Managing Windows 2000 Storage Proactively with WQuinn's StorageCeNTral
By Andrew Thibault (Issue 4 2000)
The steady growth of storage in the enterprise has fostered an increasing need for centralized disk space management. WQuinn's StorageCeNTral, a suite of storage management utilities, supports proactive administration of disk consumption.
Dramatic changes in the storage landscape have given rise to new challenges in managing data expansion. A major shift in data storage resulted from the development of relatively inexpensive, flexible, and easy to deploy Windows-based networks. In many organizations, distributed PC server and storage hardware replaced the costly, and often cumbersome, centralized "glass house" storage of the mainframe world.
While Windows-based servers and storage provided a rapid solution to ever-expanding storage needs, potential long-term effects were often overlooked. The introduction of the distributed server and storage model brought about unforeseen data-management problems.
The advent of the Internet, e-mail, and increased bandwidth has further altered the storage landscape. Interconnectivity has fueled the expansion of storage needs and challenges. The shortcomings of distributed storage environments have led to a resurgence of the centralized model, in the form of storage area networks (SANs) and network attached storage (NAS).
While the trend is a return to centralized storage, hybrid environments composed of both distributed and centralized storage remain the reality for many organizations. As the price of smaller-sized, larger-capacity storage devices decreases, the true cost of storage is increasingly measured in terms of managing data growth in mixed environments.
WQuinn developed the StorageCeNTralTM suite for Windows NT and Windows 2000 to improve storage management. StorageCeNTral is composed of three interwoven components: DiskAdvisor®, QuotaAdvisor®, and FileScreenTM . The StorageCeNTral tools allow administrators to assess existing storage environments and apply logical storage management policies.
Storage Auditing to Optimize Existing Storage
The first step in successful storage management is taking a complete inventory of available storage systems. An inventory should tell administrators how much storage there is, how much space is free, how much is used, and how much is wasted.
DiskAdvisor eliminates the need for time-consuming manual auditing, providing detailed on-demand, scheduled, or triggered storage reports. After a simple push installation of StorageCeNTral, DiskAdvisor can auto-detect and scan all networked storage. The 35 standard reports can be run against server-attached, SAN, and NAS storage devices (see Figure 1 ).
Figure 1. DiskAdvisor Report Sets
DiskAdvisor reports identify patterns of inefficient storage usage, helping to recover a significant amount of consumed storage. DiskAdvisor locates large files, duplicate files that take up extra space, and aged files that can be archived to tape. DiskAdvisor can also single out orphaned files that continue to reside on file servers after their owners have left the company. DiskAdvisor can additionally identify storage devoted to non-business-related material, such as MP3 and other media files.
Once trouble spots have been pinpointed, administrators can take corrective action to resolve problems and recover wasted disk space. DiskAdvisor's Active Reports allow administrators to move, copy, or delete groups of files from a Web browser, shown in Figure 2 . Reports in HTML, ASCII, dBASE III (DBF), or comma-delimited format can be automatically sent via e-mail to administrators.
Figure 2. DiskAdvisor Orphaned Files Report
The Custom Report Writer (CRW) allows administrators to tailor reports to their specific storage environments. Reports may also be sent to users to help them manage their files without IT intervention. Finally, DiskAdvisor provides historical trend analysis and capacity planning reports to help IT managers project future storage needs, both for logistical and budgeting purposes.
Storage Allocation to Control Growth
After a complete storage audit identifies consumption patterns and corrects anomalies, administrators can develop and apply suitable storage consumption guidelines. StorageCeNTral's TruStorTM filter driver enforces such storage usage policies, preventing users from overwriting a disk or saving inappropriate files to a server in real time.
Adaptive Disk Quotas
QuotaAdvisor assists in creating and enforcing user and object quotas to ensure that disk consumption remains within acceptable ranges. Administrators can set disk-usage limits on specific users and groups, as well as on particular volumes and directories (see Figure 3 ).
Figure 3. Setting Disk Usage Policies with QuotaAdvisor
QuotaAdvisor offers several degrees of quota enforcement, from lenient monitoring of usage and triggering of alerts to imposing strict rules to thwart runaway disk usage. When users surpass their assigned quota when saving a file to disk, administrators have four enforcement options:
- Preventing the file from being written to disk
- Allowing the file to be written to disk while prohibiting the saving of any further files until the allocated space has been cleaned up
- Granting users an overdraft allowing them to continue saving files though still encouraging them to clean up their allocated space
- Notifying the user of the violation
|
Alerts can be sent to both administrators and users via e-mail, pop-up screens, or Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Five alert thresholds can be configured to warn of approaching quotas and promote proactive file maintenance. DiskAdvisor reports can be sent via e-mail to users when thresholds are reached to help them understand how their space is being used and where to start cleaning it up. If users can quickly distinguish superfluous files, they can maintain their allocated space more easily.
Once storage usage policies have been set, QuotaAdvisor provides hands-free, behind-the-scenes storage administration. QuotaAdvisor's Learn Mode detects new users and directories as they appear and automatically applies appropriate quotas. Administrators can also keep constant tabs on consumption levels with QuotaAdvisor's real-time Space Monitor, shown in Figure 4 .
Figure 4. QuotaAdvisor Space Monitor
While Windows 2000 includes a basic quota tool, its capabilities are less extensive than those of QuotaAdvisor. Windows 2000 provides user quotas, but lacks directory quotas. A disk-full error is the only notification to users when they reach their quota, whereas QuotaAdvisor enables multiple threshold warnings with detailed usage reports.
Windows 2000 quotas do not work on file allocation table (FAT) volumes or on systems running Windows NT 4.0 or 3.51. The expanded capabilities of QuotaAdvisor prompted Microsoft to license it on their servers worldwide.
Sensible Content Filtering
Comprehensive storage management solutions should not only allow administrators to control the quantity of storage allocated, but also allow them to intelligently control content. Using a similar filter driver technology as QuotaAdvisor's TruStor, FileScreen provides real-time content-filtering capabilities, instantly recognizing troublesome file types and automatically intervening when necessary (see Figure 5 ).
Figure 5. FileScreen Content Filtering
Blocking unwanted file types can be more than just a convenience. For instance, FileScreen can contain the spread of damaging viruses, such as the recent "I Love You" and Melissa viruses, by prohibiting Visual Basic® and executable files from being written to disk. FileScreen not only preserves valuable disk space, but also helps protect the integrity of existing mission-critical data.
With the ability to filter certain media and unauthorized application files, FileScreen saves further disk space and helps avoid potential legal concerns arising from copyright infringement or the use of unlicensed software. Similar to QuotaAdvisor, FileScreen allows administrators to select levels of enforcement ranging from simple notification to exacting compliance.
Taking Charge of Storage Growth
StorageCeNTral helps recover wasted disk space, prevent servers from crashing due to lack of disk space, and limit the spread of viruses and the proliferation of unlicensed software and media.
Data expansion and the resulting storage growth are a fact of life for IT departments. However, StorageCeNTral can stem unrestrained storage growth and restore expansion to manageable levels. With proper auditing and allocation tools, IT departments can finally control storage growth-instead of it controlling them.
Andrew Thibault (andrewt@sunbelt-software.com) is vice president of Strategic Business Development for Sunbelt Software, distributor of WQuinn StorageCeNTral.
