Chapter 4
Storage Configurations
In previous chapters, the compute and network resources of a virtual environment
were examined, and this chapter covers the final resource building block—storage. In
Windows Server 2016, many storage options and topologies are available, enabling
organizations to implement various solutions to meet the many different
requirements encountered.
Many organizations are familiar with using storage area networks (SANs) as the
cornerstone for their storage requirements and leveraging connectivity such as Fibre
Channel, and this is still a valid solution. Furthermore, in certain scenarios, this is the
right architecture. However, with Windows Server 2012, the focus was on choice and
offering other storage solutions that can be more cost-effective and more flexible,
such as iSCSI, SMB 3, and Storage Spaces. Windows Server 2016 takes this further by
offering new storage options via Storage Spaces Direct, which enables direct-attached
storage for nodes in a cluster to be aggregated and used as resilient cluster storage.
Also included in Windows Server 2016 is Storage Replica. This supports replication at
a block level of storage in numerous scenarios. Hyper-V fully leverages these
technologies in addition to supporting a new virtual hard disk format that offers the
highest scalability and performance.
In this chapter, you will learn to:
Explain the types of storage available to a virtual machine.
Identify when to use virtual Fibre Channel vs. VHD Sets and the benefits of each.
Articulate how SMB 3 can be used.