Overview of the Distributed File System Solution in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2

Updated: August 22, 2005 Applies To: Windows Server 2003 R2 One of the goals of information tec hnology (IT) groups in medium and large organizat ions is to manage file servers and their resourc es effic iently while keeping them available and sec ure for users. As organizat ions expand to inc lude more users and serverswhether they are loc ated in one site or in geographic ally dist ributed sitesadministrators find it inc reasingly diffic ult to keep users c onnec ted to the files they need. On one hand, storing files on distribut ed servers makes files available to more users and dec reases latenc y and bandwidt h use when t he servers are loc ated near users. On t he other hand, as the number of distributed servers inc reases, users have diffic ulty loc at ing files they need, and operat ional c osts inc rease. Administrat ors who manage these distributed, remote servers need a solution that helps them limit network traffic over slow WAN c onnec tions, ensure t he availability of files during WAN outages or server failures, and ensure that branc h servers are bac ked up c orrec t ly. The Distributed File Syst em solut ion in t he Mic rosoft Windows Server 2003 R2 operat ing system helps administ rators address these c hallenges by providing t wo t ec hnologies, DFS Namespac es and DFS Replic ation, whic h, when used together, offer simplified, fault- t olerant ac c ess to files, load sharing, and WAN- friendly replic ation. DFS Replic ation is a new state- based, multimaster replic ation engine t hat supports replic at ion sc heduling and bandwidth throttling. DFS Replic ation uses a new c ompression protoc ol c alled Remot e Different ial Compression (RDC), whic h c an be used to effic ient ly update files over a limited- bandwidth network. RDC detec ts insert ions, removals, and re- arrangements of dat a in files, thereby enabling DFS Replic ation to replic ate only the c hanges when files are updated. Addit ionally, a func t ion of RDC c alled cross- file RDC c an help reduc e the amount of bandwidth required t o replic ate new files. DFS Namespac es, formerly known as Distributed File System, allows administrators to group shared folders loc ated on different servers and present them t o users as a virtual tree of folders known as a namespace. A namespac e provides numerous benefits, inc luding inc reased availabilit y of data, load sharing, and simplified dat a migrat ion.

The following figure illustrates how DFS Namespac es and DFS Replic ation work toget her. The proc esses marked 1 and 2 are desc ribed in more detail following t he figure.

As the figure shows, when a user att empt s to ac c ess a folder in the namespac e (1), t he c lient c omputer c ontac ts a namespac e server. The namespac e server sends the c lient c omput er a referral that c ontains a list of servers that host the shared folders (c alled folder targets) assoc iated wit h t he folder. The c lient c omput er c ac hes t he referral and then c ontac t s t he first server in the referral (2), typic ally a server in the c lient s own site unless no same- sit e servers exist or t he administrator c onfigures t arget priority. The highlighted folder in the figure shows t hat it is host ed by shared folders on two servers, one in New York and one in London, t o provide users in those sites with fast, reliable ac c ess to files. The shared folders are kept sync hronized by DFS Replic ation. The fac t that multiple servers host t he folder is t ransparent to users, who see only a single folder in the namespac e. If one of t he servers bec omes unavailable, the c lient c omputer fails over to the remaining server.

Key Scenarios
Although DFS Namespac es and DFS Replic ation are t wo separate tec hnologies, when used together they provide solut ions for a number of key sc enarios in medium and large organizat ions. Data collection The dat a c ollec t ion sc enario helps address the need to eliminate t he use of tape bac kup in branc h offic es and signific antly reduc e operational c osts for branc h offic es. To ac c omplish this, dat a is replic at ed from a server in a branc h offic e t o a server in a hub offic e or dat a c enter. Administrat ors at the hub offic e c an use bac kup soft ware to bac k up t he branc h servers data from a hub server,

eliminating the often error- prone proc ess of having non- IT administ rators performing t he bac kups at branc h offic es that are not st affed by trained IT personnel. Centralizing bac kups at the hub offic e also allows organizations to c onsolidate bac kup hardware and relat ed management tasks. Thanks to RDC, DFS Replic ation replic ates only the differenc es (or c hanges) between the t wo servers; as a result, bandwidth used during replic at ion is minimized, an important c onsiderat ion for branc h offic es that use low- bandwidth WAN c onnec t ions t o t he hub offic e. In addition, replic at ion sc hedules and bandwidth throttling c an be used to set up replic at ion windows during off- hours and regulate the amount of bandwidt h used during replic ation, providing administrat ors more c ont rol over WAN t raffic . When DFS Replic ation is used in c onjunc tion wit h DFS Namespac es, administ rators c an c onfigure a namespac e so t hat branc h c lient s always c onnec t to the branc h server. If t he branc h server bec omes unavailable, branc h c lients fail over t o t he hub server. And, using a DFS Namespac es enhanc ement known as client failback, branc h c lient s running a c lient failbac k hotfix will fail bac k t o t he branc h server after it is restored. Data distribution DFS Namespac es and DFS Replic ation c an be used to publish doc uments, software, and line- of- business data to users throughout an organization. Alt hough DFS Replic ation alone is suffic ient to distribut e data, using DFS Namespac es allows administrators to c onfigure the namespac e so that a folder in the namespac e is hosted by multiple servers, whic h inc reases data availability and distributes the c lient load ac ross servers. When browsing the namespac e, users see a single folder and are not aware the folder is hosted by multiple servers. When a user opens the folder, the c lient c omputer is automat ic ally referred t o a server in its own sit e; if no same- site servers are available, administrators c an c onfigure the namespac e to refer the c lient to a server that has the lowest c onnec tion c ost as defined in the Ac tive Direc t ory direc tory servic e. And, using a DFS Namespac es enhanc ement known as target priority, administrators c an spec ify the priorit y of servers so that a spec ific server is always plac ed first or last in the list of servers (known as a referral) the c lient rec eives when ac c essing a folder in the namespac e. Sharing files across branch offices In large organizations that have branc h offic es loc at ed around t he world, users in one branc h offic e often need ac c ess to shared folders and files stored at another branc h or at the hub offic e or data c ent er. Although in some c ases t he need is c ollaborative, in other c ases users simply need ac c ess t o t hose files. If low latenc y and data availability during WAN outages is wort h t he t radeoff of net work traffic and disk spac e used in the branc h offic e, administrators c an use DFS Replic ation t o replic ate files between branc h servers, providing users fast ac c ess to files in their respec tive branc h offic es. Having files in multiple branc h offic es also benefits users who travel from one branc h offic e to anot her. The users c an make c hanges to their files in one branc h offic e, and t hose c hanges are replic at ed bac k to the user's branc h offic e. When the shared folders in a branc h offic e are defined as folders in a namespac e, users ac c ess them by browsing what appears to be a single server, giving the users a c onsist ent plac e to begin browsing for files. For example, a user who travels from one branc h offic e to another will ac c ess what appears to be t he same folder in t he namespac e, but the user is ac tually referred to the c losest server that c ont ains the data. If that dat a is replic at ed using DFS Replic at ion, the user's c hanges are replic ated bac k t o t he user's branc h offic e. Collaboration sc enarios using DFS Replic ation are rec ommended only if users c an tolerate some inc onsistenc y of the files as the c hanges are replic ated to other branc h servers. In addition, bec ause DFS Replic ation uses a heuristic of last writ er wins for c hanges made to the same file on multiple servers, this sc enario works best when a file is updated from a single server or by a single user. Set ting shared folder permissions c an help ensure that c onflic ting c hanges dont oc c ur. For c ollaboration sc enarios that require file loc king, we rec ommend using Mic rosoft Windows SharePoint Servic es. Note Bec ause DFS Replic ation only replic at es a file after it is c losed, DFS Replic ation is not rec ommended for replic ating dat abase files or any files that are held open for long periods of time.

DFS Replication Benefits in Windows Server 2003 R2

DFS Replic ation is a new replic ation engine that provides substantial improvement s over the File Replic at ion servic e (FRS). The benefits of using DFS Replic ation are desc ribed below. Simplified process for replicating discrete folders to the same set of servers The proc ess of setting up replic ated folders is simplified in Windows Server 2003 R2 by the introduc tion of replication groups and replicated folders, whic h are illustrated in the following figure.

As this figure shows, a replication group is a set of servers, known as members, t hat partic ipates in t he replic ation of one or more replic at ed folders. A replicated folder is a folder that is kept sync hronized on eac h member. In the previous figure, there are two replic at ed folders, Projec t s and Proposals. As data c hanges in eac h replic at ed folder, the c hanges are replic ated ac ross connections bet ween t he members. The c onnec tions bet ween all members form the replic ation topology. Creating multiple replic ated folders in a single replic ation group simplifies the proc ess of deploying replic at ed folders bec ause the topology, sc hedule, and bandwidth throt tling for the replic ation group are applied t o eac h replic ated folder. Eac h replic ated folder also has its own sett ings, suc h as file and subfolder filters, so that administrators c an filt er out different files and subfolders for eac h replic at ed folder. To deploy additional replic ated folders, administrators use a brief wizard to define the loc al path and permissions for eac h new replic at ed folder. The replic at ed folders st ored on eac h member c an be loc ated on different volumes in the member, and the replic ated folders do not need to be shared folders or part of a namespac e, though t he DFS Management snap- in makes it easy to share replic ated folders and opt ionally publish them in an existing namespac e. Differential replication of changes to files DFS Replic ation uses RDC to replic ate only the differenc es (or c hanges) between the members. This allows branc h offic es with slow WAN c onnec tions to partic ipate in replic ation using minimal bandwidth. RDC is espec ially effic ient when small c hanges are made t o large files. For example, a c hange that is made to a 2- megabyte (MB) PowerPoint presentation c an result in only 60 kilobytes (KB) being sent ac ross the network, a 97 perc ent savings in bytes transferred. A test was run on a mix of 780 Offic e files (.doc , .ppt, and .xls) replic ating from a sourc e server to a target server using DFS Replic ation with RDC. The goal was to determine how effec tive RDC is for Offic e files on whic h t ypic al edit s are made. The t arget server had version x of the files and the sourc e server had version x+, and the two versions differed with signific ant edits. The perc ent savings in bytes transferred was on average 50 perc ent and signific antly better for large files. Also, by using RDC and c ompression, DFS Replic at ion provides bandwidth savings for dist ributing soft ware files. For example, the IT department at Mic rosoft uses DFS Replic ation to replic ate software files to Mic rosoft offic es in several c ountries/regions. Although bandwidt h used varies over time, in one typic al c ase, a 63.14 perc ent reduc tion in bandwidt h was measured in network traffic , spec ific ally, 16.22 gigabytes (GB) replic ated inst ead of 44.0 GB. Note RDC is not used on files smaller t han 64 KB and might not be benefic ial on high- speed LANs where network bandwidth is not c ont ended. RDC c an be disabled on a per- c onnec tion basis using t he DFS Management snap- in.

Reduction of bandwidth used for replicating new files Anot her func tion of RDC, known as c ross- file RDC, uses a heuristic to identify files that are similar to the file that needs to be replic at ed. This is useful when a new file is c reated on one server and needs to be replic ated t o another server. Inst ead of replic ating the ent ire file, DFS Replic at ion c an use portions from files that are similar to the replic at ing file to minimize the amount of data transferred over the WAN. Cross- file RDC is available only if one of t he servers (in a replic ating pair of servers) is running Windows Server 2003 R2, Enterprise Edition; Windows Server 2003 R2, Datac enter Edition; or Windows Storage Server R2, Enterprise Edition. For example, if a branc h offic e server is running Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard Edition, and the hub server is running Windows Server 2003 R2, Ent erprise Edition, c ross- file RDC will be used. Efficient and scalable replication When two members of a replic ation group begin to sync hronize with eac h other, t hey use an effic ient algorithm for determining whic h files need to be replic ated. The amount of metadata exc hanged is minimal, and t he possibility of sending c hanges unnec essarily (due to the order the c hanges oc c ur) is eliminat ed bec ause t he sync hronizat ion is stat e- based instead of event- based, as in File Replic ation

servic e (FRS). The introduc tion of state- based sync hronization, along with RDC, allows DFS Replic ation to support replic ating more files to more members than FRS. The tested sc alabilit y figures are as follows: Eac h server c an be a member of up to 256 replic at ion groups. Eac h replic at ion group c an c ont ain up to 256 replic at ed folders. Eac h server c an have up to 256 c onnec tions (for example, 128 inc oming c onnec t ions and 128 outgoing c onnec tions). On eac h server, the number of replic at ion groups mult iplied by the number of replic at ed folders multiplied by the number of simultaneously replic at ing c onnec tions must be kept to 1024 or fewer. If t he replic ation sc hedule is staggered, you do not need to c ount t he c onnec t ions t hat are not replic ating due t o a c losed sc hedule. A replic ation group c an c ontain up to 256 members. A volume c an c ontain up to 8 million replic ated files, and a server c an c ontain up to 1 terabyte of replic ated files. These are tested numbers and rec ommended guidelines for performanc e and sc alability reasons.

Flexible scheduling and bandwidth throttling DFS Replic ation supports replic at ion sc heduling and bandwidth throttling in 15- minute inc rements during a 7- day period. When spec ifying a replic ation int erval, administrators c hoose t he start and stop times as well as the bandwidth to use during that interval. The set tings for bandwidth usage range from 16 kilobits per sec ond (Kbps) t o 256 megabit s per sec ond (Mbps) as well as full (unlimit ed) bandwidt h. Administ rat ors c an c onfigure a default sc hedule and bandwidth that applies t o all c onnec t ions between members and, optionally, c reate a c ustom sc hedule and bandwidth for individual c onnec tions. To help administrators c onfigure replic ation windows for servers in different time zones, administrators c an set the sc hedule so t hat the server t hat init iates replic ation interprets the sc hedule as being in either Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or in the server's loc al time. Supported in stand-alone and domain-based namespaces and on individual folders DFS Replic ation c an be used in both stand- alone and domain- based namespac es as well as for folders t hat are not part of any namespac e. The folders to be replic ated c an be shared or unshared. Self-healing after USN journal wraps and database corruption DFS Replic ation provides "self- healing" for update sequenc e number (USN) journal wraps and Jet database c orruption. Alt hough replic at ion temporarily stops during t his healing proc ess, the servic e rec overs without any administrator intervention. To repair itself, DFS Replic ation sc ans t he file system and re- c reat es the DFS Replic ation database that c ontains metadata assoc iated wit h t he files in the replic at ed folder. The database must then be sync hronized with a dat abase on another member. During t he sync hronizat ion proc ess, the amount of metadata sent ac ross t he network is dic tat ed by the number of files under the replic ated folder's loc al path (that is, the number of ID rec ords in t he database) and t he size of the metadat a to be sent per file. The metadata size for a file is two times the length of the file name plus approximately 144 byt es. Addit ional RPC and TCP overhead results in a roughly 5 perc ent overhead; therefore, in the worst c ase, for 1 million files in the dat abase with an average file name size of 50 bytes, approximat ely 194 megabytes (MB) of metadata is sent ac ross the network. Ease of member recovery DFS Replic ation stores it s global c onfigurat ion settings, suc h as the topology and replic ation sc hedule, in Ac t ive Direc tory. These set tings are also c ac hed in a loc al .xml file on eac h member; DFS Replic ation c an rebuild t his file (using the settings st ored in Ac tive Direc tory) if the file bec omes c orrupted or if the member is restored aft er a failure. This t ype of self- healing allows for greater server upt ime and reliability and makes it easier t o rebuild a member of a replic ation group during disaster rec overy. DFS Replic ation also uses the .xml file t o store member- spec ific sett ings, suc h as debug log settings or RPC port settings that are c onfigured using Windows Management Inst rumentation (WMI). Simple and flexible prestaging of new servers Before adding a new server to a replic ation group, administrat ors c an prestage the replic ated folders on the target servers by c opying the data to the servers, restoring a bac kup, or c opying files from a t ape, DVD, or removable hard disk. As desc ribed earlier, the sync hronization proc ess is very effic ient in terms of bandwidth usage and metadata exc hanged, result ing in minimal WAN traffic during the initial sync hronization for files that are the same on the sourc e server (known as the primary member) and t arget servers. If t he files on the target server are out- of- date, DFS Replic ation will use RDC to replic at e only the c hanges that oc c urred sinc e the dat a was prestaged. Any prest aged files t hat existed on t he t arget servers, but not on the sourc e server, are moved to the PreExisting folder

under the target server's replic ated folder path. New management tools Administrat ors c an use t he DFS Management snap- in t o c onfigure both DFS Namespac es and DFS Replic at ion. The snap- in provides integration between the t wo Distribut ed File System c omponents so that administ rators c an: Selec t an exist ing folder in a namespac e and c onfigure DFS Replic at ion on the folder targets (shared folders) assoc iat ed with the folder. Add a replic ated folder to an existing namespac e.

Administrat ors c an also perform administrative tasks at the c ommand line using Dfsradmin.exe or Dfsrdiag.exe. Both tools are part of Windows Server 2003 R2. Addit ional c onfigurat ions c an be made programmatic ally using WMI. Delegation of management tasks Administrat ors who are not part of the Domain Admins group c an be delegated t he ability to c reate new replic ation groups in a domain, manage an exist ing replic ation group, or both. Members of the Domain Admins group c an use either the DFS Management snap- in or the Dfsradmin.exe c ommand- line tool to perform this delegation. Built-in health metrics and diagnostic events DFS Replic ation provides built- in WMI providers for monitoring the healt h of DFS Replic at ion. For example, the WMI providers c an report USN journal wraps, dat abase loss, insuffic ient disk spac e, network c onnec tivity issues, sharing violat ions, exc essive replic at ion, and c loc k skew between members. These event s are also reported in the DFS Replic ation event log, whic h is used exc lusively for st oring event s related to replic at ion. There are two ways of monitoring DFS Replic ation: a built- in diagnostic report and t he Windows DFS Replic ation Management Pac k for Mic rosoft Operat ions Manager (MOM). The diagnostic report is an .html file generated using either the DFS Management snap- in or the Dfsradmin.exe c ommand- line tool. The report c ontains a wealth of DFS Replic ation informat ion, inc luding error and warning events; servic e stat e and uptime; replic ation effic ienc y based on RDC and stream c ompression; bac klogged sending and rec eiving transac t ions; free disk spac e, and more. An example healt h report is shown in t he following figure:

The Windows DFS Replic at ion Management Pac k is a real- time monitoring tool that monitors the health state and replic ation progress of DFS Replic ation on a per- member basis. Administrators c an use this management pac k to monitor the st ate of the DFS Replic ation servic e, replic ation groups, replic ated folders, and the volumes where replic at ed folders are stored. Conditions that c ause full or partial replic at ion failures will temporarily c hange the state of objec t s; these objec ts will c hange bac k t o a healt hy state when t he problem is resolved, either aut omatic ally by t he servic e (as in the c ase of intermittent c onnec tion failures) or by the administrator. The management pac k is support ed on Mic rosoft Operations Manager 2005 and will be available for download on t he Mic rosoft Web site1 (http://go.mic rosoft .c om/fwlink/?LinkId=55220).

DFS Namespaces Enhancements in Windows Server 2003 R2

As desc ribed earlier, the Dist ributed File Syst em tec hnology in Windows Server 2003 has been renamed to DFS Namespac es. Although the underlying servic e and basic func tionality are unc hanged, there are a number of DFS Namespac es enhanc ements exposed in Windows Server 2003 R2. These enhanc ements, introduc ed as updated APIs in Windows Server 2003 Servic e Pac k 1 (SP1), provide easier management and more flexibilit y for namespac es used in branc h offic es.

New and updated management tools The new DFS Management snap- in in Windows Server 2003 R2 provides an improved graphic al user int erfac e for managing namespac es and DFS Replic ation. The snap- in allows administrators to c onfigure DFS Namespac es enhanc ements, suc h as t arget priority, delegat ion, and c lient failbac k, as well as existing feat ures that in Windows Server 2003 were c onfigurable only by using Dfsutil.exe. For example, administrators c an use the DFS Management snap- in to c onfigure how servers are ordered in a referral, suc h as by lowest c ost or rest ric ted to the same site as the c lient. Administrators c an also enable root sc alability mode, whic h reduc es the load on t he primary domain c ont roller (PDC) emulator in large namespac es. The c ommand- line tool Dfsutil.exe, whic h is part of the Windows Support Tools in Windows Server 2003 SP1, is updated to inc lude the DFS Namespac es enhanc ements. The operating system tool Dfsc md.exe is also updated to allow administrators t o move or rename folders in the namespac e. Client failback Client failover in DFS Namespac es is the proc ess in whic h c lient s attempt to ac c ess anot her server in a referral aft er one of the servers fails or is removed from the namespac e. Unless c lient failbac k is c onfigured, c lients will c ontinue using t he server they failed over to unless the c lient is restarted or the c lient's referral c ac he is c leared. When c lient failbac k is c onfigured, and c lients have the appropriat e c lient failbac k hotfix installed, c lients will fail bac k to a preferred, loc al server when it is restored. Target priority When a c lient ac c esses a namespac e, t he c lient rec eives a referral that c ontains a list of targets assoc iated wit h the namespac e root or folder. These targets are listed ac c ording to the c urrent ordering met hod for the namespac e or folder. To fine- tune how partic ular targets are ordered, administrators c an spec ify whether a server appears first or last in a referral. Assigning t arget priority is useful in many sc enarios, suc h as hot- standby sc enarios where one server is c onsidered the server of last resort. In t his sc enario, the administrator c an spec ify that t he standby server always appears last in referrals, and c lients will fail over t o t his server only if all t he other servers fail or bec ome unavailable due to net work outages. Better delegation Administrat ors c an easily delegate the ability t o c reate domain- based namespac es and manage individual stand- alone and domainbased namespac es. The DFS Management snap- in set s the appropriate permissions on either the DFS Namespac e c onfigurat ion objec ts in Ac tive Direc tory or in t he namespac e servers registry (depending on t he namespac e type). Ability to restructure the namespace Renaming or moving folders in the namespac e is easy using t he DFS Management snap- in. Administrators c an restruc ture the namespac e to c orrec t mist akes or t o adjust the hierarc hy as business needs c hange or as new folders are added to the namespac e. Administrat ors c an also move namespac e folders by using t he updat ed version of the c ommand- line tool, Dfsc md.exe.

Configuration Requirements
The following sec tions desc ribe how servers must be c onfigured t o support DFS Replic at ion and DFS Namespac es in Windows Server 2003 R2. DFS Replication requirements Before DFS Replic ation c an be deployed, administ rators must c onfigure servers and st orage as follows: The Ac tive Direc t ory sc hema must be updated to inc lude t he new DFS Replic at ion objec ts. These sc hema c hanges are provided on disc 2 of t he Windows Server 2003 R2 operat ing system installation disc s. This sc hema c an be applied to domain c ontrollers running Mic rosoft Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2003 R2. The servers t hat will partic ipate in DFS Replic ation must run Windows Server 2003 R2. After you install Windows Server 2003 R2, you must install t he DFS Replic ation Servic e on eac h server t hat will t ake part in replic ation, and you must install t he DFS Management snap- in to manage replic ation. For information about installing the DFS Management snap- in on a c lient c omputer running Windows XP with Servic e Pac k 2 (SP2), see "Administering Distribut ed File System from a c omput er running Windows XP" later in this doc ument. Antivirus software must be c ompatible with DFS Replic ation; c ont ac t your antivirus software vendor to c hec k for c ompatibility. Servers in a replic ation group must be in t he same forest. You c annot enable replic at ion ac ross servers in different forests. Replic ated folders must be stored on NTFS volumes. On server c lusters, replic ated folders should be loc at ed in the loc al storage of a node bec ause the Distributed File Syst em Replic ation servic e is not c luster aware and the servic e will not fail over to another node.

Important

DFS Replic ation is not support ed for SYSVOL replic ation in Windows Server 2003 R2. Do not at tempt to c onfigure DFS Replic at ion on SYSVOL by disabling FRS and setting up a replic ation group for SYSVOL. Continue to use FRS for SYSVOL replic ation on domain c ont rollers running Windows Server 2003 R2. FRS and DFS Replic at ion c an c o- exist on the same member server or domain c ont roller.

DFS Namespaces requirements To enable all features in DFS Namespac es, you must c onfigure lab servers and c lient s as follows: Servers where the DFS Management snap- in will be used must run Windows Server 2003 R2 or Windows XP SP2. For informat ion about inst alling the DFS Management snap- in on a c lient c omputer running Windows XP with SP2, see "Administering Distributed File System from a c omputer running Windows XP" later in this doc ument . To support new namespac e features, all servers that host namespac es must run Windows Server 2003 SP1 or Windows Server 2003 R2. To support new namespac e features, all domain c ontrollers must run Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or Windows Server 2003 R2. Namespac es must be c reat ed on NTFS volumes. Client s that ac c ess namespac es c an run any of the supported c lient operating syst ems, but only c lients running the following operating systems, servic e pac ks, and the appropriate c lient failbac k hotfix c an be c onfigured for c lient failbac k: Windows XP SP2 and t he Client Failbac k hot fix. Windows Server 2003 SP1 and the Client Failbac k hotfix.

For more information about the Client Failbac k hotfix, see artic le 898900 in the Mic rosoft Knowledge Base on the Mic rosoft Web site2 at ht tp://go.mic rosoft.c om/fwlink/?LinkId=53202. For more information about support ed operating systems for DFS Namespac es c lients, see "Evaluating Client and Server Compatibility" on the Mic rosoft Web site3 at ht tp://go.mic rosoft.c om/fwlink/?LinkId=37455. It is possible to use DFS Namespac es when domain c ontrollers and namespac e servers run a mix of Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, and Windows Server 2003 wit hout SP1, but some func t ionality is disabled or available inc onsistently, depending on the operating systems on the servers. Some examples of mixed- mode behavior are as follows: If domain c ont rollers or namespac e servers are running Windows Server 2003 wit hout SP1, they c annot provide referrals that support target priorit y or c lient failbac k. If domain c ont rollers or namespac e servers are running Windows 2000 Server, t hey c annot provide referrals that support t arget server priorit y or c lient failbac k, nor c an they order targets by lowest c ost in referrals. Addit ional c onfigurat ion is required t o enable these namespac e servers and domain c ontrollers to det ec t the site of eac h t arget server in the namespac e. For details, see the answer to the question "What are the issues to c onsider when I use multiple servers running Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 to host a domain- based DFS root?" in the DFS FAQ on the Mic rosoft Web site4 at htt p://go.mic rosoft.c om/fwlink/?LinkId=39465. If the DFS Management snap- in c onnec t s to a namespac e server t hat is not running Windows Server 2003 SP1 or Windows Server 2003 R2, none of the new c onfigurat ion set tings (suc h as c lient failbac k and target priority) c an be enabled. Renaming or moving folders will not work, and delegation will not be effec tive.

Administering Distributed File System from a computer running Windows XP You c an also manage DFS Namespac es and DFS Replic ation from a c omputer running Windows XP with SP2 by installing the Administrat ion Tools Pac ks for Windows Server 2003 R2. When this pac k is installed, t he DFS Management snap- in is available as part of the File Server Management snap- in. For more information about inst alling this pac k, see the Mic rosoft Web site5 at htt p://go.mic rosoft.c om/fwlink/?LinkId=55225.

See Also
Other Resources Mic rosoft Branc h Offic es Web Site6 Branc h Offic e Tec hCenter Web sit e7 Distribut ed File System Web Site8

Links Table 1http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=55220 2http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=53202 3http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=37455 4http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=39465 5http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=55225 6http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=53335 7http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=55229 8http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=47663

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