Module 4/ Unit 4 Poge 386 Module 4 / Unit 4 Using Shared Storage Objectives On completion of this unit, you will be able to: List ways to share files and storage on a local network. 5 Describe means of sharing files and services on the Internet. Explain the importance of backups and configure simple backup options. Syllabus Objectives and Content Examples This unit covers the following exam domain objectives and content examples: 2.5 Compare and contrast storage types. Local network storage types (NAS, File server) + Cloud storage service > 6.7 Explain business continuity concepts. Backup considerations—data [File backups, Critical data, Database, OS backups}, Backup considerations—location [Stored locally, Cloud storage, On-site vs. off-site]Local Network Sharing and Storage “eta ue One of the main uses of a network is to share files. There are a number of different methods for making shared storage available on a local network. File Server (Direct Attached Storage) All computers have at least one intemal hard disk, or SSD, for storing the operating system and software applications plus user data. Additional storage can be added to the computer as internal or external hard drives or flash drives. = Bees a » & 8 een v Demir ——— —_ — = Direct attached storage—this computer has a local hard drive and optical drive and @ USB- altached hard drive and removable SD memory card. Any of these drives can be shared on the network. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft When the computer is on a network, any internal or external local drives can be shared with other computers. When a computer shares an attached hard drive, or folder on an attached drive, it can be referred to as Direct Attached Storage. The computer is acting as a file server. g ‘On a SOHO network, any workstation can act both as a server and as a client. This is referred to as peer-to-peer. On an enterprise network, dedicated server computers are reserved for server functions such as file sharing. This provides centralized control over the servers. Network Attached Storage (NAS) A Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliance is one or more hard drives housed in an enclosure with basic server firmware, usually running some form of Linux. The NAS appliance provides access to its storage devices using various file sharing protocols. The appliance is accessed over the network using a wired Ethernet port. In a SOHO network you would plug it into a LAN port on the SOHO router. A NAS appliance may also support wireless (Wi-Fi) networking. Page 387Module 4/ Unit 4 Poge 368 Network Attached Storage (NAS) server appliance—the display shows the device's IP address while the housings beneath allow the installation of up to six hard disks, There are also two USB ports on the left. Image © 123rf.com. ‘The NAS appliance can be configured by connecting to its web management page. Like a SOHO router, open a web browser then input the IP address assigned to the NAS device. Network Printer Sharing There are two main options for sharing a printer on the network, similar to the direct attached and network attached options for storage: = Share the printer via Windows—an administrator can share any locally installed printer via its Sharing tab in the Properties dialog, Locally installed means that Windows communicates with the print device directly over the relevant port. It does not matter whether the port is wired (USB or Ethemet) or wireless (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi). The main disadvantage of this approach is that both the printer and the Windows PC must be switched on for other devices to be able to access the printer. m= Use a hardware print server—some printers come with an embedded print server, allowing client computers to connect to them over the network without having to go via a server computer. If the print server supports wired connections, it needs to be attached to a switch or home router via an RJ-45 cable. Ifthe printer has a wireless adapter, it can be joined to a wireless network using the printer’s control panel. You can also purchase print servers or use a solution such as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device that supports print sharing.Windows File Sharing aac For Windows to connect to a network and share resources with other computers, the computers must have appropriate client software installed. This is no problem for a network where all the computers run Windows, as the Windows client software is installed by default. It allows the computer to connect to workgroups or, in the case of the Professional or Enterprise editions, to Active Directory domain networks. Joining a Workgroup or Dom Information about the network the computer is joined to is shown in System properties, which you can open from Control Panel or by right-clicking the This PC object (Computer object in older versions of Windows) and selecting Properties. Each computer is given a name to identify it on the network. (5 irre ‘Control Panel Heme e = ee Windows 10 ye ae ee Sey sna arenes rec naa Gene potty © Using the System applet to view the network name configuration—this PC is called "COMPTIA™ ‘and is joined (o the default workgroup. Screenshot used with permission from Microson. ‘An administrator can change the network computer name and domain or workgroup membership by clicking Change settings. In Windows 10, you can also use the Access work or school page from the Settings app. g ‘A computer can belong to either a workgroup or a domain but not both. In addition, the computer can only belong to one domain. Page 368Module 4/ Unit 4 Poge 390 File and Printer Sharing As long as the network location/Windows firewall settings have been configured to allow it, any file or folder on a Windows computer can be shared with other computers. To share an object, right-click it and select Give access to, You can then select the user accounts allowed to access the share and whether they can modify files in it or not. You can choose to share an object with the Everyone special account to grant access to alll users. (2 Networkccese Choose people to share with ‘ypea name and then dick Ad, or click the arroute find someone Nem Permission Level atid aT pea Beseqone Rese © 2B lames CompTi& Ourer Remove (imbving rouble sharing Cie] [ea] Basic folder sharing in Windows 10—select an account then set the permission level for that ‘account. Note that an account can be a specific user (ike David) or a group of users (hike Everyone). Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft ‘When configuring file sharing like this, itis important for users to have matching user accounts, with the same user name and password, on both the host and client computer. This can become very complex to manage. To allow unauthenticated access, you can enable the Guest account via the User Accounts applet. Alternatively, you can disable password-protected file sharing by opening the Network and Sharing Center from Control Panel and clicking Advanced sharing settings. Neither of these options are very secure however. v Microsoft also provided a Homegroup feature to try to simplify file sharing with Windows 10 but that has been discontinued in the 1803 version update. PCs with a Bluetooth adapter can use the new Nearby Devices sharing feature to quickly send a file over the network.+ 9 LHe 5 Reng ange VG) [Sechaba Origponstnes ott sentra cer cn radeon tc ter hte hp ac cen ee ct (Que neenypontonay tc ttn nce acne tine inate deve a Shotin ‘Yonge poco nn ay i ha ci Sete my ene aos @ranoapueers peed ig Ginctpmneet pee ag (owe) (Cee) Windows 10 Advanced sharing settings dialog—you can use this to disable password protected sharing or use the public folders to share files with anyone with network access. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft Browsing Network Shares and Drives When a folder has been shared, the host computer will be visible on the network. = = EE eee vo ° ee an = acai cong conn — comnts aera = amcor ae pa ~ iD Sie Comat — = eae ~Y Netwoneinfrastascture (1) time sore Vien ce re Browse network resources via the Network object. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft Opening a computer object shows the shares available. Browse into a share to view the files and subfolders it contains. Page 391Module 4/ Unit 4 Poge 392 Daa i elu toge Rmnerncongta Dotan Sect etn ne Te Rise _ Bini Browsing a network share—note the UNC path selected in the address bar, Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft You can also access a shared folder by entering its UNC (Universal Naming Convention) in the address bar. A UNC is composed of a double slash (\\) followed by the server name and then a single slash and the shared folder name. For example, \\COMPTIA\CERTS is the UNC of a folder named "CERTS'" located on a server named "COMPTIA.” If you access a share often, you can map it as a network drive. To do so, right- click the share and select Map network drive: Os cowrra — ene _ st _ en ° tf 2B areconert a soe nn te _. Ament ons een ° cours reece ae (2 Orban ——_ or sacetnitns a — 7 ‘Mapping a network drive. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft Select a drive letter then click Finish. The network drive will now appear under the Computer/This PC object in Explorer:Ta oneneaon =e Using Shored Storoa Bmmencoena 2 cn dete Saou Binnie seer Bicone = oa Duce Bie Tw Ure Senn Senwnass tr 30 The "CERTS" share has been mapped as drive M on the local PO. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft. Hosted Sharing and Storage The sharing and storage options discussed above make resources available to ‘computers on the same local network. If you want to make resources available over a wider network, such as the Intemet, you likely need to make use of a hosted storage solution HTTP/HTTPS and File Downloads A powerlul feature of HTTP is the capability to provide hyperlinks to other related documents. As well as web pages, hyperlinks can point to any type of file, This means that a web server can be used to host any type of file download. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used to upload and download files between clients and servers. For example, it is widely used to update the files constituting a website from the designer's PC to the web server. An FTP server can also be configured with a number of public directories (accessed anonymously) and private directories, requiring a user account, FTP is more efficient compared to email file attachments or HTTP file transfer. Like plain HTTP, FTP has no security mechanisms. All authentication and data transfers are communicated as plain text. An FTP session can be protected using encryption protocols. Page 383Module 4/ Unit 4 Poge 394 Select Ente My Stee 1 osesring Hd Protocol Encryption: [Use plain FTP User necount Comments: (ese _| [teeta [ ewscotmark || Resome Delete Duplicet= oe | [Gone Configuring the FileZilla FTP client to use a secure server. Cloud Computing Hosted storage means leasing a web server from a service provider. Hosted services can also be provided as a “cloud,” Cloud computing has lots of different definitions but generally refers to any sort of computing resource provided to the customer on a pay-per-use basis, The customer is not responsible for configuring and provisioning the computing resource within the cloud, ‘Among other benefits, the cloud provides rapid elasticity. This means that the cloud can scale quickly to meet peak demand, For example, a company may operate a single web server instance for most of the year but provision additional instances for the busy Christmas period and then release them again in the New Year. This example also illustrates the principles of on- demand and pay-per-use; key features of a cloud service (as opposed to a hosted service). On-demand implies that the customer can initiate service requests and that the cloud provider can respond to them immediately. This feature of cloud service is useful for project-based needs, giving the project, members access to the cloud services for the duration of the project, and then releasing the cloud services back to the provider when the project is finished. This way, the organization is only paying for the services for the duration of the project. The provider's ability to control a customer's use of resources through metering is referred to as measured service. The customer is paying for the CPU, memory, disk, and network bandwidth resources they are actually consuming rather than paying a monthly fee for a particular service levelIn order to respond quickly to changing customer demands, cloud providers Using Shared Storage must be able to provision resources quickly, This is achieved through resource pooling and virtualization. Resource pooling means that the hardware making Up the cloud provider's data center is not dedicated or reserved to a particular customer account. The layers of virtualization used in the cloud architecture allow the provider to provision more CPU, memory, disk, or network resource using management software, rather than (for instance) having to go to the data center floor, unplug a server, add a memory module, and reboot, Cloud-based Storage Cloud-based storage solutions are very popular, both for home and business use, Vendors such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft (plus many ISPs) offer users a certain amount of free cloud-based storage. There are also business- oriented solutions, such as DropBox and Amazon. These services are typically operated with a browser or smartphone/tablet app. In Windows 10, a cloud storage client (OneDrive) is built into the OS and can be accessed Via File Explorer, @ Microsoft OneDrive x Settings Account Auto-save Network Office About Desktop, Documents and Pictures Choose where you want to save your desktop, documents and pictures, esiaop This FC only 3 Bieiaieis nS Peualy 3 Pictures “This FC only 3] Photos and videos [Attomaticaly save photos and videos to Onedriva whenever T connect a camera, phone, or other device to my PC Screenshots [automatically save screenshots I capture to OneDrive Microsoft's OneDrive cloud-based storage product. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft Cloud-based Collaborative Applications As well as dedicated storage solutions, many different types of software applications can be delivered using the cloud computing model. Office suites, such as Microsoft Office 365, Google G Suite, and Smartsheet, allow access to word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations with just a web browser installed on the client. These suites have tools to allow multiple users to access and collaborate on documents. Page 395Module 4/ unit 4 Page 396 <)> EES [Ses owner aa opened by me somes Messer 11:40AM sles Meseer on *) v Google G Suite online word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software that multiple users can collaborate on over the web. Peer-to-Peer File Sharing ‘The hosted storage solutions described above rely on a central server for clients to access. An online Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network is one where, instead of a central server, each client contributes resources to the network. In the case of P2P file sharing, clients contribute a certain amount of storage space and bandwidth. Each client can then search for, download, or upload files. The files are split between the available clients and rebuilt by the P2P client for download. SAA =o Using BitTorrent to download a copy of KALI Linux. ? P2P networks, such as BitTorrent, may use servers to coordinate clients. Other P2P networks do not rely on any sort of servers, and some try to operate with complete anonymity, referred to as the darknet or deep web.P2P networks have often been used to distribute music and video without Using Shared Storage respecting copyright. There is also the risk of files being infected with malware. Most companies prevent the use of P2P file sharing software on corporate networks. Backups Whenever you consider a storage solution, you must also consider backup. It is essential to make a backup of data files, Making a backup of the system configuration is also important, as reinstalling Windows, software applications, and reconfiguring custom settings can be very time consuming. Backup Considerations You should understand the main principles of backups = Keep at least one backup in a different location to the computer. This protects data against theft, fire, and flood. A backup stored in the same location as the original data is called on-site, while one kept in a different location is called off-site. = Keep the device or media used to store backup data in a secure location. = Keep more than one copy of data—if you delete or accidentally change a file then make a backup, you will not be able to restore the file. You need multiple backups going back to different points in time to recover from this, type of data error. m= Make a backup regularly—the frequency depends how often your data files, change, but most people should consider making a backup every week. Data in an office is typically backed up every day. Make a system backup whenever you install new software or perform an upgrade. Backup Storage Types Any of the storage media discussed in this unit could be suitable for making a backup: = Locally attached storage—use hard disks or flash drives attached to the local PC or server. m= Network Attached Storage—use a NAS appliance to allow multiple machines to back up to the same location. m= Offsite/cloud-based—back up over the Internet to cloud-based storage. Keeping offsite copies of data is very important in mitigating against the risk of fire or theft. This method might require substantial bandwidth. You also need to be able to trust the cloud provider with your data. Page 397Module 4/ Unit 4 Poge 398 Its a good idea to use a combination of methods, to cover both on-site and off-site backups for instance. You could back up often to locally attached storage or NAS and then copy the backups to a cloud storage solution for off- site security v Enterprise networks with very large amounts of data to backup may use more specialized media, such as tape drives. File Backups and Critical Data A file backup is an ordinary backup job. You configure the backup software to select certain folders or individual files to include in the backup job and a schedule for performing the backup. ‘When configuring backups, you need to understand that not all critical data may be stored in files within a user folder or shared folder. Critical data could be stored in a settings file outside of the normal data areas or be located within a database or message store. You also have to consider that critical data might include confidential, proprietary, and/or personal information, When you make a copy of such information by making a backup, you need to ensure that the copy is subject to the same security policies and access controls as the original Cc Unit 5.3 has more information about access controls. Database Backups If the data that you're considering backing up is part of a RDBMS (Relational Database Management System), such as SQL data, or a messaging system, such as Exchange, then the data is probably being used all the time. Each change in the database is referred to as a transaction. Transactions that add, amend, or retrieve a record might comprise several read/write operations. These operations are bundled as transaction to ensure that the data records remain consistent and are not corrupted by partially completed write operations. Ordinary file copy backup methods are not "transaction-aware” and 50 cannot be reliably used to back up a database. Consequently, database backup requires the use of software dedicated to that purpose. (One of the ways of backing up a database is called replication. A replica is a copy (or mirror) of the database hosted on a separate server. When a transaction is posted, it must typically be committed to both the master database and its replica before the transaction can be considered complete. This provides redundancy in the case that the master database server is, damaged.Replication doesn't protect you from errors such as accidentally deleting a Using Shared Storage record, however. If the error is accepted as a valid transaction, it wll be propagated amongst all the replicas at the next scheduled replication interval You still have to back up the replicated data therefore, so that you can restore data to a point-in-time. An RDBMS keeps a transaction log. Itis critical to include the transaction log along with the database tables in backup operations to support rollback of mistaken transactions and recovery from critical disasters. eo = | Wiviowsdasreomlcal micnosorscu GX SystemDatbases age ew pacup pane Se senor: — = = Backing up an SQL Server using Acronis Backup (acronis.com) You may also want to make read-only copies of the database. This is supported through snapshots, A snapshot-based backup might be useful for keeping historical records of changes to the database or for recovering from really serious administrative errors that cannot be corrected through transaction rollbacks. OS Backups ‘An OS or system backup makes a copy of the OS and installed applications so that a workstation or server can be recovered without having to manually reinstall software and reconfigure settings. Older methods of system backup could involve lengthy recovery procedures. Typically, the operating system would have to be reinstalled, then the backup applied to the new OS to recover, the old configuration. A bare metal backup is one that can be applied directly to a partitioned drive without the separate step of reinstalling the OS. Bare metal backups typically work by making an image. The backup software provides a recovery boot disk Which enables the system to connect to the recovery media (an external hard drive or network drive for instance). The only drawback to this method is that system images require multi-gigabyte storage media A system image can also be quite time-consuming to create, so this method works best if the system configuration is kept fairly static and user data is stored separately from the OS volume. Page 399Module 4/ Unit 4 Windows Backup In Windows, there are a number of options for backing up your files, and for providing for file recovery. These are: = Backup and Restore (Windows 7)—enables you to perform selective, scheduled, and ad-hoc backups. Pete iar e 4 Be Ancooat Pn tons» ctu at Rt Winns?) wo) |e Peewee i Co pen Gisexe Nee = —_ en Sci within ‘puarmioeynrieteiveetadasicentecten ccna Fe wetory ‘e. Reet cnnen Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft. a File History (Windows 8 and Windows 10)—enables automated backups. As files are modified, the versions are tracked and backed up automatically 1G Fieriteny - a © 9 PB ARIE. Feria vO | SexrenCortaiPanel 2 Come Panto Keep a history of your files Fic ctor ses copier a your zo you con gt them backiftheselet or = SOR Copy files f Ubeanes, Desktop, Contacts end Favourit elt Flash Drive (8) Seca Recovery Tumoft Oxenam File History app in Windows 10. Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft. ‘These are accessible from the Backup tab in the Update & Security category pe in the Settings app.Scheduling and Frequency Using Shared Storage Having selected the type of backup and what files to include, you then need to define a schedule on which to run the backup and work out how frequently to make backups. With tape-based backup on an enterprise network, backing up data can take a long time and tapes have to be carefully managed to balance their limited capacity with the amount of data to preserve. For a typical personal computer, there is not so much data to backup, and hard-disk based storage is fast and very high capacity. As you can see, the default for File History is to make copies of files every hour. ‘On a SOHO network, backup jobs are often scheduled to run overnight, minimizing any performance problems the backup might cause, especially if using cloud-based storage, Most businesses would make a backup at least once every day. You also need to consider whether you need to keep backups to a certain point in time. If you delete or change a file by accident, then make a backup, there will be no way to restore the file from the last backup. To do so, you would have to have made an earlier backup and gone back to that. To keep multiple backups, you will need multiple drives (ideally) or enough space on a single drive to store multiple backups g ‘As well as making scheduled backups, make a backup whenever you install or upgrade software or hardware, just in case the installation causes serious problems with your PC. It is also worth making a backup before you uninstall software. “Asian einge - a x © 9 + [Gere Adm. [| [5 Cont Poel 2 Advanced settings Vesions Sovecopiesofes: Bevhou(deat) ep s2vedvesons Untspeceic nde lin up vesons fis PCs pat of ahomeetoup, you can ecommend hs veto othet homepioup member: Crestecrjom memes brertloge See] canes Choosing a backup schedule, Screenshot used with permission from Microsoft. Page 401Module 4 / Unit 4 Restoring Data and Verifying Backups Itis cntical to test that backup operations work properly. There can be no worse feeling in IT than turning to the backups you have been happily making for the last six months only to discover that a critical data file has never been included in the job! The following represent some of the main backup verification and testing issues: Error detection—problems with the backup media or configuration can cause backup jobs to fail. Depending on the error, the whole job may be cancelled, or some data may not get backed up. Backup software usually has the facility to verify a backup. This makes the backup operation longer though. The software should also be able to report errors to a log file. = Configuration—when setting up a new job (and periodically thereafter), it is wise to check to ensure that all the expected data has been backed up. a Test restore—another option is to test that a restore operation can be performed successfully. This is important when using new backup software, to test old backup media, to check a new job, and to carry out random spot checks. When you do a test restore, you redirect the data to a different folder, to avoid overwriting live data. As well as completing test restores, you should review the status report to confirm that the backup ran successfully Herne FleHatony - a x + 0 [Heme we] [senna 2| he 23 August 2018 14:23 | 60 of 60 EEREGEESR.S - ‘Compl Las a= Choosing folders and files fo restore from a particular point in time, Screenshot used with ‘permission from Microsoft Poge 402