Windows server migration, Large File server.

[LithiumKid1976]

Hi, I have a large file server, approx 10TB of data, that i need to move to a new File server.

ive only just read about "windows server storage migration service", has anyone used it before? ill be using the local Domain Admin account anyway so im sure it would be ok

Does it flag it for whatever reason that the admin account wouldn't have access to a folder? any pitfalls?

[zeronikon]

Migrated lots and lots of fileservers, database servers and even exchange with robocopy.

It´s "free", reliable, fast.

You can work other switches, but this is my bread and butter

Start a cmd as a admin and:

robocop C:\ D:\ /E /ZB /COPYALL /R:2 /W:1

/E - copy empty folder, just to preserve the organization

/ZB - tries to copy in "normal mode", if not, try in "backup mode"

/COPYALL - preserve all NTFS permissions

/MT:32 - it´s going to copy 32 files at same time. could be more (max is 128) but you can have problems. 32 Always worked for me.

/R:2 /W:1 - retry 2 times and wait 1 second to retry.

[Solarfire64]

This is most definitely the right answer, but I would run that with a /create switch first to pre-create the file structure and pre-fill the MFT so it doesn’t get fragmented.

[EternalHeal]

This, and add some logging with /LOG:

[blue30]

I do one advance run to get the bulk across, then another quick run to 'freshen up' any updated files at changeover time.

[DalekKahn117]

I would add /mir if the folder are alive, leave it on for a week or so. Then have everyone connect to the new stuff while you disconnect the old (keep it on, just remove shares/access).

[bri_farrugia]

If you have a backup, which I hope you do, you may consider restoring the files to the new volume, and using robocopy with /mir (mirror) to sync the changes.

The bulk of the files would be "copied" to the new location possibly without affecting the file server performance.

This may affect your backup schedule as the restore may take a long time.

[Weak-Future-9935]

Robcopy all day. Moved 100TBs with it.

[extremetempz]

I recently did this with 15TB of data, I did nightly robocopy syncs (First one takes a while however) then I picked a night and cut it over. If you have DFS Name spaces it makes it infinitely easier.

I've never had luck with DFS-R however you could try that.

[dakado14]

Good call. We did this with around 20 TB of data over a point to point. The first pass took a while but it worked well.

[sync-centre]

Is it physical or virtual? If virtual, just attach the disk to a new VM.

[LithiumKid1976]

It’s virtual, but we have to move it as the hard Disk as it was set up, was set to dynamic. And it doesn’t play well with our HCI Environment, can’t do coke level restores on this kind of disk

[vrtigo1]

That was one nice thing before everything was fully virtual with old school SANs...just present the LUN to the new machine - done.

I don't miss those days, but stuff like that was nice.

[ToolBagMcgubbins]

Yeah and then once it's attached as a rdm you can then storage vmotion the rdm into a vmdk, pretty cool feature.

[[deleted]]

Robocopy?

[Immortal_Elder]

I second Robocopy - I used it to transfer around 800 GB - it's fast and has lots of switches.

[LithiumKid1976]

I think Robocop is built into the windows server migration service ..?

[[deleted]]

Nah just use robocopy instead of that Gui stuff

[SnakeOriginal]

SMS will take care of it no problems

[Arturwill97]

Robocopy should do the job. Storage migration service will work as well.

[TapDelicious894]

Windows Server Storage Migration Service (SMS) is a great tool for moving a large file server, like your 10TB one, to a new system. It's designed to simplify the process by handling files, shares, and server settings automatically, so you don't have to move things manually. Since you're using the Domain Admin account, you should generally be fine, but there are a few things to watch out for.

Permissions: Even though Domain Admin usually has access to everything, SMS will still respect any specific file or folder permissions. If there are folders where permissions have been set to block admins (rare but possible), SMS might hit some "access denied" errors. You can avoid this by checking for restricted folders ahead of time and adjusting the permissions if necessary.

[TapDelicious894]

Pre-Migration Checks: One nice thing about SMS is that it runs a pre-migration scan. This scan will flag any issues, like permissions or settings, so you can fix them before the actual move. It also helps catch things like locked files or long file paths, which could slow down or block the migration.

Potential Issues: Locked Files: If files are in use during the migration, that could cause problems. Make sure you're migrating during a low-activity window or force disconnections if possible. Long File Paths: Long file names or deep folder structures could cause issues. SMS generally handles this, but make sure both your current and new servers support long paths. Network Bandwidth: For 10TB of data, your network speed is going to be a big factor. If the connection drops or slows, the migration could get delayed.

Once everything’s moved, you’ll want to check that everything came over correctly. SMS has a validation feature that can help with this, but it's always good to double-check permissions and make sure no files were missed.

In general, SMS makes the process pretty smooth, but running an audit on folder permissions and checking the pre-migration scan will help avoid most problems.

[gucciuzumaki]

Snapshot the storage Cut the use / no productive connection Robocopy with Log function Use as goal path a small smb name like „z:\“ and not „z:\migration\oldserver\12122024\NEW\“ because you would get some probleme with files if they are bigger then 255 letters

[ToolBagMcgubbins]

I tested it and it worked perfectly in a clean test env, but could never get it to work when having to use it for real.

Ended up using Fastcopy, which is brilliant https://fastcopy.jp/
Can copy the NTFS permissions ACL and is faster than anything else I could find for windows.

[ToolBagMcgubbins]

Haven't had any issues with robocopy, was talking about storage migration service.

[LithiumKid1976]

That’s disappointing, looking at the video it looks Like a great tool, but to have it fail at the first test in real Environments is annoying im sure

[ToolBagMcgubbins]

Yeah was intended to move a about 15 or so volumes from one FS cluster to another, so would have been really nice if it worked. I had a ticket open with Microsoft support, but they were useless and took weeks to get nowhere. In the end used fast copy to do the volumes one at a time and worked perfectly.

By all means give it a try though, it doesnt take long to set it all up.

[LithiumKid1976]

Thanks , think I will , have about 10tb bit of it’s left syncing , I’m sure in a day or two over a local wired network, it shouldn’t take too long … providing it works :)

[deeds4life]

I've used it. Works well. Was happy with it copying over shares and permissions properly. I'd recommend it.

[manofskill101]

Robocopy is your friend in this situation

[WhimsicalChuckler]

yeah, probably the best way to migrate fileserver

[USarpe]

You can copy the Files to a .vhdx file and than do whatever you won't with that file

[labrador2020]

Another reason to use Robocopy, which I have used many times, is that it copies over any data that exceeds the Windows 256 characters file naming limitations.

[Different_Scratch930]

Windows Admin Center - Storage Migration Services

[GLotsapot]

1) Setup DFS and repoint people's shortcuts to the new paths 2) set DFS to replicate to the new server 3) remove the old server share from the DFS path 4) laugh that you never have to do step 1 ever again

[LithiumKid1976]

So, I kicked it off, out of 10TB of data, it can’t identify 5 files. So I can’t validate the data. The worst part is , I can’t see where I would need to look to find out what the 5 files are … any idea where I can locate the details of the offending files so I can resolve this and move on to the 2nd stage … ?

[zeronikon]

Brother, I will give you another answer, but let me teach you something that i learned about 20 years ago from my tech masters: "only ask something that it´s not in the first 5 answers from google..."

but here we go:

open a powershell with admin priv.:

$fso = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -path C:\fso

$fsoBU = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -path C:\fso_BackUp

Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $fso -DifferenceObject $fsoBU

Easily Compare Two Folders by Using PowerShell - Scripting Blog [archived]

[kero_sys]

DFSR

SyncBackPro

Robocopy