DFS Chapter 1 - Overview and Preparation

before reading this chapter, you may read the related articles below

DFS Chapter 1 - Overview and Preparation

DFS Chapter 2 - DFS Configuration on the First File Server - FS01

DFS Chapter 3 - Test the Shared Folder "IT"

DFS Chapter 4 - DFS Configuration on the Second File Server - FS02

DFS Chapter 5 - Test the shared folder "Business"

Distributed File System (DFS)

0. Overview

     0-1. What is DFS 

The Distributed File System (DFS) functions provide the ability to logically group shares on multiple servers and to transparently link shares into a single hierarchical namespace. DFS organizes shared resources on a network in a treelike structure.

     0-2 DFS roles

Role service description
The DFS namespace and DFS replication are role services in the Archive and Storage Services roles.

DFS namespace
Allows you to group common folders on different servers into one or more logical structure namespaces. Each namespace appears to the user as a single shared folder with a series of subfolders. However, the basic structure of a namespace can contain multiple file shares, and they are located on different servers and multiple stations.

DFS replication
It allows you to efficiently copy folders (including DFS namespace path reference folders) across multiple servers and stations. The compression algorithm used for DFS replication is called Remote Differential Compression (RDC). The RDC will detect changes to the data in the file and then have the DFS overwrite only copy the changed file blocks instead of overwriting the entire file.

Practical application
You can achieve the following goals by using DFS namespaces and DFS replication:

DFS Namespace Provides a user-focused folder namespace for accessing and storing files. You can share basic file sharing on different servers and websites to improve usability and performance.

DFS replication Cross-LAN or WAN networking to efficiently process folder content between servers.

1. Lab Preparation

1-1 Environment  set up

Before doing the lab, we need to set up the lab environment. The lab environment is as the table below:

Domain Name: JamesLab.com
Domain Administrator: sysop

Computer Name	DC01	FS01	FS02	PC01
OS	Win server 2016	Win server 2016	Win server 2016	Win 8.1
IP Address	10.0.0.1	10.0.0.3	10.0.0.5	DHCP Client
Roles	DC DHCP	File server DFS	File server DFS
CPU	2	4	4	2
RAM	2	4	4	2
HDD	C: 50 GB	C: 50 GB	C: 50 GB	C: 40 GB
		D: 10 GB	D: 10 GB

   

DC01 Setup

DC01 DHCP

FS01 Setup

FS02 Setup

PC01 Setup

DFS Chapter 2 - DFS Configuration on the First File Server - FS01

before reading this chapter, you may read the related articles below

DFS Chapter 1 - Overview and Preparation

DFS Chapter 2 - DFS Configuration on the First File Server - FS01

DFS Chapter 3 - Test the Shared Folder "IT"

DFS Chapter 4 - DFS Configuration on the Second File Server - FS02
DFS Chapter 5 - Test the shared folder "Business"

2. DFS Configuration on the First File Server - FS01

     2-1. Add DFS role on FS01

Open Server Manager, click "Local Server" at the left panel

Click Manage --> "Add Roles and Features"

Click "Next"

Click "Next"

Click "Next"

Select "DFS Namespace"

Click "Add Features"

Select "DFS Replication" and click "Next"

Click "Next"

Click "Install"

2-2 Create DFS Namespace

Click Tool --> DFS Management

The introduction page provides some information about DFS

Right click on "Namespaces", select "New Namespace..."

Type "FS01" as the server for the Namespace server
Click "Next"

Type "NameSpace01" as the name of the namespace
I made a typo. I use "NameSpcae01" instead of "NameSpace01"

Keep the Default setting "Domain-based namespace"
Click "Next"

Click "Create"

The Namespace has done, then click "Close"

Expand Namespaces, the namespace is created

2-3.  Create the "IT" Folder on the First File Server FS01

Click the "Namespace Servers" tab, check the status is enabled

Click "New Folder..." on the Actions window (right panel)

Type "IT" as the new folder name
Click "Add"

Type "\\FS01\IT" in the "path to folder target" textbox
PS:Here is to set up a shared folder name, not a real local folder path

Click "Yes"

Type "E:\ShareFolder\IT" in the "Local path of shared folder" textbox
PS: Here is to set up the "IT" folder's real local path. So at the end of this process, the system will create a "ShareFolder" in E: drive and create an "IT" folder in the "ShareFolder" folder
Select "Use custom permissions" and click "Customize..."

Click "Add..."

Type "sysop" and click "Check Names" to verify the account is valid
Click "OK"

Click the account "sysop" select Allow Full Control then click "OK"

Click "OK"

Click "Yes"

2-4. Create IT Folder on FS02

For the purpose of replication between FS01 and FS02. We need to create the same folder and settings on the FS02 as we did on FS01. Now we will stay on FS01 and do a similar process to the FS02

Make sure \\FS01\IT is created in the Folder targets
Click "Add..."

Type "\\FS02\IT" in the "Path to folder target" textbox
Click "OK"

Click "Yes"

Type "E:\ShareFolder\IT" for the real local folder path
Select "Use custom permissions" then click "Customize..."

Add "sysop" and check names, then Allow Full Control to the account "sysop"

Click "yes"

Now the 2 folder target has been created, click "OK"

2-5. Create Replication Group

Once the folders are created on 2 file server, we can create the replication group to make the data in the server 1 will replicate to the server 2

The Replication creation alert message pops up automatically, click "Yes"

Keep the default value, click "Next"

Click "Next"

Select "FS01" as the Primary member, click "Next"

Keep default setting "Full Mesh", click "Next"

Use the default bandwidth "Full", click "Next"
PS: select using fill bandwidth because this is a lab, not a real world.
In the real world, we may consider the bandwidth to avoid heavy use during office hour

Click "Create"

Click "Close" when finished

Click "OK"

Expand Replication, the replication of the shared folder "IT" is created