do i want to use dfs

[bookouri]

I have a win2k active directory domain with two domain controllers and several member servers. Currently we have a limited number of shares that contain various documents that users access. We currently just map drive letters in our logon scripts. However, we are getting more and more requests for special purpose shares. I would like to make it easier to make these shares available to users. Is DFS what I should be looking at? If I understand DFS, I can publish my shares in AD and they will show up in the users Network Neighborhood?

any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[wallst32]

If you are creating all these shares on a main file server, or a small number of servers there shouldn't be much of an issue.
It almost sounds like you are creating a share, and mapping directly to that share (for example \\server1\project1 maps to P. If that is the case, instead create a share at \\server1\shares, then create the folders underneath with appropriate permissions. So for example, everyone maps P: to \\server1\shares. Under \\server1\shares, you would have folders such as project1, project2... all with their own NTFS permissions set.

 

[bookouri]

Yep, that part I've got with the shares. What Im thinking is that using DFS I can have all the shares show up in Network Neighborhood so I can have users just go there rather than mapping any drives at all. Maybe I misinterpreted what dfs is all about.

 

[lhuegele]

DFS is distributed file system. Let's say you have a file server with a limited amount of free space and no room to add more. Let's say you have another server that has a bunch of unused space, and you would like to tap that space somehow. DFS allows you to combine space from 2 or more servers into one single AD share. From the users perspective, it's just one single share, and because the share path is in AD, it remains static even if you have to migrate servers for some reason (i.e. \\mydomain.com\sharename). DFS is also good for creating redundancy in your file systems for fault-tolerance and load-sharing. Here's a link to give you an overview:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...f802-455c-9ca2-5194f79a9eb41033.mspx?mfr=true

Here's a link to give you best practices:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...af67-4bfe-bf70-780412aeed6f1033.mspx?mfr=true

Another link for reference (good one!)

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...3083-4950-a093-8ab748651b761033.mspx?mfr=true

Hope this helps.

 

[bookouri]

thanks, ill take a look at those!

 

[lhuegele]

Be sure to write back and let us know how it goes or if any of that was useful. Thanks!