VDS-Related Features
Windows 2003 delivers three VDS-related functions in addition to VDS. Microsoft supplies two software-storage providers: the Basic Disk Provider and the Dynamic Disk Provider. (For details about the differences between basic and dynamic disk types, see "Choosing Basic vs. Dynamic Disk Storage for Windows Servers," December 2002, http://www.winnetmag.com, InstantDoc ID 27085.) The Basic Disk Provider includes support for basic disk functionality such as partitions and volumes. The Dynamic Disk Provider adds dynamic disk functionality, such as disk striping and spanning, and fault-tolerant functionality, such as RAID 5 and mirroring.
The third item is a collection of administrative tools that provides an interface to VDS. One of these tools is the familiar Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Disk Management snap-in that most administrators know and love. Windows 2003's Disk Management snap-in isn't visually different from what you're used to in Windows XP and Windows 2000, but Microsoft has overhauled the tool to directly interface with VDS (the tool is a real VDS client).
Another familiar tool is the Diskpart command-line tool. Diskpart shipped with XP and is also available for Win2K. In Windows 2003, Microsoft adds new commands to the tool that enable SAN functionality (such as the ability to specify parameters for automount LUNs and to mark LUNs as inactive) from the command line.
The last tool, Diskraid, is new to Windows 2003 and ships as part of the upcoming Windows 2003 resource kit. Like Diskpart, Diskraid is a command-line tool that lets administrators perform LUN operations (e.g., create, delete) from the command line. These tools interface directly with VDS as clients and extend the manageability of Windows storage.
The VDS Unification Point
As vendors that provide Windows storage solutions make huge strides in functionality and features, storage virtualization becomes increasingly complex to understand and administer. This trend could complicate the administration and manageability of Windows systems unless we can find a way to ensure that everyone is on the same page where storage management and virtualization are concerned. Windows 2003 VDS provides this unification point by offering Windows administrators and third-party vendors an open and extensible framework while providing Microsoft with a high degree of stability and supportability.
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