Generating Storage Reports

Article
10/08/2009

Applies To: Windows Server 2003 R2

From the Storage Reports Management node, you can generate reports that will help you understand file use on the storage server. You can use the storage reports to monitor disk usage patterns (by file type or user), identify duplicate files and dormant files, track quota usage, and audit file screening. The following table describes each storage report that is available.

Storage Reports Available in File Server Resource Manager

Report	Description
Large Files	Lists files that are larger than a specified size. Use this report to identify files that are consuming the most disk space on the server.
Files by Owner	Lists files, grouped by owner. Use this report to analyze usage patterns on the server and to identify users who use large amounts of disk space.
Files by File Group	Lists files that belong to specified file groups. Use this report to identify file group usage patterns and to identify file groups that occupy large amounts of disk space. This can help you determine which file screens to configure on the server.
Duplicate Files	Lists files that appear to be duplicates (files with the same size and last-modified date). Use this report to identify and reclaim disk space that is wasted because of duplicate files.
Least Recently Used Files	Lists files that have not been accessed for a specified number of days. This can help you identify seldom used data that might be archived and removed from the server.
Most Recently Used Files	Lists files that have been accessed within a specified number of days. Use this report to identify frequently used data that needs to be highly available.
Quota Usage	Lists quotas for which the quota usage is higher than a specified percentage. Use this report to identify quotas with high usage levels so that appropriate action can be taken. (The report includes quotas that were created for volumes and folders in File Server Resource Manager only. It does not include quotas applied to shares in NTFS.)
File Screening Audit	Lists file screening violations that have occurred on the server, for a specified number of days. Use this report to identify individuals or applications that violate file screening policy.

You can create report tasks, which are used to schedule one or more periodic reports, or you can generate reports on demand and optionally display the reports immediately. For on-demand reports, as with scheduled reports, current data is gathered before the report is generated.

Configuring Report Parameters

Most of the reports have configurable report parameters, which determine the content that the report includes. The parameters vary with the type of report. For some reports, report parameters can be used to select the volumes and folders on which to report, set a minimum file size to include, or restrict a report to files owned by specific users.

To configure the default parameters for each report, use the Configure options action, which is available when you select the main File Server Resource Manager node. This action opens the File Server Resource Manager Options dialog box. The default parameters are used in the incidental reports that are generated automatically during quota and file screen notifications. You can edit the default parameters for scheduled reports and reports generated on demand.

Important

Before you run a File Screen Audit report, in the File Server Resource Manager Options dialog box, on the File Screen Audit tab, verify that the Record file screening activity in the auditing database check box is selected.

Saving reports

Regardless of how you generate a report, or whether you choose to view the report immediately, the report is saved on disk, using the file formats that you specify. By default, reports are saved in Dynamic HTML (DHTML) format. You can also save reports in HTML, XML, DSV, and text formats.

Scheduled reports, on-demand reports, and incident reports are saved in separate folders within a designated report repository. By default, the reports are stored in subdirectories of the %Systemroot%\StorageReports\ folder. To change the default report locations, use the Configure options action.

Scheduling a Set of Reports

To generate a set of reports on a regular schedule, you schedule a report task. The report task specifies which reports to generate and what parameters to use, which volumes and folders to report on, how often to generate the reports, and which file formats to save them in.

Note

To minimize the impact of report processing on server performance, generate multiple reports on the same scheduled report task, so that the data is only gathered once. To quickly add reports to existing report tasks, under Storage Reports Management, select the Add or remove reports for a report task action. This action allows you to quickly add or remove reports from all existing report tasks, and to edit the report parameters. To change schedules or delivery addresses, you must edit individual report tasks.

The schedule a report task
In the console tree, right-click Storage Reports Management, and then click Schedule a new report task. This opens the Storage Reports Task Properties dialog box. To select a volume or folder on which to report: In Scope, click Add. Browse to the volume or folder that you want to report on, and click OK. This adds the selected volume or folder to the list. Add as many paths as you want to include. In Report data, select each report that you want to generate. (By default, all reports are generated for a scheduled report task.) To edit the parameters of a report: Highlight the report label, and click Edit Parameters. In the Report Parameters dialog box, edit the parameters as needed, and click OK. If you want to deliver copies of the reports to administrators by e-mail, on the Delivery tab, click Send reports to the following administrators, and enter each e-mail account. Use the format account@domain; use semicolons to separate multiple accounts. To schedule the reports, on the Schedule tab, click Create Schedule. This opens the Schedule dialog box. In the Schedule dialog box, click New. This creates a default schedule set for 9:00 A.M. daily, starting on the next day. To change the default schedule: Under Schedule Task, select the interval at which to generate the report. You can schedule daily, weekly, or monthly reports, or generate the reports only once. You can also arrange to generate the reports at system startup or at logon, or specify background printing when the system is idle. In the schedule options below, enter additional information, as needed, to determine when the reports will be generated. The available schedule options vary based on the interval that you choose. For example, for a weekly report, you can specify how many weeks between reports and which days of the week to generate reports on; for a monthly report, you can specify what day of the month and what specific months to generate the reports on. Under Start time, enter the time of day when you want to generate the report. To add more schedules to the report task, repeat steps 7 through 8. Each new schedule will be individually numbered, click the drop-down list box under the Schedule tab to see the list of schedules. To delete a schedule, select it in the drop-down list box and click Delete. After you are finished adding schedules to the report task, click OK. To save the report task, click OK.

In the console tree, right-click Storage Reports Management, and then click Schedule a new report task. This opens the Storage Reports Task Properties dialog box.
To select a volume or folder on which to report:
1. In Scope, click Add.
2. Browse to the volume or folder that you want to report on, and click OK.
This adds the selected volume or folder to the list. Add as many paths as you want to include.
In Report data, select each report that you want to generate. (By default, all reports are generated for a scheduled report task.)
To edit the parameters of a report:
1. Highlight the report label, and click Edit Parameters.
2. In the Report Parameters dialog box, edit the parameters as needed, and click OK.

If you want to deliver copies of the reports to administrators by e-mail, on the Delivery tab, click Send reports to the following administrators, and enter each e-mail account. Use the format account@domain; use semicolons to separate multiple accounts.

To schedule the reports, on the Schedule tab, click Create Schedule. This opens the Schedule dialog box.
In the Schedule dialog box, click New. This creates a default schedule set for 9:00 A.M. daily, starting on the next day.
To change the default schedule:
1. Under Schedule Task, select the interval at which to generate the report.
  
  You can schedule daily, weekly, or monthly reports, or generate the reports only once. You can also arrange to generate the reports at system startup or at logon, or specify background printing when the system is idle.
2. In the schedule options below, enter additional information, as needed, to determine when the reports will be generated.
  
  The available schedule options vary based on the interval that you choose. For example, for a weekly report, you can specify how many weeks between reports and which days of the week to generate reports on; for a monthly report, you can specify what day of the month and what specific months to generate the reports on.
3. Under Start time, enter the time of day when you want to generate the report.
To add more schedules to the report task, repeat steps 7 through 8. Each new schedule will be individually numbered, click the drop-down list box under the Schedule tab to see the list of schedules. To delete a schedule, select it in the drop-down list box and click Delete.
After you are finished adding schedules to the report task, click OK.
To save the report task, click OK.

Generating Reports on Demand

During daily operations, you may want to generate reports on demand to analyze different aspects of current disk usage on the server. Use the Generate reports now action to generate one or more reports. Before the reports are generated, current data is gathered.

When you generate reports on demand, the reports are saved in the reports repository, but no report task is created for later use. You can optionally view the reports when they have completed.