Windows Home Server 2011 : Converting Client Partitions to NTFS, Configuring Windows Home Server Backups

2/25/2013 6:13:20 PM

1. Converting Client Partitions to NTFS

Windows Home Server only supports backing up client partitions that use the NT File System (NTFS). If you have partitions that use FAT16 or FAT32, they won’t be included in the backups. If you need such a partition backed up, you must convert it to NTFS. (Doing this has other benefits as well. NTFS is your best choice if you want optimal hard disk performance because, in most cases, NTFS outperforms both FAT16 and FAT32. This is particularly true with large partitions and with partitions that have lots of files. Also, NTFS enables you to encrypt files for maximum security.)

You can use two methods to convert a partition to NTFS:

Format the partition as NTFS.
Run the CONVERT utility.

Format the Partition as NTFS

Formatting the partition as NTFS is the best way to go because it maximizes NTFS performance, which means faster backups. Note, however, that formatting wipes all the data from the partition, so you need to store important files in a safe place (say, on a Windows Home Server share) before formatting.

Here are the steps to follow:

1.	If the drive contains important files, copy or move those files to another partition, an external drive or memory card, a recordable CD or DVD, or a network share.
2.	Select Start, Computer (or My Computer in Windows XP).
3.	Right-click the partition you want to work with, and then click Format.
4.	In Windows Vista, enter your UAC credentials to continue.
5.	In the Format dialog box, select NTFS in the File System list.
6.	(Optional) Enter a volume label. (This is the partition name that appears in the Computer or My Computer window.)
7.	Click Start. Windows warns you that all data on the partition will be erased.
8.	Click OK. Windows formats the partition.
9.	When you see the Format Complete message, click OK.
10.	Click Close to shut down the Format dialog box.

Run the CONVERT Utility

If you have data on the partition that you can’t store in a safe place, you can preserve the data and convert the partition to NTFS by using the CONVERT command-line utility:

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] [/CvtArea:filename] [/NoSecurity] [/X]

volume	Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon) or volume name you want to convert.
/FS:NTFS	Specifies that the file system is to be converted to NTFS.
/V	Uses verbose mode, which gives detailed information during the conversion.
/CvtArea:filename	Specifies a contiguous placeholder file in the root directory that will be used to store the NTFS system files.
/NoSecurity	Specifies that the default NTFS permissions are not to be applied to this volume. All the converted files and folders will be accessible by everyone.
/X	Forces the volume to dismount first if it currently has open files.

For example, running the following command at the command prompt converts drive G to NTFS:

convert g: /FS:NTFS

2. Configuring Windows Home Server Backups

Before I cover the specifics of running backups, you should configure the Windows Home Server backup settings to suit your needs. In keeping with the overall simplicity of the backup feature, there are only two things you can configure: the backup time and when Windows Home Server performs Client Computer Backup Retention.

Configuring the Backup Time

When the backup time occurs, Windows Home Server does three things:

It backs up all the connected computers, one machine at a time.
If you have automatic updates turned on, Windows Home Server installs any pending updates and then restarts the system if an update requires a reboot.
Every Sunday, Windows Home Server runs the Backup Cleanup feature, which deletes old backups according to the schedule maintained by the Client Computer Backup Retention policy (discussed in the next section).

Windows Home Server’s default backup time runs from midnight to 6:00 a.m.

Note that if Windows Home Server hasn’t completed its backups or maintenance by 6:00 a.m., it finishes whatever task it’s currently running, and then it cancels the remaining operations and reschedules them for the next backup period. If this is a problem on your network, you might want to extend the backup time. Windows Home Server supports backup periods as long as 23 hours (or as short as one hour).

Here are the steps to configure Windows Home Server’s backup time:

1.	Log on to the Windows Home Server Dashboard.
2.	Click Computers and Backup.
3.	Click the Additional Client Computer Backup Tasks link to open the dialog box shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Use this dialog box to configure the start and end time for the backup and maintenance period.
4.	Use the Start Time box to set the time you want Windows Home Server to begin its backup and maintenance period.
5.	Use the End Time box to set the time you want Windows Home Server to stop its backup and maintenance period. Note Make sure the End Time value is at least one hour later and at least one hour before the Start Time value. For example, if you leave the Start Time at 12:00 a.m., the End Time can’t be earlier than 1:00 a.m. or later than 11:00 p.m.
6.	Click OK to put the new settings into effect.

Configuring Client Computer Backup Retention

To avoid the unwelcome scenario of old backups gradually usurping all your storage space, Windows Home Server regularly deletes old backups. This Client Computer Backup Retention policy keeps old backups under control by maintaining three deletion schedules:

The number of days to keep the first backup of the day. (There is, by default, just one backup per day, but you can also add backups by running them manually) The default value is five days.
The number of weeks to keep the first backup of the week. The default value is four weeks.
The number of months to keep the first backup of the month. The default value is six months.

The default values should be fine for most people, but they could cause you to lose data in some relatively rare scenarios. For example, suppose you create a document on Tuesday and then permanently delete it (by pressing Shift+Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin) on Wednesday. Assuming Tuesday wasn’t the first of the month, the file will only reside in the daily backups (since it didn’t make it into the first backup of the week on Monday). Windows Home Server’s Client Computer Backup Retention will delete the Tuesday backup on Sunday (because, by default, it only keeps five days’ worth of daily backups), which means that if you suddenly yearn to have the file back on Sunday (or later), you’re out of luck.

If you or your family members generate a lot of new content, and if your Windows Home Server is swimming in storage space, you might want to bump up the default values for extra safety. For example, bumping up the value for the daily backup to 14, and the monthly backup to 12, will make it less likely that you’ll lose important information.

Caution

Even if you have tons of storage space on the server, bumping up the number of saved backups can eat disk space in a hurry, even with Single Instance Storage doing its duty. If you drastically increase the number of saved backups, be diligent about keeping an eye on how much space the backups are using. In the Windows Home Server Dashboard, display the Storage Space tab, and check the PC Backups value.

Follow these steps to configure Windows Home Server’s Client Computer Backup Retention Policy:

1.	Log on to the Windows Home Server Dashboard.
2.	Click Computers and Backup.
3.	Click the Additional Client Computer Backup Tasks link.
4.	In the Client Computer Backup Retention Policy group, use the following controls to set the number of backups you want to keep (see Figure 9.1, shown earlier): Retain Daily Backups For— Specify the number of days to keep the first backup of each day. The maximum number of days is 99. Retain Weekly Backups For— Specify the number of weeks to keep the first backup of the week. The maximum number of weeks is 99. Retain Monthly Backups For— Specify the number of months to keep the first backup of the month. The maximum number of months is 99.
5.	Click OK to put the new settings into effect.

Others

- Windows 8 : Configuring User and Computer Policies - Configuring Policies

- Windows 8 : Configuring User and Computer Policies - Group Policy Essentials

- Managing Windows Small Business Server 2011: Using Server Manager (part 2) - Adding Roles and Features

- Managing Windows Small Business Server 2011: Using Server Manager (part 1) - Managing Roles

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- Windows Server 2008 : Basic Routing on a Server - Modifying Routes in the Routing Table with route change, Deleting Routes from the Routing Table with route delete

- Windows Server 2008 : Basic Routing on a Server - Viewing the Routing Table with route print, Adding Routes to the Routing Table with route add

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