Physical file shares can be synchronized with each other at two or more locations.Īn important feature of DFS replication is that the replication of a file starts only after that file has been closed. DFS targets, which are real network shares to which DFS links pointĭFS replication is a feature used to duplicate existing data by replicating copies of that data to multiple locations.DFS links, which are links pointing to network shares used in DFS.DFS root, which is a DFS server on which the DFS service is running.The DFS tree structure includes the following components: For example, a user needs to access \\DFS-server01\TestShare\Doc but depending on the user’s location, the user is redirected to a shared folder \\FS01\Doc or \\FS02\Doc. One folder target can be a link to a single folder or multiple folders (if these folders are located on two different servers and are synchronized/replicated with each other). A folder target is what users need to access files. A folder target is associated with the folder in a DFS namespace, for example, \\FS2\TestShare on the FS2 server. A folder target is a link to a shared file resource located on a particular file server and available via the UNC path (Universal Naming Convention).There are also folders without targets used for organizing the structure. A folder is a link in a DFS namespace that points to a target folder containing content for user access.A namespace server can be a regular server with the DFS role installed or a domain controller. A namespace server is a physical server (or a VM) that hosts a DFS namespace.\\DomainName\RootName (a domain-based namespace) \\ServerName\RootName (a standalone namespace) Depending on the type, a namespace can look like this: A namespace root is a starting point of a DFS namespace tree.Using domain-based DFS namespaces is recommended.Ī namespace consists of the root, links (folders), and folder targets. This approach allows you to provide fault tolerance and load balancing across servers. You can store a domain-based DFS namespace on multiple servers to increase the namespace availability. A path to access a root namespace starts with the domain name. A domain-based DFS namespace stores configuration in Active Directory.You can use this option if you don’t have an Active Directory domain configured (when using a Workgroup). If a root server is unavailable, the entire DFS namespace is unavailable. A standalone DFS namespace is located only on one server and is not fault-tolerant. A path to access the root namespace is started with the root server name. A standalone DFS namespace stores configuration information and metadata locally on a root server in the system registry.A DFS namespace can be standalone or domain-based. You can configure multiple namespaces on a DFS server. They can be organized by geographical location, organization units, a combination of multiple parameters, etc. DFS namespaces can be organized in different ways depending on business needs. What is a DFS namespace?Ī DFS namespace is a virtual folder that contains links to shared folders stored on different file servers. DFS namespaces and DFS replication are the two main components used for DFS functioning. Underlying physical file servers hosting file shares are abstracted from the namespace used to access shares. When users connect to this file share using a single path, they see a tree structure of shared folders (as they are subfolders of the main share) and can access all needed file shares transparently. You can configure one DFS share that includes multiple file shares and connect users to this single file share using a unified namespace. DFS consists of server and client components. However, you can connect multiple SMB shares configured on NAS devices and Linux machines using Samba to your DFS server running on Windows Server. Microsoft’s implementation of DFS doesn’t work with other file sharing protocols like NFS or HDFS. DFS is intended to simplify access to shared files.ĭFS uses the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, which is also known as the Common Internet File System (CIFS). In this case, a user can access a file share on a server that is closest to them. This hierarchy can be accessed using a single share on a DFS server.Ī DFS file share can be replicated across multiple file servers in different locations to optimize server load and increase access speed to shared files. DISCOVER SOLUTION What Is DFS and How It WorksĪ Distributed File System (DFS) is a logical organization that transparently groups existing file shares on multiple servers into a structured hierarchy.
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