DFS-R in Windows 2008

Discussion:

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Pavlos Gerardos

2009-08-14 08:50:05 UTC

Hello everybody,
This is the first time i'm using DFS and i need some help with the
initial setup...

I need to move ~750GB of data (docs and images mainly, no databases
or .pst files) from an old file server to 2 new file servers which will
have DFS replication enabled.
All 3 machines are located in a LAN. No inter-site replication is
involved.
What is the proper way to move the files?

1.Should i copy the files through LAN from the old server to both new and
then create a replication group?

2.Should i copy the files through LAN from the old server to one of the
new and then create a replication group where this will be the primary
server and let him replicate to the other one?
If that's the case, should i change the quota limits for the staging
folder?

3.Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Pavlos

Danny Sanders

2009-08-14 21:48:24 UTC

Permalink

You have about 3 options:
1. Use robocopy and copy the files and security to EACH of the 2 new
servers, then setup a replication group between the two new servers. Initial
replication will complete the fastest. Possibly done with the initial
replication over night. (just estimating). I wouldn't worry about the
staging folder here because this sceneraio has the least amount of files to
replicate.

2 Use robocopy and copy the files and security to ONE of the new servers,
then setup a replication group including the freshly staged new server and
the second new server.
Initial replication will take half as long to complete as #3 but longer than
#1. You might have to up the staging folder so the replication completes
sooner.

3. Setup replication where the old server replicates the files to both of
the new servers. The initial replication will take the longest to complete
out of the 3. (Days???) I would up the staging folder so the replication
completes sooner. It has the most files to replicate.

hth
DDS

Post by Pavlos Gerardos
Hello everybody,
This is the first time i'm using DFS and i need some help with the
initial setup...
I need to move ~750GB of data (docs and images mainly, no databases
or .pst files) from an old file server to 2 new file servers which will
have DFS replication enabled.
All 3 machines are located in a LAN. No inter-site replication is
involved.
What is the proper way to move the files?
1.Should i copy the files through LAN from the old server to both new and
then create a replication group?
2.Should i copy the files through LAN from the old server to one of the
new and then create a replication group where this will be the primary
server and let him replicate to the other one?
If that's the case, should i change the quota limits for the staging
folder?
3.Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Pavlos

DaveMills

2009-08-15 05:22:55 UTC

Permalink

Partly it depends upon the bandwidth available between the machines.
If the new servers have Gb connection and the old only 100Mb then one RoboCopy
and replication is the better way. 750GB over Gb is just a few hours. Over 100Mb
it is a day or more.

Also consider the data being changed while you copy. If the RoboCopy is going to
take several days to do 2 copies then you will need to consider the impact of
users changing the data (or shut down access for a long time). A single copy
will take half the time and once done the replication engine will look after
live changes that happen once the first copy is complete. You will still need to
user Robocopy on changes made during the first copy but that is much easier than
with two copies to worry about.

When I did this I first set up DFS link to the old and 2 new shares. I disabled
the new links to prevent access by users. Then used Robocopy to copy the data to
the first new server. Once Robocopy completed (there were quite a few errors
because some users had denied the Administrator access to some files) I set it
up to monitor the source folder for changes and copy them. As soon as Robocopy
settled down I enabled the DFS link to this copy and disabled the link to the
original server. It takes up to 30 minutes for all clients to notice (with the
default referral timeout). Then I set up the replication from the new copy to
the second new server and left it to it. Once replication was complete I enabled
the second link.

I was able to divide the data into several batches such as \\dfsroot\public,
\\dfsroot\home etc. so each batch could be done one at a time. This kept the
total data in a batch much smaller and let me work out the procedures on the
smaller batches before doing the larger ones.

One thing I did find was that if you have 2 DFS copies that are accessible to
the clients you must not use Quotas because you cannot control which copy is
accessed and eventually a quota will be exceeded and the replication engine will
break.

--
Dave Mills
There are 10 types of people, those that understand binary and those that don't.

Pavlos Gerardos

2009-08-15 21:08:50 UTC

Permalink

Thank you very much both for replying.

I decided to go with the first option as all of the 3 machines are on a
1GB LAN.

Pavlos

IT Staff

2009-08-16 02:02:37 UTC

Permalink

robocopy is the best for the INITIAL replication