Using Remote Storage

As mentioned previously, Remote Storage is a Windows Server 2003 filesystem service that is used to automatically archive data to removable media from a managed NTFS volume. Files are migrated by Remote Storage when they have not been accessed for an extended period of time or when a managed disk drops below an administrator-designated percentage of free disk space. When Remote Storage migrates to a file or folder, that file or folder is replaced on the volume with a file link called a junction point. Junction points take up very little room, which reduces the amount of used disk space but leaves a way for this data to be accessed later in the original location. When a junction point is accessed, it spawns the Remote Storage service to restore the remote storage media back to disk.

Although this service does not provide filesystem fault tolerance, using Remote Storage to manage a volume can improve reliability and recoverability by keeping disk space available and by reducing the amount of data that needs to be backed up or restored when a disk failure occurs. To install and configure the Remote Storage service, refer to Chapter 30, "Filesystem Fault Tolerance."

Remote Storage Media Management

When volumes are backed up using NTBackup or third-party backup software, a best practice is to not back up remote storage data from remote media. Following this practice will result in only a single copy of the migrated data being stored on the remote storage media.

If only a single copy of the media master set is made, the remote storage media data would be lost if a site failure occurred. To prevent this from happening, all remote storage media master sets should be copied once or up to two times for redundancy and offsite storage. To enable remote storage master media set copies, at least two or more drives enabled for Remote Storage must be available.

To set the number of media copies for Remote Storage, follow these steps:

1.	Log on to the server using an account that has the right to back up the system. (Any Local Administrator or Domain Administrator has the necessary permissions to complete the operation.)
2.	Click Start, All Programs, Administrative Tools, Remote Storage.
3.	In the left pane of the console, right-click Remote Storage and select Properties.
4.	Select the Media Copies tab.
5.	Under the Number of Media Copy Sets, choose 0, 1, or 2 to configure the number of copies. Remember that this option will be enabled only if more than one drive for remote storage media is available on the system.
6.	Click OK to save the option, close the Remote Storage console, and log off the server.