You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.Dismiss alert
title: Replace a drive on an Azure File Sync server
3
-
description: How to replace a drive on an Azure File Sync server due to hardware decommissioning, optimization or end of support.
3
+
description: Learn how to replace a drive on an Azure File Sync server because of hardware decommissioning, optimization, or end of support.
4
4
author: sindamnataraj
5
5
ms.service: azure-file-storage
6
6
ms.topic: how-to
@@ -10,65 +10,67 @@ ms.author: nasindam
10
10
11
11
# Replace a drive on an Azure File Sync server
12
12
13
-
This article explains how to replace an existing drive that hosts one or more Azure File Sync server endpoints, either on an on-premises Windows Server or on a virtual machine (VM) in the cloud. This could be because the drive is failing, or because you want to optimize and balance resources by using a different size or type of drive. Some of the steps will differ slightly depending on whether your Azure File Sync registered server is located on-premises or in Azure.
14
-
15
-
> [!Important]
16
-
> Replacing a drive always involves some amount of downtime for users. We recommend following the steps in this article. If you simply recreate the drive and restart the storage sync service without first deleting the server endpoints, then the server will automatically throw away the sync database.
13
+
This article explains how to replace an existing drive that hosts one or more Azure File Sync server endpoints, either on an on-premises Windows Server installation or on a virtual machine (VM) in the cloud. This replacement could be because the drive is failing, or because you want to optimize and balance resources by using a different size or type of drive. Some of the steps will differ slightly, depending on whether your Azure File Sync registered server is located on-premises or in Azure.
17
14
15
+
> [!IMPORTANT]
16
+
> Replacing a drive always involves some amount of downtime for users. We recommend following the steps in this article. If you simply re-create the drive and restart the storage sync service without first deleting the server endpoints, the server will automatically throw away the sync database.
18
17
19
18
## Step 1: Create a temporary VM with new server endpoints
20
19
21
-
Create a temporary VM (Server B) that's as close as possible to your registered server (Server A). If your registered server is on-premises, create a VM on premises. If your registered server is in the cloud, create a VM in the cloud, preferably in the same region as your registered server.
22
-
23
-
Then, [create the server endpoints](file-sync-server-endpoint-create.md) on Server B. Enable cloud tiering. Temporarily set the volume free space policy to 99% in order to tier as many files as possible to the cloud.
20
+
Create a temporary VM (Server B) that's as close as possible to your registered server (Server A). If your registered server is on-premises, create a VM on-premises. If your registered server is in the cloud, create a VM in the cloud, preferably in the same region as your registered server.
24
21
22
+
Then, [create the server endpoints](file-sync-server-endpoint-create.md) on Server B. Enable cloud tiering. Temporarily set the volume free space policy to 99% so that you can tier as many files as possible to the cloud.
25
23
26
24
## Step 2: Copy data to the temporary VM
27
25
28
-
Use Robocopy, an SMB copy utility that's built into Windows, to copy the data from Server A to Server B. Run the following command from the Windows command line on Server A.
26
+
Use Robocopy, a Server Message Block (SMB) copy tool that's built into Windows, to copy the data from Server A to Server B. Run the following command from the Windows command line on Server A:
29
27
30
28
```console
31
29
robocopy <Server A SourcePath> <Server B Dest.Path> /MT:16 /R:2 /W:1 /COPYALL /MIR /DCOPY:DAT /XA:O /B /IT /UNILOG:RobocopyLog.txt
32
30
```
33
31
34
32
## Step 3: Transition users to the temporary VM
35
33
36
-
Removing user access to your server endpoints will cause downtime. To minimize downtime, perform these steps as quickly as possible.
37
-
1. Remove SMB access to the server endpoints on Server A. Don't delete the server endpoints yet.
38
-
2. On Server A, change the startup type of the Storage Sync Agent Service from Automatic to Disabled, and then put it in the Stopped state.
39
-
3. Run Robocopy again to copy any changes that happened since the last run. From Server A, run:
40
-
34
+
Removing user access to your server endpoints causes downtime. To minimize downtime, perform these steps as quickly as possible:
35
+
36
+
1. Remove SMB access to the server endpoints on Server A. Don't delete the server endpoints yet.
37
+
2. On Server A, change the startup type of the Storage Sync Agent Service from **Automatic** to **Disabled**, and then put it in the **Stopped** state.
38
+
3. Run Robocopy again to copy any changes that happened since the last run. From Server A, run:
5. Enable SMB access to the server endpoints on Server B.
43
+
44
+
4. Enable SMB access to the server endpoints on Server B.
45
45
Users should now be able to access the file share from the temporary VM (Server B).
46
46
47
-
## Step 4: Delete old server endpoints and replace drive
47
+
## Step 4: Delete old server endpoints and replace the drive
48
48
49
49
When you're sure that user access is restored, [delete the server endpoints](file-sync-server-endpoint-delete.md) and replace the drive on Server A. Make sure the drive letter of the replaced drive is the same as it was before the replacement.
50
50
51
51
## Step 5: Create new server endpoints and copy data to the new drive
52
52
53
-
Re-create the server endpoints on Server A. Enable cloud tiering. Temporarily set the volume free space policy to 99% in order to tier as many files as possible to the cloud.
53
+
Re-create the server endpoints on Server A. Enable cloud tiering. Temporarily set the volume free space policy to 99% so that you can tier as many files as possible to the cloud.
54
54
55
-
Use Robocopy to copy the data to the new drive on Server A. Run the following command from the Windows command line on Server B.
55
+
Use Robocopy to copy the data to the new drive on Server A. Run the following command from the Windows command line on Server B:
56
56
57
57
```console
58
58
robocopy <Server B SourcePath> <Server A Dest.Path> /MT:16 /R:2 /W:1 /COPYALL /MIR /DCOPY:DAT /XA:O /B /IT /UNILOG:RobocopyLog.txt
59
59
```
60
60
61
-
## Step 6: Restore user access to registered server
61
+
## Step 6: Restore user access to the registered server
62
62
63
-
Removing user access to your server endpoints on the temporary VM will cause downtime. To minimize downtime, perform these steps as quickly as possible.
63
+
Removing user access to your server endpoints on the temporary VM causes downtime. To minimize downtime, perform these steps as quickly as possible:
64
+
65
+
1. Remove SMB access to the server endpoints on Server B. Don't delete the server endpoints yet.
66
+
2. Run Robocopy again to copy any changes that happened since the last run. From Server B, run:
64
67
65
-
1. Remove SMB access to the server endpoints on Server B. Don't delete the server endpoints yet.
66
-
2. Run Robocopy again to copy any changes that happened since the last run. From Server B, run:
3. On Server A, change the startup type of the Storage Sync Agent Service from Disabled to Automatic, and then put it in the Started state.
72
-
4. Enable SMB access to the server endpoints on Server A.
73
-
5. Sign into the Azure portal. Navigate to the sync group and verify that the cloud endpoint is syncing to the server endpoint(s) on Server A.
74
-
Users should now be able to access the file share from your registered server. Remember to change your volume free space policy to a reasonable level such as 10-20%.
71
+
72
+
3. On Server A, change the startup type of the Storage Sync Agent Service from **Disabled** to **Automatic**, and then put it in the **Started** state.
73
+
4. Enable SMB access to the server endpoints on Server A.
74
+
5. Sign in to the Azure portal. Go to the sync group and verify that the cloud endpoint is syncing to the server endpoints on Server A. Users should now be able to access the file share from your registered server.
75
+
76
+
Remember to change your volume free space policy to a reasonable level, such as 10-20%.
0 commit comments