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Linking to Targets vs Folders in the Root
Linking to Targets vs Folders in the Root
Can I place all of the files and folders that I want replicated with DFS/FRS in the DFS root instead of storing them elsewhere and creating links to them? If so, what are the pros and cons of each solution?
Here's my scenario...
Our company has several sites (remote branches), each with a single file server/DC. Users in each site access home folders, apps and departmental shares using \\server01, \\server02, etc. depending on which site they are at. Our users change sites often which means we have to copy their files and modify their AD account profile to point them to the server at their new site. I'm planning on using DFS to replicate app folders, departmental shares, & their home folders to all sites. We are purchasing new servers for each site to replace the aging file server/DC's. DFS has not ever been used in the domain so this implementation will be starting from scratch.
Respuestas
- Hello Wayne U,
It seems we might get all confused here with DFS terminologies. You can place all files and folders in the DFS root share folder but it is not a recommended practice as this will get things really crowded and unmanageable. Say for example you create a domain name space \\domain.com\DFSRootShare and on DC1 you create a root target \\DC1\DFSRootShare you can store all your folders and files in the \\DC1\DFSRootShare and you can have this rootshare mirror to all other domain controllers in remote sites as fault tolerant roots in a way that if you or a user at any location within your domain network browse to \\domain.com\DFSRootShare they will see all the files and folders contained in the DFSRootShare share as \\LocalDCName\DFSRootShare. This is not a recommended practice as mentioned above.
My suggested approach can be:
1- Create a domain name space, in this example I will use \\domain.com\DFSRootShare
2- On the PDC, I will call DC1, create a share, DFSRootShare and give it all necessary permissions, then create a root target link to this folder.
dfsutil.exe /addftroot /server:DC1 /share:DFSRootShare
3 -Create a link called Apps with targets to say \\server01\Applications
\\server02\Applications etc
4- Create another link called HomeFolders with targets to say \\server01\HomeFolders
\\server02\HomeFolders etc
5- Create links as needed.
6 - Now, you can create replications between the folders to sync data etc and if a user access \\domain.com\DFSRootShare\HomeFolders any where in the domain, they should be able to access their home folders, but to save on bandwidth, you can add all DC as Fault tolerant so that if a user in SiteA and access \\domain.com\DFSRootShare\HomeFolders they will be accessing it from local DC.
7- To add Fault Tolerant on all DC you need to create the DFSRootShare folder in each DC with the same permissions as in the PDC and then run the command
dfsutil.exe /addftroot /server:DC1 /share:DFSRootShare (Replace DC1 with each DCs name) and you are done.
Now you can just set users profile path as \\domain.com\DFSRoot\HomeFolder\%username% and you won't have to do any changes when users moved between sites.
Isaac Oben MCITP:EA, MCSE- Propuesto como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 4:16
- Marcado como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 10:12
- More specifically, if you place data and folders in a DFS root while using FRS, your folders will be morphed and useless. Do not do it, it is not supported. I cannot make a bigger 'con' than that!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/259033
Since you are in the design phase: do not use FRS. Use DFSR - it has been available since the release of Win2003 R2 and is superior to FRS in every way. FRS was deprecated 5 years ago.
Ned Pyle [MSFT] - MS Enterprise Platforms Support - Beta Team- Marcado como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 10:12
- Propuesto como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 4:16
- Thanks All,
I had seen several sources indicating that it was not a recommended practice but didn't find any documentation as to why. I just thought that it would be a simpler design to create everything in the DFS root folder and then replicate that to other branch servers. Otherwise, I'll be creating on each server a folder for the DFS root and another folder for the data, creating link targets to the data folder, and then replicating the DFS root and the link targets to the branch servers.
Also, I had read that DFS-R had replaced FRS in relation to DFS replication and will be using that instead.
Thanks again.- Marcado como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 07 de julio de 2009 3:36
Todas las respuestas
- No.
That is the way DFS works. It has to create "virtual" folders in the DFS root that represent the shares that it is redirecting. The objects in the DFS root(s) are actually a special kind of reparse point that enables this re-directing. Only DFS can follow them, That is why you can't see the contents while on the same machine. - Hello Wayne U,
It seems we might get all confused here with DFS terminologies. You can place all files and folders in the DFS root share folder but it is not a recommended practice as this will get things really crowded and unmanageable. Say for example you create a domain name space \\domain.com\DFSRootShare and on DC1 you create a root target \\DC1\DFSRootShare you can store all your folders and files in the \\DC1\DFSRootShare and you can have this rootshare mirror to all other domain controllers in remote sites as fault tolerant roots in a way that if you or a user at any location within your domain network browse to \\domain.com\DFSRootShare they will see all the files and folders contained in the DFSRootShare share as \\LocalDCName\DFSRootShare. This is not a recommended practice as mentioned above.
My suggested approach can be:
1- Create a domain name space, in this example I will use \\domain.com\DFSRootShare
2- On the PDC, I will call DC1, create a share, DFSRootShare and give it all necessary permissions, then create a root target link to this folder.
dfsutil.exe /addftroot /server:DC1 /share:DFSRootShare
3 -Create a link called Apps with targets to say \\server01\Applications
\\server02\Applications etc
4- Create another link called HomeFolders with targets to say \\server01\HomeFolders
\\server02\HomeFolders etc
5- Create links as needed.
6 - Now, you can create replications between the folders to sync data etc and if a user access \\domain.com\DFSRootShare\HomeFolders any where in the domain, they should be able to access their home folders, but to save on bandwidth, you can add all DC as Fault tolerant so that if a user in SiteA and access \\domain.com\DFSRootShare\HomeFolders they will be accessing it from local DC.
7- To add Fault Tolerant on all DC you need to create the DFSRootShare folder in each DC with the same permissions as in the PDC and then run the command
dfsutil.exe /addftroot /server:DC1 /share:DFSRootShare (Replace DC1 with each DCs name) and you are done.
Now you can just set users profile path as \\domain.com\DFSRoot\HomeFolder\%username% and you won't have to do any changes when users moved between sites.
Isaac Oben MCITP:EA, MCSE- Propuesto como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 4:16
- Marcado como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 10:12
- More specifically, if you place data and folders in a DFS root while using FRS, your folders will be morphed and useless. Do not do it, it is not supported. I cannot make a bigger 'con' than that!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/259033
Since you are in the design phase: do not use FRS. Use DFSR - it has been available since the release of Win2003 R2 and is superior to FRS in every way. FRS was deprecated 5 years ago.
Ned Pyle [MSFT] - MS Enterprise Platforms Support - Beta Team- Marcado como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 10:12
- Propuesto como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 30 de junio de 2009 4:16
- Thanks All,
I had seen several sources indicating that it was not a recommended practice but didn't find any documentation as to why. I just thought that it would be a simpler design to create everything in the DFS root folder and then replicate that to other branch servers. Otherwise, I'll be creating on each server a folder for the DFS root and another folder for the data, creating link targets to the data folder, and then replicating the DFS root and the link targets to the branch servers.
Also, I had read that DFS-R had replaced FRS in relation to DFS replication and will be using that instead.
Thanks again.- Marcado como respuestaDavid Shen - MSFTMSFT, Moderadormartes, 07 de julio de 2009 3:36
