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Questions tagged [dfs]

Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) is a technology that complements the SMB/CIFS based file server role of Windows Servers.

DFS is comprised of DFSN (namespaces) and DFSR (replication). The two technologies can be implemented independently. However, the components are complementary when used together on Windows file servers.

DFSN allows creating "fake" namespaces or paths which when browsed, redirect the client to an alternate location as configured by an administrator. This allows creating a namespace which can apparently merge content which maybe spread across different file servers. DFSR allows creating multiple replicas of the content which thereby allow a level of resiliency. In the older versions of DFS (first introduced in Windows 2000 Server), the replication was handled by FRS (File Replication Service).

http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2009/12/30/windows-server-dfs-namespaces-reference.aspx provides good details related to DFSN.

See the DFSR tag for more details on DFSR.

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Long pause when accessing DFS namespace

We've recently migrated our Windows network to use DFS for shared files. DFS is working well, except for one annoying problem: users experience a significant delay when they try to access a DFS namespace that they have not accessed for some time. I…
Matt
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Windows Server: Replicate folders without DFS?

From reading the DFS documentation, AD appears required. This is a problem for us because our servers are either stand alone (not in AD), or part of our hosting service AD, and AD is out of our hands. The question is: How to do DFS, or something…
Jonesome Reinstate Monica
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DFS replication and the SYSTEM user (NTFS permissions)

Question for which I'm having trouble finding an answer on Google or Technet... Does granting the SYSTEM user permissions to DFS-shared files and folders have any effect on DFS replication? (And while we're at it, is there any good reason not to…
HopelessN00b
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Why do things break when using DFS/Folder Redirection?

Here are two slightly different, but similar scenarios: There is an S:\ drive mapped to \\server\share. A DFS namespace is then implemented, with S:\ changed to \\domain.local\dfs\share (which is pointing to the legacy share). Now, some files with…
Bigbio2002
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What is the difference between the two DFS Replication Group Types?

What is the difference between DFS replication group types - multipurpose replication group and replication group for data collection? Is it really only that replication group for data collection only allows 2 way connection, while the other one…
PressingOnAlways
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Windows DFS Limitations

So far I have seen an article on performance and scalability mainly focusing on how long it takes to add new links. But is there any information about limitations regarding number of files, number of folders, total size, etc? Right now I have a…
Phil
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Determine which DFS referral target a user is using

Our DFS namespace is set-up so that \\company.local\users is hosted on both a UK server and USA server with referral based upon the user's site. Works a treat except we suspect today, DFS failed over to the USA for some users. Only suspect because…
Rob Nicholson
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Clustered File Server on Windows 2012 With Local Storage

So I have a SQL Always-On group that requires a file share witness. I want that file share witness to be redundant and since I have no other need for a file server on this network, I'd like to do it with the least number of servers. I thought I'd…
stackonfire
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Computers point to DC in wrong site

I need your help. I've struggled with this for months and nothing I've found online has helped me. The problem is, domain computers sometimes point to an incorrect domain controller in a different site. I have two sites connected via VPN: Site-A…
Aleksiv95
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Folder Redirection DFS Slowness

Currently performing a project to migrate all users from mapped drive home folders to redirected folders (Documents). Having a strange issue at the moment whereby users redirected folder Documents is really slow (locally) even browsing through…
CharlesH
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How do I rename the server that offline folders are referencing?

Several users are using offline folders to refer to a server we want to decommission... actually the server is already offline and people have pending updates to this share. What is the best way to move these cached files to a new server with a…
makerofthings7
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How do Windows DFS referrals work for laptops away from the office?

How do Windows DFS referrals work for laptops away from the office? [Edit 2014-11-26] I already understand how sites are defined by subnets, etc. But what I want to know is what happens to users that are not fitting within any sites at all? Home…
Emmaly
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Error 0x8007003B copying large files to DFS share

Here is the configuration. Private network and domain (foo.bar). 2 file servers running 2K8R2 (file1.foo.bar and file2.foo.bar). Created a share on each server (\\file1\share and \\file2\share). Setup DFS on the domain and created a namespace…
murisonc
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Open Source Alternative to Microsoft's File Replication Services

We're operating two rather busy locations with 40+Gigs of client data shared on Windows 2003 servers and need to have it replicated (as close to instantaneously as possible) to each. We're experiencing intermittent replication failures, and have…
Allain Lalonde
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Can you raise the domain functional level to windows server 2016 and have DFS running on windows server 2012 r2?

I have 2 DC's that are both Windows Server 2016. We have one DFS server running Windows Server 2012 R2 but all of the namespaces are 2008 compatability mode. Our Domain Functional Level is at Windows Server 2012 R2. If I were to raise it to…
codyrigg
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