AZ 800 STUDY GUIDE

Lab: Implementing storage solutions in Windows Server

Scenario

At Contoso, Ltd., you need to implement the Storage Spaces feature on the Windows Server 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.

Note: An interactive lab simulation is available that allows you to click through this lab at your own pace. You may find slight differences between the interactive simulation and the hosted lab, but the core concepts and ideas being demonstrated are the same.

Objectives

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

  • Implement Data Deduplication.
  • Configure iSCSI storage.
  • Configure Storage Spaces.
  • Implement Storage Spaces Direct.

Estimated time: 90 minutes

Lab setup

Virtual machines: AZ-800T00A-SEA-DC1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR2, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR3, and AZ-800T00A-ADM1 must be running.

  • For Exercises 1-3: AZ-800T00A-SEA-DC1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR3, and AZ-800T00A-SEA-ADM1
  • For Exercise 4: AZ-800T00A-SEA-DC1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR2, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR3, and AZ-800T00A-SEA-ADM1

Note: AZ-800T00A-SEA-DC1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR1, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR2, AZ-800T00A-SEA-SVR3, and AZ-800T00A-SEA-ADM1 virtual machines are hosting the installation of SEA-DC1, SEA-SVR1, SEA-SVR2, SEA-SVR3, and SEA-ADM1, respectively.

  1. Select SEA-ADM1.
  2. Sign in using the following credentials:
    • Username: Administrator
    • Password: Pa55w.rd
    • Domain: CONTOSO

For this lab, you’ll use the available VM environment.

Lab exercise 1: Implementing Data Deduplication

Scenario

You decide to install the Data Deduplication role service by using Server Manager. You determine that drive M is heavily used, and you suspect that it contains duplicate files in some folders. You decide to enable and configure the Data Deduplication role to reduce the consumed space on this volume.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

  1. Install the Data Deduplication feature on SEA-SVR3.
  2. Enable and configure Data Deduplication on drive M on SEA-SVR3.
  3. Test Data Deduplication by adding files and observing deduplication.

Task 1: Install the Data Deduplication role service

  1. On SEA-ADM1, use Server Manager to install the Data Deduplication role service on SEA-SVR3.
  2. On SEA-ADM1, share the C:\Labfiles folder with the Read permissions granted to the Users group.
  3. Switch to the SEA-SVR3 console session, and then, if needed, sign in as CONTOSO\Administrator with a password of Pa55w.rd.
  4. On SEA-SVR3, start a Windows PowerShell session, and then, in the Windows PowerShell console, run the following commands to create a volume formatted with ReFS and with the drive letter M assigned to it:
    Code
    Get-Disk
Initialize-Disk -Number 1
New-Partition -DiskNumber 1 -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter M
Format-Volume -DriveLetter M -FileSystem ReFS
  5. On SEA-SVR3, in the Windows PowerShell console, run the following commands to copy from SEA-ADM1 a script that creates sample files to be deduplicated, execute it, and identify the outcome:
    Code
    New-PSDrive –Name 'X' –PSProvider FileSystem –Root '\\SEA-ADM1\Labfiles'
New-Item -Type Directory -Path 'M:\Data' -Force
Copy-Item -Path X:\Lab09\CreateLabFiles.cmd -Destination M:\Data\ -PassThru
Start-Process -FilePath M:\Data\CreateLabFiles.cmd -PassThru
Set-Location -Path M:\Data
Get-ChildItem -Path .
Get-PSDrive -Name M

    Note: Record the free space on drive M.

Task 2: Enable and configure Data Deduplication

  1. Switch back to the console session to SEA-ADM1.
  2. Use the File and Storage Services interface in Server Manager to display disks on SEA-SVR3.
  3. Enable Data Deduplication on the M volume on disk number 1 on SEA-SVR3 with the following settings:
    • Deduplication option: General purpose file server
    • Deduplicate files older than (in days): 0
    • Enable throughput optimization: Selected

Task 3: Test Data Deduplication

  1. On SEA-ADM1, start Windows PowerShell as Administrator.

    Note: Perform the next two steps in case you have not already installed Windows Admin Center on SEA-ADM1.

  2. In the Windows PowerShell console, run the following command to download the latest version of Windows Admin Center:
    Code
    Start-BitsTransfer -Source https://aka.ms/WACDownload -Destination "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\WindowsAdminCenter.msi"
  3. Run the following command to install Windows Admin Center:
    Code
    Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList "/i $env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\WindowsAdminCenter.msi /qn /L*v log.txt REGISTRY_REDIRECT_PORT_80=1 SME_PORT=443 SSL_CERTIFICATE_OPTION=generate"

    Note: Wait until the installation completes. This should take about 2 minutes.

  4. On SEA-ADM1, start Microsoft Edge and connect to the local instance of Windows Admin Center at https://SEA-ADM1.contoso.com.
  5. If prompted, in the Windows Security dialog box, enter the following credentials, and then select OK:
    • Username: CONTOSO\\Administrator
    • Password: Pa55w.rd
  6. In Windows Admin Center, add a connection to sea-svr3.contoso.com and connect to it as CONTOSO\Administrator with the password of Pa55w.rd.
  7. While connected to sea-svr3.contoso.com, in the Tools list, use the PowerShell tool to run the following command which triggers deduplication:
    Code
    Start-DedupJob -Volume M: -Type Optimization –Memory 50
  8. Switch back to the console session to SEA-SVR3.
  9. On SEA-SVR3, at the Windows PowerShell prompt, run the following command to identify the available space on the volume being deduplicated:
    Code
    Get-PSDrive -Name M

    Note: Compare the previously displayed values with the current ones.

  10. Wait for five to ten minutes to allow the deduplication job to complete and repeat the previous step.
  11. Switch back to the console session to SEA-ADM1.
  12. On SEA-ADM1, in Windows Admin Center connected to sea-svr3.contoso.com, use the PowerShell tool to run the following commands that identify the status of the deduplication job:
    Code
    Get-DedupStatus –Volume M: | fl
Get-DedupVolume –Volume M: |fl
Get-DedupMetadata –Volume M: |fl
  13. On SEA-ADM1, refresh the Disks pane in Server Manager and display the properties of the M: volume.
  14. In the Volume (M:\) Properties window, review the values for Deduplication rate and Deduplication savings.

Lab exercise 2: Configuring iSCSI storage

Scenario

Executives at Contoso are exploring the option of using iSCSI to decrease the cost and complexity of configuring centralized storage. To test this, you must install and configure the iSCSI targets, and configure the iSCSI initiators to provide access to the targets.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

  1. Install iSCSI and configure targets on SEA-SVR3.
  2. Connect to and configure iSCSI targets from SEA-DC1 (initiator).
  3. Verify iSCSI disk configuration.
  4. Revert disk configuration.

Task 1: Install iSCSI and configure targets

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in the Windows PowerShell console, run the following command to establish a PowerShell Remoting session to SEA-SVR3:
    Code
    Enter-PSSession -ComputerName SEA-SVR3
  2. Run the following command to install iSCSI target on SEA-SVR3:
    Code
    Install-WindowsFeature –Name FS-iSCSITarget-Server –IncludeManagementTools
  3. Run the following commands to create a new volume formatted with ReFS on disk 2:
    Code
    Initialize-Disk -Number 2
$partition2 = New-Partition -DiskNumber 2 -UseMaximumSize -AssignDriveLetter
Format-Volume -DriveLetter $partition2.DriveLetter -FileSystem ReFS
  4. Run the following commands to create a new volume formatted with ReFS on disk 3:
    Code
    Initialize-Disk -Number 3
$partition3 = New-Partition -DiskNumber 3 -UseMaximumSize -AssignDriveLetter
Format-Volume -DriveLetter $partition3.DriveLetter -FileSystem ReFS
  5. Run the following commands to configure Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security rules that allow iSCSI traffic:
    Code
    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
  6. Run the following commands to display the drive letters assigned to the newly created volumes:
    Code
    $partition2.DriveLetter
$partition3.DriveLetter

    Note: The instructions assume that drive letters are E and F respectively. If your drive letter assignments are different, take this into account as you follow instructions in this exercise.

Task 2: Connect to and configure iSCSI targets

  1. On SEA-ADM1, refresh the Disks pane in Server Manager and display the disk configuration of SEA-DC1. Note that it only contains the boot and system volume drive C.
  2. In Server Manager, in File and Storage Services, switch to the iSCSI pane.
  3. From the iSCSI pane, create an iSCSI virtual disk with the following settings:
    • Storage Location: E:
    • Name: iSCSIDisk1
    • Disk size: 5 GB, Dynamically Expanding
    • iSCSI target: New
    • Target name: iSCSIFarm
    • Access servers: SEA-DC1
  4. Create a second iSCSI virtual disk with the following settings:
    • Storage Location: F:
    • Name: iSCSIDisk2
    • Disk size: 5 GB, Dynamically Expanding
    • iSCSI target: iSCSIFarm
  5. Switch to the SEA-DC1 console session, and then, if needed, sign in as CONTOSO\Administrator with a password of Pa55w.rd.
  6. On SEA-SVR3, start a Windows PowerShell session, and then, in the Windows PowerShell console, run the following commands to start the iSCSI Initiator service and display the iSCSI Initiator configuration:
    Code
    Start-Service msiscsi
iscsicpl

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

  7. Use the iSCSI Initiator Properties interface to connect to the following iSCSI target:
    • Name: SEA-SVR3
    • Target name: iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:SEA-SVR3-fileserver-target

Task 3: Verify iSCSI disk configuration

  1. Switch back to the console session to SEA-ADM1.
  2. In Server Manager, browse to the Disks pane of File and Storage Services and refresh its view.
  3. Review the SEA-DC1 disk configuration and verify that it includes two 5 GB disks with the Offline status and the iSCSI bus type.
  4. Switch to the SEA-DC1 console session.
  5. At the Windows PowerShell prompt, run the following command to display the disk configuration:
    Code
    Get-Disk

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

  6. On SEA-DC1, from the Windows PowerShell prompt, run the following commands to create a volume formatted with ReFS with the drive letter E.
    Code
    Initialize-Disk -Number 1
New-Partition -DiskNumber 1 -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter E
Format-Volume -DriveLetter E -FileSystem ReFS
  7. Repeat the previous step to create a new drive formatted with ReFS, but this time, use the disk number 2 and the drive letter F.
  8. Switch back to the console session to SEA-ADM1, with the Server Manager window active.
  9. In Server Manager, refresh the Disks pane in File and Storage Services.
  10. Review the SEA-DC1 disk configuration and verify that both drives are now Online.

Task 4: Revert disk configuration

  1. Switch back to the console session to SEA-SVR3.
  2. At the Windows PowerShell prompt, run the following commands to reset disks on SEA-SVR3 to their original state:
    Code
    for ($num = 1;$num -le 4; $num++) {Clear-Disk -Number $num -RemoveData -RemoveOEM -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue}
for ($num = 1;$num -le 4; $num++) {Set-Disk -Number $num -IsOffline $true}

    Note: This is necessary in order to prepare for the next exercise.

Lab exercise 3: Configuring redundant Storage Spaces

Scenario

To meet some requirements for high availability, you decide to evaluate redundancy options in Storage Spaces. Additionally, you want to test the provisioning of new disks to the storage pool.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

  1. Create a storage pool.
  2. Create a volume based on a three-way mirrored disk.
  3. Manage a volume in File Explorer.
  4. Disconnect a disk from the storage pool and verify volume availability.
  5. Add a disk to the storage pool and verify volume availability.
  6. Revert disk configuration.

Note: In Windows Server, you can’t disconnect a disk in a storage pool. You can only remove it. You also can’t remove a disk from a three-way mirror without adding a new disk first.

Task 1: Create a storage pool

  1. Switch to SEA-ADM1 and refresh the Disks pane of File and Storage Services in Server Manager.
  2. Set the status of the disks 1-4 of SEA-SVR3 to Online.
  3. In Server Manager targeting storage configuration of SEA-SVR3, create a new storage pool named SP1 consisting of the three disks of 127 GB in size.

Task 2: Create a volume based on a three-way mirrored disk

  1. On SEA-ADM1, from Server Manager, use the newly created storage pool SP1 to create a virtual disk named Three-Mirror that uses the mirror storage layout, thin provisioning, and has the size of 25 GB.
  2. Use the newly provisioned virtual disk to create an ReFS volume named TestData, set its size to all available disk space, and assign to it drive letter T.

Task 3: Manage a volume in File Explorer

  1. On SEA-ADM1, switch to the Windows PowerShell hosting PowerShell Remoting session to SEA-SVR3.
  2. Use the PowerShell Remoting session to enable all of the File and Printer Sharing rules of Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security by running the following command:
    Code
    Enable-NetFirewallRule -Group "@FirewallAPI.dll,-28502"
  3. On SEA-ADM1, start File Explorer and browse to the \\SEA-SVR3.contoso.com\t$ share.
  4. Create a folder named TestData, and then, within the folder, create a document named TestDocument.txt.

Task 4: Disconnect a disk from the storage pool and verify volume availability

  1. On SEA-ADM1, use Server Manager to add the remaining available disk attached to SEA-SVR3 to the storage pool SP1. Ensure the disk uses automatic allocation.
  2. Use Server Manager to remove one of the first three disks allocated to the SP1 pool.
  3. On SEA-ADM1, use File Explorer to verify that TestDocument.txt is still available.

Task 5: Add a disk to the storage pool and verify volume availability

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in Server Manager, re-scan the SP1 storage pool.
  2. Add back the disk you removed in the previous task and ensure that it uses automatic allocation.
  3. On SEA-ADM1, use File Explorer to verify that TestDocument.txt is still available.
  4. Switch back to SEA-SVR3.

Task 6: Revert disk configuration

  1. Switch back to the console session to SEA-SVR3.
  2. At the Windows PowerShell prompt, run the following commands to reset disks on SEA-SVR3 to their original state:
    Code
    Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName 'Three-Mirror' | Remove-VirtualDisk
Get-StoragePool -FriendlyName 'SP1' | Remove-StoragePool
for ($num = 1;$num -le 4; $num++) {Clear-Disk -Number $num -RemoveData -RemoveOEM -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue}
for ($num = 1;$num -le 4; $num++) {Set-Disk -Number $num -IsOffline $true}

    Note: This is necessary to prepare for the next exercise.

Lab exercise 4: Implementing Storage Spaces Direct

Scenario

You want to test whether using local storage as highly available storage is a viable solution for your organization. Previously, your organization has only used storage area networks (SANs) for storing VMs. The features in Windows Server make it possible to use only local storage, so you want to implement Storage Spaces Direct as a test implementation.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

  1. Prepare for installation of Storage Spaces Direct.
  2. Create and validate the failover cluster.
  3. Enable Storage Spaces Direct.
  4. Create a storage pool, a virtual disk, and a share.
  5. Verify Storage Spaces Direct functionality.

Task 1: Prepare for installation of Storage Spaces Direct

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in Server Manager, verify that SEA-SVR1, SEA-SVR2, and SEA-SVR3 have the Manageability status of Online – Performance counters not started before continuing.
  2. In Server Manager, browse to the Disks pane of File and Storage Services.
  3. On the Disks pane, browse to the SEA-SVR3 node and verify that disks 1 through 4 are listed as Unknown.
  4. Within the Disks pane of Server Manager, bring online all of the disks attached to SEA-SVR1, SEA-SVR2, and SEA-SVR3.
  5. On SEA-ADM1, start Windows PowerShell ISE and open C:\Labfiles\Lab09\Implement-StorageSpacesDirect.ps1 in its script pane.

    Note: The script is divided into numbered steps. There are eight steps, and each step has a number of commands. To execute an individual line, you can place the cursor anywhere within that line and press F8 or select the Run Selection in the toolbar of the Windows PowerShell ISE window. To execute multiple lines, select all of them in their entirety, and then use either F8 or the Run Selection toolbar icon. The sequence of steps is described in the instructions of this exercise. Ensure that each step completes before starting the next one.

  6. Run the first command in step 1 to install File Server role and Failover Clustering feature on SEA-SVR1, SEA-SVR2, and SEA-SVR3.

    Note: Wait until the installation finishes. This should take about 2 minutes. Verify that, in the output of each command, the Success property is set to True.

  7. Run the second command in step 1 to restart SEA-SVR1, SEA-SVR2, and SEA-SVR3.

    Note: After you invoke the second command to restart the servers, you can run the third command to install the Failover Clustering management tools without waiting for the restarts to finish.

  8. Run the third command in step 1 to install Failover Cluster Manager tool on SEA-ADM1.

    Note: Wait a few minutes while the servers restart and the Failover Cluster Manager tool is installed on SEA-ADM1.

Task 2: Create and validate the failover cluster

  1. On SEA-ADM1, start the Failover Cluster Manager console.
  2. On SEA-ADM1, in Windows PowerShell ISE, run the step 2 command to invoke cluster validation tests.

    Note: Wait until the tests complete. This should take about 2 minutes. Verify that none of the tests fail. Ignore any warnings since these are expected.

  3. In Windows PowerShell ISE, run the step 3 command to create a cluster.

    Note: Wait until the step completes. This should take about 2 minutes.

  4. When the command completes, switch to Failover Cluster Manager and add the newly created cluster named S2DCluster.Contoso.com.

Task 3: Enable Storage Spaces Direct

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in Windows PowerShell ISE, run the step 4 command to enable Storage Spaces Direct on the newly installed cluster.

    Note: Wait until the step completes. This should take about 1 minute.

  2. In Windows PowerShell ISE, run the step 5 command to create the storage pool named S2DStoragePool.

    Note: Wait until the step completes. This should take less than 1 minute. In the output of the command, verify that the FriendlyName attribute has a value of S2DStoragePool.

  3. Switch to the Failover Cluster Manager and verify that the cluster contains the storage pool named Cluster Pool 1.
  4. Switch to Windows PowerShell ISE, and run the step 6 command to create virtual disks.

    Note: Wait until the step completes. This should take less than 1 minute.

  5. Switch to the Failover Cluster Manager and verify that the Cluster Virtual Disk (CSV) object appears in Disks pane.

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

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in Windows PowerShell ISE, run the step 7 command to create the S2D-SOFS role.

    Note: Wait until the step completes. This should take less than 1 minute.

  2. Switch to Failover Cluster Manager and verify that the S2D-SOFS object appears in the Roles pane.
  3. Switch to Windows PowerShell ISE and run all three commands in Step 8 to create the VM01 share.
  4. Switch to Failover Cluster Manager and verify that the VM01 share appears in the Shares pane.

Task 5: Verify Storage Spaces Direct functionality

  1. On SEA-ADM1, in File Explorer, open the \\s2d-sofs\VM01 share and create a folder named VMFolder.
  2. On SEA-ADM1, from the console pane of Windows PowerShell ISE, run the following command to shut down SEA-SVR3:
    Code
    Stop-Computer -ComputerName SEA-SVR3 -Force
  3. Switch to Server Manager, refresh the All Servers view, and verify that SEA-SVR3 is no longer accessible.
  4. Switch to the Failover Cluster Manager and review the Cluster Virtual Disk (CSV) information in the Disks node.
  5. Verify that for the Cluster Virtual Disk (CSV), the Health Status is set to Warning and Operational Status to Degraded (Operational Status might also be listed as Incomplete.)
  6. On SEA-ADM1, switch to the Microsoft Edge window displaying Windows Admin Center.
  7. In Windows Admin Center, add a connection to the S2DCluster.Contoso.com cluster.

    Note: Don’t add the cluster nodes since they are already available in Windows Admin Center.

  8. In Windows Admin Center, on the cluster’s Dashboard pane, identify the alert indicating that SEA-SVR3 is not reachable.
  9. Switch to the console session to SEA-SVR3 and start it.
  10. Verify that the alert is automatically removed after a few minutes.
  11. Refresh the browser page displaying Windows Admin Center and verify that all servers are healthy.

Results

After completing this lab, you will have:

  • Tested the implementation of Data Deduplication.
  • Installed and configured iSCSI storage.
  • Configured redundant Storage Spaces.
  • Tested the implementation of Storage Spaces Direct.

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