Configuring
the File Server Role
Windows
Server 2003 includes a handy wizard that automatically configures the computer
as a file server. The following procedure shows you how to use this wizard.
1. Log
on as an administrator.
You
need administrator rights in order to make the changes called for by this
wizard.
2. Choose
Start➪Administrative Tools➪Manage
Your Server.
The
Manage Your Server screen appears, as shown in Figure 3-1. This screen shows
the various roles that you’ve configured for the server. If the File Server
role already appears, you can skip the rest of this procedure — you’ve already
configured the computer to be a file server.
3. Choose
Add Or Remove A Role.
A
screen appears, suggesting that you take some preliminary steps, such as connecting network cables and installing
modems. Read this list just to make sure that you’ve done it all already.
4. Click
Next until you get to the Server Role page.
The
Server Role page, shown in Figure 3-2, lists the various roles that can be
configured for the server.
Figure 3-2:
The
Server Role page.
5. Select
File Server and then click Next.
The
File Server Disk Quotas page appears, as shown in Figure 3-3. This page lets
you set up disk quotas to track and
limit the amount of disk space used by each user. The default setting is to
limit each user to a paltry 5MB of disk space. Microsoft recommends that you
set this limit low and then change it for users who need more space.
This
page also lets you specify the consequences that will occur if a user exceeds
the quota. By default, no consequences
are specified, so the quota is just a tracking device. If you want, you can
tell Windows to refuse to let the user have more space than the quota
specifies, or you can specify that an event should be logged to let you know
that a user has exceeded the quota.
6. Specify
the disk quota settings that you want to use and then click Next.
The
Indexing Service page appears. This page lets you indicate whether you want to
activate the Windows Indexing Service for the file server. In most cases,
activating this service is a bad idea because it can dramatically
slow
down the performance of the server. Few users take advantage of the Indexing
Service, but if you need it, it’s available here.
7. Check
Yes if you want to use the Indexing Service or leave No checked to disable
Indexing and then click Next.
Figure 3-3:
The
File Server Disk Quotas page.
A
summary page appears, listing the options that you’ve selected.
8. Click
Next.
The
computer grinds and whirs for a moment as it configures the file server. In a
moment, the Share A Folder Wizard appears. This wizard allows you to set up the
initial file shares for the server.
9. Use
the Share A Folder Wizard to share one or more folders.
For
the complete procedure for using this wizard, see the section “Sharing a folder
from the File Server Manager,” later in this chapter.
After
you’re finished with the Share A Folder Wizard, the screen shown in Figure 3-4
is displayed.
10. Click
Finish.
You’re
returned to the Manage Your Server page, which now lists the File Server role
as active. That’s it. You have now configured the computer to be a file server.
Managing
Your File Server
Windows
Server 2003 also includes a handy File Server Manager console, as
shown
in Figure 3-5. From this console, you can easily create new shares, set
up
the permissions for a share, delete a share, and so on. To summon the
File
Server Manager, choose Start➪Administrative
Tools➪Manage Your
Server
and then choose Manage File Server.
Figure 3-4:
Congratulations!
You have successfully created a file server.
The
following sections describe some of the more common procedures that you’ll use
when managing your file server.
Sharing
a folder from the File Server Manager
To
be useful, a file server should offer one or more shares — folders
that have been designated as publicly accessible via the network. You can see a
list of the current shares available from a file server by firing up the File Server
Manager and clicking Shares in the console tree. The File Server Manager
displays the share name, description, and network path for each share that
you’ve already created. To create additional shares, use the Share A Folder
Wizard, as described in the following procedure.
- Select Shares from the console tree and then choose Action➪New Share.
The
Share A Folder Wizard comes to life, as shown in Figure 3-6.
Figure 3-5:
The
File Server Manager console.
2. Click
Next.
The
wizard asks you what folder you want to share, as shown in Figure 3-7.
3. Type
the path of the folder that you want to share over the network and then click
Next.
If
you aren’t sure of the path, you can click Browse. This action calls up a
dialog box that lets you search the server’s hard drive for a folder to share.
You can also create a new folder from this dialog box if the folder
that
you want to share doesn’t yet exist. After you’ve selected or created the
folder to share, click OK to return to the wizard.
Next,
the dialog box shown in Figure 3-8 appears.
Figure 3-7:
Specifying
the folder to share.
4. Type
the name that you want to use for the share in the Share Name
box
and a description of the share in the Description box.
The
default name is the name of the folder being shared. If the folder ame is long,
you can use a more succinct name here. The description is strictly optional but
can sometimes help users to determine the intended contents of the folder.
5. Click
Next.
The
dialog box shown in Figure 3-9 appears.
Figure 3-9:
The
share was completed successfully.
6. If
you want to create another share, check the Run The Wizard Again checkbox,
click Finish, and return to Step 3; otherwise, click Finish to dismiss the
wizard.
If
you click Finish, you’re returned to the File Server Management console. The
share or shares that you created will now appear in the list.
Sharing
a folder without the wizard
If
you think wizards should be confined to Harry Potter movies, you can set up a share
without bothering the wizard. Just follow these steps:
1. Open
the My Computer window and navigate to the folder that you want to share.
2. Right-click
the folder and choose Sharing And Security.
This
action brings up the Properties dialog box for the folder, with the Sharing tab
already selected, as shown in Figure 3-10.
3. Select
the Share This Folder option to designate the folder as shared.
The
rest of the controls on this dialog box will be unavailable until you check
this box.
4. Type
the name that you want to use for the share in the Share Name box and a
description of the share in the Description box.
The
default name is the name of the folder being shared. If the folder name is
long, you can use a more succinct name here. The description is strictly
optional but can sometimes help users to determine the intended contents of the
folder.
5. Change
the user limit if you want.
In
most cases, it’s best to leave this set at Maximum Allowed.
6. If
you want to specify permissions now, click Permissions.
This
brings up a dialog box that lets you create permissions for the share.
7. Click
OK.
The
folder is now shared.
Granting
permissions
When
you first create a file share, all users are granted read-only access to the
share. If you want to allow users to modify files in the share or allow
them
to create new files, you need to add additional permissions. Here’s how to do
this via the File Server Manager:
1. Click
Shares in the console tree.
A
list of all the server’s shares appears.
2. Right-click
the share you want to set permissions for, choose Properties, and then click
the Share Permissions tab.
The
dialog box shown in Figure 3-11 appears. This dialog box lists all the users
and groups to whom you’ve granted permission for the folder. When you select a
user or group from the list, the check boxes at the bottom of the list change
to indicate which specific permissions you’ve assigned to each user or group.
3. Click
Add.
The
dialog box shown in Figure 3-12 appears.
4. Type
the name of the user or group to whom you want to grant permission
and
then click OK.
You’re
returned to the Share Permissions tab, with the new user or group added. If
you’re not sure of the name, click Advanced. This action brings up the dialog
box shown in Figure 3-13. Here, you can click the Find Now button to display a
list of all users and groups in the domain. Alternatively, you can enter the
first part of the name that you’re looking for before you click Find Now to
search more specifically. When you find the user or group that you’re looking
for, click OK.
5. Check
the appropriate Allow or Deny check boxes to specify which permissions to allow
for the user or group.
6. Repeat
Steps 3 through 5 for any other permissions that you want to add.
7. When
you’re done, click OK.
Figure 3-12:
The
Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box.
Here
are a few other thoughts to ponder concerning adding permissions:
✦ If you want
to just grant full access to everyone for this folder, don’t bother adding
another permission. Instead, click the Everyone group to select it and then
check the Allow box for each permission type.
✦ You can
remove a permission by selecting the permission and then clicking Remove.
✦ If you’d
rather not fuss with the File Server Manager, you can set the permissions from
My Computer. Right-click the shared folder and choose Sharing And Security and
then click Permissions. You can then follow the preceding procedure, picking up
at Step 3.
✦ The
permissions assigned in this procedure apply only to the share itself. The
underlying folder can also have permissions assigned to it. If hat’s the case,
whichever of the restrictions is more restrictive will always apply. For
example, if the Share Permissions grant a user Full Control permission, but the
folder permission grants the user only Read permission, the user will be given
Read permission for the folder.
Figure 3-13:
Looking
up users and groups.
Advanced
Features for Managing File Servers
After
you’ve configured the server’s File Server role, created shares, and granted
permissions, you can usually let a file server run along pretty much unattended
except for the occasional need to check the amount of free disk
space
remaining on the server, and regularly backing up the server. However, you may
need to use a few other options and features in some circumstances.
Configuring
offline settings
The
offline files feature
allows a user to maintain a copy of shared files on his or her computer so that
the user can access the files when not connected to the network. This feature
is most useful for notebook computer
users
who want to take their computers home with them or to travel with them. Windows
saves a local copy of the user’s network files on the client computer and
automatically synchronizes the copies. To control the offline settings for a
share, right-click the share and choose Properties. Then, click the Offline
Settings button. This brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 3-14. Here, you
can choose one of three options for saving local copies of files in the share:
✦ Only the
files and programs that users specify will be available offline:
This
option puts the responsibility for specifying which files should be saved for
offline use on the user. This is the option to use if only a portion of the
files in the shared folder need to be available for offline use.
✦ All files and
programs that users open from the share will be automatically
saved
offline: This option automates offline storage by
automatically saving a local copy of any file that the user retrieves from the
share. You should use this option only for folders whose entire contents should
be available to offline users.
✦ Files or
programs from the share will not be available offline: Use
this option to disable offline storage for the shared folder.
Figure 3-14: Configuring
offline settings.
Setting
up shadow copies
Shadow copies is a new
feature for Windows Server 2003 that makes backups of a shared resource easy to
get to on a scheduled basis. The user can access the shadow copies to retrieve
files that were accidentally deleted or
modified.
When you enable shadow copies, you can set up a schedule to dictate how often
the shadow copy should be made and the amount of storage to allocate to shadow
copies. To enable shadow copies, select the share and choose Configure Shadow Copies.
The dialog box shown in Figure 3-15 appears. Click Enable to activate shadowing
using the default schedule, which creates two shadow copies every day: one at 7
a.m. and the other at noon. To change this schedule, click Settings and set up
the schedule however you want. The following paragraphs describe some
additional things that you need to know about using shadow copies:
✦ Shadow copies
can retain up to 64 versions of the shadowed data. When this limit is reached,
the oldest copy is deleted.
✦ The shadow
copy feature doesn’t copy all the files in the shared folder — only those that
have changed since the last shadow copy was created.
Figure 3-15:
Enabling
shadow copies.
✦ To access
shadow copies, each user must install special client software on his or her
computer. This software is automatically installed in the \%systemroot%\System32\clients\twclient
folder on the server. You should copy the contents of this
folder to a shared folder. Then, you can install the software on client
computers by opening the shared folder and running twclient.msi.
✦ Shadow copies
are not a substitute for regular backups!
Dealing
with users
In
the File Server Manager, you can click the Sessions folder in the console tree
to display a list of all the users who
are currently accessing the file server, as shown in Figure 3-16. This
information may be useful if you’re
considering
shutting down the server, or if you’re just nosey and want to know who’s using
the server.
The
following are some of the more interesting things you can do to your file server’s
users:
✦ You can force
a user off your file server by right-clicking the user and choosing Disconnect.
✦ You can blow
everyone off the server by clicking the Disconnect All Sessions link. This
action is something you should do only in drastic circumstances.
Figure 3-16:
Finding
out who’s on first.
✦ You can send
a message to a user by clicking the Send Console Message link.
✦ If you’re
really nosy, you can click the Open Files folder in the console tree to find
out what files each user has open. If you want to gain an appreciation for how
hard your file server works, do this sometime on a busy day.
