday through Friday. This strategy takes less time to back up but more time to restore.