DFSR on server 2008 - is active directory required?

[James]

Hello,

Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of Server
2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to utilize the
replication feature(s)?

[Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]]

James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication service.
You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to this is that
you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server clusters, as opposed
to using the domain based dfs namespace.

[James]

Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for DFS?
This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on all the
details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share between two
servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R) services installed,
wouldn't they both also hold the config info for the namespace? I obviously
don't know what I'm doing yet for this so any further detail would be much
appreciated.

thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication service.
You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to this is that
you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server clusters, as
opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

[Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]]

James,
Domain based namespace provide fault tolerance because you can have multiple
domain controllers in your environment have the same dfs namespace, thus, if
one domain controller is offline, it willl have no effect on the dfs because
the others will still be there with the shares for clients to access. For
example, let's say you have a namespace called mydomain.com\shared. You can
setup fault tolerance on the other DCs using the same share folder "shared"
thus you will multiple servers with the shared folder having same data, thus
if one os offline, it makes no difference.
Likewise if you have a stand-alone dfs namespace, you will need to have a
namespace with a cluster resource.

You can read more here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758931.aspx
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for DFS?
This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on all the
details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share between two
servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R) services installed,
wouldn't they both also hold the config info for the namespace? I
obviously don't know what I'm doing yet for this so any further detail
would be much appreciated.
thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication
service. You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to
this is that you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server
clusters, as opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

[James]

Hi Isaac,

I just came across this in the DFS help system in server 2008:
"Ensure that all servers in a replication group are located in the same
forest. You cannot enable replication across servers in different forests."

It was in a requirements checklist for setting up replication... is this
information outdated perhaps? or is AD really required then?

I'm wondering if this info was from the 2k3 version of DFS and never updated
in server 2008

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Domain based namespace provide fault tolerance because you can have
multiple domain controllers in your environment have the same dfs
namespace, thus, if one domain controller is offline, it willl have no
effect on the dfs because the others will still be there with the shares
for clients to access. For example, let's say you have a namespace called
mydomain.com\shared. You can setup fault tolerance on the other DCs using
the same share folder "shared" thus you will multiple servers with the
shared folder having same data, thus if one os offline, it makes no
difference.
Likewise if you have a stand-alone dfs namespace, you will need to have a
namespace with a cluster resource.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758931.aspx
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for DFS?
This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on all the
details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share between two
servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R) services installed,
wouldn't they both also hold the config info for the namespace? I
obviously don't know what I'm doing yet for this so any further detail
would be much appreciated.
thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication
service. You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to
this is that you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server
clusters, as opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

[Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]]

James,

Let me clarify my previous statement, Stand-alone dfs does not support
automatic file replication. Without AD you will need to use a third party
tool for replication. The statement below is correct, I understand it is
meant if you decide to use Domain based Namespace for DFS. To enjoy the full
benefit of DFS, it is suggested you use the domain based dfs namespace which
require AD.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac,
"Ensure that all servers in a replication group are located in the same
forest. You cannot enable replication across servers in different forests."
It was in a requirements checklist for setting up replication... is this
information outdated perhaps? or is AD really required then?
I'm wondering if this info was from the 2k3 version of DFS and never
updated in server 2008

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Domain based namespace provide fault tolerance because you can have
multiple domain controllers in your environment have the same dfs
namespace, thus, if one domain controller is offline, it willl have no
effect on the dfs because the others will still be there with the shares
for clients to access. For example, let's say you have a namespace
called mydomain.com\shared. You can setup fault tolerance on the other
DCs using the same share folder "shared" thus you will multiple servers
with the shared folder having same data, thus if one os offline, it makes
no difference.
Likewise if you have a stand-alone dfs namespace, you will need to have a
namespace with a cluster resource.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758931.aspx
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for DFS?
This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on all
the details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share
between two servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R)
services installed, wouldn't they both also hold the config info for the
namespace? I obviously don't know what I'm doing yet for this so any
further detail would be much appreciated.
thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication
service. You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to
this is that you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server
clusters, as opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

[James]

thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Let me clarify my previous statement, Stand-alone dfs does not support
automatic file replication. Without AD you will need to use a third party
tool for replication. The statement below is correct, I understand it is
meant if you decide to use Domain based Namespace for DFS. To enjoy the
full benefit of DFS, it is suggested you use the domain based dfs
namespace which require AD.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac,
"Ensure that all servers in a replication group are located in the same
forest. You cannot enable replication across servers in different forests."
It was in a requirements checklist for setting up replication... is this
information outdated perhaps? or is AD really required then?
I'm wondering if this info was from the 2k3 version of DFS and never
updated in server 2008

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Domain based namespace provide fault tolerance because you can have
multiple domain controllers in your environment have the same dfs
namespace, thus, if one domain controller is offline, it willl have no
effect on the dfs because the others will still be there with the shares
for clients to access. For example, let's say you have a namespace
called mydomain.com\shared. You can setup fault tolerance on the other
DCs using the same share folder "shared" thus you will multiple servers
with the shared folder having same data, thus if one os offline, it
makes no difference.
Likewise if you have a stand-alone dfs namespace, you will need to have
a namespace with a cluster resource.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758931.aspx
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for
DFS? This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on
all the details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share
between two servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R)
services installed, wouldn't they both also hold the config info for
the namespace? I obviously don't know what I'm doing yet for this so
any further detail would be much appreciated.
thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication
service. You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to
this is that you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server
clusters, as opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

[DaveMills]

Post by James
thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

I think you will benefit greatly from reading "How DFS Works"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782417.aspx it is quite an easy
read for the most part. It explains not only the setup and pre-requisites but
how DFS actually does its job. You will find for example that DFS name space and
DFS Replication are independent services that work together. You do not need DFS
Replication for DFS Name space and you can also use DFS Replication without
having a DFS Name space. They are just normally used together.

Do not put any data in the DFS root folders, use Links. If you read "How DFS
Works" you will understand why this is a better design.

Post by James

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Let me clarify my previous statement, Stand-alone dfs does not support
automatic file replication. Without AD you will need to use a third party
tool for replication. The statement below is correct, I understand it is
meant if you decide to use Domain based Namespace for DFS. To enjoy the
full benefit of DFS, it is suggested you use the domain based dfs
namespace which require AD.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac,
"Ensure that all servers in a replication group are located in the same
forest. You cannot enable replication across servers in different forests."
It was in a requirements checklist for setting up replication... is this
information outdated perhaps? or is AD really required then?
I'm wondering if this info was from the 2k3 version of DFS and never
updated in server 2008

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Domain based namespace provide fault tolerance because you can have
multiple domain controllers in your environment have the same dfs
namespace, thus, if one domain controller is offline, it willl have no
effect on the dfs because the others will still be there with the shares
for clients to access. For example, let's say you have a namespace
called mydomain.com\shared. You can setup fault tolerance on the other
DCs using the same share folder "shared" thus you will multiple servers
with the shared folder having same data, thus if one os offline, it
makes no difference.
Likewise if you have a stand-alone dfs namespace, you will need to have
a namespace with a cluster resource.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758931.aspx
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for
DFS? This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on
all the details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share
between two servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R)
services installed, wouldn't they both also hold the config info for
the namespace? I obviously don't know what I'm doing yet for this so
any further detail would be much appreciated.
thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication
service. You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to
this is that you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server
clusters, as opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

[James]

will do, thanks for the reply and the link, I appreciate it.

Post by DaveMills

Post by James
thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

I think you will benefit greatly from reading "How DFS Works"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782417.aspx it is quite an easy
read for the most part. It explains not only the setup and pre-requisites but
how DFS actually does its job. You will find for example that DFS name space and
DFS Replication are independent services that work together. You do not need DFS
Replication for DFS Name space and you can also use DFS Replication without
having a DFS Name space. They are just normally used together.
Do not put any data in the DFS root folders, use Links. If you read "How DFS
Works" you will understand why this is a better design.

Post by James

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Let me clarify my previous statement, Stand-alone dfs does not support
automatic file replication. Without AD you will need to use a third party
tool for replication. The statement below is correct, I understand it is
meant if you decide to use Domain based Namespace for DFS. To enjoy the
full benefit of DFS, it is suggested you use the domain based dfs
namespace which require AD.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac,
"Ensure that all servers in a replication group are located in the same
forest. You cannot enable replication across servers in different forests."
It was in a requirements checklist for setting up replication... is this
information outdated perhaps? or is AD really required then?
I'm wondering if this info was from the 2k3 version of DFS and never
updated in server 2008

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
Domain based namespace provide fault tolerance because you can have
multiple domain controllers in your environment have the same dfs
namespace, thus, if one domain controller is offline, it willl have no
effect on the dfs because the others will still be there with the shares
for clients to access. For example, let's say you have a namespace
called mydomain.com\shared. You can setup fault tolerance on the other
DCs using the same share folder "shared" thus you will multiple servers
with the shared folder having same data, thus if one os offline, it
makes no difference.
Likewise if you have a stand-alone dfs namespace, you will need to have
a namespace with a cluster resource.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758931.aspx
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hi Isaac, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
could you elaborate a little on how AD provides fault tolerance for
DFS? This will be my first DFS implementation and I'm not clear yet on
all the details.... I'm thinking if I'm replicating/mirroring a share
between two servers, both those servers will need to have DFS(R)
services installed, wouldn't they both also hold the config info for
the namespace? I obviously don't know what I'm doing yet for this so
any further detail would be much appreciated.
thanks agian

Post by Isaac Oben [MCITP,MCSE]
James,
No, AD is not require and remember to install the DFS replication
service. You can have a stand-alone dfs namespace. but the drawback to
this is that you will have no fault tolerance except you use Server
clusters, as opposed to using the domain based dfs namespace.
--
Isaac Oben [MCTIP, MCSE]

Post by James
Hello,
Looking to implement DFS and its replication features on a group of
Server 2008 machines.... is Active Directory required to be able to
utilize the replication feature(s)?

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