This is a common topic in the DFS_FRS newsgroup . Customers will describe how some users are unexpectedly denied access to targets in the namespace whereas other users can access the targets without problems. Customers also ask whether there are DFS permissions...

If you’ve used the Distributed File System snap-in in Windows Server 2003, you might’ve seen the checkbox called “Publish this root in Active Directory.” You might’ve even checked it and wondered what benefits it provides. Does it somehow make a namespace...

A common question among customers using the Distributed File System snap-in in Windows Server 2003 is how to create a namespace more than two levels deep. For example, a customer in the DFS_FRS newsgroup was frustrated because he knew how to create a...

This came up in the DFS_FRS newsgroup recently. A customer reported that the health report showed “Report Loading, Please wait...” but never generated. Here are the instructions for fixing this. 1. Go to Add / Remove Programs > Add / Remove Windows...

At least once a month a customer asks for a command-line method to enable and disable referrals for a folder target (aka link target). Neither dfscmd.exe nor dfsutil.exe provides a way to do this. In response to the many requests we get for this functionality...

Just a quick heads-up that we've released a new hotfix 912850 titled "FIX: You cannot access performance counters in the Distributed File System (DFS) Replication health report on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 R2." If you've seen these...

We’ve heard a lot of feedback recently from beta testers regarding the loss of restore points caused by dual-booting Windows XP. We’d like to explain the reasons behind this behavior, the impact on various recovery features, and why a backported fix is...

Hi, I'm Navjot Virk, program manager for Offline Files in Windows Vista, and I'll be blogging a multi-part series about the new features in Offline Files. Offline Files is a feature of Windows Vista that enables access to files on an SMB server even...

If you've tested the beta versions of Windows Vista, you may have noticed that the Disk Defragmenter tool has been overhauled. We get lots of questions about why we made these changes, how the new tool works, etc. so we've started a Defrag FAQ and will...

A customer recently sent us the following question: “What permissions are required for dfsrdiag queries? When running a dfsrdiag backlog query, a user is getting ‘[ERROR] Failed to connect to WMI services on computer: [FQDN]’. Does the user need admin...

If you missed the live version, you can view the recorded version here . If you'd like to view other webcasts for DFS Replication and DFS Namespaces, check out the Distributed File System website . --Jill

Our own Navjot Virk and Dan Stevenson hosted a session Friday morning at TechEd about Backup and Offline Files in Windows Vista. We’ve had some praise from fellow bloggers that we just had to share! Musings of a PC blog Our favorite quote: "I am stunned...

Customers frequently ask us for a way to automatically generate health reports for multiple replication groups. I'm pleased to provide a sample script and instructions, provided by Dan Boldo and Jeff Carollo, respectively. Click here to view the sample...

A blog reader recently contacted us with the following question, “When I was testing DFS failback, the client reconnected to the local site server but the files were still being served at the failover server. Why aren’t the files served from the local...

A customer recently contacted us about a consistent backlog they were experiencing using DFS Replication. Even on fast links, changes to small files (a few KB) would take 4 to 5 hours to replicate. The customer described the environment as follows: ...

The DFS Replication Service Management Pack for MOM monitors the DFS Replication service running on Windows Server 2003 R2 DFS Folder targets. This management pack monitors the events collected from the service that indicate the health of the service...

Please join Bill Laing, General Manager of the Windows Server Division, and Iain McDonald, Director of Central Program Management within the Windows Server Division, for a discussion about Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 2. Windows Server “Longhorn” is...

A customer recently contacted us about how to recover from data corruption on a volume where replicated content was stored. He writes: “We have recently experienced data corruption on our hub server. This data was on a large volume, and I want to avoid...

Our very own Sanjoy Chatterjee will be hosting a webcast on new DFS Namespaces features in June. Details are below--hope you can join us! Summary This webcast introduces two new features of distributed file system (DFS) Namespaces: target priority...

It’s easy: use the dfsrdiag staticRPC command. You can verify the static RPC port change by using the dfsrdiag dumpmachinecfg command. (Note: the default value of the StaticRPC parameter is 0. This indicates a dynamic port assignment.) Will this setting...

I see this question fairly often in the DFS_FRS newsgroup . A customer will be setting up a new namespace and wonders whether he needs to move a bunch of shares under the root folder. The answer is simple: don’t use the root folder for storage. Keep your...

When you configure DFS Replication, you select the primary member that has the most up-to-date files that you want replicated to other members. The primary member's files will always win the conflict resolution that occurs when the receiving members have...

A blog reader recently reported that running a diagnostic report resulted in the following error: The DFS Replication service is unable to access the performance counter DFS Replicated Folders(Apps-{B0CFA463-027A-47BE-B1B8-8A84D5C758F2})\File Installs...

We recently received an email from a customer who was seeing sharing violations in the DFS Replication health report, even though the sharing violations were no longer being reported in the DFS Replication event log. He writes: “I recently converted...

Do you have any favorite forums, blogs, and other sources of information about file services and storage? We'd love to know where else you find information and get your questions answered! Let us know in the comments of this post, or send us email. ...