File System Factory for AD™
Automate lifecycle management of user and group storage with File System Factory for AD.
File System Factory for Active Directory™ automates the full lifecycle management of user and group network storage. Leveraging Microsoft Active Directory, File System Factory for AD automates a comprehensive set of storage management tasks based on events, identities and event-driven policies that you define. In the process File System Factory for AD can save you significant time and money, while helping to assure industry and corporate compliance.
File System Factory for AD lets you create policies that trigger actions once events have taken place in Active Directory. For example, creating a new user triggers an action to create the new user’s home folder according to the size, quota, and rights settings specified in the policy. Policies can also specify actions when a user is moved, made inactive, or removed from Active Directory. Powerful optimization, analytical, and reporting technologies in File System Factory for AD provide a variety of automatic and administrator-initiated storage maintenance features.
An extensive set of product features enable File System Factory for Active Directory™ to manage the complete lifecycle of file systems.
- Event-driven automation of storage tasks
- Active Directory enacted policies that you define
- Creates and provisions home folders when users are created
- Creates collaborative storage folders
- Creates auxiliary storage folders
- Supports Windows profile paths
- Supports Windows Remote Desktop access
- Manages user and collaborative storage quotas
- Links renamed users with user and collaborative storage folders
- Sets access rights according to policy
- Updates access rights when a user’s role changes
- Migrates storage transparently
- Redistributes user and collaborative storage
- Gathers data and assembles reports
- Grooms storage to remove unallowable file types
- Disables user storage access for inactive users
- Deletes or vaults home folders when users are deleted
- Migrates user and group data from a Novell file system platform to a Microsoft Windows file system platform (via separately-purchased add-on)
- Verifies that all files and folders were migrated from the source Novell server to the target Windows server (via separately-purchased add-on)
Lowers Your File System Administration Costs By automating tasks that are normally done manually, File System Factory for Active Directory™ can save you significant time and money in annual administration expenses.
Provides File System Flexibility With File System Factory for AD, you can define where user home folders and collaborative storage folders are created, what documents are provisioned within these folders, what rights are established to these folders, when and where to vault a removed user’s home folder, and more.
Simplifies Collaborative Development Members of cross-functional teams can be granted personal folders within a collaborative storage area for sharing documents within the group. Teachers can set up virtual classrooms for distributing and handing in homework.
Enforces Compliance Helps enforce compliance to corporate policies pertaining to data access and data retention.
Simplifies the Migration of Data from a Novell to Microsoft Network The Cross-Empire Data Migration add-on is an easy-to-use wizard that provides advanced capabilities for converting Novell file system rights and trustee assignments to Windows file system rights and permissions before you migrate.
Integrates with Galileo If you have deployed Condrey Corporation's Galileo enterprise reporting product, Galileo can report on the files and folders of the target paths of File system Factory for AD policies.
File System Factory for Active Directory™ is comprised of an Engine, Event Monitor, Agents, and management software.
Engine
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (Member or DC Server)
- Microsoft Server 2008 SP2 or R2 or later with a 64-bit processor (Member or DC Server)
Event Monitor
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (Member or DC Server)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 or later, or R2 (Member or DC Server)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later (Member or DC Server)
Agents
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (Member or DC Server)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 or R2 with a 32-bit or 64-bit processor (for deployment with quota management) (Member or DC Server)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later with a 32-bit or 64-bit processor (for deployment without quota management)
Management Interface
- Windows 8
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP
- Windows Server 2012, 2008, or 2003
Q: What are the tasks that File System Factory for Active Directory™ automates?
A: Through Active Directory identity-based policies, File System Factory automates the following:
Provisioning:
- Home folders
- Profile paths
- Remote Desktop Services home folders
- Remote Desktop Services profile paths
- User auxiliary home folders
- Collaborative home folders
On-Going Management
- Security analysis
- Quota management
- Storage relocation
- Storage load balancing
- Storage redistribution
- Content analysis
- Storage reporting
- File grooming
Disposal
- Immediate or deferred home folder deletion
- Home folder vaulting
- Filtered file removal prior to vaulting
Q: How can File System Factory help address my organization’s mandates for compliance to industry and government regulations?
A: File System Factory enables you to you can demonstrate regulatory compliance for data retention, security, and access.
First, you can specify, within the Active Directory identity-based policies themselves, where user and collaborative storage will reside. This could be on shares or servers where sensitive corporate data is not stored.
Additionally, File System Factory lets you set and then the product enforces file system rights when the user home folder and collaborative storage folders are created. Full Control is not a default right that File System Factory for AD grants to the user and thus, prevents potential security threats. If users have been previously been given Full Control, or any other right you wish to revoke, you can simply perform a Manage Operation in File System Factory to enforce all users into compliance with the rights as indicated in the policy.
Finally, File System Factory lets you indicate when and where to vault the user home folders when users leave the organization. With this knowledge, you can easily retrieve and restore this data when needed.
Q: How does File System Factory for AD manage collaborative storage?
A: First of all, let’s define what we mean by “collaborative storage.” Collaborative storage is a shared storage area where a group of people in an organization can collaborate by sharing files. For example, a cross-functional project team in an organization might need a collaborative storage area where all members could access and submit project files.
File System Factory for AD lets you easily create collaborative storage areas through collaborative storage policies that you can assign to Group objects or to an organizational unit (also known as a container). You can structure the collaborative storage in one of two ways:
- Creating a single project folder where all project members have access and have the same rights.
- Creating a project folder with a specified owner. The project folder has subfolders for each of the members of the group. This configuration is done through a process called “Dynamic Template Processing.”
File System Factory for AD works with Active Directory to ensure that only members of the Group object have access to collaborative storage. As new members are added to the group, they are automatically granted access to the collaborative storage. As members are removed, they are denied access, but the files that they submitted to the collaborative storage folder remain.
Q: Why is the Cross-Empire Data Migration functionality sold as a separate add-on to File System Factory for AD?
A: The Cross-Empire Data Migration subsystem is intended for those customers that are undergoing a migration project from one platform to another. We recognize that this feature is not needed by all customers, so we have decided to only make this feature available to those customers that actually need it.
Q: Is File System Factory for AD available only through direct purchase through Condrey Corporation?
A: No. The product may be purchased and delivered through one of many Condrey Corporation partners and resellers. A list of Condrey Corporation partners and resellers is available here.
Q: I have File System Factory for AD 2.5. What is the process for upgrading to Version 3.0.x?
A: The upgrade process involves using the Migration utility to migrate any of your existing File System Factory for AD 2.5 policies as well as deferred delete pending events. A migration can be either “in-place” or an “across-the-wire.” You can do an in-place migration when the server currently hosting the File System Factory for AD 2.5 FSF Engine will be the same server that hosts the Version 3.0.x FSF Engine. You do an across-the-wire migration when the Version 3.0.x FSF Engine will be hosted on a different server than the one currently hosting the File System Factory for AD 2.5 FSF Engine.
The migration is a three-step process:
- The Migration utility exports policies and deferred delete content from the File System Factory for AD 2.5 FSF Engine.
- The FSFAdmin Setup Wizard imports the policies and deferred delete content to the File System Factory 3.0.x FSF Engine.
- You perform Manage Operations to rebuild the File System Factory catalog.
For more information, see Chapter 3 in the File System Factory for AD 3.0.x Installation Guide.
Q: Does the Active Directory schema have to be extended to support File System Factory for AD 3.0.x?
A: To enable collaborative storage or auxiliary storage management, you must extend the Active Directory schema to enable File System Factory for AD attributes. If you do not intend to have File System Factory for AD manage collaborative storage or auxiliary storage, there is no need to extend the Active Directory schema.
Note: You extend the Active Directory schema using SchemaTool.exe
