Windows Server Hack [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 64 Tune RIS

If you can't afford the
resources to run a dedicated RIS server for your environment, you can
use RIS on a dual-purpose serveras long as you tune it
carefully.

Let's talk about fine-tuning RIS if there are other
folders on the volume (i.e., other than the OS images used by RIS)
and how to handle the restoration of the volume managed by SIS. To do
this, we will have to dig deeper into how SIS works.

By storing a only a single copy of data in a folder on the volume,
SIS helps reduce the amount of disk space that contains the OS images
used by RIS. When SIS Groveler starts, it searches the root of each
NTFS volume to see if it contains the SIS folder named SIS
Common Store and a file called
MaxIndex within that directory. If the Groveler
finds this folder and file and if the SIS filter driver is installed
on the system, the Groveler knows to search for and consolidate
duplicate files on the volume.

SIS uses the same technology as the Indexing Service, and it is
designed to not consume CPU time when the system requires it for
other functions. The exception is when disk space drops below a
specific value; in this case, the Groveler will increase CPU usage
regardless of system activity, to ensure that disk space is not
entirely consumed.

To effectively manage duplicate files that it detects when scanning a
volume, SIS places the data in the SIS common store and the original
files are changed to reparse points with referrals to the
<GUID>.sis
file. When the application tries to access the original
file, the filesystem redirects any file I/O to the
<GUID>.sis
file in SIS Common Store. For
example, if SIS detects the file net1.ex_ in
both the RIS\SETUP\ENGLISH\IMAGES\WindowsXP.Pro\i386
and
\SETUP\ENGLISH\IMAGES\WindowsXP.Pro.SP1\i386
folders, it places the duplicate file in the SIS common store and the
references of those files are changed to reparse points with
referrals (or links) to the <GUID>.sis
file.

Now, let's say you have a dual-purpose Windows 2000
Server that is both a file-sharing server and a RIS server. The
volume that houses the RIS OS images also has the file shares. When
the Groveler service performs its daily ritual, it will scan through
all folders on that volume. To improve efficiency of SIS and restore
SIS links or reparse points, you can exclude certain directories from
the Groveler scan.

To exclude a directory on a single volume, modify the
Grovel.ini file located in the SIS
Common Store folder (this folder is hidden by default).
First, you will need to modify the NTFS permissions of the folder,
because only SYSTEM has full control rights by
default. Then, under the [Excluded Paths] section,
add the required entryfor example, Directory 1 Folder
= \Folder1. Note that the value to the left of the equals
sign can be of any designation you wish. Now, stop and restart the
Single Instance Storage service and you're done.

To exclude a directory on all volumes, open Registry Editor and add
an entry to the following key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Groveler\ExcludedPaths

The value can have any namefor example, Folder 1
Directory REG_SZ \Folder1. Again, after
you've done this, stop and restart the Single
Instance Storage service.

In an enterprise environment, you should have a dedicated Windows
2000 server or servers to provide RIS images, depending on how many
desktops you are supporting. In a smaller environment, it is
reasonable to have a multipurpose server provide RIS, as long as it
has the resources to support the additional overhead.

Finally, to restore a volume that is managed by SIS, follow the
instructions in KB Article 263027 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263027).
How you handle a restore depends on the failure you are faced with,
such as failed disk drives, controllers, or the like. Follow this
article carefully to ensure you are not faced with data corruption
because of the linked files managed by SIS!

For more helpful information on using RIS to deploy
Windows, see my column at myITforum.com (http://www.myitforum.com).

Matt Goedtel