How to configure DFS on Windows Server 2012 R2 (Explained)

[@sampaguy1981]

Well this is what tutorials should be like, straight and clear to the point. Thank you so much!

[@NLBSolutions]

Thanks Daniel! Much appreciated.

[@biigsmokee]

except in retrospec creating individual user folders is a waste of time, just set up a user folder in AD and it will automatically create with permissions

[@peterhelpme]

I love it. Step #1 on any project: Disable Firewall. Saves tons of troubleshooting.

[@saulreyes5570]

Ima fire you

[@imranshamim_]

Who the hell has disliked this video. Nicely explained as as like always. Thank you Nick. Keep continue...

[@svyat1607]

The only thing is missing, as for me, Enable Access-Based Enumeration on a Namespace. Great video, thanks

[@NLBSolutions]

+Svyat Thanks for the support !

[@laterrius]

One of the best DFSR videos I've ever viewed. Great job.

[@NLBSolutions]

Such kind words. Thank you for your support !

[@jiridvorak]

Great example video. Based on this i was able to simply setup DFS in local area. Thank you

[@NLBSolutions]

This is great to hear. I am glad that I am able to help. Good Job!

[@loco2461]

Hello Nick, Thank you for your explanation. Thanks to you I could pass my exam and get my diploma! I really appreciate your help and wish the best for you. Thanks again

[@NLBSolutions]

Wow ! This is amazing news, thank you Loco and congratulations on your diploma!

[@James-sc1lz]

Good video. ABE can also be used to hide stuff you don’t have access to which is a nice feature as well.

[@MeowingtonsFr]

Thank you for your video, it helped me during a project.

[@NLBSolutions]

Happy that I was able to help !

[@csacsa8116]

Thanks for teaching us, small note 4GB is a limitation for synchronized files ie 4 in 4GB limit per file.

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the input, isa!

[@prasathbasava]

Very easy to understand about DFS concept. Thanks for uploading this video :)

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Prasath!

[@AvirupGhosh]

Thanks for the uploading the video and the effort you made. Step by step explanation is really great to understand the whole thing very quickly. One can grasp the Idea behind DFS through this easily.

[@tapas.pal333]

awesome. was clear enough to understand the topic....efficiently!

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Tapas, thank you for your comment!

[@ageofgrace4622]

Great Video! I had no problem at all to follow you up! I guess you will keep your job as dfs works ;-)

[@NLBSolutions]

+Rolf Hillenbrand Thank you for your support. Yep, I am still working as Nick the IT guy :)

[@nfiangwondo6746]

best explanation i ever seen,great job and thank you so so so much. Greetings from Yaoundé - Cameroon

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for your support !

[@lockedloaded1849]

Well done, so easy to understand.

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the support, Tony!

[@irinakiseleva5422]

It was good. And it is the best video how to deploy DFS what I've ever seen. But I don't think that when we create a namespace we should change the permissions for DFSRoots (time 12:50). Because It were bad if someone could change anything in the DFSRoot folder.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Ирина, it actually depends. If you are configuring your DFS you might wanna pre-define your permissions. Most companies nowadays struggle with arranging permissions on file services for their users. Building a solid ground could help in future scalability.

[@irinakiseleva5422]

I said about folder C:\DFSRoots\HomeFolders. It must have default permissions "All users have read-only". If users can write to this directory they can crush DFS and not only DFS, because C: is a system disk. You create special partition(E:) for user's data, but allow them to put into C:. There is no logic. I agree with you about Anna's and Tom's folder, but I disagree about C:\DFSRoots\HomeFolders (Shared folder HomeFolders). If we want deploy a stable system (like you said "Building a solid ground could help in future scalability") DFSRoots folders must be protected. Please, could you give an example when users need change DFSRoots?

[@NLBSolutions]

Appreciate your revision as it is correct. You will want to add Read-Only permissions to the root / links for the end users. They should not have the ability to change anything in there. Good job!

[@engrnaeem3772]

Great tutorial, easily explained.

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Engr!

[@andrewjaye3984]

Great tutorial, easily explained. This has helped me a lot. Keep the videos coming, loving them!!

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Andrew! Such comments make me create more videos !

[@vishaldesai85]

Very neatly demonstrated. Great work!

[@NLBSolutions]

+vishal desai thank you for your support !

[@nitaititeca9038]

Thank you for the video , helped me with my exams :)

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, nitai titeca! And that is why I am detailed in my videos !

[@danimoosakhan]

As far as I understand that DFS is basically to organize the file and folder structure in a logical way. This only makes sense when you have a lot of FileServers in your organization and you want to create a one namespace (\\domain amespace) to access all the shared folders from different FileServers instead of going to individual servers. I would rather use SharePoint for replication/collaboration because if your clients try to access files at the same time, some data can be lost because there is no collaboration technology in DFS. I think the file which is saved last takes effect for replication.

[@Ramakrishna-cu6hs]

Great video Thanks for the upload.

[@NLBSolutions]

+Rama krishna thank you for your support !

[@matijav]

Awesome tutorial, will definitely subscribe! ty much!

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the support matijav! Much appreciated!

[@jonnahdickson6794]

Love the whole bit of it. Thanks

[@abhishwetkumar]

Thank you very much for the detailed info

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you Abhishwet, much appreciated.

[@amolsapkal1987]

Perfect live example 😊

[@ProGaymes]

thank you so much .. that was very good explication. you helped me a lot . I have exam in the same subject.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hello Ma Ma, thank you for your kind words. Wish you luck on the exam!

[@ProGaymes]

Thank you so much

[@kirankarekar]

nice doc with explanation

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, much appreciated !

[@dkkrish09]

Thanks for your knowledge..i hope it soon u uploaded more videos.. And one think can u pls upload the GPO videos

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you Dinesh! Although I am really busy these days I will try to make a bunch of new videos soon!

[@MrShoqz]

Helped me out a lot, thanks!

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, MrShoqz!

[@firefoxx46]

Thank you very much for your effort. Excellent tutorial.

[@sundarponnurangam]

Crystal clear buddy!!!

[@shajiav]

Many Thanks.. Couple of questions, a) Is there any possible way to force a Full Sync from One server to the other server ? b) What happens if we we keep the connection status from remote/second server to the main/first server disabled and then few files got deleted from the second server ?

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Shaji, thank you for the support. 1. Yes, you can force a full replication cycle from one server for the required replication group. 2. If you have only read only copy (one way replica) the deleted files on the replica should be restored on the next cycle.

[@zyzzzyzz105]

Detailed I really learned omething

[@chandrakanth7288]

Thanks for step by step explanation.

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the support, Chandra!

[@reviv03]

That is a very good video. I have a question; on windows 10 machine if I don't log on with Anna account, will I be able to access Anna's folder ?

[@SK116]

what if one of the servers fail will my clients redirect themselves to other DFS automatically or do i have to configure failover clustering !

[@HealInspire89]

can the DFS lock the file when the 2 users use the same file in the same time? If we have a DFS that contain with 2 File servers , and 2 users try to edit the same file in the same time (word or excel) , can the DFS lock the file when the first user open it, so that the second user get a message that the file is read only. With the assumption that the DFS refral each user to a different node of the 2 file servers in the same DFS.

[@imrankhan-my1cd]

Great Video to make understand how it works , I have one query I have two File Server across two different location , Users switch over at any location any time , At this time how it works will they connect to local File Server ??

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi imran check the referrals and make sure they are configured properly.

[@yogeshneerudu8704]

Nice information Sir

[@shafiqirfaqi4179]

Another great video! Thank you!

[@vasanthpaths7157]

Thank for your time

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for your support, Vasanth!

[@omar72osm]

thank you very much for this wonderful video

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for your support!

[@srxnick9829]

So to get this right.. You have a network share on the End devices but its able to get the Files from either one of the two servers. which again then replicate the current state of the share to each other?

[@shafineuheit4360]

Nice Presentation

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the support!

[@rockyvillan562]

Nick, How did you switched those servers and client without any change of window ?? Thanks

[@RajinderSIngh-zb7nb]

well Explained Thanks

[@elegantanchor6615]

Very helpful.

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Elegant! Much appreciated.

[@StevenMcKenzie83]

Great video, for this to work do you have to install DFS on the second server or can you just configure everything from the first server?

[@NLBSolutions]

Hello Steven, you will need to install the DFS features on both servers. But it is not needed to install the DFS management tools on both, you can manage everything from one server.

[@mrwonk]

Will DFS automatically load balance the replicated name-space when multiple users are trying to access it? Also, in the event of primary server failure; will the second DFS server continue to operate and serve files to all users? I believe that is the purpose, but want to make sure it would be seamless to the end users.

[@gauthamkonuri]

Awesome Video!!

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you gautham, much appreciated !

[@zutoxthereal]

Thank u for this video it helped me :)

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Zutox. Happy that my video was able to help.

[@newtonk7574]

Hey man, how did you add the NLB-DFSR-02 to the Server Menu?

[@elmaweee]

Thanks a lot it will help me

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you Khaled, much appreciated!

[@akosijesyang]

Just want to ask, when you created a replica folder on 02 (replicated files are from 01), does the Home Folder (without 'S'/replica folder on 02) automatically gets shared? 'Cause I'm thinking, what if 01 goes down, even files are replicated the available copy is not shared.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hello akosijesyang, the folder will be shared when you add it to the namespace. After you have both folders to the same namespace, replicating between eachother, you will be able to have the second server as a backup.

[@romualdusaldihermanto629]

Thank you for your tutorial , this is really good video.. and i have a question, what happen if the NLB-DFSR-01 data is erased accidently, is the NLB-DFSR-02 data (homefolders) gone too ?

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Romher, yes it should slowly remove all the data on the replicated folders. If you catch this you can immediately stop the connectivity between the two servers, remove the replication partners and reverse the replication to restore the files. If the process already finished you would need to restore the shares.

[@leonardozucca7933]

Many thanks!

[@daz3169]

i have a server In india with DFS management that is replicating a folder to the UK and same again the other way. Both are on 2003r2 standard. If I inplace upgrade to 2012r2 on the india member will this still run with the uk that is still on 2003r2?

[@tst511]

Excellent...

[@zoltron30]

I'm having problems creating the Anna shared folder... it says the shared name already exists

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi zoltron, it is most probably because your Root DFS already contains the same name.

[@RoadStar125]

Hello Nick, We have DFS in our environment. It was built in Windows 2008 but we need to migrate to 2016 or 2019. Do you have a video or steps to migrate?

[@DEnishiZ]

I have a question, if the DFS is deployed between file servers in different sites when a laptop user connects to a different site, which folder will be using? the one from the main site (using WAN)? or will use the replicated from the current site (using LAN)?

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Raul, you can find my video on DFS referrals helpful - kzbin.info?o=U&video_id=J4nJwxQur5Y Also I would recommend reading about referrals in there - msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732414(v=ws.11).aspx

[@lokeshbongu3623]

Thanks for the video ...Can please help me to make it from Bi Directionol to Unidirectional.. as I want to replicate data from primary to secondary only .. not from secondary to primary.

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the support, Bongu. This is not a problem, when you configure your deployment, just chose Hub and spoke method instead of full mesh.

[@karthimvs]

Yes Bongu, Is that another way to try configure using power-shell ( To create one-way replication)

[@jeff-TessAD2022]

Very Good!!

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you Jeff!

[@kiranlenovo]

Good presentation but please dont hurry in your future videos. In this video when you create permissions in the security tab for the home folders in the DFSR-01 server for Ana and Tom, do we have to do that for every home folder in the organization say if there are 1000 users. Is there a faster automated solution for this ? Thank you for the video though

[@NLBSolutions]

+kiran kumar I try to make the videos, so they can be short and valuable at the same time. Most people look for answers in short videos, which cannot be applicable to all of course. This is a build that you could use for initial setup of home folders, you could try and create a script that can help you set the permissions for all users. But this needs more time in general. Good question, thank you for the support.

[@aulderyan]

Use Powershell to automate the permissions

[@rockyvillan562]

Thanks Nick

[@emoeman7166]

a lot of thanks Good job

[@TheRWD82]

Hello, I followed all the steps that you've done. Namespace is working fine, but the folders are not replicating from one server to another. I want to replicate a 97GB folder from the primary server to the 2ndary server which has an empty folder. Can you please advise why the replication didn't start yet?Thank you.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi TheRWD, I would recommend to check the logs and doublecheck if everything is configured properly. Also check the DFS backlog.

[@paulmangam]

Grt one, thanks..

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you Paul!

[@RINO5143]

wow that's a nice video. Please can DFS can be configured on a Domain Controller without configuring DFS replication

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Eric. It is possible, but not recommended. Microsoft recommends to split major roles (DC, File, etc.) to different servers.

[@jamiebarnes3539]

HI nice video but i'm having a problem I keep getting an Error ( Value dose not fall within the expected range )? please could you help me.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Jamie, thank you for the support. Could you please provide more information?

[@jamiebarnes3539]

Hi I get it when I try and add the servers in to DFS

[@jadeermpjadu240]

File server role is need to be installed?

[@teodoroch]

Hi. How can I prevent to my users to connect to the remote DFS insted the closed one? thx sorry my bad english.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Teodoro, this video can help you achieve this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGXRe6quhtqla7s

[@teodoroch]

Thanks.

[@artlaskov]

Thanks!

[@placidemutuyimana5350]

very Nice

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for the support !

[@shaifnachiya4729]

Hi, can I use my disk 1 because I have only 1 disk and CD-Rom.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi Shaif, usually system disks should be left only for the operating system. This would protect the server from running out of space and the system to stop functioning.

[@lopesspencernews2000]

Thank you for the video nice one! But how can user access their data after the root server where the namespace its is down? Because I have this kind of problem when the first server is down user could not longer access their map drive or data. please Help. Thank you.

[@NLBSolutions]

Hi, is this a domain namespace or stand alone one? Should be no problems if a domain namespace is configured properly with namespace servers behind the path.

[@viktor.madarasz]

nice one

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Viktor.

[@bharatnailwal9795]

Thank You :)

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you for your support, Bahrat!

[@mranishved]

Thanks

[@NLBSolutions]

Thank you, Anish!

[@francoismitterrand7221]

what if server nlb-dfs01 down , will map network drive keep linked to nlb-dfs02

[@NLBSolutions]

Yes, you can check my video on how this works - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGXRe6quhtqla7s

[@spritebeverage5993]

I was wondering something similar. If ServerA is replicated to ServerB and ServerA goes down, does ServerB automatically become the "primary" server?? Any help would be great!

[@redouanghosts6770]

why doesnt it show the 'TEST' when anna searches for the Shared folder?

[@snvks_9764]

It's because that folder wasn't added to the Namespaces in DFS Management.

[@PopoyTanke]

What if your DFS01 is down? Will the HomeFolder still accessible?

[@FelixBrunkPlus]

no, he missed to configure DFS02 as a namespacesrever

[@PopoyTanke]

@@FelixBrunkPlus so DFS02 needs to be configured as namespaces so the homefolder can be accessible even the DFS01 is down?

[@nicolasmatiasparedescapurr3113]

Amazing Video, but i still have a few doubts i had read a lot of documentation, but still is not clear for me, i have to prepare a DFS, actually we have just one 8tb Server and we are planning implement a DFS, we have 4 Vmware Server with 2TB each one, the idea is split the 8tb and then replicate the information! but here come's my doubt, the replication Use free space into the other server ? so if were like that in my case i'll need 16tb for me able to use DFS ? Thanks!

[@NLBSolutions]

Hello Nicolas, if I understood you correctly, yes you will need the same amount of space. You need to calculate how much is the data that you want to replicate, if it is 8TB then you will need another 8TB free to replicate it.

[@nicolasmatiasparedescapurr3113]

Yup! that is! alright! thanks for the answer! :D i'll keep asking you if doesnt bother! i'm really in to this! right now! btw! thanks for the amazing video!

[@NLBSolutions]

No problem, I will help with what I can. Good luck and thank you for the support !

[@nicolasmatiasparedescapurr3113]

Thank you! for the help! there is a way that i can use a DFS, without replication ? and have everything under the same namespace ?

[@NLBSolutions]

Yes you can. You need to configure DFS Namespace and add all file server shared folders in it. They will all be listed under your domain namespace.

[@jeff-TessAD2022]

Is the Namespace Server your Domain Controller?

[@FelixBrunkPlus]

I hope not ...

[@salimsouare9737]

what about 3 files servers, do i need 3 dfs servers?

[@NLBSolutions]

Not necessarily. Depends on your environment and what you want to achieve.

[@RiccardoCantelmi]

missing proof, if I turn off one of the two servers?

[@FelixBrunkPlus]

It will fail ... DFS is not redundant

[@fata.alahlam2720]

Plz someone help me how to delete namespace

[@FelixBrunkPlus]

I've wasted 38min of my lifetime. Your DFS Installation is not practical for a Company and will fail if one of your servers fails

[@PanSparda]

Thanks so much ;)