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Introduction to File Server Resource Manager

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

As organizations develop increasing demands for data storage resources, IT administrators face the challenge of overseeing larger and more complex storage infrastructures and tracking the information available in them. Managing storage resources includes tracking data size and availability and enforcing company policies. It requires understanding how existing storage is being used, allowing for strategic planning, and responding properly to organizational changes.

File Server Resource Manager is a suite of tools that allows administrators to understand, control, and manage the quantity and type of data stored on their servers. By using File Server Resource Manager, administrators can place quotas on volumes, actively screen files and folders, generate comprehensive storage reports, control the File Classification Infrastructure, and use file management tasks to perform scheduled actions on sets of files. This set of advanced instruments helps the administrator efficiently monitor existing storage resources, and it aids in planning and implementing future policy changes.

By using File Server Resource Manager, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Create quotas to limit the space that is allowed for a volume or folder, and generate e-mail and other notifications when the quota limits are approached or exceeded.

  • Generate and apply quotas automatically to existing and new subfolders in a volume or folder.

  • Create file screens to control the type of files that users can save, and send notifications when users attempt to save blocked files.

  • Define quota and file screening templates that can be easily applied to new volumes or folders and reused across an organization.

  • Schedule periodic storage reports that help identify trends in disk usage, or generate storage reports instantly, on demand.

  • Define classification property schemas.

  • Define rules to set classification properties on files.

  • Create scheduled tasks that apply actions to subsets of files.