As networks expand to include more users as well as multiple physical devices—located on site or remotely—IT administrators find it increasingly difficult to keep users connected to the files they need. File servers seem to crop up overnight in today’s wide area networks (WAN), making it hard for users to know where to look for information but also easy for them to create and duplicate files.  Simply swapping out an old server becomes a major communication chore when users across an enterprise must be notified to update necessary links and file paths.

But DFS changes all that. DFS is a strategic storage management solution that gives administrators a more flexible way to centrally manage their distributed resources. With DFS, administrators can create simplified views of folders and files—that is, a virtual organization called a namespace—regardless of where those files physically reside in a network. A namespace makes file paths transparent from a user’s perspective. For example, when the name of a file server changes, the user’s intuitive, virtual DFS paths do not break. DFS stores the path names logically as a single namespace, a significant change from the traditional data management approaches.

Organizations of any size can benefit from the following enhanced benefits of DFS:

Simplified access to files and folders.

DFS provides an intuitive way for users to access multiple file servers throughout your organization. File and folder replicas can even be made available across multiple sites to provide inexpensive access to users within each site.

Easier maintenance.

Because DFS eliminates machine name dependencies and provides a uniform, virtual folder space for end users, you can perform maintenance tasks, such as server consolidation or data migration, without affecting how users and applications locate data. Because the shares are virtual, administrators have more flexibility to move shares. Servers aren’t tied directly to share names. As a result, servers can be replaced, changed, or moved without impacting the share name or availability.

Increased cost savings.

Managing storage in a distributed environment can cost as much as 75 percent of an organization’s IT budget according to a Gartner Group study. DFS can reduce this expense through more efficient management of existing resources.

Fault-tolerant file access.

DFS transparently routes clients to the next available server in the event of failure so users can always access shares while remaining unaware of any problem.

High availability and performance.

DFS provides load distribution, making data highly available. In environments where multiple servers have thousands of users, file server response is enhanced.

Improved file path performance.

DFS provides the added benefit of reduced delays that occur when user’s access heavily used shared folders.

Smart access to resources.

Through DFS, clients can access the closest resources and file servers, reducing stress on network bandwidth.

 

What’s New in Windows Server 2003 for DFS

There are number of enhanced features in the DFS in Windows Server 2003. These include:

Multiple namespaces per DFS Server.

A single Windows Server 2003 DFS server can now host hundreds of DFS namespaces (supported by Windows Server 2003 Enterprise and Datacenter editions only), which increases namespace flexibility without requiring additional servers.

Enhanced multiple-root DFS.

DFS now allows for more than 16 root targets and the number of DFS targets can be scaled across widely separated geographic locations. The number of root targets can range into the hundreds and will depend on several factors including the size of the root target DFS namespace metadata.

Integrated with Microsoft Active Directory® link costing.

When DFS is implemented in conjunction with an organization’s existing Active Directory service, DFS ranks all available client-server connections by the site link cost defined in Active Directory. Users can then transparently access data from the nearest available file replica.

Dynamic site selection.

Windows Server 2003 DFS root servers dynamically detect when DFS root servers or link targets change sites. This makes it easier to relocate servers to other parts of your network and ensures that site selection remains predictable and efficient.

Enhanced script-based management.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 offers significantly enhanced command line tools for scripting creation, updates, and deletions of DFS namespaces. For even easier management, scripts can be used to monitor and back up DFS.

Improved replication management.

The DFS snap-in in Windows Server 2003 supports configurable replication topologies including ring, full mesh, hub-and-spoke, and custom. In addition Windows Server 2003 includes a range of new tools for monitoring file replication.