Windows Server 2012 - Folders located on the system hard drive

One of the alerts just indicated I needed to reboot the server after installing some Windows updates. The other indicated that I should move some of the folders on the system.

One or more server folders are located on the system hard drive

The following server folders are located on the system hard drive:
Client Computer Backups
Folder Redirection
File History Backups
Users
Company

Resolve this alert

It is recommended that you move the server folders that are located on the system drive to a different hard drive to help protect your data against disaster. To move a server folder from the system drive to a different hard drive, select the server folder, and then click Move the folder task.

To move those folders, take the following steps:

In the dashboard click on STORAGE at the top of the dashboard window. You will then see those folders listed under Server Folders.

One by one, right-click on each folder and select, "Move the folder". A "Move a Folder" wizard will then start.

When you click Next, you will have the opportunity to select a new location for the folder.

You will need another drive or at least another partition on the existing drive where you can move the folder, though moving the folders to another drive is preferable in case something happens to the one the operating system is stored on. A second internal drive is preferable; if you use an external drive, it would need to remain attached to the system. And you will see an error message if you attempt to move a sever folder to any of the following locations:

• A hard drive that is not formatted with the NTFS or ReFS file system
• The %windir% folder
• A mapped network drive
• A folder that contains a shared folder
• A hard drive that is located under Device with Removable Storage
• A root directory of a hard drive (such as C:\, D:\, E:\)
• A sub-folder of an existing shared folder
• A member server running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials or Windows Server 2012 R2 with the Windows Server Essentials Experience role installed

Before attempting to move the folder, ensure the following:

• Ensure that you have backed up your server.
• If you are moving the Client Computer Backup folder, ensure that all client backups are stopped and not in progress. While moving the Client Computer Backup folder, the server will be unable to back up any client computers until the move of the folder is completed.
• Ensure that the server is not performing any critical system operations. You should complete any updates or backups that are in progress before you start a folder move or the process may take longer to complete.
• None of the files in the folder to be moved are in use. You will not be able to access the server folder while it is being moved.

When I ran the wizard on a newly set up server, it showed me two options for relocating a folder, one on drive G: and one on drive D:, which was a partition on the primary drive on the system holding an alternate operating system, Windows 7, which was the original operating system on the system when it was purchased and from which I could boot the system for troubleshooting in case of any problems with Windows Server 2012 Essentials. I wanted to move the folders to the seconary drive I had recently installed in the system, so I chose G:\ServerFolders\ClientComputer Backups.

After you select a desination by clicking on it and then click on the Move folder button, you will see a "The folder was moved successfully" window, if all went well.

References:

1. Windows Server 2012 Essentials: Coping with Alerts
   Date: September 30, 2012
   By: Paul Thurrott
   Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows
2. Manage Server Folders in Windows Server Essentials
   Updated: January 15, 2014
   TechNet

 

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Created: Saturday December 27, 2012