What is DFS ( Distributed File System ) ?
This document will explain what the dfs is and how to set it up in Windows 2003 Server.
Distributed File System (DFS) is a very useful feature of Windows 2003 and above systems. The dfs is used to build an orderly view of multiple file servers and shares on the network. In Company each department may have a different server path. Due to this, users need to remember multiple file locations and paths. If due to some reason the path changes, many users will suddenly not be able to find files at the expected location. This is an operational nightmare. However we can make that: Instead of having to think of a specific machine name(\\servername\sharename) for each set of files, the user will only have to remember one name; which will be the ‘key’ to a list of shares found on multiple servers on the network. Think of it as the home of all file shares with links that point to one or more servers that actually host those shares. DFS has the capability of routing a client to the closest available file server by using Active Directory site metrics. It can also be installed on a cluster for even better performance and reliability. Medium to large sized organizations are most likely to benefit from the use of DFS - for smaller companies it is simply not worth setting up since an ordinary file server would be just fine.
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