MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
LAB 3
CONFIGURING LOCAL
STORAGE
THIS LAB CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES:
Exercise 3.1            Initializing Disks
Exercise 3.2            Creating Simple Volumes
Exercise 3.3            Creating a Storage Pool
Lab Challenge           Removing Storage Components
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
   The lab environment consists of computers connected to a local area network, along
   with a server that functions as the domain controller for a domain called adatum.com.
   The computers required for this lab are listed in Table 3-1.
       Table 3-1
       Computers Required for Lab 3
    Computer                                 Operating System         Computer Name
    Domain controller                        Windows Server 2012 R2   SERVERA
    Member server                            Windows Server 2012 R2   SERVERB
    Member server with three                 Windows Server 2012 R2   SERVERC
    additional SCSI hard drives
   In addition to the computers, you also require the software listed in Table 3-2 to
   complete Lab 3.
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
        Table 3-2
        Software Required for Lab 3
    Software                                 Location
    Lab 3 student worksheet                  Lab03_worksheet.docx (provided by instructor)
Working with Lab Worksheets
   Each lab in this manual requires that you answer questions, create screen shots, and
   perform other activities that you will document in a worksheet named for the lab, such
   as Lab03_worksheet.docx. It is recommended that you use a USB flash drive to store
   your worksheets, so you can submit them to your instructor for review. As you
   perform the exercises in each lab, open the appropriate worksheet file, fill in the
   required information, and save the file to your flash drive.
   After completing this lab, you will be able to:
            Initialize new disks
            Create storage spaces, disks, and volumes with Server Manager
            Create volumes with the Disk Management snap-in
   Estimated lab time: 60 minutes
Exercise 3.1           Initializing Disks
Overview              In this exercise, you use two different tools to bring three new disks
                      online and initialize them in preparation for creating storage volumes.
Mindset                Adding disk drives is a common server hardware upgrade, requiring an
                       administrator to prepare them for use.
Completion time        15 minutes
   1.     Log on to the SERVERC computer using adatum/administrator and Pa$
          $w0rd, then, in Server Manager, click File and Storage Services. A File and
          Storage Services submenu appears (see Figure 3-1).
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
        Figure 3-1
        The File and Storage Services submenu in Server Manager
   2.   Click Disks. The Disks page appears, showing one online disk and three offline
        disks.
                           The three offline disks all use the SCSI bus type, whereas
                           the online disk uses the ATA bus. Why can’t the three offline
                           disks use the ATA bus as well?
             Question
                1          ATA support a maximum of four devices (keep in mind
                           that (1)the system disk and (2)DVD-ROM already count as
                           two)So, to add three more disks, another interface is
                           necessary.
   3.   Right-click the offline disk number 1 and, from the context menu, select Bring
        Online. A message box appears, warning you not to bring the disk online if it is
        already online and connected to another server.
   4.   Click Yes. The disk’s status changes to Online.
   5.   Right-click the same disk number 1 and, from the context menu, select Initialize.
        A message box appears, warning you that any data on the disk will be erased.
   6.   Click Yes. The disk is partitioned and ready to create volumes.
   7.   In Server Manager, click Tools > Computer Management. The Computer
        Management console appears.
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
   8.   In the left pane, click Disk Management. The Disk Management snap-in appears
        (see Figure 3-2).
        Figure 3-2
        The Disk Management snap-in
   9.   Right-click the Disk 2 tile and, from the context menu, select Online.
   10. Right-click the Disk 2 tile a second time and, from the context menu, select
       Initialize Disk. The Initialize Disk dialog box appears.
   11. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) option and click OK. The Disk 2 status
       changes to Online.
   12. Repeat steps 9 to 11 to initialize Disk 3.
   End of exercise. You can leave the windows open for the next exercise.
                            What advantage is there to using the Disk Management
                            snap-in to initialize new disks, rather than Server Manager?
             Question
                2           The Disk management gives you the two options for GPT
                            or Master Boot Record (MBR) partitions, while the server
                            manager always creates GPT partitions only by default.
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
Exercise 3.2          Creating Simple Volumes
Overview              In this exercise, you use two methods to create simple volumes, using
                      Server Manager and the Disk Management snap-in.
Mindset               Server Manager and Disk Management both provide wizards for creating
                      simple volumes, with similar capabilities.
Completion time       15 minutes
   1.     On SERVERC, in Server Manager, in the File and Storage Services submenu,
          click Volumes. The Volumes home page appears.
   2.     Click Tasks > New Volume. The New Volume Wizard appears, displaying the
          Before you begin page.
   3.     Click Next. The Select the server and disk page appears.
   4.     Select Disk 1 and click Next. The Specify the size of the volume page appears.
   5.     In the Volume size text box, type 10 and click Next. The Assign to a drive letter
          or folder page appears.
   6.     Click Next. The Select file system settings page appears.
   7.     Click Next. The Confirm selections page appears.
   8.     Click Create. The Completion page appears.
   9.     Click Close. The new volume appears in the Volumes pane.
   10. Switch to the Computer Management console. The new volume you just created
       appears in the Disk 1 pane of the Disk Management snap-in.
   11. Right-click the unallocated space on Disk 2 and, from the context menu, select
       New Simple Volume. The New Simple Volume Wizard appears, displaying the
       Welcome page.
   12. Click Next. The Specify Volume Size page appears.
   13. In the Simple volume size in MB spin box, type 10000 and click Next. The Assign
       Drive Letter or Path page appears.
   14. Click Next. The Format Partition page appears.
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
   15. Click Next. The Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard page appears.
   16. Click Finish. The wizard creates the volume, and it appears in the Disk 2 pane.
                           What Windows PowerShell commands should you use to
                           create a simple volume of the same size on disk 3 using the
                           drive letter G:?
            Question       (1)New-partition -diskNumber 3 -DriveLetter G -Size
               3           10gb
                           (2)Format-volume -DriveLetter G -FileSystem NTFS
   17. Create a 10 GB simple volume on disk 3 with the drive letter G: using Windows
       PowerShell.
   18. Press Alt+Prt Scr to take a screen shot of the Disk Management snap-in, showing
       the three volumes you created, and then press Ctrl+V to paste the resulting image
       into the Lab 3 worksheet file in the page provided.
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
   End of exercise. Close Computer Management and any formatting prompt windows, if
   needed, before you begin the next exercise.
Exercise 3.3         Creating a Storage Pool
Overview             In this exercise, you use the Server Manager console to create a storage
                     pool, which consists of space from multiple physical disks.
Mindset              Storage pools are a new feature in Windows Server 2012 R2, which enable
                     you to create a flexible storage subsystem with various types of fault
                     tolerance.
Completion time      15 minutes
   1.     On SERVERC, in Server Manager, on the File and Storage Services submenu,
          click Storage Pools. The Storage Pools home page appears (see Figure 3-3).
        Figure 3-3
        The Storage Pools home page
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
   2.   In the Storage Pools tile, click Tasks > New Storage Pool. The New Storage Pool
        Wizard appears, displaying the Before you begin page.
   3.   Click Next. The Specify a storage pool name and subsystem page appears.
   4.   In the Name text box, type Pool1 and click Next. The Select physical disks for
        the storage pool page appears.
   5.   Select the check boxes for PhysicalDisk1 and PhysicalDisk2 in the list and click
        Next. The Confirm selections page appears.
   6.   Click Create. The wizard creates the storage pool.
   7.   Click Close. The new pool appears in the Storage Pools tile.
   8.   Select Pool1.
   9.   In the Virtual Disks tile, click Tasks > New Virtual Disk. The New Virtual Disk
        Wizard appears, displaying the Before you begin page.
   10. Click Next. The Select the storage pool page appears.
   11. Click Next. The Specify the virtual disk name page appears.
   12. In the name text box, type Data1 and click Next. The Select the storage layout
       page appears.
   13. In the layout list, select Parity and click Next. A warning appears, stating that the
       storage pool does not contain a sufficient number of physical disks to support the
       Parity layout.
                            Why can’t the wizard create a virtual disk using the Parity
                            layout when there are only two physical disks in the storage
                            pool? “For a parity-based fault tolerance system to function,
             Question       there must be at least two data sources and a parity source to
                4           calculate the missing data when one source fails. In a two-
                            disk storage pool, you have either two data sources and no
                            parity source or one data source and one parity source, neither
                            of which is sufficient to provide fault tolerance. ”
   14. In the layout list, select Mirror and click Next. The Specify the provisioning type
       page appears.
   15. Leave the default Fixed option selected and click Next. The Specify the size of
       the virtual disk page appears.
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
   16. Select the Maximum size option and click Next. The Confirm selections page
       appears.
   17. Click Create. The wizard creates the virtual disk and the View results page
       appears. Clear the Create a volume when this wizard closes checkbox.
   18. Click Close. The virtual disk appears on the Storage Pools page.
   19. Press Alt+Prt Scr to take a screen shot of the Storage Pools page, showing the
   storage pool and the virtual disk you created, and then press Ctrl+V to paste the
   resulting image into the Lab 3 worksheet file in the page provided.
   20. In the Virtual Disks tile, right-click the Data1 disk you just created and, from the
       context menu, select New Volume. The New Volume Wizard appears.
   21. Using the wizard, create a volume on Disk 4 (Data1) using all of the available
       space, the NTFS file system, and the drive letter J:.
   End of exercise. Close any open windows before you begin the next exercise.
                            At this point in the lab, what would happen to any data stored
             Question       on the E:, F:, G:, and J: drives if Disk 2 on the server was to
                5           fail? Data in three drives will be kept. Data in one drive
                            will be lost (drive F)
MOAC 70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual
Lab
Challenge            Removing Storage Components
Overview             In addition to the graphical tools provided with Windows Server 2012
                     R2, you can also manipulate the storage subsystem using Windows
                     PowerShell commands.
Completion time      15 minutes
   To complete this challenge, list the Windows PowerShell commands needed to delete
   all of the storage components you created during this lab on the SCSI disks of
   SERVERC. Then, restart SERVERC and take a screen shot of the Storage Pools page,
   showing the removal of the storage pool and the virtual disk you created. Press Ctrl+V
   to paste the resulting image into the Lab 3 worksheet file in the page provided.
   Remove-VirtualDisk –FriendlyName data1
   Remove-StoragePool –FriendlyName pool1
   Remove-Partition –DriveLetter g
   Remove-Partition –DriveLetter f
   Remove-Partition –DriveLetter e
   End of lab. You can log off or start a different lab. If you want to restart this lab,
   you’ll need to click the End Lab button in order for the lab to be reset.