This section describes how to use Disk Management on one computer to manage disks on a different computer.
Membership in Backup Operators or Administrators, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
Manage disks remotely
To manage disks on a remote computer by using Disk Management on the local computer, the remote computer must support the Virtual Disk Service (VDS). If the remote computer does not support VDS, you can use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the computer and then run Disk Management directly on the remote computer.
To manage disks on the remote computers that support VDS, you must configure Windows Firewall on both the local computer (where you are running Disk Management) and the remote computer.
On the local computer, configure Windows Firewall to enable the Remote Volume Management exception.
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Note |
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The Remote Volume Management exception includes exceptions for Vds.exe, Vdsldr.exe, and TCP port 135. |
| Remote computer operating system | Windows Firewall configuration |
|---|---|
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Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Server 2008 with SP2, Windows Vista, Windows Vista with SP1, Windows Vista with SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 |
Enable Remote Volume Management exception. |
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Windows Vista |
Enable Remote Volume Management exception. Enable the File and Print Sharing exception. |
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Windows Server 2003 with SP1 |
Enable the following exceptions:
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Note |
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Remote connections in workgroups are not supported. Both the local computer and the remote computer must be in a domain. |