Drobo B800i Administrator Guide
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
1
In organizations today, it’s critical that storage be treated as a pivotal part of planning and execution.
Understanding the growth of users and data in an organization needs to be reflected in storage planning.
Using a Drobo®as primary storage for an organization is a cost-effective solution—and as a bonus—Drobo
is easy to deploy and manage. Drobo BeyondRAID™technology and Drobo Dashboard minimize the time and
effort it usually takes to manage, monitor, and maintain a storage solution.
This document describes how easy it is to use a Drobo iSCSI SAN as backend storage for an organization's
file servers: provisioning shares onto which Access Control List can be applied using Microsoft Windows
Active Directory.!!
Topics
Setup checklist and general information
Provisioning shares using the File Server wizard
What You Will Need
•Drobo iSCSI SAN either model B800i or model B1200i
•Drobo Dashboard management software (latest version)
•Enterprise-grade 7200 RPM SATA disk drives recommended
•Windows Server Edition 2003 and above (2008 R2 used in this procedure)
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
2
Setup Checklist and General Information
In this procedure, multiple volumes are created using a Drobo iSCSI SAN model B800i. The procedure also
applies to the Drobo Pro with a USB, FireWire, or iSCSI connection (iSCSI recommended).
To learn more about Drobo and iSCSI, visit: http://www.drobo.com/resources/iscsi.php
Follow the directions in the Drobo Online User Guide to configure the Drobo:
http://www.drobo.com/support/documentation.php
To give you a better idea of how Drobo iSCSI SAN can be used as the backend storage for your file servers,
multiple volumes are created, allowing user data to be stored on different volumes by department, function,
region, and so on.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
3
Once the volumes are mounted on the host, they appear as raw/block devices.
Looking at the properties of one of these volumes, notice that the operating systems sees them as just
another hard drive. The volume shown below, for example, is formatted as an NTFS drive, allowing the
operating system to take advantage of its file system features such as user access control.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
4
STEP 1
Start by launching Server
Manager in Windows Server
2008 R2. In the left
navigation, go to File
Services > Share And
Storage Management >
Disk Management.
In this section you can see
how the operating system
sees the Drobo as a raw/block
device. You can apply network
restrictions/access control
lists to the shares based on
Active Directory usernames,
groups, and so on
The additional unallocated space on volumes larger than 2 TB, in this case 128 MB, is the Microsoft
Reserved Partition. Therefore each volume larger than 2 TB will show this unallocated space.
Provisioning Shares Using The Wizard
NOTE: This document focuses on creating a network share using the "Provision a Share Folder Wizard."
It does not describe the most basic way to create a directory and share it from within Windows Explorer.
STEP 1
In the left navigation, select
Roles > File Services, right-
click Share and Storage
Management, and select
Provision Share.
Take a quick look at the
available options for
provisioning storage, which
allow IT administrators to
create, size, and format a
partition. While it is possible
to format and partition iSCSI
LUNs using this wizard, to
create and format LUNs, use
Drobo Dashboard instead.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
5
STEP 2
The first screen in the process
prompts you to select the
destination for the directory to
be shared. Click Browse.
STEP 3
A window prompts you to select
a folder. In this example, select
a folder that resides on one of
the Drobo volumes.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
6
STEP 4
To change NTFS permissions on
the share, click one of the radio
buttons after the question in the
right pane.
In this example, select "No, do
not change NTFS permissions"
and click Next.
NTFS permissions are applied to a directory or file for controlled access whether local or remote. Share
permissions apply only to access to the folders across the network. In this document, you will see how to
set network shares and IT access controls. For more information on key differences between NTFS vs.
share-level permissions, refer to: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754178.aspx.
STEP 5
Enter the name of the share that
will be exported to the network
and the protocol to be used.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
7
While both protocols can be used to present the share across the network, only SMB is documented in this
example.
STEP 6
Enter a description for this
share.
STEP 7
You are now ready to define the
users and groups that will have
access to the share.
Select "Users and groups have
custom share permissions" and
click Permissions.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
8
STEP 8
“Read” is the default setting for
all users and groups. Click Add
to specify which users and/or
groups you want to have access
to this network share.
STEP 9
Once the Active Directory users
and/or groups have been
selected and permissions
specified, click Apply.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
9
STEP 10
Since in this example, DFS is not
covered, click Next to continue.
STEP 11
Review the settings to apply to
this share and click Create.
Drobo How-To Guide
Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
drobo.com | Configure Drobo iSCSI SAN as Backend Storage for Active Directory File Servers
10
STEP 12
Once the process is complete,
the status changes to Success.
Click Close to complete the
procedure.
The share that now resides on
one of the volumes of the Drobo
is created and published as a
network share.
Drobo !2460 North First Street, San Jose, CA !www.drobo.com !1.866.97.DROBO
Copyright 2011 Drobo, Inc. Data Robotics, Drobo, DroboEllite, DroboPro, BeyondRAID, and Smart Volumes are trademarks of
Drobo, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.
All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice. !HT-0042-00 !August 2011
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