Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Contents Overview Determining Current User Data Strategies Determining the Organizational Requirements Categorizing User Data Management Needs Identifying Available User Data Management Options 15 Selecting Appropriate User Data Options 28 Lab A: Meeting User Data Management Requirements 33 Review 40 Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, places or events is intended or should be inferred Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property  2001 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, Active Desktop, Active Directory, IntelliMirror, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Visio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A and/or other countries The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Instructor Notes Presentation: 90 Minutes Lab: 30 Minutes In this module, students will examine the current user data management methods and future requirements After students determine these methods and needs, they can identify the most appropriate technologies to address those needs and to include in a user data management plan After completing this module, students will be able to: Determine an organization’s current strategy for user data Determine the organizational requirements for user data Categorize user data management needs Identify available user data management options Select the appropriate options that would meet the organization’s needs Materials and Preparation This section provides the materials and preparation tasks that you need to teach this module Required Materials To teach this module, you need the following materials: Microsoft® PowerPoint® file 2410a_04.ppt Module 4, “Designing a User Data Management Strategy” Trainer Materials compact disc Preparation Tasks To prepare for this module: Read all of the materials for this module Read the technical white papers located on the Trainer Materials compact disc Read any relevant information in the Microsoft Windows® 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP Help files, and in the Windows 2000 or Windows XP Resource Kit Familiarize yourself with the principles and practice of Change and Configuration Management (CCM) Read the instructor notes that precede each module These contain preparation suggestions for each module Read the review questions and be prepared to elaborate on the answers provided in the text Complete the lab and be prepared to elaborate on the solutions found there iii iv Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Module Strategy Use the following strategy to present this module: Determining Current User Data Strategies In this section, students learn how to gather the information that is required for the analysis of the current user data management environment In addition, students learn how to assess the organization’s current methods and technologies used for managing user data Take the following actions: • Emphasize that each user will have different types of information—each group will have different amounts of office documents, e-mail, database information, and data relating to custom applications It is not always easy to establish where the information resides and, perhaps more importantly, what the impact would be if the information were lost or damaged • Establish that a backup strategy is only as good as the recovery procedures There may be minimal gain in taking backups because information is difficult to recover (for administrative or technical reasons) Discuss anecdotal cases in which recovery procedures were never tested, and when recovery was finally required, it was discovered that backups had never been working Determining the Organizational Requirements In this section, students learn how to identify the organization’s needs for the management of user data and to address those needs in a plan for user data management It is difficult to determine exact storage requirements Recognize that storage needs inevitably increase over time Categorizing User Data Management Needs In this section, students learn how to classify users’ computing needs according to job requirements and location Students also determine how to combine these categories with any organizational considerations to create standard configurations Different user types have varying user data needs For example, mobile workers require secure access to their data, mostly during office hours, whereas some workers may need access during the evening or 24 hours a day Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Identifying Available User Data Management Options In this section, students identify several different technologies available for the management of user data in an organization and assess their suitability to organizational requirements The main technologies for user data management have been introduced already In this section, you describe the application of such technologies Do not go into too much technical detail, unless prompted to so Selecting Appropriate User Data Options In this section, students define which features will be used for Change and Configuration Management to address the user data management needs of an organization Take the following actions: • Emphasize that this section does not provide a detailed guide for user data management but instead presents guidelines and best practices • Consider asking students about their own user data management needs Use their responses to start a discussion about appropriate user data management practices v vi Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Lab Strategy Use the following strategy to present this lab Lab A: Meeting User Data Management Requirements The lab is designed to assist the student in applying the information presented in this module Students are expected to have: Basic experience or knowledge of the Active Directory™ directory service Basic experience or knowledge of Group Policy The knowledge and skills necessary to define and implement a user data management plan The lab consists of three scenarios, each of which is based on a company that requires facilities for user data management In this lab, students review each scenario and determine organizational requirements They then use information from the module to make a number of design decisions concerning the user data management plan Students are also asked to explain how they arrived at those decisions To conduct this lab: Read through the lab carefully, paying close attention to the instructions and to the details of the scenario Divide the class into groups of two or more students Present the lab and make sure that students understand the instructions and the purpose of the lab Explain each of the scenarios and highlight any key information Remind students to consider the relative merits of Active Directory and Group Policy with respect to user data management, and to think about the suitability of each option to the scenarios While students are completing the lab, take the opportunity to assess each student’s comprehension of the technology features of Active Directory and Group Policy presented in the module Allow some time to discuss the solutions after the lab is completed A solution is provided on the Trainer Materials compact disc Encourage students to look critically at each other’s solutions and to discuss any ideas for improving the designs Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Overview Topic Objective To provide an overview of the module topics and objectives Determining Current User Data Strategies Lead-in Determining the Organizational Requirements In this module, you will learn the principles of evaluating user data management options based on organizational needs and the current and planned environment Categorizing User Data Management Needs Identifying Available User Data Management Options Selecting Appropriate User Data Options *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** As the administrator or designer of your network, you must provide a plan for the management of user data for the client computers on your network in the overall Change and Configuration Management (CCM) infrastructure plan The management of user data in a Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0 network often involved no more than roaming profiles and home folders stored on a network share In a Microsoft Windows® 2000 network, Microsoft IntelliMirror® offers greater flexibility for user data management A business can ensure that important data is available to users, whether the user is connected directly to the local area network (LAN), connected though a slow link, or working remotely with no network connection In this module, you will examine the current user data management methods and future requirements After you assess these methods and needs, you will identify the most appropriate technologies to address those needs and to include in your user data management plan After completing this module, you will be able to: Determine the organization’s current strategy for user data Determine the organizational requirements for user data Categorize user data management needs Identify available user data management options Select the appropriate options that would meet the organization’s needs Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Determining Current User Data Strategies Topic Objective To identify the steps required to determine the organization’s current user data management environment Determining Current User Data Environment Determining Current User Data Management Methods Data Lead-in It is important to determine your existing environment to identify where and how other user data management technologies can benefit the organization Users Users *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** To create the user data management plan, you must assess and analyze the existing methods and management strategies for your users’ data In this section, you will learn how to gather the information required for the analysis of the current user data management environment In addition, you will learn how to determine the organization’s current methods and technologies used for managing users’ data Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Determining Current User Data Environment Topic Objective To explain how to assess the organization’s current user data environment Lead-in To create a user data management strategy, you need information about the existing user data environment What Is User Data? ? What Is User Data? Which User Data Is Currently Stored? ? Which User Data Is Currently Stored? Personal data Personal business data Shared business data Where Is User Data Currently Stored? ? Where Is User Data Currently Stored? What Is the Current Use of Offline Data? ? What Is the Current Use of Offline Data? What Is the Current Use of Roaming Data? ? What Is the Current Use of Roaming Data? *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** Before you can implement a user data management plan, you must be aware of the current user data environment Document this information clearly so that you can reference it at crucial decision points during the implementation of your CCM infrastructure plan For your plan, you need to be aware of the current data storage characteristics Consider the following issues when documenting your plan for managing users’ data: What is user data? User data is data that is created and used by a user and not shared between other users Word processing documents or spreadsheets are good examples of user data User data is stored independently on the user’s local hard disk or on a network share that belongs specifically to that user An example of data entered by a user that is not considered user data would be data that a user enters into a database This kind of data is entered by a user but does not belong to that user Which user data is currently stored? You must determine the type of information that users store and the amount of data that each user might store Some of your users may not store very much information, whereas others may have very large and complex requirements for storing their data You must divide the information into three categories: personal non-business data, personal business data, and shared business data Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Where is user data currently stored? It is important that you are aware of the current location of stored user data so that you can gauge how and where users gain access to their data This is important when creating a server infrastructure to ensure that there is enough storage space to meet your needs for user data management You must identify whether your users store their data in home folders locally on their own hard disks, whether they store any data on personal network-based home folders, and whether any data is stored with other users’ data on shared network folders What is the current use of offline data? You must identify whether you have any users who need access to their data while disconnected from the network You must assess whether and in what way you currently support this capability What is the current use of roaming data? You need to be aware of any requirement for data to roam with users and to follow them from one workstation to another This is common practice when users either move between multiple client computers in their department or regularly travel from one office location to another 28 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Selecting Appropriate User Data Options Topic Objective To identify the appropriate options for user data management based on requirements Lead-in Overview of User Data Management Options Meeting the Needs of Your Users Now that you have looked at the available options for user data management, you must identify those most appropriate to your organizational needs *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** To prepare your change and configuration implementation plan, you must decide which features of the user data management technologies you have identified so far provide the greatest benefit to each group of users, and how you need to configure those features The change and configuration management user data options that you have identified act as components that you can deploy to provide improved services to your users To complete your user data management plan, you must: Define which features will be used for change and configuration management Define how the change and configuration management options will meet the needs of your organization’s user types Summarize how change and configuration management will meet the needs of your organization, for example, by using a matrix to map user data needs against the technologies employed Note Depending on your organizational needs, some options listed in the following sections might be more suitable than others You must define your own requirements when implementing options in your organization Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 29 Overview of User Data Management Options Topic Objective To identify which standard options are suitable for user data management Configure shares and redirect folders Configure shares and redirect folders Lead-in Set disk quotas on volumes with data shares Set disk quotas on volumes with data shares The following usage options can meet standard requirements for user data management Provide backup and restore services for shared data Provide backup and restore services for shared data Enable offline files for personal data Enable offline files for personal data Configure roaming user profiles Configure roaming user profiles *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** The following usage options can meet standard user data management requirements: Provide users with private network shares and redirect their folders to these shares Include the desktop in this network share so that documents saved to the desktop are also saved to the network share Provide users with public network shares These shares can serve a single user or a workgroup Set quotas on shares, especially on per-user shares Provide backup and restore services for shares, particularly the per-user shares Enable Offline Files on shares that include private data Enable Synchronization Manager for the common data types Configure RUPs for users who use more than one local computer When required, ensure that users’ roaming profiles and caches are cleared when they log off their computers 30 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Meeting the Needs of Your Users Topic Objective To identify the most appropriate options for user data management according to your user base Lead-in The following section illustrates some common user data management options for different types of users in your organization Meeting Users’ Needs Technical users Stationary users Roaming users Mobile users Task-based users Example: Example: Redirect user’s desktop Redirect user’s desktop Use folder redirection Use folder redirection Enable roaming user profiles Enable roaming user profiles *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** The following sections illustrate change and configuration management plans for the several different types of users that may exist in your organization Technical Users Technical users, such as developers, often need to be the administrators of their own computers They prefer the IT department to provide management services while allowing them to control their own computers For these users, Windows 2000 change and configuration management can simplify the setup of their computers and minimize the loss of personal data The following user data management options illustrate how you might apply change and configuration management to technical users: All aspects apply You will need to grant technical users local administrative privileges Redirect My Documents, particularly for users of mobile computers Do not redirect the desktop Enable offline folders on the My Documents share Some technical users might want to use RUPs Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 31 Stationary Users Stationary users require some management services, provided that there are perceived benefits and they not take away too much configuration control For these users, IntelliMirror provides the simplest method for offering data access and backup services and the best combination of features for the most common uses The following user data management options illustrate how you might apply change and configuration management to stationary users: All aspects apply Redirect the desktop, if appropriate Local private storage is a good option for this group Some users might need RUPs The use of the Encrypting File System might appeal to senior executives However, note that encrypted files and folders cannot be included in an RUP Roaming Users Roaming users are very similar to stationary users Even though they commonly use multiple computers, they also have a computer at which they work most of the time For these users, roaming must be effortless and come at no additional cost over stationary use The following user data management options illustrate how you might apply change and configuration management to roaming users: All aspects apply Local private storage is essential for this group Redirect the desktop, if appropriate Enable RUPs when required Mobile Users Mobile users gain the most benefit from Windows 2000 IntelliMirror features such as Offline Files, Synchronization Manager, Folder Redirection, and Roaming User Profiles These users use a portable computer in addition to a main desktop computer The following user data management options illustrate how you might apply change and configuration management to mobile users: All aspects apply The desktop must not be redirected Local private storage is essential for this group Folder Redirection and Offline Files are also ideal options for this type of user Enable RUPs when required However, if a user has only one computer, an RUP will not be required, except possibly in cases where you must replace the user’s computer 32 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Task-Based Users Task-based users share certain computers with other users in their departments and not have computers that are considered theirs When they log off a computer, no data files or computer settings must be left behind These users cannot install any applications, create files outside their network shares, or alter their local computers from their administrator-configured states The following user data management options illustrate how you might apply change and configuration management to task-based users: All aspects apply to non-kiosk-style environments Redirect the desktop Do not allow local storage For kiosks, set a policy to remove local profiles from the computer when the user logs off Use RUPs only if this is a non-kiosk-style environment Leave no data behind Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 33 Lab A: Meeting User Data Management Requirements Topic Objective To introduce the lab Lead-in In this lab, you will determine an organization’s needs for user data management and design a plan based on those needs *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** Explain the lab objectives Objectives After completing this lab, you will be able to: Determine an organization’s needs for user data management Design a user data management plan based on the needs of an organization Prerequisites Before working on this lab, you must have: Basic experience or knowledge of Active Directory Basic experience or knowledge of Group Policy and IntelliMirror technologies The knowledge and skills necessary to implement a user data management plan Estimated time to complete this lab: 30 minutes 34 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Exercise Determining Organizational Needs and Appropriate Options for User Data Management In this exercise, you will work with a lab partner to assess an organization’s needs for the management of its user data on the network You will use the information in each scenario to determine which technologies will meet the organization’s needs Scenario One Fabrikam, Inc is a specialist metal roofing manufacturer located in the southeastern United States Fabrikam, Inc has seven facilities throughout the Southeast that each support sales and manufacturing activities The corporate headquarters is located in Greenville, South Carolina The seven sales and manufacturing facilities are based in the following locations: Roanoke, Virginia Apex, North Carolina Mount Airy, North Carolina Rogersville, Tennessee Augusta, Georgia North Charleston, South Carolina Stone Mountain, Georgia You have been hired to assist in the design of the company’s Change and Configuration Management infrastructure Fabrikam, Inc employs a large number of staff in the corporate headquarters who work in a sales administration function These users are responsible for updating customer database information and sending out quotations and letters to customers on behalf of field-based sales representatives The Sales administration staff is allowed to use only their own workstations, and in some cases is allowed to store data locally, although all customer data is stored centrally on a network server You have been asked to create a plan for the organization’s user data management strategy for these users To meet the organization’s goals for this strategy, your plan must: Ensure that the sales administration staff has access to up-to-date customer quotations and documents at all times, regardless of whether the network is down Allow local storage of important customer documents on the users’ own workstations, but limit the amount of space allowed on the server to 40 megabytes (MB) per user Try to limit the amount of non-customer-related data that users store locally Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 35 Current Environment The organization has a single Active Directory domain All servers and domain controllers are running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and all client computers are running Windows 2000 Professional To establish the design decisions What recommendations would you make regarding which user data management technologies this organization should implement for its users? Recommend that the organization use Offline Files, Folder Redirection, and disk quotas to meet their organizational requirements Which organizational requirements guided you toward this decision, and how will the technologies that you identify provide the solutions that they want? Is recommended that the organization implement Offline Files so that the sales administration staff can still get access to important customer quotes and letters even if the network is unavailable The organization must also implement disk quotas on the server hosting the customer documentation to limit the amount of space that users will use To limit the amount of data that users store locally, use Folder Redirection to redirect their My Documents and Desktop folders Which other features must you include in the implementation plan to meet the organizational needs? Use Synchronization Manager to set up a schedule for synchronizing the data between the network server and its computer so that if the network goes down, it will have up-to-date information in the Offline Files folder It must decide which folders and files are available for Offline Files use 36 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Scenario Two Fabrikam, Inc employs several Greenville-based sales administration team leaders, who are responsible for overseeing the work of their sales administration staff and ensuring that all data is updated correctly These team leaders have their own computers, but they are also allowed to log on to any of the sales administration staff’s workstations at corporate headquarters In addition, they sometimes travel between the various locations and need access to their own data regardless of where they log on You have been asked to create a plan for the organization’s user data management strategy for these users To meet the organization’s goals for this strategy, your plan must: Allow the team leaders to access their data from any workstation in corporate headquarters at Greenville Allow the team leaders to access their data from all locations without sending excessive traffic over any slow links Not restrict the amount of space that these users can use on the network server To establish the design decisions What recommendations would you make regarding which user data management technologies this organization should use for these users? Recommend that the organization use RUPs, and possibly profile quotas, to meet its organizational requirements Which organizational requirements guided you toward this decision, and how will the technologies that you identify provide the solutions that the organization wants? With a roaming profile, team leaders can access data from any workstation in the Greenville headquarters, and when logging on in another location If the organization also uses profile quotas, it can limit the potential size of these profiles and will not overload slow links with huge roaming profiles when logging on in another site Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 37 Which other features must you include in the implementation plan to meet the organizational needs? Use a Group Policy setting to restrict which components are included in roaming profiles in order to reduce the size of them The Group Policy setting must also maintain the space that these users are allocated on the server This could be achieved in one of two ways: first, by using a separate organizational unit for the team leader user accounts and blocking inheritance of a disk quota policy; second, by using a single organizational unit and using Group Policy Filtering on its accounts or on a group of which the accounts are members It would also be good practice to set a policy that deletes roaming profiles from the computer when users log off 38 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Scenario Three Fabrikam, Inc has a large number of employees who work as field sales representatives The sales administration staff at Greenville headquarters supports these users The sales representatives spend a large part of their working day at customer sites However, when they return home or to their hotels, they need to use portable computers to gain access to the corporate network to view and retrieve updated customer information, quotations, and letters that the administration staff has been sending out to their customers They then use this information the next working day, but may alter some data and create their own letters and quotes The sales representatives must then upload this new data to the corporate network when they next connect You have been asked to create a plan for the organization’s user data management strategy for these users To meet the organization’s goals for this strategy, your plan must: Allow the users to access the updated customer data from either their home office or hotel Allow the users to upload their own customer data to the network server when they connect to the network Allow the users to control which versions of their customer’s documents are the most current Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 39 To establish the design decisions What recommendations would you make regarding this organization’s user data management plans? Recommend that the organization use Offline Files, Synchronization Manager, and local user profiles to meet its organizational requirements (It might, instead, consider using RUPs and Folder Redirection When these two are combined, you gain the advantage of roaming profiles but without the extra traffic involved in downloading all of the roaming profile information across a dial-up connection.) Which organizational requirements guided you toward this decision, and what features of the technology provide the solutions that the organization wants? The recommendation is to implement Offline Files so that the sales representatives can download updated customer data while working remotely In addition, implement local profiles on the portable computers to prevent users from downloading roaming profiles over dial-up connections Synchronization Manager will let the sales representatives control the versions of documents if they have modified information offline, while the sales administration staff has also updated the same data online Which other features must you include in the implementation plan to meet the organizational needs? You must implement Group Policies to enable features like Folder Redirection and Offline Files if the organization decides to use them The organization must decide which folders and files are available for Offline File use 40 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Review Topic Objective To reinforce module objectives by reviewing key points Determining Current User Data Strategies Lead-in Determining the Organizational Requirements The review questions cover some of the key concepts taught in the module Categorizing User Data Management Needs Identifying Available User Data Management Options Selecting Appropriate User Data Options *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** What information will you need to determine an organization’s current user data management strategy? You must identify the current location of user data, the current use of user data, the current use of offline data, and the current use of roaming data Document information on who performs backups, and how and when they are performed Determine which technologies are used for managing user data In addition, identify where current methods have limitations and drawbacks Which four main areas of an organization’s requirements for user data management must you identify? Identify the users’ needs for data availability, data accessibility, data protection, and data security What are the lower-level technologies that Active Directory and Group Policy can use to provide user data management? User profiles, Folder Redirection, Offline Files, Synchronization Manager, disk quotas, and profile quotas Which five folders can you redirect by using Folder Redirection? Application Data, My Documents, My Pictures, Desktop, and Start Menu Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 41 What is the difference between the basic and advanced folder redirection options? Basic redirects all folders to the same server sharepoint Advanced allows the administrator to specify different UNC paths for different security groups Which three options does Synchronization Manager give you when you are deciding what to with conflicting versions of files? You can keep the local copy, the network copy, or both THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ... relation to user data management 10 Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Categorizing Data Management Needs by Job Type Topic Objective To provide a way to easily categorize data. .. a Guest account User data is saved on server shares, and users not store data locally Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy 15 Identifying Available User Data Management Options... start a discussion about appropriate user data management practices v vi Module 4: Designing a User Data Management Strategy Lab Strategy Use the following strategy to present this lab Lab A: Meeting