Windows 7 / Networking

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Planning a DFS Deployment

Planning for a DFS implementation requires an administrator to understand the different types of Distributed File System namespaces and the features and limitations of each type, including which operating system versions and domain functional levels are required to enable certain functionality. Also, the administrator must understand which tasks can be automated using DFS and which must be configured manually. For instance, DFS can create the file share for namespace roots, folders, or folder targets, including setting share permissions, but the NTFS permissions and additional share features cannot be configured during this process. As a best practice, DFS administrators should create and define shares, share permissions, and NTFS permissions on the shared folder prior to defining these shares as DFS folder targets.

When an organization wants automated file replication, domain-based DFS and standalone DFS namespaces deployed in an Active Directory domain can utilize Windows Server 2008 DFS Replication using the Remote Differential Compression to replicate shared folders if all of the participating DFS servers are running Windows Server 2008 or later.

Configuring File Share and NTFS Permissions for DFS Root and Folder Targets

The DFS Management console is not currently capable of configuring advanced share features or setting or synchronizing NTFS permissions for namespace root shares or folder targets. This means that for administrators to ensure proper folder access, administrators should first configure the advanced share features and NTFS permissions on folders that will host namespace roots and folder targets before configuring DFS. If multiple namespace root servers or folder target servers will be utilized, permissions between the servers will need to be manually synchronized to match; otherwise, undesired access or lack or access might result.

Choosing a DFS Type

As mentioned previously, DFS namespaces can be based on the server name (standalone) or the domain name hosting the namespace. Both provide a single namespace, but only domain namespaces can provide redundancy at the namespace root level.

Standalone DFS Namespace

A standalone DFS namespace provides the characteristic DFS single namespace. The namespace is defined by the name of the server that hosts the root target and the share. Standalone roots can support only a single root target, but an administrator can configure multiple folder targets. Data stored within multiple folder targets must be kept in sync manually unless the standalone namespace server and all of the folder target servers are members of a single Active Directory domain and will utilize DFS Replication. Standalone roots are normally deployed in environments that do not contain Active Directory domains and can be used to enable access-based enumeration of DFS folders as well as enabling the ability to host more than 5,000 folders within the namespace.

Domain-Based DFS Namespace

For an administrator to create a domain DFS root, the initial namespace root server must be a member of an Active Directory domain. A domain-based DFS namespace provides a single namespace that is based on the DNS and NetBIOS domain name plus a root name, when the namespace is created. Domain-based DFS namespaces can utilize DFS Replication to replicate data between multiple folder targets.

Windows 2008 Mode for Domain-based DFS Namespace

Windows 2008 mode for domain-based namespaces enables the namespace to contain more than 5,000 folders and access-based enumeration can also be enabled. To enable this functionality, the forest must be set to Windows Server 2003 or greater forest functional level and the domain that contains the namespace servers must be in Windows Server 2008 domain functional level.