File server design

Procedure Begin installing the operating system. The setup will then detect the storage space and you can continue installing the operating system as usual. Your file server is now finally ready to be configured. Once the OS is installed, make sure you have installed all the drivers and created all the users and their profiles as per the requirement of your network. Copy your data to the storage drives and share the respective folders with appropriate user rights.

Your file server is ready to be deployed. Just connect the server to the network after configuring the network card and then disconnect the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Now that your server is on duty, there are some things that you should also consider. Use a UPS to avoid data loss during power failures, install an exhaust fan in case you are keeping it in an enclosed area, install an antivirus software for additional security, install and keep running a password protected virtual networking software so that you can access the server from another computer on the network instead of connecting a monitor and input device and operating the server.

Additionally, we also recommend a few changes to your server hardware. Since you are using an older computer, replacing the power supply unit would be a good idea as this component might fail when used 24x7.

Additionally, to lower the noise of multiple hard drives spinning inside the cabinet, design some foam or rubber sleeves for the hard drives to dampen the vibrations. Your file server is finally ready for action. Let it serve you better Now that your file server is ready and serving its purpose on the network, why not use the entire efficiency of the server for other purposes to enhance your business productivity or home convenience. As we mentioned earlier, file servers are nothing but simple computers, and you can use them for multiple purposes apart from simply sharing a folder or drive.

Some other applications that can be installed on the server to juice-out some additional functionality. Media server: Install a media server application and store your complete collection of audio and video files on the server and stream them to all the computers or handheld gadgets from a centrally located location.

Examples: iTunes, IceCast, Unreal. All you need is a live IP address from your internet service provider. If the file server is configured for remote access over the internet, the files are also accessible on the go — much like an online storage service. But unlike a cloud solution, the company retains control of the files and their security at all times.

This represents a clear advantage over third-party solutions. The advantages listed clearly show how valuable a file server can be.

However, many companies make the mistake of underestimating the work involved in setting up and managing such a server. Companies often do without advance planning. For example, if there is no clear principle for the assignment of rights, situations will likely arise in which users are unable to perform necessary actions.

Problems may also occur when the directory and folder structure is unclear — or if no folder structure exists at all. In the case of the latter, this is important if the file server is also accessible over the internet. The installation and configuration of security software are just as critical as training the employees who access the file server. Only when they have been made aware of topics like cyber security and data protection can the configured protection mechanisms work as intended.

This is also true when it comes to storing the files: Clearly communicate where and how files should be saved on the file server to prevent a chaotic data situation from occurring in the first place. Microsoft Exchange Server is considered the standard solution for business e-mail traffic and computer-supported collaborative work.

The software has many different usage models of available and these require purchasing special licenses. This is a great method of testing out web pages and checking scripts. To get started, all you need is the free software package and a few minutes. The traditional data center could be significantly streamlined by migrating to a hyper-converged system. The upload of the file will continue even during a cluster failover.

The client is a Windows 10 I upload an iso to the file share I created earlier. During failover to a different cluster node, the upload stops for some seconds. After successful failover it continues uploading the ISO file. As soon as the file server contains data, it is also time to think about backing up the file server. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows can back up Windows failover clusters with shared disks. We also recommend doing backups of the entire system of the cluster.

Veeam Blog Technical How to create a file server cluster with Windows Technical October 3, 5 min to read. Hannes Kasparick.

Best practices Virtual. Join the nodes to your management domain, if you haven't already. To do so, use the following example code, substituting your own computer name, domain name, and domain credentials:. Update the firmware for your storage enclosures, disks, servers, network switches, and HBAs to the versions approved by your solution vendor.

For info on how to add hardware to a server in Server Core mode, see 1. To use Windows PowerShell to verify that the computers are properly joined to the domain and that Remote Desktop is enabled, open a Windows PowerShell session with administrative credentials on the computer that you want to manage as discussed above and then use the following example commands, replacing " FSNode01 " and " FSNode02 " with the names of the computers that you want to check:.

If you get an error stating that "The RPC server is unavailable", make sure that the Windows Management Instrumentation firewall rule is enabled on each of the nodes, as discussed in Step 3: Use Group Policy or another tool to configure the cluster nodes. Set static IP addresses for each network adapter on a separate subnet, using the IP addressing settings according to your network design. If you use a router instead of layer 3 switches that can route traffic between subnets to provide connectivity between the subnets carrying your storage traffic and the subnets to which your management computers or virtual machines are connected, set the default gateway to point to your router address on each network adapter, not including headless management adapters.

When you do so, you'll see a warning about multiple default gateways - make sure that you're following your network design, then go ahead and ignore it. From a management computer on one of the same subnets as the file server nodes, open a Windows PowerShell session and then use the following steps:. If you have any disconnected network adapters that you aren't using, disable them to make it easier to see the network adapters you are using.

If you need to enable the disabled adapters, run this command, replacing " FSNode01 , FSNode02 " with the names of the computers that you want to check:.

Enable consistent device naming for you network adapters, if possible. If you're going to rename your network adapters, first get a list of network adapters. To do so, use the Get-NetAdapter cmdlet from each node. To do so, modify the following commands to match your hardware, and then run them in the same Windows PowerShell session remove the -Confirm parameters if you don't want to confirm each action.