Windows Server 2003 Quota Management
Eddie Listner
File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) is a role service in Windows Server that enables you to manage and classify data stored on file servers. You can use FSRM to automatically classify files, perform tasks based on these classifications, set quotas on folders, and create reports monitoring storage usage. In Windows Server version 1803, FSRM adds the ability to prevent the creation of change journals.
windows server 2003 quota management
Schedule a report that runs every Sunday night at midnight that generates a list of the most recently accessed files from the previous two days. This report can help you determine the weekend storage activity and plan your server downtime accordingly.
Starting with Windows Server, version 1803, you can now prevent the FSRM service from creating a change journal (also known as a USN journal) on volumes when the service starts. This feature can conserve some space on each volume, but disables real-time file classification.
Among NG Enforce's many features, quota management through policy may be one of the most time-saving for administrators and quota managers. However, if you're provisioning a new server or setting up Windows quotas for the first time, there are a few requirements to meet first, and some of those are not immediately obvious. Likewise, there are a few common environmental problems we see when administrators begin to use Enforce for quota management that need some explanation.
The File Server Resource Manager features of Windows servers (part of the File Services role) is the core File Services piece involved in setting quota. FSRM must be installed on the Engine server, and FSRM must be installed on each server where quota is managed.
As a reminder: Enforce can only manage quotas on servers running FSRM or an equivalent service which replicates these APIs is required for quota management. In practice, this generally prevents Enforce from managing quotas on most NAS devices (which commonly use qtrees rather than Windows directory quotas.)
Only local Administrators have permissions to manage quotas and other FSRM features on Windows servers. This requires effective membership in the local Administrators group on each server; there is no other way to grant FSRM permissions exclusively. The Enforce proxy rights group must be a member of the local Administrators group on the Engine server and on each server where storage is managed.
Enforce's quota management works by setting quotas through the File Server Resource Manager and reading quotas set there. As such, when users or Enforce report incorrect quotas, this is typically the result of incorrectly configured quotas in FSRM.
While very uncommon, we have occasionally seen FSRM's internal database contain corrupted data or be inaccessible to FSRM. Troubleshooting these sorts of problems is outside the scope of this article, but will generally cause errors in the FSRM MMC snap-in or show problems related to specific paths where quotas misbehave. Windows file system administrators may need to investigate these problems directly.
I have got a new job and the existing SBS 2003 domain setup is unsecure (i.e. everyone is a domain admin etc etc). There are lots of problem due to inexperienced "network admin", and I am trying to fix them one by one.
There exist one issue which I found quite weird, that the "Quota" tab exists in the C:(NTFS) drive but not the D:(NTFS) drive. I played around with gpedit to enable disk quota (it was "not configured" before), but still I can't see that tab.
Have you verified the permissions on the root of the drive, not just the traversal rights? If the old admin did something dumb and removed the security rights to the root of the drive this can happen.
You can also remove the full control permission from the root of the drive only for your user account or group, then reapply which should reset everything for admin use. This is basically the same as setting traversal/execute but it will reapply those permissions.
The SBS Servers tend to gather a lot of backup data, in hidden directories that happens to get the quotas over the limit. You should check for such as at times the servers might have been set up to back up each of the clients in a small SBS environment. Once you do find these then you can proceed to un-hide and delete those files that you feel are no longer needed or not important to say the least.I had a similar scenario with a newer SBS Server and I just made a good back up of it and then merged it into a 2012 R2 Standard as it gives you more features than the depricated server you need to upgrade anyway. You may be able to use that server as a BDC once you move to a more current OS. You got to realize that is a 13 year old OS.
File servers might not be the most glamorous systems to manage, but they are some of the most important. Even with the popularity of collaboration tools such as SharePoint and cloud-based storage-as-a-service offerings, basic file servers still play a critical role in the daily lives of data center admins.
Sys admins require a simple and effective method for managing storage, and Microsoft provides that with the File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) role. Add the role to any Windows Server to gain more insight and control over the files stored there.
In Server Manager, use the Add roles and features component to add FSRM. FSRM appears in the Roles list under File and Storage Services, File and iSCSI Services. Add the suggested features when prompted.
Many organizations have written policies covering what type of data can be stored on company systems. However, having a policy is different from enforcing a policy. It's not difficult to provide a policy document to users informing them that storing music files or other data on company file servers is not allowed, but how does an organization confirm the servers are clear of such content? Better yet, how does it prevent users from storing it there in the first place?
That's where FSRM file screening comes into play. Administrators can configure allowed and disallowed file types -- as identified by file extension -- on specific folders. FSRM then screens those files from being stored in those folders. Using the written policy as a guide, administrators can enforce directives and manage the data stored on the file server.
To apply an existing screen, select File Screening Management, and then select Create File Screen from the Action menu. The system should then prompt you to browse to the desired folder and choose a template before selecting Create.
However, administrators can also customize file screens to enforce policies more effectively. From the Action menu, select Create File Screen Template, and name the template. Next, select File groups to manage, specifying the particular file types to control.
FSRM provides many file groups, but you may opt to create your own if you deal with uncommon file types or must ensure only certain file types are placed in certain locations. Create file groups by selecting the File Groups node and choosing Create File Group from the Action menu.
Consider how screens help with data organization. For example, if an organization uses background music for a product, that music must be in the MP3 format. Set the folder that stores the music with a screen that only allows the MP3 file type to be stored there.
Quotas enable administrators to control the amount of storage capacity users consume. Until FSRM came along, Windows relied on the New Technology File System (NTFS) quota feature. NTFS quotas only apply on a per-partition basis, which makes granular control difficult.
One of the available settings is Hard or Soft quotas. FSRM strictly enforces hard quotas and actively stops users from exceeding the defined limit. Soft quotas, by contrast, are not enforced. Admins can use soft quotas to gather information on how space is used and warn users as they approach a hard quota limit.
After creating or choosing a quota template, select the Quotas node, and then choose Create Quota from the Action menu. Select the folder you wish to manage and the quota template to apply.
One of the most useful parts of FSRM quotas is FSRM's ability to warn users as they approach their quota limit. In the properties of the quota, select Add, and define a notification threshold, as well as any users or groups to notify. FSRM provides a default message, but you can also customize the email message.
In addition to warning the user, the quota system can send messages to service desk technicians, who can then proactively reach out to users to help them remove unnecessary files. This approach helps prevent users from being stuck when they reach a hard quota limit.
FSRM is a powerful tool to help admins control what data is stored on their file servers, classify that data and report on it. Both file screening and quota features make it easier to manage what consumes storage space on the server and control how users utilize the space. By setting screens and quotas on a per-folder basis, FSRM gives file server administrators the ability to enforce policies and organize data.
File system Quotas are used to restrict the amount of space users can consume or to report on the space consumed by them. They are useful for reporting on those users or folders that are consuming large amounts of disk space on a file server. Ben Lye shows that File system quotas are quick and easy to set up, with three different methods available for configuring them
File system quotas, which were first introduced in Windows Server 2003 R2, and are a part of the File Server role in Windows Server 2008 (and Windows Server 2008 R2), offer many benefits over disk quotas. With file system quotas we can set quotas for specific folders on the volume, we can use templates to ensure consistent application of quotas, and we can set quotas which are automatically applied to all sub-folders of a folder.
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