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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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IIS7 web farm - local or shared content?

We're setting up an IIS7 web farm with two servers. Should each server have its own local copy of the content, or should they pull content directly from a UNC share? What are the pros and cons of each approach? We currently have a single live…
Richard Beier
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How is Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) related to Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)?

I've heard these two technologies used interchangeably to describe replicating data from one location to another. I understand what each technology is, but I'm unsure of how they relate to each other. Does DFSR use BITS as the transfer mechanism?…
The Matt
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Turn off DFS Replication completely

I have an environment where there is a fileserver (physical) and a DC (virtual) with DFS replication setup by a previous tech. I've never worked with DFS before. There is about 1TB of data being replicated to a 2nd drive on the DC. I'd like to stop…
Steve Protek
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Linux SMB to \\domainname ends up "tree connect failed: NT_STATUS_DUPLICATE_NAME "

Issue: From CentOS7 machine: smbclient -L %domainname%.com --user=%username% Result: tree connect failed: NT_STATUS_DUPLICATE_NAME This is especially when I try to connect to //domainname.com, which would end up being like //domainname.com/sysvol…
Mark
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MS DFS samba share on a Linux server working for Mac and Linux clients, but not Windows

I have a CentOS 6 machine with a simple samba share that I am trying to setup as a DFS server, so it can point clients to folders on other servers. Following the samba documentation for setting this feature up, I have added the correct lines to…
Kevvvin
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Drop outs when accessing share by DFS name

I have a strange problem, aren't they all! I have a DFS root \domain\files\vms, it has a single target on a different server than the namespace. I can copy a test file set from the target directly via \server\vms$\testfiles and all is well, the…
Stephen Woolhead
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Strange NTFS Permissions issue on Windows Share + Win 8.1 Clients

Server 2012 R2 file server -- the share is exposed over a DFS namespace. I have a group called "share" that all the users are members of. This group has read/write access to the root of the DFS share and a bunch of folders inside that share. Inside…
user229774
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all dfs replication groups failing at the same time

We have 2 pairs of fileshare servers. All servers are virtual Windows 2008 R2. Each pair is replicating over a WAN. Occasionally all DFS replication groups fail at the same time. I could not find any relevant logs on the DFS servers. The following…
Ben Force
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What should happen when I browse to my Windows domain name via UNC?

A while back I setup a DFS namespace \\my.dom.com\somecrap. Its working great, but I've always notice something that confused me and I never asked about it. When I just browse to \\my.dom.com it appears I connect to a random DC. I can confirm what…
red888
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Can I remove and re-add a replicated folder (DFS) without it replicating the files all over again?

My question (should be) fairly easy to answer. If I have server1 replicating data to server2, folder A.. and I remove the replicated folder in DFS management, then re-add this folder (perhaps in a new replication group) and link it to the same…
Kevke
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DFS and Replication mesh between 3 servers - How is a local server selected

As an example I have 3 DFS servers all on different sub-nets each with an authoritative initial share on each (\\svr1\accounts, \\svr2\sales, \\svr3\hr). I have enabled replication on all servers (mesh) so that I have the 3 shares on each server…
morleyc
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How can I find my DFS namespace servers?

I'm taking over for a prior admin who created several DFS namespaces in our Active Directory infrastructure. The prior admin did not document any of the structure of our DFS, so I don't even know what my DFS namespace servers are. I was able to find…
Thomas
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What does Active, Targetset, and Active targetset mean in the Output of dfsutil /pkiinfo?

I could use some guidance in interpreting the output of dfsutil /pktinfo. Using the following example: PS C:\Users\kbrandt> dfsutil.exe /pktinfo ... Entry: \long.biz.foo\Images ShortEntry: \long.biz.foo\Images Expires in 4 seconds UseCount: 1…
Kyle Brandt
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email output of powershell script

I found this wonderful script that outputs the status of the current DFS backlog to the powershell console. This works great, but I need the script to email me so I can schedule it to run nightly. I have tried using the Send-MailMessage command, but…
Gordon Carlisle
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Windows 2008 R2 File Server Cluster vs. DFS

We're currently using 2 Windows 2008 R2 with DFS but discovered some issues with: replication of permissions (permissions are not replicated across DFS members) replication of quota (quota is disk-based) Do these problems exist in clusters?…
FrancisV
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