Quota Management on Windows Server 2022
Creating quotas is a convenient way to manage capacity. With Windows Server 2022, this is easily achievable.
File Server Resource Manager
File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) is Microsoft’s recommended approach to managing and organizing data kept on Windows Server 2022.
The File Server Resource Manager consists of the below five features:
- File Classification Infrastructure – Organise files and implement policies.
- File Management Tasks – Implement conditional policies or tasks.
- Quota Management – Restrict available space on shared folders.
- File Screening Management – Limit the type of files that users can save. For example, preventing the storage of MP3’s on the files
- server.
- Storage Reports – Generate reports for disk utilization, data organization, and unauthorized activities.
Let’s discuss File Server Resource Manager’s quota management feature.
File Server Resource Manager Setup
Before setting up Quota Management, the File Server Resource Manager will need to be installed on Windows Server 2022.
Installation can be achieved through the GUI Server Manager.
Here are the steps for installing the tool:
- Log on to Windows Server 2022.
Open Server Manager.
Click on “Manage.”
Select “Add Roles and Features.”
- If prompted with the “Before You Begin” screen, click “Next.”
- Select “Role-based or feature-based installation” and click “Next.”
- Select the server to install the feature on and click “Next.”
- Under “Select Server Roles,” expand “File and Storage Services.”
- Next, expand “File and iSCSI Services.”
- Select “File Server Resource Manager” and click “Next.”
- Select “Add Features”
- Click “Next.”
- Start the installation process by clicking “Install.”
- Once complete, select “Close.”
- File Server Resource Manager can now be accessed via the Start menu or the Administrative Tools in the Control Panel.
Quota Creation with File Server Resource Manager
Managing quotas is the best way to define how much space is available to a user, or group of users, on a file server. For example, limit users to 5GB on a shared folder. This rule would prevent users from adding data to the folder that exceeds 5GB.
File Server Resource Manager can also be configured to send notifications whenever a specified threshold is reached. For example, specify that an email is at 85% of the available space being consumed.
Creating quotas using the FSRM tool is a two-step process:
Create a template
Create a quota
A) Create a template
In order to set quotas, a quota template needs to be created. This template can be custom or chosen from a default template already in the File Server Resource Manager.
The recommended approach is to only create quotas from templates. Managing quotas is simplified by changing templates. In addition, the process of central management of quotas eases the enforcement of storage policy rules.
To create a quota template:
- Open the File Server Resource Manager.
Expand the “Quota Management” in the left-hand pane.
Right-click “Quota Templates.”
Select “Create Quota Template.”
- Mandatory fields for creating a template are the name, space limit, and selecting either a hard or soft quota.
Hard quotas will prevent users from exceeding the specified limit. Hard quotas are an excellent choice for controlling available storage.
Soft quotas are primarily for monitoring purposes as they will warn but not prevent passing a specified limit.
- To set threshold notifications, select “Add.”
Configure the desired options.
Select “OK” to complete the template creation.
B) Create a quota
After setting up the quota template or using a default quota template, create the quota.
Quota creation steps:
- Right-click on the File Server Resource Manager’s dashboard “Quotas.”
- Select “Create Quota.”
- On the “Create Quota” window, in the “Quota path” section, select “Browse.”
Browse to the path that requires quota enablement
Select either the “Create quota on the path” or the “Auto apply template and create quotas on existing and new subfolders…” option.
The quota will only be applied to the primary folder if you select the first option.
For example, limiting the parent folder to 5GB shares the space for all subfolders.
The quota will apply to the subfolders by selecting the second option.
For example, limiting the parent folder to 5GB allows each subfolder an individual quota of 5GB.
- Select “Derive properties from this quota template”.
- Select the template you created in section A above.
- Select “Create.”
- After creating the quota, it will be visible on the File Server Resource Manager dashboard. Limits will now be applied to the shared resource.
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