Administrator's Guide

File system elements
File system elements are composed of the folders and subfolders that are created under each logical
storage element (partitions, logical disks, and volumes). Folders are used to further subdivide the
available file system, providing another level of granularity for management of the information
space. Each of these folders can contain separate permissions and share names that can be used
for network access. Folders can be created for individual users, groups, projects, and so on.
File sharing elements
The storage system supports several file sharing protocols, including Distributed File System (DFS),
Network File System (NFS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and
Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB). On each folder or logical storage element, different file
sharing protocols can be enabled using specific network names for access across a network to a
variety of clients. Permissions can then be granted to those shares based on users or groups of
users in each of the file sharing protocols.
Volume Shadow Copy Service overview
The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) provides an infrastructure for creating point-in-time
snapshots (shadow copies) of volumes. VSS supports 64 shadow copies per volume.
Shadow Copies of Shared Folders resides within this infrastructure, and helps alleviate data loss
by creating shadow copies of files or folders that are stored on network file shares at pre-determined
time intervals. In essence, a shadow copy is a previous version of the file or folder at a specific
point in time.
By using shadow copies, a storage system can maintain a set of previous versions of all files on
the selected volumes. End users access the file or folder by using a separate client add-on program,
which enables them to view the file in Windows Explorer.
Shadow copies should not replace the current backup, archive, or business recovery system, but
they can help to simplify restore procedures. For example, shadow copies cannot protect against
data loss due to media failures; however, recovering data from shadow copies can reduce the
number of times needed to restore data from tape.
Using storage elements
The last step in creating the element is determining its drive letter or mount point and formatting
the element. Each element created can exist as a drive letter, assuming one is available, and/or
as mount points on an existing folder or drive letter. Either method is supported. However, mount
points cannot be used for shares that will be shared using Microsoft Services for Unix. They can
be set up with both but the use of the mount point in conjunction with NFS shares causes instability
with the NFS shares.
Formats consist of NTFS, FAT32, and FAT. All three types can be used on the storage system.
However, VSS can only use volumes that are NTFS formatted. Also, quota management is possible
only on NTFS.
Clustered server elements
HP 3PAR StoreServ File Controller systems supports clustering. These storage systems support
several file sharing protocols including DFS, NFS, FTP, HTTP, and Microsoft SMB. Only NFS, FTP,
and Microsoft SMB are cluster-aware protocols. HTTP can be installed on each node but the
protocols cannot be set up through cluster administrator, and they will not fail over during a node
failure.
Network names and IP address resources for the clustered file share resource can also be established
for access across a network to a variety of clients. Permissions can then be granted to those shares
based on users or groups of users in each of the file sharing protocols.
30 Storage management overview