Chapter 5. Server Storage

Microsoft offers many rich storage features in Windows Server 2016. This chapter covers some of the most important ones, including Storage Spaces, Storage Area Network (SAN) features, and Storage Replica capabilities.

1. What Storage Spaces layout choice is similar to RAID 5?

a. Simple

b. Three-way mirror

c. Parity

d. Two-way mirror

2. How many disks are needed for three-way mirroring?

a. Two

b. Three

c. Four

d. Five

3. What SAN technology is critical for lossless connectivity in a converged network?

a. iSNS

b. DCB

c. MPIO

d. MCS

4. What SAN technology is critical for resiliency for the connectivity of iSCSI targets?

a. DCB

b. iSNS

c. MPIO

d. FC

5. In what scenarios could Storage Replica be critical? Choose two.

a. File Server

b. SYSVOL

c. SQL Server

d. Microsoft Exchange

6. What PowerShell cmdlet do you use to configure Storage Replica?

a. New-Replica

b. New-SRPartnership

c. New-SReplica

d. New-SReplicaPeer

Storage Pools: A collection of physical disks presented as logical disks (for example, one large logical disk).

Storage Spaces: Virtual disks created from free space in a Storage Pool. These virtual disks are like LUNs (logical unit numbers) in a Storage Area Network (SAN) environment.

Storage management is extremely flexible and offers many options, including the following:

The Windows Storage Management API (Application Programming Interface) in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

PowerShell

The File and Storage Services role in Server Manager

You can format your Storage Spaces virtual disk as either of the following:

NTFS

ReFS

Remember, as discussed in Chapter 4, “Disks and Volumes,” that various needs often dictate your choice of formatting. For example, data deduplication needs NTFS as the file system technology.

To configure Storage Spaces, you need to consider the following:

Disk-sector size: If you can use only 512 and/or 512e drives, your pool defaults to 512e; remember that the 512e disks use 4096-byte sectors that emulate 512-byte sectors. If there is one or more 4K drives, the pool defaults to 4K. You can define the sector size for Storage Spaces, but remember that it forces you into the type of disks that you can add.

Drive allocation: This dictates how a pool distributes drives; options include automatic by the OS (the default), manual, or hot spare.

Provisioning scheme: Options are thin provisioned or fixed provisioning space.

Simple: Simple features striping but no parity for resiliency; remember that striping means segments of data are written across multiple physical disks. Why would you choose Simple? The answer lies in performance improvements.

Two-way and three-way mirrors: These spaces support two- or three-way copies of the data they host; note that mirror spaces also stripe data across multiple physical disks.

Parity: This Storage Spaces technology is like RAID 5: Data is striped, along with parity information, across multiple physical drives; the parity information permits resiliency.

It is critical to remember these rules regarding the physical disks of your Storage Spaces configuration:

To create a storage pool, you need at least one physical disk.

If you want to create a resilient mirror virtual disk, you need a minimum of two physical disks.

To create a resilient virtual disk with parity, you need a minimum of three physical disks.

For three-way mirroring resiliency, you need at least five physical disks.

Your disks must be blank and unformatted, with no volumes on any disk.

Failover Clustering cannot use SATA, USB, or SCSI disks.

Follow these steps to configure the Storage Spaces functionality in various configurations:

Step 1. In Server Manager, select File and Storage Services and then Storage Pools, as shown in Figure 5-1.

Step 2. Create a new Storage Pool by using the Tasks drop-down menu.

Step 3. Provide values for Storage Pool Name and Available Disk Group, and choose Physical Disks for the pool.

Step 4. Create a new virtual disk and specify the following values:

Storage Pool

Virtual Disk Name

Enclosure Awareness

Storage Layout

Resiliency Settings

Provisioning Type

Size of the Virtual Disk

Step 5. When the virtual disk is created, select Create a volume when this wizard closes.

Step 6. In the New Volume Wizard, complete the following:

Virtual Disk

Volume Size

Drive Letter

File System

Volume Label

Step 1. Add a new virtual disk by navigating to iSCSI in Server Manager.

Step 2. Create a new iSCSI virtual disk by specifying the following values:

Storage location

Disk name

Size

ISCSI target

Step 3. In Server Manager, click the Refresh button and wait for all the panes to refresh.

Step 4. In the STORAGE POOLS pane, right-click your Storage Pool and then add the new physical disk to the Storage Pool.

Step 5. In the VIRTUAL DISKS pane, right-click Mirrored vDisk and then extend your virtual disk to the desired size.

When you add HDDs and SSDs to a Storage Space, Windows Server 2016 registers each type of disk and automatically creates two tiers. By default, each night at 1 a.m., optimization of the disks can occur.

To manually run the optimization, use the following PowerShell command:

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Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Storage Tiers Optimization" |
  Start-ScheduledTask

You can pin files to certain tiers by using the PowerShell cmdlet Set-FileStorageTier. Here is the complete syntax for this cmdlet:

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Set-FileStorageTier -DesiredStorageTierFriendlyName <String>
  -FilePath <String> [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-ThrottleLimit
  <Int32> ] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [ <CommonParameters>] [
  <WorkflowParameters>]

An IP network: IP is the glue holding the various parts of the datacenter together

iSCSI targets: ISCSI targets advertise storage, just like controllers for hard disk drives of locally attached storage.

iSCSI initiators: iSCSI targets display storage to the iSCSI initiator.

iSCSI qualified name (IQN): IQNs are unique identifiers that iSCSI uses to address initiators and targets on an iSCSI network.

The iSCSI Target Server role service supports a software-based and hardware-independent iSCSI disk subsystem. You can use the iSCSI Target Server to create iSCSI targets and iSCSI virtual disks, and then you can use Server Manager to manage your iSCSI targets and virtual disks. In Windows Server 2016, the iSCSI Target Server is available as a role service under the File and Storage Services role in Server Manager.

The following Windows PowerShell cmdlets exist for managing the iSCSI Target Server:

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Install-WindowsFeature FS-iSCSITarget-Server

New-IscsiVirtualDisk [-Path] <String> [-SizeBytes] <UInt64>
  [-BlockSizeBytes <UInt32> ] [-ComputerName <String> ] [-Credential
  <PSCredential> ] [-Description <String> ] [-LogicalSectorSizeBytes
  <UInt32> ] [-PhysicalSectorSizeBytes <UInt32> ] [
  <CommonParameters>]

New-IscsiServerTarget [-TargetName] <String> [-ClusterGroupName
  <String> ] [-ComputerName <String> ] [-Credential <PSCredential> ]
  [-InitiatorIds <InitiatorId[]> ] [ <CommonParameters>]

Add-IscsiVirtualDiskTargetMapping [-TargetName] <String> [-Path]
  <String> [-ComputerName <String> ] [-Credential <PSCredential> ]
  [-Lun <Int32> ] [ <CommonParameters>]

Windows Server 2016 installs the iSCSI initiator by default. To connect your computer to an iSCSI target, you only need to start the service and configure it. The following Windows PowerShell cmdlets allow management of the iSCSI initiator:

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Start-Service msiscsi

Set-Service msiscsi -StartupType “Automatic”

New-IscsiTargetPortal -TargetPortalAddress <String>
  [-AuthenticationType <String> ] [-ChapSecret <String> ]
  [-ChapUsername <String> ] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ]
  [-InitiatorInstanceName <String> ] [-InitiatorPortalAddress
  <String> ] [-IsDataDigest <Boolean> ] [-IsHeaderDigest <Boolean>
  ] [-TargetPortalPortNumber <UInt16> ] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [
  <CommonParameters>] [ <WorkflowParameters>]

Connect-IscsiTarget -NodeAddress <String> [-AuthenticationType
  <String> ] [-ChapSecret <String> ] [-ChapUsername <String>
  ] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-InitiatorInstanceName
  <String> ] [-InitiatorPortalAddress <String> ] [-IsDataDigest
  <Boolean> ] [-IsHeaderDigest <Boolean> ] [-IsMultipathEnabled
  <Boolean> ] [-IsPersistent <Boolean> ] [-ReportToPnP <Boolean>
  ] [-TargetPortalAddress <String> ] [-TargetPortalPortNumber
  <UInt16> ] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [ <CommonParameters>] [
  <WorkflowParameters>]

Adding iSNS simply installs as a feature in Server 2016, as shown in Figure 5-2.

DCB offers hardware-based bandwidth allocation to a specific type of traffic and enhances Ethernet transport reliability with the use of priority-based flow control. Hardware-based bandwidth allocation is essential if traffic bypasses the operating system and offloads to a converged network adapter. This adapter might support Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI), Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) over Converged Ethernet, or Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). Priority-based flow control is essential if the upper-layer protocol, such as Fiber Channel, assumes a lossless underlying transport.

You install DCB as a feature in a Windows Server 2016 system as shown in Figure 5-3.

MCS is an iSCSI protocol feature that does the following:

Enables multiple TCP/IP connections from the initiator to the target for the same iSCSI session

Supports automatic failover

Needs explicit support by iSCSI SAN devices

MPIO offers redundancy in a different fashion:

If you have multiple network interface cards in an iSCSI initiator and iSCSI Target Server, you can use MPIO to provide failover redundancy during network outages.

MPIO needs a device-specific module (DSM) if you want to connect to a third-party SAN device connected to the iSCSI initiator.

MPIO is widely supported.

MPIO is more complex to configure and is not as fully automated during failover as MCS.

You install MPIO in the Add Roles and Features Wizard, as shown in Figure 5-4.

You can then carry out MPIO policy in the Properties dialog of your storage device (see Figure 5-5).

Remember these key points about Storage Replica:

Synchronous and asynchronous replication choices exist; as the administrator, you can choose based on network latency and geographic distances.

Storage Replica requires the Datacenter Edition of Windows Server 2016.

Storage Replica requires GPT initialized disks.

Supported replication scenarios include Server-to-Server, Cluster-to-Cluster, and Stretch Cluster.

Only one-to-one replication is supported; a third replica is not an option.

Storage Replica performs replication at the block level, and therefore you should not consider it for branch office scenarios with slow WAN links.

Storage Replica can replicate data involving open files.

Server-to-Server

Cluster-to-Cluster

Stretch Cluster

The servers must be participants in a domain.

Each storage set must have two volumes—one for data and one for logs. The two data volumes must be the same size, and their sector size must also be the same.

Each file server needs at least a 1 GB connection.

You need 4 GB of RAM in each server with at least two CPU cores.

Firewalls must allow ICMP, SMB, and WS-MAN bidirectional traffic.

You need a network between servers of at least 1 Gbps and 5 ms round-trip latency.

Both server nodes must have local admin permissions.

Here is sample syntax for a PowerShell configuration:

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New-SRPartnership -SourceComputerName SVR1 -SourceRGName RepGroup01
  -SourceVolumeName
F: -SourceLogVolumeName G: -DestinationComputerName SVR2
  -DestinationRGName RepGroup02
-DestinationVolumeName F: -DestinationLogVolumeName G:
  -LogSizeInBytes 8GB

Here is the complete cmdlet syntax:

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New-SRPartnership [[-SourceComputerName] <String> ] [-SourceRGName]
  <String> [-DestinationComputerName] <String> [-DestinationRGName]
  <String> [[-ReplicationMode] <ReplicationMode> {Synchronous |
  Asynchronous} ] [[-PreventReplication]] [[-Seeded]] [[-AsyncRPO]
  <UInt32> ] [[-EnableEncryption]] [[-Force]] [-CimSession
  <CimSession[]> ] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [ <CommonParameters>] [
  <WorkflowParameters>]

Here are the steps for PowerShell Cluster-to-Cluster configuration:

Step 1. Grant the first cluster full access to the other cluster by running the Grant-ClusterAccess cmdlet on any node in the first cluster or remotely:

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Grant-SRAccess -ComputerName SRV01 -Cluster SRVCLUSB

Step 2. Grant the second cluster full access to the other cluster by running the Grant-ClusterAccess cmdlet on any node in the second cluster or remotely:

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Grant-SRAccess -ComputerName SRV03 -Cluster SRVCLUSA

Step 3. Configure the Cluster-to-Cluster replication, specifying the source and destination disks, the source and destination logs, the source and destination cluster names, and the log size. You can perform this command locally on the server or using a remote management computer:

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New-SRPartnership -SourceComputerName SRVCLUSA -SourceRGName rg01
  -SourceVolumeName c:ClusterStorageVolume2
  -SourceLogVolumeName f: -DestinationComputerName SRVCLUSB
  -DestinationRGName rg02 -DestinationVolumeName c:
  ClusterStorageVolume2 -DestinationLogVolumeName f:

You configure Stretch Cluster using Failover Cluster Manager or Windows PowerShell. To use the Failover Cluster Manager, follow these steps:

Step 1. Add a source data disk to a role or CSV.

Step 2. Enable replication on that source data disk.

Step 3. Select a destination data disk.

Step 4. Select a source log disk.

Step 5. Select a destination log disk.

To use PowerShell, follow these steps:

Step 1. Add the source data storage only to the cluster as CSV. To get the size, partition, and volume layout of the available disks, use the following commands:

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Move-ClusterGroup -Name "available storage" -Node sr-srv01

$DiskResources = Get-ClusterResource | Where-Object { $_.ResourceType -eq 'Physical Disk' -and $_.State -eq 'Online' }
$DiskResources | foreach {
       $resource = $_
       $DiskGuidValue = $resource | Get-ClusterParameter DiskIdGuid

       Get-Disk | where { $_.Guid -eq $DiskGuidValue.Value } | Get-Partition | Get-Volume |
               Select @{N="Name"; E={$resource.Name}}, @{N="Status"; E={$resource.State}}, DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, Size, SizeRemaining
} | FT -AutoSize

Move-ClusterGroup -Name "available storage" -Node sr-srv03

$DiskResources = Get-ClusterResource | Where-Object { $_.ResourceType -eq 'Physical Disk' -and $_.State -eq 'Online' }
$DiskResources | foreach {
       $resource = $_
       $DiskGuidValue = $resource | Get-ClusterParameter DiskIdGuid

       Get-Disk | where { $_.Guid -eq $DiskGuidValue.Value } | Get-Partition | Get-Volume |
               Select @{N="Name"; E={$resource.Name}}, @{N="Status"; E={$resource.State}}, DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, Size, SizeRemaining
} | FT -AutoSize

Step 2. Set the correct disk to CSV:

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Add-ClusterSharedVolume -Name "Cluster Disk 4"
Get-ClusterSharedVolume
Move-ClusterSharedVolume -Name "Cluster Disk 4" -Node sr-srv01

Step 3. Configure the Stretch Cluster, as in this example:

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New-SRPartnership -SourceComputerName sr-srv01
  -SourceRGName rg01 -SourceVolumeName "C:ClusterStorage
  Volume1" -SourceLogVolumeName e: -DestinationComputerName
  sr-srv03 -DestinationRGName rg02 -DestinationVolumeName d:
  -DestinationLogVolumeName e:

Storage Spaces

Storage Pool

Tiered Storage

iSCSI Target

iSCSI Initiator

iSNS

DCB

MPIO

Storage Replica

1. What two tiers of disk types are used with tiering inside Storage Spaces?

2. What PowerShell command can you use to connect an iSCSI target in a Windows Server 2016 environment?

3. What type of partition system does Storage Replica require on disks? What edition of Windows Server 2016 does it require?