Windows Storage Server 2012 on Lenovo ThinkServer

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Windows Storage Server 2012 on

Lenovo ThinkServer

Lenovo Enterprise Product Group

Version 1.0

May 2013

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LENOVO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes may be made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Lenovo may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.

Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled environment; therefore, the results obtained in other operating environments may vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems, and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the applicable data for their specific environment.

The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both: Lenovo, ThinkServer.

Intel and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft, Windows Storage Server 2012, Windows Server 2012, and the Windows Logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

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List of Figures

Figure 1 – Stand-alone Storage Server ... 6

Figure 2 – RD330 with 4x 3½” HDD Bays ... 8

Figure 5 – WSS Storage Taxonomy ... 11

Figure 6 – Windows Disk Management ... 12

Figure 7 – File and Storage Services Management ... 13

Figure 8 – Entry Server Recommended Drive Configuration ... 16

Figure 9 – Large Capacity Server Recommended Drive Configuration ... 17

Figure 10 – Performance Server Recommended Drive Configuration ... 18

Figure 11 – Server Manager ... 20

Figure 12 – Disk Manager Create Volume Wizard ... 22

Figure 13 – Steps to Creating Volumes from Storage Spaces ... 22

Figure 14 – Create a Storage Pool from Physical Disks ... 23

Figure 15 – Create a Virtual Disk from a Storage Pool ... 23

Figure 16 – SMB Share - Quick Profile Share Settings ... 25

Figure 17 – iSCSI Manager ... 27

Figure 18 – BranchCache Deployment ... 28

Figure 19 – Deduplication Settings Wizard ... 30

Figure 20 – DFS Management ... 31

Figure 21 – Add Folder to a DFS Namespace ... 32

Figure 22 – Volume Shadow Copies Configuration ... 33

Figure 23 – RD430 Network Connections ... 37

List of Tables

Table 1 – Entry Server Configuration ... 8

Table 2 – High Capacity Server Configuration ... 9

Table 3 – Performance Server Configuration ... 9

Table 4 – Expansion Options ... 10

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1.0 Introduction

Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2012 (WSS 2012) offers organizations of all sizes new storage solutions that rival the functionality and scalability of advanced storage area networks, while reducing management costs and complexity.

With WSS 2012, organizations can confidently deploy business-critical applications on a storage solution delivering enterprise-class storage features, availability, reliability, and performance at a fraction of the cost of traditional storage solutions.

WSS 2012 provides a unified storage solution that simultaneously supports file-based (SMB, NFS), as well as block-based (iSCSI SAN) storage protocols. In addition, WSS 2012 provides features typically associated with high-end, expensive Fibre Channel SANs, such as thin provisioning, network multipath I/O, data deduplication, continuous availability, and live migration.

WSS 2012 is built on Windows Server 2012 core technologies and is optimized for file serving, but keeps essential infrastructure services available, such as Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, Internet Information Services (IIS), Hyper-V (for up to two VM’s), and Print and Document services.

WSS 2012 supports full Active Directory integration, so policies and access controls are set the same as with direct attached storage on a Windows Server system.

WSS 2012 uses the same management tools as those that come with the other Windows Server editions (Server Manager and PowerShell), and tools like Microsoft System Center can further automate management functions. WSS 2012 can provide a single management interface for all storage, simplifying monitoring and diagnosis when multiple storage solutions are deployed. Lenovo offers validated WSS 2012 Standard storage solutions deployed on Lenovo ThinkServers via the Reseller Option Kit (ROK) program. These solutions can be tailored to customers’ specific needs through Lenovo Business Partners. Lenovo servers, plus WSS 2012, create data storage solutions that deliver the performance, reliability, and value of the Lenovo servers with the advanced storage features, seamless integration into IT environments, and familiar Windows management of Windows Server 2012.

This document describes WSS 2012 solutions for departments, workgroups and mid-size

enterprises on Lenovo ThinkServer servers, and provides guidance for installing, configuring, and supporting a Lenovo WSS 2012 storage server solution. The audience for this document is IT administrators and managers, as well as business partners planning to evaluate or deploy these storage solutions using Lenovo servers. This document assumes a working knowledge of Windows networking and server software. Additional information beyond the scope of this document can be found in the references.

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2.0 Windows Storage Server Solutions

Windows Storage Server 2012 solutions are well suited to Small Business and Branch Office deployments, as well as mid-market and departmental applications. WSS 2012 storage servers support enterprise workloads, including database, virtualization, and data storage applications. In its simplest form, Widows Storage Server can be deployed as a standalone network attached storage device, providing unified file storage hosting SMB and NFS file shares, SMB file shares for server applications (SQL over SMB, Hyper-V over SMB), and iSCSI targets for applications requiring block I/O (see Figure 1). WSS 2012 is licensed for unlimited clients without requiring Client Access Licenses (CALs).

Access to the storage is provided over cost-efficient Ethernet (1 GbE or 10 GbE). The solution easily supports Microsoft or third party anti-virus applications.

Figure 1 – Stand-alone Storage Server

Other important roles and features of WSS 2012 that can be employed include:

 Data Deduplication – Deduplication can significantly improve the efficiency of storage space utilization by storing a single copy of identical data on the volume. This can deliver storage optimization ratios of 2:1 for general file servers and up to 20:1 for virtualization data.

 DFS Namespaces and Replication – In a larger network, users can be given a centralized folder namespace, through which the underlying file shares on different servers and in different sites are made available to access and store files. DFS Namespaces map clients’ logical file requests to physical server files without having to search or map

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multiple locations. If deployed in a distributed environment (i.e. a branch office), DFS Replication provides synchronization capabilities between the central and remote servers across limited bandwidth network connections.

 BranchCache – BranchCache optimizes the usage of WAN links by caching the remote data locally based on predefined policies. When a user accesses content on remote servers, BranchCache copies content from the remote servers and caches the content on the branch office server, allowing compatible clients to access the content from the local server rather than over the WAN. Subsequent requests for the same data will be served from the local server until updates are required.

 Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS) is used to create a point-in-time image (shadow copy) of one or more volumes. It provides enhanced data protection through high fidelity backups, rapid data restores, and data transport. Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for SMB file shares allows performing of backup operations using the snapshots of remote file shares supporting SMB-based server applications (for example, SQL over SMB).

Other important roles and features of WSS 2012 that can be employed to improve performance and resiliency include:

• SMB Multichannel enables aggregation of multiple redundant network paths between application server SMB 3.0 clients and SMB 3.0 file shares hosted on the storage server. This enables server applications to take full advantage of all available network

bandwidth and be resilient to a network failure.

• NIC Teaming (also known as load balancing and failover – LBFO) allows multiple network adapters to be combined to provide a single fault tolerant or load balanced connection for better performance and availability.

3.0 Server Hardware Recommendations

This section provides an overview of the recommended ThinkServer configurations required to implement Windows Storage Server solutions. This information can be used to plan and procure the required components to set up the solution.

Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 provide recommended server configurations as a basis for solutions planning. The server hardware can be configured to optimize for cost and

performance requirements. Disk and connectivity options (see Table 4, page10) enable the storage server to leverage existing networks or address capacity and performance requirements. Modification of the configurations to meet specific needs can be accomplished by adjusting the server configurations or by adding more servers as needed. The factors most likely to be modified to scale the solution include:

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 Increase processing bandwidth for auxiliary processes (e.g. anti-virus, deduplication, backup) by raising the performance and power rating of the processors, and increasing the amount of installed memory in each WSS 2012 server.

 Increase network IOPs by increasing the number of NIC ports, or the bandwidth of the ports in each WSS 2012 server.

 Expand the storage array capacity by adding more, or higher capacity drives.

 Enhance performance by adding additional drives (more spindles in a RAID virtual drive), or by moving from SATA to high RPM SAS drives.

 Isolate the OS and data into separate drive groups to increase RAID migration options and protect data in the event of a drive failure, or organize all physical drives into a single drive group divided into two virtual drives to optimize the available storage capacity.

Entry Server Configuration – provides an affordable, entry-level Windows Storage Server solution. Using optional SATA HDDs, the storage server provides up to a maximum of 12 TB (4x 3TB SATA HDDs) storage capacity.

Table 1 – Entry Server Configuration

Part Number Description Quantity

4304-E1x RD330 (1U Rack with 4x 3½” Hot Swap HDD Bays)

- 1x Intel Xeon Processor E5-2407 (4C, 10M Cache, 2.20 GHz, 6.40 GT/s QPI)

- 1x 4 GB DDR3-1333MHz (1Rx4) RDIMM - Intel Embedded I-350 Dual Port GbE

- Intel 82574 GbE (dedicated or shared with TMM) - ThinkServer Management Module

- DVD-RW

- 1x 550W Redundant Power Supply - ThinkServer Tool-less Rail Kit

1

0A89463 ThinkServer RAID 700 Adapter (RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60) 1 67Y2647 ThinkServer RAID 700 Battery 1 0A89475 2TB 7200 RPM, 6Gb/s 3½” Hot Swap Enterprise SATA HDD 4 67Y2624 ThinkServer Management Module Premium for Remote iKVM 1 0A89427 550W Redundant Power Supply 1 0C19614 Windows Storage Server 2012 Standard (2 CPU) – ROK 1

Figure 2 – RD330 with 4x 3½” HDD Bays

High Capacity Server Configuration – provides up to a maximum of 24 TB storage capacity using optional SATA HDDs (8x 3TB SATA HDDs), with performance suitable for most file serving applications.

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Table 2 – High Capacity Server Configuration

3064-G4x RD430 (2U Rack with 8x 3½” Hot Swap HDD Bays)

- 1 x Intel Xeon Processor E5-2420 (6C, 15M Cache, 1.90 GHz, 7.20 GT/s QPI)

- Intel 82574 GbE (dedicated or shared with TMM) - ThinkServer Management Module

- DVD-RW

- 1 x 800W Redundant Power Supply - ThinkServer Tool-less Rail Kit

1

0A89463 ThinkServer RAID 700 Adapter (RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60) 1 67Y2647 ThinkServer RAID 700 Battery 1 0A89475 2TB 7200 RPM, 6Gb/s 3½” Hot Swap Enterprise SATA HDD 8 67Y2624 ThinkServer Management Module Premium for Remote iKVM 1 0A89426 800W Redundant Power Supply 1 0A89423 Lenovo Gigabit ET Dual Port Server Adapter by Intel (Dual Port,

1000BASE-T)

1 0C19614 Windows Storage Server 2012 Standard (2 CPU) – ROK 1

Performance Server Configuration – optimized for storage array performance, this configuration provides up to a maximum of 7.2 TB utilizing high-speed SAS HDDs (12x 600GB SAS HDDs). Dual CPUs and expanded memory provide additional processing capability, and enable many other functions such as data deduplication and antivirus to execute in the background without affecting performance of the file server.

Table 3 – Performance Server Configuration

3057-E5x RD430 (2U Rack with 8x 3½” Hot Swap HDD Bays)

- 2 x Intel Xeon Processor E5-2420 (6C, 15M Cache, 1.90 GHz, 7.20 GT/s QPI)

- Intel 82574 GbE (dedicated or shared with TMM)

- ThinkServer RAID 700 Adapter w/ Battery (RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60)

- ThinkServer Management Module Premium for Remote iKVM - 2 x 800W Redundant Power Supply

- ThinkServer Tool-less Rail Kit - Internal Optical Not Supported

1

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0C19497 Lenovo 10Gbps Ethernet X540-T2 Server Adapter by Intel (Dual

Port, 10GBASE-T) 1

0C19614 Windows Storage Server 2012 Standard (2 CPU) – ROK 1

Table 4 provides recommended options to increase memory and storage capacity, and enable connectivity to various Ethernet networks.

Table 4 – Expansion Options

Option Description Part Number

Memory 4 GB DDR3-1333MHz (1Rx4) RDIMM 0A89411 8 GB DDR3-1333MHz (2Rx4) RDIMM 0A89412 16 GB DDR3-1333MHz (2Rx4) RDIMM 0A89413 HDDs 2 TB 7200 RPM 3.5 HS SATA 0A89475 3 TB 7200 RPM 3.5 HS SATA 0A9477 600 GB 15000 RPM 3.5 HS SAS 67Y2618 Network Adapters

Lenovo 10Gbps Ethernet X520-DA2 Server Adapter by

Intel (Dual Port, 10GSFP+Cu) 0C19486 Lenovo 10Gbps Ethernet X520-SR2 Server Adapter by

Intel (Dual Port, 10GBASE-SR) 0C19487 Lenovo 10Gbps Ethernet X540-T2 Server Adapter by

Intel (Dual Port, 10GBASE-T) 0C19497 Lenovo Ethernet I340 Quad Port Server Adapter by

Intel (Quad Port, 1000BASE-T) 0A89424 Lenovo Gigabit ET Dual Port Server Adapter by Intel

(Dual Port, 1000BASE-T) 0A89423 Lenovo 10Gbps Ethernet Fiber Module by Intel (for

use with X520-DA2, 10GBASE-SR) 0C19488

4.0 Understanding Storage Structure in WSS 2012

Optimally configuring storage requires some knowledge of how it will be used. In addition to determining the desired priorities of performance, fault tolerance, and storage capacity, examine how storage capacity will be expanded when necessary, how access management and permissions for various shares will be controlled, and the purpose of the data.

In WSS 2012, storage is defined by levels of abstraction and capabilities that start from physical storage devices (HDDs), and span to file shares on a network (see Figure 5).

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Figure 5 – WSS Storage Taxonomy

At the lowest level, the RAID controller creates drive groups from a collection of physical disks.

Virtual drives are created from a drive group, and have properties such as capacity and RAID

configuration. Virtual drives appear to Windows as a disk.

The Disk Management snap-in in Computer Management (see Figure 6) is the accustomed way to create and manage data storage partitions in Windows operating systems. Disk partitions are a way of dividing physical disk space so that each section functions as a separate unit. Partitions are created from disks and are of either type MBR or GPT. From partitions, volumes are created that have a file system (NTFS, FAT, FAT32, or ReFS), an allocation unit size, and can be associated with a drive letter.

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Figure 6 – Windows Disk Management

WSS 2012 adds a new storage capability called Storage Spaces, which virtualizes collections of physical disks into Storage Pools. A Storage Space is created from a storage pool, and is represented as a virtual disk in Windows, essentially replacing hardware RAID provided by the RAID controller. A Storage Space has attributes such as desired level of resiliency, provisioned capacity, and performance level.

Storage Spaces have the following limitations: • Not supported on boot, or system volumes • Drives must be 10GB or larger

• When including a physical drive into a storage pool, the contents of the drive being added will be lost

• Only un-formatted/un-partitioned drives can be added to a storage pool • A simple storage pool must consist of at least one drive

• A mirrored pool must have at least two drives • A pool with parity must have at least three drives • All drives in a pool must use the same sector size

Storage Spaces are managed from the File and Storage Services tab in the Server Manager (see Figure 7).

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Figure 7 – File and Storage Services Management

5.0 Configuration Guide

5.1 Pre-installation tasks

To prepare for installation of WSS 2012, ensure the following tasks are completed:

1. Select and install the desired server storage and connectivity options. Recommended options are listed in Table 4, page 10).

2. Ensure that the server firmware is up-to-date. If necessary, update the system BIOS, ThinkServer Management Module (TMM), and RAID controller to the latest version. These updates can be installed using the ThinkServer Firmware Updater tool, available at http://www.lenovo.com/support.

3. Configure BIOS settings including: 1. System date and time 2. Boot devices and boot order 3. TMM Management interfaces

5.2 Configure the RAID Subsystem

Lenovo does not currently support WSS 2012 installation using the EasyStartup configuration tool to preconfigure the RAID subsystem and install the operating system. This method of installation may be supported in a future release.

For this reason, the RAID configuration must be configured using either the pre-boot WebBIOS Configuration Utility or the MegaRAID CLI interface, which is suitable for scripting. The

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from the available physical drives attached to the RAID adapter. If RAID volumes have already been configured, the Configuration Utility does not automatically change their configuration. The RAID subsystem must be configured before attempting to install the operating system. The first step to creating a RAID configuration is to configure the drives into a drive group, which holds one or more divisions known as virtual drives. The virtual drive will be assigned a RAID

level, which is seen by the host computer system as a single drive volume.

The RAID level selected should be based on consideration of several factors, the most important being performance, fault tolerance, and storage capacity. However, not all of these factors can be optimized at the same time. Table 5 describes the characteristics of each available RAID level, and factors to consider when selecting the RAID configuration.

If Storage Spaces will be used in WSS 2012, physical drives should not be configured into RAID groups, but instead, should be left as drive groups of only one drive each configured as a RAID 0 virtual drive.

Table 5 – RAID Properties RAID

Level Description

#

Drives Capacity

1 Fault

Tolerance Performance Considerations

RAID 0 Block-level striping without parity or mirroring 1 or more n*(HDD) None – all data in the array is lost

Read/write performance is generally improved, especially for sequential access, because adjacent data can be accessed from more than one hard drive simultaneously.

RAID 1

Mirroring without parity or striping

2 1*(HDD) 1 drive

Write performance is minimally impacted by the overhead associated with duplicating the data. Read performance is on par with RAID 0. RAID 5 Block-level striping with distributed parity 3 or more ∑ (HDD1 to n-1) 1 drive

High throughput can be achieved, especially for small random reads. Read performance is almost as good as RAID 0 for the same number of disks. Random write performance suffers from overhead of updating parity for each write. Use of write back cache can reduce this performance impact.

RAID 6 Block-level striping with double distributed parity 4 or more ∑ (HDD1 to n-2) 2 drives

No performance penalty for read operations, but some performance penalty on write operations due to overhead associated with parity calculations.

1_{n = number of HDDs in the drive group. HDD represents capacity of a single drive (Assume all HDDs are} the same size for purposes of this calculation).

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RAID

Level Description

#

Drives Capacity

1 Fault

Tolerance Performance Considerations

RAID 10

Top Level RAID 0, Bottom Level RAID 1 4, 6, … n*(HDD)/2 1 drive from any RAID 1 group

In most use cases, RAID 10 provides better throughput and latency than all other RAID levels except RAID 0, which wins in

throughput. It is preferable for I/O-intensive applications such as database, email, and web servers, as well as for any other use requiring high disk performance.

RAID 50

Top Level RAID 0, Bottom Level RAID 5 6, 8, … ∑ (HDD1 to n-1)/2 1 drive from any RAID 5 group

Improves upon the performance of RAID 5 particularly during writes. Recommended for applications that require high fault tolerance, high request rates, high data transfers, and medium-to-large capacity.

RAID 60

Top Level RAID 0, Bottom Level RAID 6 8, 10, … ∑ (HDD1 to n-2)/2 2 drives from any RAID 6 group

Improves upon the performance of RAID 6. Despite the fact that RAID 60 is slightly slower than RAID 50 in terms of writes due to the added overhead of more parity calculations, best with data that requires high reliability, high request rates, high data transfers, and medium-to-large capacity.

The basic steps to create a RAID configuration are as follows:

1. Select a configuration method from the Configuration menu (New Configuration, or Add Configuration).

2. Create drive groups using the available physical drives. 3. Define the virtual drive(s) using the space in the drive groups. 4. Initialize the new virtual drive(s).

To enter the WebBIOS RAID Configuration Utility, power on or reboot the system. At the prompt, type CTRL-H to launch the LSI WebBIOS Configuration Utility.

Storage can be partitioned as follows for the recommended hardware configurations: Entry Server

The entry server must maximize the available storage capacity.

 As shown in Figure 8, all available physical drives are organized into a single drive group.

 The drive group is organized into two virtual drives. The virtual drives are configured in a RAID 5 geometry to optimize the storage capacity available, and protect against a drive failure.

 The first virtual drive (Disk0) will be used for the operating system and its associated partitions, and should be given 100 GB.

 The second virtual drive (Disk1) will be used for file server data, and will use the remaining capacity of the drive group.

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Figure 8 – Entry Server Recommended Drive Configuration

Large Capacity Server

The large capacity server is optimized to maximum storage capacity for the file server.

 As shown in Figure 9, all available physical drives are organized into a single drive group.

 The drive group is organized into two virtual drives. The virtual drives are configured in a RAID 6 geometry to optimize the storage capacity available, and to provide greater protection against a drive failure.

 The first virtual drive (Disk0) will be used for the operating system and its associated partitions, and should be given 100 GB.

 The second virtual drive (Disk1) will be used for file server data, and will use the

remaining capacity of the drive group. This larger virtual drive can be further subdivided into partitions within Windows as desired.

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Figure 9 – Large Capacity Server Recommended Drive Configuration

Performance Server

The performance server optimizes for maximum IOPS rather than maximum storage capacity.

 As shown in Figure 10, the available physical drives are organized into two drive groups, one composed of 2 drives, the second with all remaining drives.

 The first drive group will be used for the operating system and its associated partitions, and is organized into a single virtual drive (Disk0) configured in a RAID 1 mirrored geometry. This provides optimum performance as well as protection against a drive failure in this group.

 The second drive group will be used for file server data, and is organized into a single virtual drive (Disk1) configured in a RAID 6 geometry to provide optimum performance for a range of I/O profiles as well as enhanced protection against a drive failure in this group. This larger virtual drive can be further subdivided into partitions within Windows as desired.

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Figure 10 – Performance Server Recommended Drive Configuration

5.3 Network Considerations

When designing a storage network infrastructure, best practices dictate that storage data traffic be separated from other network communications. Management traffic should also be isolated to a separate network. Separation in the network can be achieved with the use of VLANs, or separate physical networks. A minimum of one physical NIC port is required to support storage traffic from clients to the storage server.

Storage traffic can also benefit from the increased bandwidth from 10GbE, if available in the infrastructure, with performance comparable to a Fibre Channel SAN operating at 8 Gb/s. Jumbo Frames, if supported end to end across all hardware, can also be enabled in the NICs handling storage traffic. Jumbo Frames can provide a significant boost in overall throughput, and reduce CPU utilization for large file transfers.

iSCSI operation does not require, but can be enhanced by, the use of the standards-based extensions to Ethernet called Data Center Bridging (DCB). DCB provides QoS and bandwidth management capabilities that help enable the convergence of data and storage traffic onto a single unified fabric.

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Multipath I/O (MPIO) is a feature that can utilize more than one physical path from a client to the storage server providing fault-tolerance, load balancing, and performance enhancements. In the event that a component causes a path to fail, multipath logic uses an alternate path for I/O so that applications can still access their data. When all paths are active, load balancing algorithms are utilized to increase throughput.

Link Aggregation or NIC Teaming, is similar to MPIO in that it provides fault tolerance through redundant connections in the event of a network component failure, and aggregates available bandwidth on multiple NIC ports. NIC teaming is configured in the NIC device driver itself, or separately using Computer Manager to configure NIC teams though the OS. However, Microsoft does not support NIC teaming for networks used for iSCSI communications.

Since NIC teaming is not supported for iSCSI communications, Microsoft Multipath I/O is recommended to provide redundancy and load balancing when multiple network connections are available. Microsoft MPIO is a feature enabled and configured in Server Manager.

5.4 OS Installation and Initial Configuration

EasyStartup support for Windows Storage Server 2012 is not available. To install WSS 2012 manually, complete the following steps:

1. Connect the server to a network as required.

2. Depending on your server, attach an external CD/DVD reader device.

3. Install the OS from the ROK media and follow the prompts, completing the installation as directed by the installation routine.

After the OS is successfully installed, logon to the system using the local administrator password created during the installation process. After logging in, the Server Manager is displayed (see Figure 11). In Server Manager, select “Local Server” to perform basic system configuration:

1. Change the Computer Name

2. Add to Domain2 (optional) or Workgroup – reboot will be required

3. Configure networking including NIC Teaming (optional), and Server IP address if not using DHCP

4. Configure System Date and Time / Time Zone 5. Enable and configure Remote Desktop

6. Enable Remote Management (remote management of this server from other servers) – enabled by default

7. Configure and install Windows Updates

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Figure 11 – Server Manager

By default, WSS 2012 installs only the Storage Services role that provides the basic functionality required to manage file servers and storage. Additional Roles and Features can be added using the Add Roles and Features Wizard. Additional roles include:

 Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)

 DHCP Server

 DNS Server

 File and iSCSI Services o File Server

o Branch Cache for Network Files o Data Deduplication

o DFS Namespaces o DFS Replication

o File Server Resource Manager o File Server VSS Agent Service o iSCSI Target Server

o iSCSI Target Storage Provider (VDS and VSS hardware providers) o Server for NFS

 Hyper-V

 Print and Document Services

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Additional features relevant to the storage server include:

 BitLocker Drive Encryption

 BranchCache

 Data Center Bridging

 Multipath I/O

 Windows Server Backup

Configuration of the relevant roles and features will be discussed in the sections that follow.

5.5 Access Controls

Access to file server shares is controlled with User Accounts and Access Rights. User accounts and associated rights can be managed locally on the standalone server using local accounts, or through Active Directory when the server is joined to a domain.

The use of a domain simplifies user management by sharing access information with all systems in the domain; otherwise, user information must be manually defined on each server.

6.0 Configuring WSS Features

6.1 Creating Volumes

The virtual drives created by the RAID controller are presented to the OS as physical disks (as discussed in section 4.0, “Understanding Storage Structure in WSS 2012.” Volumes and Shares can be created using either Disk Management or File and Storage Services.

Using Disk Management Snap-in in Computer Management

Disks presented in Disk Manager must first be brought online and initialized as either MBR or GPT partition types. GPT partitioning is required if partitions greater than 2 TB in size are required. Once the drive has been initialized, one or more volumes must be created specifying the following properties for each (see Figure 12):

 Size of the volume (partition size)

 Drive letter

 File system

 Allocation Unit size

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Figure 12 – Disk Manager Create Volume Wizard

Using File and Storage Services

Volumes can also be created from disks presented in File and Storage Services of Server Manager. Recall that Disks can be Virtual Drives from the RAID controller, or Virtual Disks created from Storage Pools in Storage Spaces.

Figure 13 – Steps to Creating Volumes from Storage Spaces

The transformation of raw storage to volumes and shares using Storage Spaces is shown in Figure 13). Create one or more Storage Pools from available disks contained in the Primordial

Pool. A wizard guides the process (see Figure 14). Drives are allocated to a pool to be used for

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Figure 14 – Create a Storage Pool from Physical Disks

Storage Pools can be used to create one or more Virtual Disks or Storage Spaces, essentially the equivalent of a hardware RAID array. A wizard again guides the process (see Figure 15). Assign appropriate properties to each Storage Space including:

 Size of the Storage Space / Virtual Disk

 Data protection level (Simple – no protection, Mirrored, or Parity)

 Provisioning Type (Thin or Fixed)

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Create volumes from the disks, or Storage Spaces Virtual Disks presented in File and Storage Services. Completed volumes should have a file system and drive letter available to Windows for normal file operations.

6.2 Configuring Storage Services

File and Storage Services include technologies that enable set up and management of the file servers. These basic services are installed by default, and enable the use of Server Manager or PowerShell to manage the storage functionality of the server.

However, in order to share folders and enable users to access files on this server from the network using any of the storage services (SMB, NFS, or iSCSI), the File Server role is required. These services are discussed in the following sections.

6.2.1 Server Message Block (SMB) File Services

The Server Message Block (SMB) protocol is a network file sharing protocol that allows applications on a computer to read and write to files, and to request services from server programs in a computer network. Using the SMB protocol, an application can access files or other resources at a remote server. Windows Server 2012 and WSS 2012 introduce the new version 3.0 of the SMB protocol, which provides enhancements including the reduction of application latencies experienced by branch office users when accessing data over wide area networks (WAN), and protecting data from eavesdropping attacks.

SMB File Services provide network shares for Windows-based users, and server application environments. In particular, Hyper-V over SMB, enables storage of virtual machine files (configuration, Virtual hard disk (VHD) files, and snapshots), and SQL Server over SMB enables placement of log and data files, into SMB 3.0 network shares.

To create SMB shares, ensure the File Server role is installed. Create SMB shares in Server Manager. SMB shares have several profiles:

• SMB Share – Quick: This basic profile creates a simple SMB file share, suitable for general file sharing, typically for Windows-based computers. Share settings (access based enumeration, share caching, and encrypted data access), and access control permissions can be configured.

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Figure 16 – SMB Share - Quick Profile Share Settings

• SMB Share – Advanced: This profile offers additional options to configure a SMB file share that are enabled with the File Server Resource Manager role including:

o Set folder owners for access-denied assistance

o Configure default classification of data in the folder for management and access policies

o Enable quotas

• SMB Share – Applications: This profile creates an SMB file share with settings

appropriate for Hyper-V, SQL databases, and other server applications. It is essentially the same as the quick profile, but it does not allow enablement of access‐based enumeration, or offline caching.

SMB Multichannel is a feature of SMB File Services that enables the aggregation of network bandwidth and network fault tolerance if multiple paths are available between the SMB 3.0 client and the SMB 3.0 server. This enables server applications to take full advantage of all available network bandwidth and be resilient to a network failure. No extra features need to be installed, as the technology is enabled by default.

6.2.2 Network File System (NFS) File Services

Network File System (NFS) provides file sharing for heterogeneous environments that consist of both Windows and non-Windows computers such as Linux- or Mac-based environments. VMware vSphere virtual machine files can also be placed onto NFS network shares.

In WSS 2012, NFS includes the components Server for NFS, and Client for NFS. Server for NFS enables a server running WSS 2012 to act as a file server for other non-Windows client

computers. Client for NFS enables a computer that is running WSS 2012 to access files that are stored on a non-Windows NFS server.

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To create NFS shares, ensure the Server for NFS role is installed. Create NFS shares in Server Manager. NFS shares have several profiles:

• NFS Share – Quick: This basic profile creates a simple NFS share, suitable for general file sharing, typically for UNIX-based computers. Share settings such as authentication method, share permissions to configure access for UNIX hosts, and access controls to optionally set NTFS permissions can be configured.

• NFS Share – Advanced: This profile offers additional options to configure a SMB file share that are enabled with the File Server Resource Manager role including:

o Set folder owners for access-denied assistance

o Configure default classification of data in the folder for management and access policies

o Enable quotas

6.2.3 iSCSI Block I/O Software Target

iSCSI Software Target enables a low-cost block-level shared storage alternative to SAN products. The iSCSI Target Server also supports network or diskless booting, enabling multiple computers to boot over the network from a single operating system image that is stored on the file server. Before configuring iSCSI storage targets, refer to section 5.3, “Network Considerations.” If redundant network paths are desired for high availability, Multipath I/O (MPIO) is required with the use of multiple dedicated NIC ports on the server. NIC teaming is not supported when using iSCSI.

To create an iSCSI target, ensure the iSCSI Target Server role is installed. Knowledge of the iSCSI Initiators who will have access to the target is also required.

Create an iSCSi Target from the iSCSI Manager within File and Storage Services in Server Manager (see Figure 17).

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Figure 17 – iSCSI Manager

The wizard will prompt for the properties of the iSCSI target, including:

• Location of the iSCSI target (targets are created as a folder residing on a Windows Volume)

• Name and size of the iSCSI target

• iSCSI initiators which can access the virtual disk

• CHAP authentication to secure iSCSI connections (optional)

6.3 Configuring Data Management Services

Data management services provide several capabilities to optimize the performance of the storage system for remote users, support data protection and recovery, and simplify the management of data across a large number of storage systems. These services are discussed in the following sections.

6.3.1 BranchCache

BranchCache is a wide area network (WAN) bandwidth optimization technology. To optimize WAN bandwidth when users access content on remote servers, BranchCache copies content from main office or hosted cloud content servers, and caches the content at branch office locations, allowing client computers at the branch offices to access the content locally rather than over the WAN.

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At the branch offices, content requested by a client is stored on servers configured to host the cache. Subsequent requests for the same content are served locally rather than downloading the content from the content server over the WAN link. This reduces network bandwidth usage and provides faster access to the files.

The topology for a BranchCache deployment is shown in (see Figure 18).

The source content in the main office is stored on BranchCache-enabled file servers, and has the File Services server role and the BranchCache for Network Files role service installed. These file servers use Server Message Block (SMB) to exchange information between computers. The content cache at a branch office is hosted on one or more servers, which are called hosted cache servers, and each has the BranchCache feature installed with Hosted Cache Mode enabled.

Figure 18 – BranchCache Deployment

Deploy BranchCache for Network Files role:

To deploy BranchCache enabled content servers that are running the File Services server role, install the BranchCache for Network Files role of the File Services server role.

After the file server has been installed, enable Hash Publication for BranchCache for shared folders by using Group Policy or Local Computer Policy to enable BranchCache. In addition, enable BranchCache on file shares according to your requirements. During the configuration of the file server, specify whether BranchCache should publish the content for all, or a subset of file shares.

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Deploy BranchCache feature – Hosted Cache Mode:

To install a BranchCache enabled, hosted cache server, enable the BranchCache feature. After configuring the file server, configure the BranchCache Group Policy objects, enabling BranchCache, and specifying the BranchCache mode (Hosted mode). Also, specify the server from which to download data, the transfer latency threshold that triggers data to be cached, and the amount of disk space to allocate to the cache.

6.3.2 Data Deduplication

Use Data Deduplication to reduce the number of duplicate blocks of data in storage. Data Deduplication is much more effective in reducing the amount of data actually stored than Single Instance Storage (SIS), or NTFS file system compression used in previous releases of Windows. General-purpose file servers can typically reduce storage capacity utilization by a 2:1 ratio. Virtualization data (such as VHD files) can often be optimized to reduce storage capacity requirements by a 20:1 ratio.

When combined with BranchCache, the same optimization techniques are applied to data that is transferred over the WAN to a branch office. Faster file download times and reduced

bandwidth consumption can result.

With Deduplication installed, the Deduplication Evaluation Tool (DDPEval.exe) can be run to determine the expected savings if deduplication were enabled on a particular volume.

DDPEval.exe supports evaluation of local drives, as well as remote shares.

Deduplication was designed to support minimal hardware configurations, but as a general rule, deduplication requires 1 CPU-core and 350 MB of free memory per volume, and can process about 100 GB per hour (2 TB per day). Deduplication scales with additional CPU processor cores and available memory to enable parallel processing of multiple volumes. The actual speed of deduplication is dependent on CPU, disk I/O, memory, and available server resources at the time deduplication runs. Deduplication is designed to pause if the server starts to run out of resources to avoid impacting the server’s regular workload, so the busier the server is, the longer the deduplication process will take. Deduplication can also be scheduled to further reduce impact to the server.

Deduplication is not supported for files that are open and constantly changing for extended periods of time, or that have high I/O requirements, for example, running virtual machines on a Hyper-V host, live SQL Server databases, or active VDI sessions.

Deduplication will not process files that are constantly and exclusively open for write

operations. This means that there will be no deduplication savings unless the file is closed when an optimization job attempts to process a file.

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Setting a hard quota on a volume root folder that has deduplication enabled is not supported. However, a soft quota on a volume root that has deduplication enabled is supported.

Install the Data Deduplication role from the Add Roles and Features wizard. Configure Deduplication for a particular Volume as shown in Figure 19.

Figure 19 – Deduplication Settings Wizard

6.3.3 Distributed File System (DFS) and DFS Replication

DFS Namespaces – DFS Namespaces enables the grouping of shared folders that are located on different servers into one or more logically structured namespaces. Each namespace appears to users as a single shared folder with a series of subfolders, even though the namespace can consist of numerous file shares that are located on different servers and in multiple sites. Users can navigate the namespace without needing to know the server names or shares hosting the data.

DFS Replication – DFS Replication enables the efficient replication of folders (including those referred to by a DFS namespace path) across multiple servers and sites. DFS Replication uses an algorithm known as remote differential compression (RDC) to detect changes to data in a file, enabling only the changed file blocks to be replicated instead of the entire file.

DFS Replication must be installed on all servers that will act as members of a DFS replication group, and all servers in the replication group must be located in the same Active Directory

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forest. Replication can only occur on volumes formatted with the NTFS file system (ReFS, or the FAT file system is not supported).

Install DFS Namespaces and Replication roles from File and Storage Services. Access DFS Management from the Server Manager Dashboard tools (see Figure 20).

Figure 20 – DFS Management

Create DFS Namespaces – Before DFS Namespaces can be used, create one or more

Namespaces using the “New Namespace Wizard” found in DFS Management. When creating the type of Namespace, keep in mind that DFS replication requires a domain-based namespace. Once a namespace has been created, add shared folders to the namespace (Figure 21).

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Figure 21 – Add Folder to a DFS Namespace

Create DFS Replication Group – Replication groups are created using the DFS Manager. Identify the folders to replicate, and create or identify target folders where replicated copies of shares will be copied. The amount of bandwidth used by DFS replication can be configured. By default, the wizard configures the replication group to synchronize continuously using all available bandwidth. This can be restricted, or scheduled to specific days or times of day.

6.3.4 Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

Shadow Copies of Shared Folders provides point-in-time copies (snapshots) of files and folders that are located on shared resources. Snapshots are created at predetermined time intervals, and allow users to view shared files and folders as they existed at points of time in the past, however, shadow copies should not be considered as a replacement for regular backups. Shadow copies can only be created on NTFS Volumes.

Volume Shadow Copy Services are built in to the operating system. Volume Shadow Copies are configured from within the Shadow Copies tab of the disk’s volume Properties dialog box (see Figure 22).

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Figure 22 – Volume Shadow Copies Configuration

6.3.5 VSS for SMB File Shares

WSS 2012 introduced a new feature called VSS for SMB File Shares, which extends VSS and allows VSS-aware backup applications to create volume shadow copy snapshots of server applications that store data on remote SMB 3.0 file shares, for example SQL over SMB. Windows Server Backup in WSS 2012 does not support VSS for SMB File Shares. To use VSS for SMB shares, the following requirements must be met:

• The application server and file server must be members of the same Active Directory domain

• The File Server VSS Agent Service role service must be installed on the file server • The File Share Shadow Copy agent must run in a security environment that has backup

operators or administrator privileges on both the application server and file server • The File Share Shadow Copy agent, and the application must run in a security

environment that has no less than read-only permission on the file share data that will be backed up

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6.3.6 iSCSI Target Storage Provider (VDS and VSS Hardware Providers)

When the WSS 2012 server is being used as a SAN gateway to external iSCSI storage, the iSCSI Target Storage Provider role services provide useful management capabilities.

The iSCSI Target Storage Provider role is available under the File and Storage Services role in Server Manager. Two storage providers are included with the iSCSI Target Storage Provider role, and are for remote Target management:

• Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) hardware provider • Virtual Disk Service (VDS) hardware provider

Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) hardware provider – Similar to VSS for SMB Shares, the VSS hardware provider enables applications on a server that are connected to an iSCSI target (an iSCSI initiator), to perform volume shadow copies of data on the iSCSI virtual disk and which supports restoration at the LUN level. The VSS hardware provider is installed on the iSCSI initiator server that performs the backups, and the snapshots should be made from the iSCSI initiator.

Virtual Disk Service (VDS) hardware provider – The VDS hardware provider is typically installed on a storage management server, and enables older applications (such as Diskraid) that require the Virtual Disk Service (VDS) hardware provider to manage iSCSI virtual disks (external to the WSS 2012 server). VDS hardware providers are supplied by the manufacturers of hardware RAID devices and are not included in WSS 2012.

6.3.7 Windows Offloaded Data Transfers

Offloaded Data Transfers (ODX) enables direct data transfers within or between compatible storage devices without transferring the data through the host computer. By offloading the file transfer to the storage array, ODX minimizes latencies, maximizes array throughput, and reduces resource usage such as CPU and network consumption on the host computer. The ODX environment must support the following:

• Only Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 computers can initiate ODX data transfers • File system filter drivers such as antivirus and encryption programs must support ODX • ODX is not supported by the following file system filter drivers:

o Data Deduplication o BitLocker Drive Encryption

• Files must be on an unencrypted basic partition

• Storage Spaces and dynamic volumes are not supported

• Files must be on an NTFS formatted volume. ReFS and FAT are not supported. Files can be directly transferred to or from this volume, or from one of the following containers:

o A Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) that uses the VHD or VHDX formats o A file share that uses the SMB protocol

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• The files must be 256 KB or larger – smaller files are transferred using a traditional (non-ODX) file transfer.

• The application that performs the data transfer must be written to support ODX. The following currently support ODX:

o Hyper-V management operations that transfer large amounts of data at a time, such as creating a fixed size virtual hard disk (VHD), merging snapshot, or converting virtual hard disks.

o File Explorer

o Copy commands in Windows PowerShell

o Copy commands in Windows command prompt (including Robocopy) • Files should not be highly fragmented. Transfers of highly fragmented files will have

reduced performance.

ODX is enabled by default in WSS 2012, but there are considerations when deploying ODX in a production environment. See Windows Offloaded Data Transfers Overview in Microsoft TechNet for more information.

7.0 Management

7.1 Windows Server Management

Server Manager in WSS 2012 allows the administrator to select and manage multiple remote servers with the same interface that manages the local server. With the addition of the File and Storage Services role in WSS 2012, Server Manager also includes functionality that allows managing multiple remote file services, including managing file shares, iSCSI targets, storage pools, and volumes. The Server Manager dashboard indicates any issues in the server environment that might require attention.

In addition, Management in WSS 2012 leverages your existing Windows Server management skills and tools including Active Directory, PowerShell, and System Center.

7.2 File Server Resource Manager

File Server Resource Manager is a set of features that allow you to manage and classify data that is stored on file servers. File Server Resource Manager is a role enabled in File and iSCSI

Services, and includes the following features:

• File Classification Infrastructure – File Classification Infrastructure automates data classification processes to more effectively manage the data. You can classify files, and apply policies based on the classifications. Example policies include dynamic access control for restricting access to files, file encryption, and file expiration. Files can be classified automatically by using file classification rules, or manually by modifying the properties of a selected file or folder.

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• File Management Tasks – File Management Tasks enables the application of a

conditional policy or action to files based on their classification. The conditions of a file management task include the file location, the classification properties, the date the file was created, the last modified date of the file, or the last time the file was accessed. The actions that a file management task can take include the ability to expire files, encrypt files, or run a custom command.

• Quota Management – Quotas allow limiting the space that is allowed for a volume or folder, and they can be automatically applied to new folders that are created on a volume. Quota templates can also be defined that can be applied to new volumes or folders.

• File Screening Management – File screens help control the types of files that a user can store on a file server. Files that can be stored can be limited by their extension. For example, you can create a file screen that does not allow files with an MP3 extension to be stored on a file server.

• Storage Reports – Storage reports are used to help identify trends in disk usage and data classification. You can also monitor a selected group of users for attempts to save unauthorized files.

8.0 Deployment

8.1 Network Connections

The server has three integrated 1 GbE ports (one can be shared with, or dedicated to the TMM for system management), and the server can optionally support additional 1 GbE or 10 GbE ports with optional Ethernet adapters.

The management port is typically connected to a separate Ethernet switch or VLAN dedicated to management traffic (connection “A” in Figure 23).

In a basic configuration utilizing the onboard NICs, connections to the network can be made with ports 1, and 2 (connection “B” in Figure 23).

When optional Ethernet adapters are used (connection “C” in Figure 23), additional aggregate bandwidth, and multi-switch, fault tolerant network topologies are possible.

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Figure 23 – RD430 Network Connections

9.0 References

For information about hardware systems used in these solutions, see the following websites: Hardware Maintenance Manual – ThinkServer RD430

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/thinkservers/rd430hmm_en.pdf

Installation and User Guide - ThinkServer RD430

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/thinkservers/rd430userguide_en.pdf

Hardware Maintenance Manual – ThinkServer RD330

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/thinkservers/rd330hmm_en.pdf

Installation and User Guide - ThinkServer RD330

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/thinkservers/rd330userguide_en.pdf

ThinkServer Management Module User Guide

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/thinkservers/rd530rd630tmmug_en.pdf

Configuring ThinkServer RAID 500 and 700 Adapters

http://www.lenovo.com/images/products/server/pdfs/tech_resources/Configuring_LSI_Adapter s.pdf

MegaRAID SAS Software User Guide

http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public/MegaRAID%20Common%20Files/MegaRAID_SAS_SW_U G_51530-00_RevJ.pdf

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For more information about WSS 2012 roles and features, see the following Microsoft websites: Server Roles and Technologies in Windows Server 2012

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831669.aspx

BranchCache Deployment Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj572990.aspx

Windows Offloaded Data Transfers Overview

Windows Storage Server 2012 on Lenovo ThinkServer