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Training course for M55371A

Lab: Implementing storage solutions in Windows Server

Scenario

At Contoso, Ltd., you need to implement the Storage Spaces feature on the Windows Server 2019 servers to simplify storage access and provide redundancy at the storage level. Management wants you to test Data Deduplication to save storage. They also want you to implement Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) storage to provide a simpler solution for deploying storage in the organization. Additionally, the organization is exploring options for making storage highly available and researching the requirements that it must meet for high availability. You want to test the feasibility of using highly available storage, specifically Storage Spaces Direct.

Objectives

After completing this lab, you’ll be able to:

  • Implement Data Deduplication.
  • Configure Internet Small Computer System Interface iSCSI storage.
  • Configure Storage Spaces.
  • Implement Storage Spaces Direct.

Estimated time: 90 minutes

Lab setup

Virtual machines:

  • For Exercises 1-3: WS-011T00A-SEA-DC1, WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR3, and WS-011T00A-SEA-ADM1
  • For Exercise 4: WS-011T00A-SEA-DC1, WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR1, WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR2, WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR3, and WS-011T00A-SEA-ADM1

Username: Contoso\Administrator Password: Pa55w.rd

Note: You must revert the virtual machines (VM) between each exercise. Because most of the VMs are Windows Server 2019 Server Core VMs, the time to revert and restart is faster than trying to undo changes made to the storage environment in the exercises.

Exercise 1: Implementing Data Deduplication

Task 1: Install the Data Deduplication role service

  1. On SEA-ADM1, select Start, and then select Server Manager.
  2. In Server Manager, select Manage, and then select Add Roles and Features.
  3. In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, select Next twice.
  4. On the Select destination server page , in the Server Pool pane, select SEA-SVR3.Contoso.com, and then select Next.
  5. On the Select server roles page, in the Roles pane, expand the File and Storage Services item, and then expand the File and iSCSI Services item, select the Data Deduplication item, and then select Next.
  6. On the Select features page, select Next, and then in the Confirm installation selections page, select Install.
  7. While the role service is installing, on the taskbar, select the File Explorer icon.
  8. In File Explorer, expand drive C.
  9. Right-click or access the context menu for the Labfiles directory, and then select Give access to. In the next context menu, select Specific people….
  10. In the Type a name and then Click Add, or click the arrow to find someone text box, type Users and click Add.
  11. In the Network access window, select Share, and when the Your folder is shared section opens, select Done.
    1. In Server Manager, on the Add Roles and Features Wizard installation succeeded page, select Close.
  13. Switch to SEA-SVR3.
  14. In the Command Prompt window, enter PowerShell.
  15. Note that the prompt changes with the PS cursor to let you know you are now in Windows PowerShell.

  16. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window, enter the following commands, selecting Enter after each line.

      Get-Disk

      Initialize-Disk -Number 1

      New-Partition -DiskNumber 1 -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter M

      Format-Volume -DriveLetter M -FileSystem ReFS

      Exit

  17. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command, selecting Enter after each line:

     Net use x: \\SEA-ADM1\Labfiles

     M:

     Md Data

     copy x:\mod04\createlabfiles.cmd M:

     CreateLabFiles.cmd

     Cd data

     dir
  18. Make note of the free space in M:\Data.

Task 2: Enable and configure Data Deduplication

  1. Return to SEA-ADM1
  2. In the Server Manager console tree, right-click or access the context menu for File and Storage Services, and then from the context menu select Disks
  3. In the Disks pane, select SEA-SVR3, Number column 1.
  4. In the Volumes pane, right-click or access the context menu for the M volume, and then from the context menu, select Configure Data Deduplication.
  5. In the Volume (M:) Deduplication Settings wizard, select the Data Deduplication drop-down menu and change the selection to the General purpose file server setting.
  6. Set Deduplicate files older than (in days): to 0.
  7. Select the Set Deduplication Schedule button.
  8. In the SEA-SVR3 Deduplication Schedule window, select Enable throughput optimization, and then select OK.
  9. In the Volume (M:) Deduplication Settings Wizard, select OK.

Task 3: Test Data Deduplication

  1. On SEA-ADM1, on the taskbar, select Microsoft Edge.
  2. In Microsoft Edge, select the Windows Admin Center (WAC) tab on the Favorites bar.
  3. In the Windows Security pop-up window, in the User name text box, enter Contoso\Administrator, in the Password text box, enter Pa55w.rd, and then select OK.
  4. On the All connections page, select SEA-SVR3.
  5. On the Specify your credentials blade, select the Use another account for this connection radio button.
  6. In the Username text box, enter Contoso\Administrator, and in the Password text box, enter Pa55w.rd, select the check box for Use these credentials for all connections, and then select Continue.
  7. In the SEA-SVR3 Tools console, scroll to and select the PowerShell node.
  8. In the PowerShell pane, enter Pa55w.rd at the Password prompt.

  9. In the PowerShell pane, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      Start-DedupJob m: -Type Optimization –Memory 50
  10. Switch to SEA-SVR3.
  11. In the Command Prompt window, enter Dir.
  12. Observe the Bytes free size on property values for the Data Directory.
  13. Wait for five to ten minutes to allow the deduplication job to run.
  14. Repeat step 12.
  15. Switch back to SEA-ADM1, and to the WAC SEA-SVR3 PowerShell pane.

  16. To verify the Data Deduplication status, run the following commands, pressing Enter at the end of each line:

      Get-DedupStatus –Volume M: | fl

      Get-DedupVolume –Volume M: |fl

      Get-DedupMetadata –Volume M: |fl
  17. In Server Manager, select File and Storage Services, select disk 1, and then select Volume M.
  18. Observe the values for Deduplication Rate and Deduplication Savings.

Note: When you have finished the exercise, revert the VMs to their initial state.

Exercise 2: Configuring iSCSI storage

Task 1: Install iSCSI and configure targets

  1. On SEA-ADM1, right-click or access the context menu for Start, and then select Windows PowerShell (Admin).

  2. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      Invoke-Command -ComputerName SEA-SVR3 -ScriptBlock {Install-WindowsFeature –Name FS-iSCSITarget-Server –IncludeManagementTools}

  3. Enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      Enter-PSSession -ComputerName SEA-SVR3 -Credential "Contoso\Administrator"
  4. In the Windows PowerShell credential request pop-up window, in the Password text box, enter Pa55w.rd, and then select OK.

  5. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window, enter the following commands, pressing Enter at the end of each line:

    Note: In the following command, drive Y is placeholder text only. The drive letter to use will be returned to you in the results of the second command.

    Initialize-Disk -Number 2
New-Partition -DiskNumber 2 -UseMaximumSize -AssignDriveLetter
Format-Volume -DriveLetter _Y_ -FileSystem ReFS
  6. Repeat step 5 for disk 3, replacing 2 with the number 3.

  7. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window, enter the following commands, pressing Enter at the end of each line:

      New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "iSCSITargetIn" -Profile "Any" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3260

      New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "iSCSITargetOut" -Profile "Any" -Direction Outbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3260

  8. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      Exit-PSSEssion

Task 2: Connect to and configure iSCSI targets

  1. On SEA-ADM1, select Start, and then select Server Manager.
  2. In Server Manager, in the console tree, select File and Storage Services, and then under Disks pane, select the SEA-DC1 server. Note that the server only contains the boot and system volume drive C.
  3. In the same pane, select the SEA-SVR3 server. Note that disks 2, 3, and 4 are still offline.
  4. Right-click or access the context menu for each disk, and in the context menu, select Bring online.
  5. In the Bring Disk Online window, select Yes.
  6. In the Server Manager window, in File and Storage Services, select iSCSI, select Tasks, and in the context menu, select New iSCSI Virtual Disk.
  7. In the New iSCSI Virtual Disk Wizard, on the Select iSCSI virtual disk location page, under the SEA-SVR3 server, select the E: volume, and then select Next.
  8. In the Specify iSCSI virtual disk name page, in the Name text box, enter iSCSIDisk1, and then select Next.
  9. On the Specify iSCSI virtual disk size page, in the Size text box, enter 5. Leave all other settings as they are, and then select Next.
  10. On the Assign iSCSI target page, ensure the New iSCSI target radio button is selected, and then select Next.
  11. In the Specify target name page, in the Name field, enter iSCSIFarm, and then select Next.
  12. In the Specify access servers page, select the Add button.
  13. In the Select a method to identify the initiator window, select the Browse button.
  14. In the Select Computer window, in the Enter the object name to select text box, enter SEA-DC1, select Check Names, and then select OK.
  15. In the Select a method to identify the initiator window, select OK.
  16. On the Specify access servers page, select Next.
  17. On the Enable Authentication page, select Next.
  18. On the Confirm selections page, select Create.
  19. On the View results page, select Close.

  20. Create the second iSCSI virtual disk (F:), by repeating steps 4 through 9 and then step 17, using the following settings:

    • Storage Location: F:
    • Name: iSCSIDisk2
    • Disk size: 5 GB, Dynamically Expanding
    • iSCSI target: iSCSIFarm
  21. On SEA-DC1, in the Command Prompt window, enter PowerShell.

  22. In the Windows PowerShell window, enter the following commands, selecting Enter after each command:

     Start-Service msiscsi

     iscsicpl

    Note: The iscsicpl command will open an iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box.

  23. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box, on the Targets tab, in the Target text box, enter SEA-SVR3, and then select Quick Connect.
  24. In the Quick Connect dialog box, note that the Discovered target name is iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:sea-svr3-iscscifarm-target, and then select Done.
  25. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box, select OK.
  26. Close the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box.

Task 3: Verify iSCSI disk presence

  1. Switch back to SEA-ADM1.
  2. In Server Manager, select File and Storage Services, and then select Disks. In the Tasks drop-down list box, select Refresh.
  3. Notice the two new 5 GB disks on the SEA-DC1 server that are offline. Notice that the bus entry is iSCSI.
  4. Switch back to SEA-DC1.

  5. In the Windows PowerShell window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      Get-Disk

    Note: Both disks are present and healthy, but offline. To use them, you need to initialize and format them on SEA-DC1.

  6. In the Windows PowerShell window, enter the following commands, selecting Enter after each command:

      Initialize-Disk -Number 1

      New-Partition -DiskNumber 1 -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter E

      Format-Volume -DriveLetter E -FileSystem ReFS
  7. Repeat step 6 above, using disk number 2 and disk letter F.
  8. Return to SEA-ADM1.
  9. In server Manager, refresh the page in the Tasks drop-down, and note that both the drives are now Online.

Note: When you have finished the exercise, revert the VMs to their initial state.

Exercise 3: Configuring redundant Storage Spaces

Task 1: Create a storage pool by using the iSCSI disks attached to the server

  1. On SEA-ADM1, select Start, and then select Server Manager.
  2. In Server Manager, in the navigation pane, select File and Storage Services, and then select Disks.
  3. In the Disks pane, scroll down, and note that the SEA-SVR3 disks 1 through 4 are set to Unknown.
  4. Right-click or access the context menu for each offline disk, select Bring Online, and then in the Bring Disk Online window, select Yes.
  5. Verify that all disks are now online, and then in Server Manager, in the navigation pane, select File and Storage Services, and then select Storage Pools.
  6. In Server Manager, in the STORAGE POOLS area, in the TASKS list, select New Storage Pool.
  7. In the New Storage Pool Wizard, on the Before you begin page, select Next.
  8. On the Specify a storage pool name and subsystem page, in the Name text box, enter SP1. In the Description text box, enter Storage Pool 1, and then select Next.
  9. On the Select physical disks for the storage pool page, select the check box for the top three disks, and then select Next.
  10. On the Confirm selections page, review the settings, and then select Create.
  11. Select Close.

Task 2: Create a three-way mirrored disk

  1. In Server Manager, in Storage Pools, select SP1.
  2. In the VIRTUAL DISKS area, select TASKS, and then select New Virtual Disk.
  3. In the Select the storage pool dialog box, select SP1, and then select OK.
  4. In the New Virtual Disk Wizard, on the Before you begin page, select Next.
  5. On the Specify the virtual disk name page, in the Name text box, enter Three-Mirror, and then select Next.
  6. On the Specify enclosure resiliency page, select Next.
  7. On the Select the storage layout page, select Mirror, and then select Next.
  8. On the Specify the provisioning enter page, select Thin, and then select Next.
  9. On the Specify the size of the virtual disk page, in the Specify size text box, enter 25, and then select Next.
  10. On the Confirm selections page, review the settings, and then select Create.
  11. On the View results page, clear the Create a volume when this wizard closes check box, and then select Close.
  12. In Server Manager, in the navigation pane, select Volumes.
  13. In the VOLUMES area, select TASKS, and then select New Volume.
  14. In the New Volume Wizard, on the Before you begin page, select Next.
  15. On the Select the server and disk page, select SEA-SVR3, select Three-Mirror, and then select Next.
  16. On the Specify the size of the volume page, select Next.
  17. On the Assign to a drive letter or folder page, select Drive letter, select T, and then select Next.
  18. On the Select file system settings page, in the File system drop-down list, select ReFS. In the Volume label text box, enter TestData, and then select Next.
  19. On the Confirm selections page, select Create.
  20. On the Completion page, select Close.
  21. Close Server Manager.

Task 3: Copy a file to the volume, and verify visibility in File Explorer

  1. Switch back to SEA-SVR3.

  2. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="File and Printer Sharing" new enable=Yes
  3. Return to SEA-ADM1.
  4. In the taskbar, select the File Explorer icon.
  5. In the File Explorer window, in the Address bar, enter \\sea-svr3\t$.
  6. Right-click or access the context menu in the empty details pane, and then select New Folder. Name the folder Test data, and then select Enter.
  7. Double-click Test data, or activate its context menu and select Open.
  8. Right-click or access the context menu for the empty details pane, select New, and then Text Document. Name the new document document1, and then select Enter.

Task 4: Disconnect the disk and verify file availability

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in Server Manager, in File and Storage Services, select Storage Pools, and then select SP1.
  2. In the Physical Disks pane, select the TASKS drop-down list, and then select Add Physical Disk.
  3. In the Add Physical Disk dialog box, in the Allocation drop-down list, ensure Automatic is selected, select the check box corresponding to the disk, and then select OK.
  4. In the PHYSICAL DISKS pane, right-click the top disk in the list, and then select Remove disk.
  5. In the Remove Physical Disk window, select Yes.
  6. Review the statement in the Remove Physical Disk window, and then select OK.
  7. Return to File Explorer.
  8. Open Document1.txt, add some text, and then save and close the file.

Task 5: Add a new disk to storage pool

  1. In Server Manager, on SEA-ADM1, in File and Storage Services, select Storage Pools.
  2. In Storage Pools, in the TASKS drop-down list, select the Rescan Storage item.
  3. In the Rescan Storage window, select Yes.
  4. In the Physical Disks pane, select the TASKS drop-down list, and then select Add Physical Disk.
  5. In the Add Physical Disk window, in the Allocation drop-down list, ensure Automatic is selected. Select the check box, and then select OK.
  6. Return to File Explorer.
  7. Open Document1, add some additional text, and then save and close the file.
  8. Close all open windows.
  9. Switch back to SEA-SVR3.

  10. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      T:

  Cd "test data"

  dir
  11. Verify that Document1.txt is included in the returned results.

  12. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

     .\Document1.txt
  13. When the document opens in Notepad, verify that all the text additions you made earlier are present, and then close Notepad.

Note: When you have finished the exercise, revert the VMs to their initial state.

Exercise 4: Implementing Storage Spaces Direct

For Exercise 4, you will need to start the following VMs using the username Contoso\Administrator, and the password Pa55w.rd:

  • WS-011T00A-SEA-DC1
  • WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR1
  • WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR2
  • WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR3
  • WS-011T00A-SEA-ADM1

Task 1: Install the features

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in Server Manager, in the console tree, select All Servers, and verify that SEA-SVR1, SEA-SVR2, and SEA-SVR3 have a Manageability of Online – Performance counters not started before continuing.
  2. In Server Manager, in the navigation pane, select File and Storage Services, and then select Disks.
  3. In the Disks pane, scroll until you find SEA-SVR3 disks 1 through 4, and note that they are set to Unknown.
  4. Right-click or access the context menu for each offline disk, select Bring Online, and then in the Bring Disk Online window, select Yes.
  5. Verify that all disks are online for SEA-SVR1 and SEA-SVR2.
  6. Select Start, and in the Start menu, select Windows PowerShell ISE.
  7. When Windows PowerShell ISE completes loading, select File, select Open, and then navigate to C:\Labfiles\Mod04.

  8. Select Implement-StorageSpacesDirect.ps1, and then select Open.

    Note: The script is divided into numbered steps. There are eight steps, and each step has a number of commands. Run the commands by highlighting each command and pressing F8, one after the other in accordance with the following instructions. Ensure each step finishes, that is, goes from Stop operation (a red square) to a Run selection (green arrow) in the menu bar, before starting the next.

  9. Select the line in step 1, that is, highlight the entire line, starting with the first Invoke-Command, and then select F8.
  10. Wait until the installation finishes, and then verify that the output of the command includes four lines (one for each server) with Success as True.

  11. Select the second line in step 1, starting with second Invoke-Command, and then select F8.

    Note: When you start the second command to restart the servers, you can run the third command to install the console without waiting for the second command’s restarts to finish.

  12. Select the third line in step 1, starting with Install, and then select F8.
  13. Wait a few minutes while the servers restart and the Failover Cluster Manager tool is added to SEA-ADM1.
  14. Leave the Windows PowerShell ISE console open for the remainder of the exercise.

Task 2: Create and validate a cluster

  1. On SEA-ADM1, select the Windows key, and in the Start menu, select Server Manager.
  2. In Server Manager, select Tools, and then select Failover Cluster Manager. (This is to confirm it is installed.) Leave the Server Manager console open.
  3. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the line in step 2 starting with Test-Cluster, and then select F8.
  4. Wait until the test finishes, which takes about 5 minutes.
  5. Verify that the output of the command only includes warnings and that the last line is a validation report in HTML format.
  6. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the line in step 3 starting with New-Cluster, and then select F8.
  7. Wait until the installation finishes.
  8. Verify that the output of the command only includes warnings, and that the last line has a Name column with the value S2DCluster.
  9. Switch to the Failover Cluster Manager window, and in the Management pane, select Connect to Cluster, enter S2DCluster.Contoso.com, and then select OK.

Task 3: Enable Storage Spaces Direct

  1. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the line in step 4 starting with Invoke-Command, and then select F8.
  2. Wait until the installation finishes.
  3. If a Confirm dialog box opens, select Yes.
  4. There should be no output from the command, and ignore any warning message that opens.
  5. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the line in step 5 starting with Invoke-Command, and then select F8.
  6. Wait until the installation finishes.
  7. In the output of the command, verify that the FriendlyName attribute has a value of S2DStoragePool.
  8. In the Failover Cluster Manager window, expand S2DCluster.Contoso.com, expand Storage, and then select Pools.
  9. Verify the existence of Cluster Pool 1.
  10. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the line in step 6 starting with Invoke-Command, and then select F8.
  11. Wait until the installation finishes.
  12. Verify that in the output of the command is the attribute FileSystemLabel, with a value of CSV.
  13. In the Failover Cluster Manager window, select Disks.
  14. Verify the existence of Cluster Virtual Disk (CSV).

Task 4: Create a storage pool, a virtual disk, and a share

  1. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the line in step 7 starting with Invoke-Command, and then select F8.
  2. Wait until the installation finishes.
  3. Verify that in the output of the command is an attribute FriendlyName, with a value of S2D-SOFS. This validates that the command was successful.
  4. In the Failover Cluster Manager window, select Roles.
  5. Verify the existence of S2D-SOFS. This also verifies that the command was successful.
  6. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window, select the three lines in step 8, starting with Invoke-Command, and then select F8.
  7. Wait until the installation finishes.
  8. Verify that within the output of the command is an attribute Path with a value of C:\ClusterStorage\CSV\VM01. This validates that the command was successful.
  9. In the Failover Cluster Manager window, select S2D-SOFS, and then select the Shares tab.
  10. Verify the existence of VM01. This also verifies that the command was successful.

Task 5: Verify Storage Spaces Direct functionality

  1. On SEA-ADM1, on the taskbar, select the File Explorer icon.
  2. In File Explorer, in the address bar, enter \\s2d-sofs\VM01, and then select Enter.
  3. Create a new folder named VMFolder, and then open it.
  4. Switch to the Administrator: Windows PowerShell ISE window.

  5. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, enter the following command, and then select Enter:

      Stop-Computer -ComputerName SEA-SVR3
  6. Switch to the Server Manager window, and then select All Servers.
  7. In the Servers list, select SEA-SVR3.
  8. Verify that Manageability changes to Target computer not accessible. Note: You may have to refresh the Server Manager view.
  9. Switch back to the File Explorer window.
  10. Create a new text document in the VMFolder.
  11. In Failover Cluster Manager, select Disks, and then select Cluster Virtual Disk (CSV).
  12. Verify that for the Cluster Virtual Disk (CSV), the Health Status is Warning, and Operational Status is Degraded. (Operational Status might also display as Incomplete.)
  13. On the taskbar, select the Microsoft Edge icon.
  14. In Microsoft Edge, in the Favorites menu, select the Windows Admin Center (WAC) tab.
  15. In the Windows security window, in the Username text box, enter Contoso\Administrator, in the Password text box, enter Pa55w.rd, and then select OK.
  16. In the All connections page, select + Add.
  17. In the Add resources blade, scroll to the Windows Server cluster pane, and in the pane, select Add.

  18. In the Add cluster blade Cluster name text box, enter S2DCluster.Contoso.com, and then select Add.

    Note: Initially, the connection under the current user will be denied.

  19. In the Specify your credentials window, select the Use another account for this connection radio button. In the Username text box, enter Contoso\Administrator, in the Password text box, enter Pa55w.rd, and then select Enter.
  20. Clear the check box for Also add servers in the cluster (they are already included), and then select Add.
  21. After the cluster is added to the All connections page, select S2DCluster.Contoso.com.
  22. Verify that when the page loads, the Dashboard appears has an alert for SEA-SVR3 being offline.
  23. Start WS-011T00A-SEA-SVR3. (While SEA-SVR3 should start quickly, it may take a few minutes for the alert to be removed.)

When you have finished the exercise, revert the VMs to their initial state.