To set quotas in the Windows Server, you’ll need to use a tool called File Server Resource Manager (FSRM). This tool assists in managing and organising data kept on file servers.
The File Server Resource Manager tool consists of the following five features.
File classification infrastructure—this feature allows you to organise files and implement policies.
File management tasks—it enables you to implement conditional policies or tasks.
Quota management—it assists you to restrict the space available on shared folders.
File screening management—it allows you to limit the type of files that users can keep. For example, you can set a file screen to prevent users from creating MP3 files on the files server.
Storage reports—with this feature, you can generate reports to understand trends in disk utilisation and how data is organised, which enables you to spot unauthorised activities.
In this article, we are going to talk about the quota management feature in FSRM.
Setting up File Server Resource Manager
We need to install the File Server Resource Manager tool before using it for quota management.
A quick way to complete its setup is through the GUI server manager. Here are the steps for installing the tool.
1. Start by logging into the Windows Server 2016. Then, on the Server Manager’s dashboard, click on “Manage” and select “Add Roles and Features”.
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2. On the “Before you begin” screen click “Next”.
3. Select “Role-based or feature-based installation” and click “Next”.
4. Select your destination server and click “Next”.
5. On the “Select Server roles” dashboard, expand “File and Storage Services” and “File and iSCSI Services”. Th
en, select “File Server Resource Manager”.
6. On the window that pops up, Click the “Add Features” button to incorporate the required features. Click “Next”.
7. If you do not need to add any extra features, just leave the default settings and click “Next”.
8. Confirm the installation selections and Click “Install” to start the process.
9. After the installation process is complete, click the “Close” button.
10. You can now access the File Server Resource Manager from the administrative interface and use it to create quotas.
Creating Quotas Using FSRM
As earlier mentioned, quota management enables you to set restrictions and define the extent of space available for users in the server. For example, you can limit all users to a maximum of 5GB on a shared folder. As such, the users cannot add data to the folder that exceeds 5GB.
You can also configure the File Server Resource Manager tool to be sending notifications whenever the specified usage limit is reached. For example, you can specify that an email is to be sent if 85% of the space has been consumed.
Creating quotas using the FSRM tool is a two-step process:
Create a template
Create a quota
a) Create a template
Before setting quotas, you need to either create a quota template or choose a default template already available on the File Server Resource Manager tool.
It is recommended that you create quotas solely from templates. This way, you can easily manage your quotas by making changes to the templates rather than the individual quotas. The one central location for managing quotas eases the enactment of storage policy rules.
Here are the steps for creating a quota template.
1. Under the “Quota Management” Section, right-click the “Quota Templates” button and go for “Create Quota Template”.
2. On the window that pops up, enter the Template name and the space limit. If you choose the “Hard quota” option, users will be unable to surpass the specified limit. A hard quota is good for controlling the amount of data allowed on a folder or a disk.
On the other hand, if you select the “Soft quota” option, users will be able to exceed the allocated limit. A soft quota is mostly used for monitoring space usage and producing notifications.
3. Lastly, to set notification thresholds, press the “Add” button. On the window that pops up, input your notification specifications.
You can specify that an email is to be sent, an entry is to be made to the event log, a command is to be run, or a report is to be generated. For example, you can state the whenever usage reaches 85%, send an email message to the administrator.
Thereafter, click “OK” to complete creating the quota template.
b) Create a quota
After setting up the quota template or using a default quota template, you need to create the quota.
Here are the steps for creating a quota.
1. On the File Server Resource Manager’s dashboard, right-click on “Quotas” and go for “Create Quota”.
2. On the “Create Quota” window, in the “Quota path” section, browse the path to the volume or folder that the storage capacity restriction will be applied.
Then, choose either the “Create quota on path” or the “Auto apply template and create quota…” option.
If you select the first option, quota will only be applied to the primary folder. For example, if you limit the parent folder to only 5GB, then the other subfolders will share the space specified in the main folder.
On the other hand, if you choose the second option, then the quota will also be applied to the subfolders. For example, if you restrict the main folder to 5GB, then the subfolders will also have individual quotas of 5GB each.
Subsequently, on the “Derive properties from this quota template” option, choose the template you created previously.
If satisfied with the quota properties, click “Create”.
After you’ve created the quota, you can see it on the File Server Resource Manager’s dashboard. Thereafter, you’ll be able to limit the amount of space allowed on your shared resources.
