Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part 4

Failover to cloud appliance in case of DR event

In a disaster recovery (DR) scenario, the primary device stops functioning. StorSimple uses the primary device as source and moves the associated cloud data to another target device. This process is referred to as the failover. The following graphic illustrates the process of failover.

The target device for a failover could be a physical device or even a cloud appliance. The target device may be located in the same or a different geographical location than the source device.… [Keep reading] “Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part 4”

Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part 3

Setting up a 2*node windows 2016 on-prem fileserver cluster and 1*Windows 2016 fileserver on Azure

In previous posts (part1 and part2) of this series I discussed about the overall solution and how to configure on-prem and cloud StorSimple storage systems. I also explained the steps to provision the storage to servers from StorSimple storage.

The focus of this post is to discuss about the requirements and steps to create an on-prem Scale-Out-Fileserver cluster and a standalone fileserver on Azure for DR capability.… [Keep reading] “Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part 3”

Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part 2

Setting up the on-prem StorSimple 8600 device and StorSimple 8020 cloud appliance

In the part1 of this series, I discussed about the solution, an overview of different products involved and how those products hang together to provide a fileserver solution with DR capability in Azure.

Now, lets discuss the step-by-step implementation procedure to get the solution into a working state. In this part I am going to show you the steps to configure on-prem StorSimple storage and StorSimple cloud appliance.… [Keep reading] “Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part 2”

Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part1

Introduction to Series

After recently setting up a storage and DR solution for one of my customers to host their fileserver workload, I thought I’d write a series to document its use and to share any useful tips I found along the way. This first post will explain the technologies that were involved in the solution and how the different components hang together.

What will be covered in the series?

Part 1: Introduction to solution, Microsoft StorSimple device and Windows 2016 file server cluster.[Keep reading] “Windows 2016 fileserver cluster on Microsoft StorSimple – Part1”

Provisioning Home Directories for Active Directory Users with FIM / MIM using the Granfeldt PowerShell Management Agent

Forefront / Microsoft Identity Manager contains numerous Management Agents (MA’s) out of the box. However an MA for creating user home directories and setting the associated permissions isn’t one of them.

Over the years I’ve accomplished home directory provisioning and permissioning in Active Directory / Windows File Services and Novell eDirectory / Novell File Services using methods that aren’t strictly best practice / supported (e.g. calling native libraries from within a Management Agent Extension to create/manage/delete etc).… [Keep reading] “Provisioning Home Directories for Active Directory Users with FIM / MIM using the Granfeldt PowerShell Management Agent”