Where Are Changed Files Cached Until Replication Is Finished?

I have setup windows DFS namespace and replication

I accept added two namespace and added replication group with ii server

instance:

\\mydomain.local\valley

I accept tested it and it is replicating to each other and deleting from each other. All tested good. my next testing is unplug one of the server. which i did and I was able to get into

\\mydomain.local\valley

inside there i notwithstanding meet the file and it is all the same replicating to the other one which is upwardly. this is how it suppose to work. My question is after I disconnect the network cable on server1.

When accessing \\mydo9main.local\valley information technology lag. It seem like it is trying to replicat stuff to the other server which is dead or the namespace it is using is nevertheless going to server1?

Then my question is do I need to disable the namespace and disable replication when server1 is dead?

Please advise if anyone got any feel on this.

thank you in advance.

One of the first things I found is nearly the TLL cache referrals. When a clients master target goes down it is redirected to the next everyman toll target, which is what it should exercise. Now the cache duration setting is 1/2 the time information technology takes for the client to re-poll to see if their preferred target is back online. The default cache duration is 300 seconds or 5 min, in actual time information technology is 10 min. Y'all can set the cache duration to threescore seconds to exist an actual 2 min, just know that this will increase the work load on the DFS servers. For a lot of us there is barely a work load anyways then who cares.

Hopefully some of these links will help with the client referral ordering. A common area to wait at is Agile Directory Sites and Services to brand sure that the different subnets for Site 1 and Site ii are different and listed in that location. Also verify that the DC and DFS servers are listed in their correct sites. Other than that in that location are a few more than advanced places to look (info in the links).

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverfiles/thread/b90e28cc-7d9a-4060-bafa-d143f1292047

http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2006/04/xiii/425169.aspx

http://serverfault.com/questions/273103/clients-connecting-to-wrong-dfs-share

27 Replies

Ccraddock Jan x, 2013 at 18:46 UTC

But remove the one-time server as a fellow member of the replication grouping in DFS management. no need to disable the namespace if y'all are using it.

And then you are proverb the namespace got nothing to practise with the lag?. What practice you mean remove? do yous mean just delete it? or can i but disable it? and renable it when it is back up?

DFS is designed to be error tolerant, and then when 1 node goes down, clients can access the dfs shares from the second source. There can be a delay when a client that was initially continued to folder target 1, at present has to connect to folder target 2 because one went down.

At present i of the things you should await at is the Referral Status for the folder targets. W/O setting up referral condition, a client PC will connect to the first available folder target. Non all clients volition connect to the same folder target unless one of the targets become downwards.

With overriding the referral ordering you can set up one of the binder targets to be offset and the other to be terminal. This fashion all clients will exist mapped to the preferred binder target and if that target goes down, so they will be redirected to folder target 2. This also ensures that users are all seeing the latest files in instance folder replication is lagging or the staging areas are backed upwards.

Jason,

Thanks for the full detail explanation. I will requite that a go. I was reading an commodity somewhere online that you can tin can it to the perfer site using the sites and services?

Example:

Server1 = is at SiteA
Server2 = is at SiteB

I'thou working at SiteA, therefore it will straight me to Server1

If i'm working at SiteB, therefore information technology will direct me to Server2.

This way no matter where I go it'll redirect me to the closest server. Is this possible through DFS or do I need to set that in sites and services?

What about outlook archive .pst file? Anyone know what is the best fashion to set this up? I hateful say y'all take a 2GIG .pst file and you add something to it and so say it is 2.1GIG now. Will it replicate all 2.1GIG over from site A to SiteB or will it know better to merely replicate the 100meg over?

Or maybe just totally ignore all .pst file? how do you lot handle .pst file in a DFS environment?

Thanks.

Ccraddock Jan 10, 2013 at xix:50 UTC

The namespace volition automatically accept you to the closest server that is available there shouldnt exist much lag The signal of dfs is to be error tolerant. Make sure you are browsing to the DFS share by \\Domainname\Namespace not \\server\namespace

Ccraddock Jan 10, 2013 at 19:52 UTC

Ignore my offset mail service i understand meliorate what your trying to practice i thought you were wanting to remove a dead server from replication

Information technology is possible to practise this in DFS. Highlight the namespace in question and slect the Namespace Servers Tab. From at that place you can specify the referral social club for the targets. If you are setting upward DFS in only one location I don't think you should exist setting up unlike sites. That is used when you want to have DFS replication to remote offices and and so you have to brand sure to schedule the replication times.

Every bit for PSTs, Microsoft flat out states that PSTs should never be on network shares of any kind. I found this to be true, because it caused all kinds of issues with corruption and DFS staging bug when I tried information technology.

Ccraddock Jan ten, 2013 at 20:24 UTC

By default DFSR uses the least toll

Since Server 2003 R2, DFS has the ability to use RDC (Remote Differential Compression) i.e. Delta Changes. To verify, highlight the replication group and click on the connections tab. In the properties of each connexion is the check box for RDC.

I think this is automatically enabled by default, but not fully certain. In my 2008 R2 setup it was at that place.

remote diffferential compression are set up to enable past default. I checked and information technology is checked. and so you are saying the RDC will only re-create what is differnet? Such as I can have .pst file on the DFS and let information technology replicate over? Is this true?

Ccraddock Jan 10, 2013 at 21:32 UTC

Yes the new dfs but changes what has changed at a block level so if you change part of a file only the part that changes is replicated its very keen actually

Read this outset http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773238(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_050

Can DFS Replication replicate Outlook .pst or Microsoft Office Access database files?

DFS Replication can safely replicate Microsoft Outlook personal folder files (.pst) and Microsoft Access files only if they are stored for archival purposes and are not accessed across the network by using a client such as Outlook or Access (to open .pst or Access files, outset copy the files to a local storage device). The reasons for this are as follows:

Opening .pst files over network connections could lead to data corruption in the .pst files. For more information almost why .pst files cannot be safely accessed from across a network, see article 297019 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125363).

.pst and Access files tend to stay open for long periods of time while being accessed by a client such equally Outlook or Office Access. This prevents DFS Replication from replicating these files until they are closed.

thanks for the help. Information technology is a really nice feature. I finally were able to replicate the .pst file locally. Again if opening the .pst file over the network it'll be too slow.

cheers for the helpful info. The DFS does work with .pst as you stated, but just if it is open locally. so which I'one thousand doing. Too as you mention, user have to close outlook before the .pst get replicated over to the remote site.

My simply struggle at present is i'm connecting to i'grand connecting to server2 instead of server1.

I'm at siteA with server1 (I should be connecting to server1 but instead information technology is connecting to server2. I idea DFS automatically connect me to the closest server? No?

Practice I need to make any changes to connect me to server1? Delight advise.

thansk again for all your help..

what is the network path yous are using to map the dfs shares?

information technology should look like \\domain.local\namespace\share

it should not be \\server\share

Jason:

I'thousand using \\domain.local\namespace ( I do not have anything later it )

so what I do is i go to \\domain.local\namespace and it'll show up all my file

now inside of that I create department binder.

So I open up three screen:

\\domain.local\namespace (i screen)

\\server1\namespace (one screen)

\\server2\namespace (1 screen)

The reason I know information technology is going to the server2 is because whenever i copy stuff to \\domain.local\namespace it goes to server2 first. and so it go replicated over to server1. How to I go far then server1 will be access to me?

Are both servers in the same physical location?

Hither are some screen shots of our unmarried location setup.

moving-picture show 2

pic 3

motion picture 4

Here is one way (when you have more that i concrete site) to make sure the clients only access the DFS shares from their local server.

Access via properties of the dfs namespace.

I follow your instruction but that is if all your server are in the same location and you lot want it to prioertize information technology. Which doesn't work in my situation.

Are both servers in the same physical location? No. I take server1 at siteA and server2 at siteB.

This is my testing.

Currently when I access

\\domain.local\namespace

I'm being redirect to \\server1\namespace (which is what I wanted)

I unplugged the cablevision on server1 and I access \\domain.local\namespace and i'one thousand being redirected to server2 (which is working correctly)

I plugged in the cable on server1 and admission \\domain.local\namespace and now information technology is notwithstanding being redirected to server2. Why doesn't it know that server1 came dorsum?

The only manner to get it to go back is if i reboot server2 so it will fall back to server1.

Here is some screen shot of my setting.