Microsoft® Windows Server 2003: Administrator’s Companion

Remote Storage

Like money and RAM, you can never have too much hard disk space. Because of this universal truth, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 include the ability to extend hard disk capacity using tape and other archival media.

This ability is provided by Remote Storage, which takes advantage of Windows’ built-in, from-the-ground-up support for hierarchical storage utilities and enables Windows to extend an NTFS volume almost infinitely. Remote Storage does this by transparently migrating infrequently used files to tape while keeping them easily accessible.

Users see migrated files as if they were still stored on the disk instead of on tape. Even when users access migrated files, the only noticeable differences are a small dialog box ...