Managing Folder Shares
Folders can be shared on FAT,
FAT32, and NTFS volumes. When a folder is shared, as stated earlier,
share options can be configured, including the share name, description,
share permissions, access-based enumeration, limiting the number of
simultaneous connections, the default offline file settings, and
BranchCache if the service is already installed on the Windows Server
2008 R2 system. There are many ways to create a share, but to provide
the most functionality during the share creation task, administrators
should use the Share and Storage Management console located in Server
Manager.
The
Share and Storage Management console can be used to create shares and
provision storage, including tasks such as creating volumes on existing
Windows disks. To create a new share using the Share and Storage
Management console, perform the following steps:
1. | Log on to the Windows Server 2008 R2 system with an account with administrator privileges.
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2. | Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and select Server Manager.
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3. | Double-click on Roles, and then double-click on File Services.
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4. | Select Share and Storage Management.
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5. | In the Actions pane, click Provision Share to invoke the Provision a Shared Folder Wizard.
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6. | For this example, a new folder called HumanResources will be created and shared on the C: drive. Type c:\HumanResources in the location area, and click Next.
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7. | A pop-up window opens, stating that the folder does not exist; click Yes to create the folder.
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8. | On
the NTFS Permissions page, select the No, Do Not Change NTFS
Permissions option button, and click Next to continue. If desired, click
to change the permissions and add the Human Resources department
members or security groups to limit access to the share.
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9. | On
the Share Protocols page, select the SMB protocol to share the folder
to Windows and other compatible SMB clients, type in the name of the
share if the default is not desired, and click Next to continue. If the
Services for NFS is installed, the administrator can also enable the NFS
protocol for this share by checking the NFS check box and entering a
share name.
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10. | On the SMB Settings page, click the Advanced button to configure the advanced share settings.
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11. | In
the Advanced Settings window, select the User Limits tab to configure
the maximum number of connections to the share and check the Enable
Access-based Enumeration check box.
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12. | On the Caching tab, select the No Files or Programs from the Share Are Available Offline option button, as shown in Figure 1,
and click OK. Because we are sharing a folder that will contain Human
Resources data, users should only be able to access the folders and
files when connected to the company network and that is why we are
disabling caching. Also, due to the secure nature of some Human
Resources data, we have also enabled access-based enumeration to ensure
that the users who do not have access to the data do not even see the
folders or files hosted within the share.
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13. | Back on the SMB Settings page, click Next to continue.
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14. | On
the SMB Permissions page, select the Administrators Have Full Control;
All Other Users and Groups Have Only Read Access option button, and
click Next. This permission setting is preferred on some networks to
allow administrators to upload new data to the share from the network to
simplify administration. If tighter security is required, as would be
typical with a Human Resources folder, the administrator can select the
users and groups that have custom share permissions and configure the permissions to allow only the network administrators and Human Resources department members access to the share.
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15. | If
the File Server Resource Manager is installed, the Quota Policy page is
displayed. On the Quota Policy page, configure the Apply Quota check
box as necessary, and click Next to continue.
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16. | If
the File Server Resource Manager is installed, the File Screen Policy
page is displayed on the next page. On the File Screen Policy page,
configure the Apply File Screen check box as necessary, and click Next
to continue.
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17. | On the DFS Namespace Publishing page, clear the check box, and click Next to continue.
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18. | On
the Review Settings and Create Share page, review the chosen settings
and if everything appears correct, click Create to continue.
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19. | The Confirmation page is displayed to show the results of the share creation. Click Close to complete the share creation.
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Using the Share and
Storage Management console on Windows Server 2008 R2 systems with the
File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) installed enables administrators to
fully configure a share’s properties and security settings. That is why
no file server should be deployed without the FSRM and why shares should
only be created using the Share and Storage Management console.
As a best practice, always
define share permissions for every share regardless of the volume format
type. When a share is first created using the Share and Storage
Management console, the administrator is provided three standard
permissions configuration options as well
as the ability to customize the permissions. The three preconfigured
permissions options use the local Administrators group and the Everyone
group for share permissions. Using any of the three preconfigured
settings and not customizing permissions might not be acceptable for
companies that must adhere to strict security requirements as the
Everyone group can enable guest and anonymous share access and viewing.
Even though the guest account is disabled by default, and anonymous
access is disabled by default, using a best-practice recommendation is
to always replace the Everyone group with at least the Authenticated
Users, local server Users, or Domain Users group to require
authentication before accessing a share.
