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Setting up DFS
- Thread starter sbruce66
- Start date
Need to configure a DFS replica.
How to Configure a Replication Policy
To configure replication for DFS link replicas:
*Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Distributed File System.
*In the console tree, right-click a DFS link that has more than one replica, and then click Replication Policy.
*In the Replication Policy dialog box, click the DFS shared folder in the list of shared folders that you want to use as the master folder for replication.
*Click each shared folder in the list, clicking either Enable or Disable, and then click OK.
or more information:
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
How to Configure a Replication Policy
To configure replication for DFS link replicas:
*Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Distributed File System.
*In the console tree, right-click a DFS link that has more than one replica, and then click Replication Policy.
*In the Replication Policy dialog box, click the DFS shared folder in the list of shared folders that you want to use as the master folder for replication.
*Click each shared folder in the list, clicking either Enable or Disable, and then click OK.
or more information:
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
- Thread starter
- #3
Joseph,
Thanks, I did this originally but accidentially changed my master folder for replication and everything in that folder was removed. I'll try not to make that mistake again.
After I create the 3rd replicate do I enable it or leave it disabled and what does that do. I just want to mirror data on the 3rd server.
Scott
Thanks, I did this originally but accidentially changed my master folder for replication and everything in that folder was removed. I'll try not to make that mistake again.
After I create the 3rd replicate do I enable it or leave it disabled and what does that do. I just want to mirror data on the 3rd server.
Scott
You would enable it.
Server 1 (source data)
Server 2 (replica data)
Add third server to this in the exact same way you added server 2....
Server 3 (replica data)
Note: all shares will act replicate data. Meaning if you delete content from any share, the data will also be deleted from the other shares automatically. If you add data to ANY of the DFS replica links, data will automatically be replicated to the other links.
The share marked SOURCE is only a source during the original replication. After initial replication, SOURCE no longer applies. Each replica share is a SOURCE and a REPLICA.
-later
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
Server 1 (source data)
Server 2 (replica data)
Add third server to this in the exact same way you added server 2....
Server 3 (replica data)
Note: all shares will act replicate data. Meaning if you delete content from any share, the data will also be deleted from the other shares automatically. If you add data to ANY of the DFS replica links, data will automatically be replicated to the other links.
The share marked SOURCE is only a source during the original replication. After initial replication, SOURCE no longer applies. Each replica share is a SOURCE and a REPLICA.
-later
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
MisterNiceGuy
MIS
If need be you can create a DFS replication configuration that does use a singe source, with all other links or roots being slaves to a master. Unfortunately, if you use what Microsoft calls a hub and spoke (which would infer that the center is the master, and all spokes are slaves) what you really get is a replication configuration where A replicates with B, A replicates with C, B replicates with A, and C replicates with A while this might sound like I am repeating myself, what I mean is that both ends of the spoke do a pull from it's partner on the other end. If you use the DFS MMC snap in on a Windows 2000 system you won't be able to use the GUI to better configure this, however from Windows XP administrative tools, you can view it in an advanced (customized) level and can individually add and remove replication links (connections). For instance you can set servers B and C to pull data from A, and remove the replication links that have A pulling updates from B and C. This will reduce some of the network traffic that is generated as well.
It sounds like you want to make server 3 to just have a copy of the data. Although, DFS replicas will always replicate in both directions (no matter where the change happens, the change will be replicated to all replica's), you can "fake out" the system.
On the server 3 SHARE, make this Everyone READ. This will protect the data. People accessing this share will only have READ access and will not be able to make changes on the 3rd server.
-later
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
On the server 3 SHARE, make this Everyone READ. This will protect the data. People accessing this share will only have READ access and will not be able to make changes on the 3rd server.
-later
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
MisterNiceGuy
MIS
Joseph, I have set up quite a few DFS structures with replication and my statements above are correct. If you remove all pull connections from the server you wish to use as a hub so that only outgoing connections exist, replication will only occur in one direction (from your central server to your slaves as it were). I have configured this in several of the domains I administer. It requires no faking out, it simply requires an understanding of DFS and FRS. That said, I'm not saying that what you are suggesting won't work, I am simply saying that it can all be done within the DFS MMC snap-in without any tricks.
multiple ways to skin a cat I guess...(although, I would consider that locking one share with READ only only isn't really a trick...just another design method. Also, this provides an EASY solution to administrators who are just getting started with DFS.)
I agree that the design you describe would work too...w/even less network traffic but less redundancy.
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
I agree that the design you describe would work too...w/even less network traffic but less redundancy.
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
MisterNiceGuy
Can you explain a little bit more on how to do this please?? Does it have to be on XP Admin Tools? If so, where can i get it?? Can it be done on standard 2000 DFS MMC??
To Jpoandl: I don't know if i had done it correctly, but it didn't seem to work. Even on the dummy copy with only Read permission, it still seems to disappear when the original is deleted.
Can you explain a little bit more on how to do this please?? Does it have to be on XP Admin Tools? If so, where can i get it?? Can it be done on standard 2000 DFS MMC??
To Jpoandl: I don't know if i had done it correctly, but it didn't seem to work. Even on the dummy copy with only Read permission, it still seems to disappear when the original is deleted.
I have used DFS in the past for file replication and let me tell you that it does not work very well. You may want to look at other solutions. I tried to use DFS to replicate about 500gb of data that I had a my primary file server to a second file server for redundacy. After a while of messing with it, it actually worked but here is the catch. First of all it is very slow. Second of all its not doing byte level replication so if you change a 1gig file, it will actually recopy the complete file instead of just the changes that you made. I ended up purchasing a third party software called doubltake and it works great. I have real-time replication of my primary file server and it does byte level replication. It also has fail-over capabilities so if and when the primary file server fails, the secondary file server takes over instantly and your users will not even notice that the server went down. I don't know if this is what you wanted to hear but let me tell you that i spent so much time dealing with DFS and it turned out to be useless.
Regards,
Eddie Fernandez
CCNA, Network+, A+, MCP
Regards,
Eddie Fernandez
CCNA, Network+, A+, MCP
To Jpoandl: I don't know if i had done it correctly, but it didn't seem to work. Even on the dummy copy with only Read permission, it still seems to disappear when the original is deleted."
The solution I gave you would not protect you if you delete the original. The solution is meant for situations where you don't want' users to modify the data and then have the modified data replicate back through out your DFS replica's. In this case, you would create READ only shares to protect the data from modification.
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
The solution I gave you would not protect you if you delete the original. The solution is meant for situations where you don't want' users to modify the data and then have the modified data replicate back through out your DFS replica's. In this case, you would create READ only shares to protect the data from modification.
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
MisterNiceGuy
MIS
Unfortunately, the only easy way to do what I have described above (that I am aware of, it's possible that you could modify the FRS information directly in Active Directory, but I wouldn't recommend it until you have more experience with DFS) is from a Windows XP system with Administrative tools that are supported on XP. The latest version of this is found here:
These tools only install in Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 higher. Once you connect to your DFS root you will see that the interface is slightly different. Right Click the DFS link or root (replication must first be enabled) you want to modify replication on and select properties. There will be a Replication Tab select it and then click the customize button. This is where you make the changes I discussed. You will see multiple connections listed with a From Server and a TO Server column. Configure it so that the master server is the only one listed in the From column. Deselect or delete all other connections. Once this is done, data will only move down from the server listed in the From Server column to the servers listed in the To Server column. Any additions or deletions made on the To Server locations will not replicate back up to the server in the From Server column.
I hope that is clear enough.
These tools only install in Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 higher. Once you connect to your DFS root you will see that the interface is slightly different. Right Click the DFS link or root (replication must first be enabled) you want to modify replication on and select properties. There will be a Replication Tab select it and then click the customize button. This is where you make the changes I discussed. You will see multiple connections listed with a From Server and a TO Server column. Configure it so that the master server is the only one listed in the From column. Deselect or delete all other connections. Once this is done, data will only move down from the server listed in the From Server column to the servers listed in the To Server column. Any additions or deletions made on the To Server locations will not replicate back up to the server in the From Server column.
I hope that is clear enough.
MisterNiceGuy
MIS
Eddie, a properly configured DFS root with replicas will fail over as well. I would not call DFS useless, it does however appear that your needs and expectations exceeded what DFS is able to provide.
Wondering how this works, regarding DFS:
If you create a DFS that spans, say, 2 sites, and you point users to it, given that sites and subnets are created correctly and are associated with the appropriate site, when a user connects to a DFS share, will it automatically connect them to the server that is in their site, or will they automatically be pointed to the DFS master (where the share was created first?)
I'm wondering this because I have about 20 users that run between 2 sites. These sites are connected via a T1 link, and the users that run between the sites have roaming profiles. Over the past few months, the profiles have gotten large, and when they are at the remote site, the profile takes about 5 minutes to load.
If I put their profiles on a DFS share, however, those changes to the profiles will be replicated to the other share, so the same data should, in theory, exist at both sites.
So, if the user connects to the DFS share, does it get it from the local instance of the share, or from the other one? If it won't connect to the local resource, it probably isn't worth the trouble to put roaming profiles on a DFS share. If it does, however, I'm the hero that made the login time at the remote site 30 seconds instead of 5 minutes.
Thoguhts are appreciated.
Thanks!
If you create a DFS that spans, say, 2 sites, and you point users to it, given that sites and subnets are created correctly and are associated with the appropriate site, when a user connects to a DFS share, will it automatically connect them to the server that is in their site, or will they automatically be pointed to the DFS master (where the share was created first?)
I'm wondering this because I have about 20 users that run between 2 sites. These sites are connected via a T1 link, and the users that run between the sites have roaming profiles. Over the past few months, the profiles have gotten large, and when they are at the remote site, the profile takes about 5 minutes to load.
If I put their profiles on a DFS share, however, those changes to the profiles will be replicated to the other share, so the same data should, in theory, exist at both sites.
So, if the user connects to the DFS share, does it get it from the local instance of the share, or from the other one? If it won't connect to the local resource, it probably isn't worth the trouble to put roaming profiles on a DFS share. If it does, however, I'm the hero that made the login time at the remote site 30 seconds instead of 5 minutes.
Thoguhts are appreciated.
Thanks!
JoeKeegan...
Your rational is correct. If your Sites and Services are configured properly, the clients will be redirected to LOCAL DFS shares.
This is one of the key points of Windows 2000 AD and DFS- Clients are Site Aware... It wouldn't make much sence to replicate data and then point to DFS shares, if this site awareness didn't work.
However, I have seen problems in the past (using Windows 2000 DFS), where clients would not get redirected to thier local DFS share. Instead, clients would get randomly redirected.
There a many tools you can use to diagnose DFS (DFSUTIL being one of them). First make sure that your clients are being redirected over the WAN link. If they are, you need to fix that problem.
The solution to my problem was a design problem. I had four sites, with only one DFS Root. In this configuration, clients would get random redirection (except for my clients local to the DFS root.) I thought that this was wierd. So, I added Root Replicas in every site. After doing this, my redirection problem went away.
-later
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
Your rational is correct. If your Sites and Services are configured properly, the clients will be redirected to LOCAL DFS shares.
This is one of the key points of Windows 2000 AD and DFS- Clients are Site Aware... It wouldn't make much sence to replicate data and then point to DFS shares, if this site awareness didn't work.
However, I have seen problems in the past (using Windows 2000 DFS), where clients would not get redirected to thier local DFS share. Instead, clients would get randomly redirected.
There a many tools you can use to diagnose DFS (DFSUTIL being one of them). First make sure that your clients are being redirected over the WAN link. If they are, you need to fix that problem.
The solution to my problem was a design problem. I had four sites, with only one DFS Root. In this configuration, clients would get random redirection (except for my clients local to the DFS root.) I thought that this was wierd. So, I added Root Replicas in every site. After doing this, my redirection problem went away.
-later
Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003
If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out (Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)
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