Posts Tagged ‘encrypted files’

“System Volume Information” consuming more Disk Space

Posted: September 4, 2012 in Server 2003, Server 2008, System Information, System Modifications
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System Volume Information (SVI) is the folder holding the restore points. If you turn System Restore off, that folder will be emptied. If you turn it on again, a new restore point will be created.

If this isn’t the system drive, it really doesn’t matter at all, except for the space it takes.

The SVI folder is where System Restores holds its restore points and other information. There will be a SVI folder on every partition Windows sees. If the Indexing Service has been turned on it will store files in the SVI folders. Encrypting File System also uses the SVI folder on each partition to store the log file that is generated during the encryption and decryption process.

The data drive will contain its own SVI folder. There’s no reason to keep a backup on the data drive.

To Access the System Information Folder follow the below steps:

In Windows Explorer click [Tools] [Folder Options]
Click the [View] tab, click [Show Hidden Files and Folders]
Clear [Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)] check box.
Click [Yes] on the change confirmation box and click [OK] to exit.
Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder.
Click [Properties] and select the [Security] tab. Click [Add]
Enter the name of the user you are allowing access to the folder.
Click [OK], and then click [OK].
Double-click the System Volume Information folder to open.

You may observe the SVI Folder may consume more space often, you can limit the amount of space it consumes, you can run the below command so that you can limit the space used by the Restore Points

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=D: /For=D: /Maxsize=3GB

  • In the above command I am limiting the D Drive to allocate 3 GB for the SVI.
  • You can change the drive name as per your requirement.
  • You can observe immediate free of space once the command is run.

 

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Encrypting File System in Server 2008

Posted: August 1, 2011 in Active Directory, Server 2008, System Information
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The Encrypting File System (EFS) is one feature made possible by reparse points in Windows Server 2008 that enhances security for local files on NTFS volumes. EFS is useful for securing files on any system, but it is most useful on systems that can easily be stolen or physically compromised, such as notebook and tablet PCs. EFS is integrated within NTFS and therefore is applicable only to files on NTFS volumes. FAT16 and FAT32 volumes do not support EFS. Only files can be encrypted; folders cannot, even on NTFS volumes. However, folders are marked to indicate that they contain encrypted data. EFS are designed to protect files locally, and therefore don’t support sharing of encrypted files. You can store your own encrypted files on a remote server and access those files yourself. The data is not encrypted during transmission across the network, however, unless you use Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) to encrypt IP traffic (assuming you are using TCP/IP as the network protocol for transferring the file).