Optimizing Microsoft Windows Server Storage

Optimizing Microsoft Windows Server storage is key to keeping pace with your organization’s ever increasing data needs. Once you have initially configured your Microsoft Windows Server storage you will want to take advantage of three key features: iSCSI Storage, Storage Spaces and Data Deduplication.

iSCSI is a protocol that supports remote access to SCSI-based storage devices over a TCP/IP network. It provides and easy to use alternative to Storage Area Networks (SANs) and can use existing infrastructure.

Storage Spaces lets you group physical disks together and present them as a single logical disk. This makes it easy to manage and dynamically allocate storage.

Data Deduplication is a service that identifies and removes duplications within data. The goal of Data Deduplication is to maximize the use of disk space.

This course follows INF201.21, Implementing Microsoft Windows Server Disks and Volumes but it is not required.

Go beyond simple storage strategies and take control of your organization’s storage needs!

Lesson 1: iSCSI Storage

• Describe the iSCSI infrastructure and identify the components.
• Implement an iSCSI infrastructure using Server Manager.
• Implement high availability using MPIO.
• Learn about best practices for installing and configuring an iSCSI infrastructure.

Lesson 2: Storage Spaces

• Describe the Storage Spaces feature and its components.
• Describe common usage scenarios for storage spaces, and weigh their benefits and limitations.
• Implement Storage Spaces including storage layout, drive allocation, and provisioning schemes.
• Identify different storage space resiliency models and when to use them. 

Lesson 3: Data Deduplication

• Implement the data deduplication service and configure the settings.
• Use Windows PowerShell to manage and monitor data deduplication jobs.
• Identify common usage scenarios for data deduplication and expected disk space savings.
• Describe how data deduplication works and how other tasks, like backup and restore, are affected.
• Identify data deduplication considerations and limitations.