Microsoft DFS Namespaces allow an Administrator to configure access to multiple shares using a unified namespace. Some of the advantages of this approach include:
- Access to the same share on multiple CacheDrives using a single UNC path (required for Revit collaboration).
- Automatically use the local CacheDrive for users who travel to multiple sites.
- Simple failover by changing the target share as needed.
DFS is supported by Windows Server 2008 and later. For more information about DFS Namespaces, see the following article:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/dfs-overview
DFS Setup
To setup DFS:
- Start the DFS Magagement app in the Start Menu under Windows Administrative Tools.
- Right click on Namespaces, then click New Namespace.
- Go through the New Namespace Wizard to create the new Namespace.
Namespace Server - Enter the name of the Windows Server that will host the namespace.
Namespace Name and Settings - Enter the name for the namespace.
Namespace Type - Use Domain-based namespace. - Once the namespace has been created, select the namespace, then click New Folder.
- Enter the name of the folder, then click Add under Folder targets to add the target folder(s) on the CacheDrive(s).
- Using this example, the UNC path \\dl-home.local\morro will contain a folder named dltest0 that refers to the dltest0 share on the dl-lab-laptop-0 CacheDrive.
Recommended Settings
- We recommend enabling the "Exclude targets outside of the client's site" to prevent DFS from using targets that are not local to the PC client.
- When using the "Exclude targets outside of the client's site" option above, be sure to configure Sites in Active Directory. If not correctly configured, client PCs may select the wrong target. For more information, see the following article:
https://www.windows-active-directory.com/active-directory-sites.html - Because the CacheDrives are automatically synced, do not enable DFS Replication for the share.