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Backing up File Server Resource Manager Configurations

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

File Server Resource Manager uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writer infrastructure to maintain two sets of metadata (in the form of XML files) to manage its state:

  • System metadata, including templates, file groups, and default configuration options such as e-mail settings and report parameters. This information is saved in the System Volume Information folder in the server root directory.

  • Volume metadata, including configured quotas and file screens and the file screen auditing log. This information is saved in the System Volume Information folder on any volume where quotas or file screens have been created. To provide flexible support for management of storage resources in a variety of scenarios, including failover clusters, these settings travel with the volume.

To perform a full backup and restore of File Server Resource Manager configurations, you must use a backup utility such as Windows Server Backup that is compatible with the VSS writer infrastructure. System metadata for File Server Resource Manager is backed up and restored as part of the system state, and volume metadata is backed up and restored on any volume under management. In a cluster, the backup and restore of File Server Resource Manager system metadata depends on the successful backup and restore of the cluster database.

Note

To back up only your quota templates, file screen templates, and file groups, you can export them to XML files in a disk location that you choose by using the command-line tools dirquota.exe and filescrn.exe. Using these exported XML files, you can restore templates and file groups on your local computer at a later date, or import them on a remote computer with File Server Resource Manager installed. For more information about template export and import, see Template Export and Import Scenarios later in this guide.