Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources

Contents Overview 1 Introduction to Dfs 2 Setting Up a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root 7 Configuring Child Nodes for a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root 10 Guidelines for Configuring Dfs for a Multisite Environment 15 Administering Dfs 16 Lab A: Implementing Dfs 19 Best Practices 27 Review 28 Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The names of companies, products, people, characters, and/or data mentioned herein are fictitious and are in no way intended to represent any real individual, company, product, or event, unless otherwise noted. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. If, however, your only means of access is electronic, permission to print one copy is hereby granted. 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Project Lead and Instructional Designer: Mark Johnson Instructional Designers : Aneetinder Chowdhry (NIIT Inc.), Kathryn Yusi (Independent Contractor) Lead Program Manager: Ryan Calafato Program Manager: Joern Wettern (Wettern Network Solutions) Graphic Artist: Julie Stone (Independent Contractor) Editing Manager: Tina Tsiakalis Substantive Editor: Kelly Baker (Write Stuff) Copy Editor: Wendy Cleary (S&T OnSite) Online Program Manager: Nikki McCormick Online Support: Arlo Emerson (MacTemps) Compact Disc Testing: Data Dimensions, Inc. Production Support: Arlene Rubin (S&T OnSite) Manufacturing Manager: Bo Galford Manufacturing Support: Mimi Dukes (S&T OnSite) Lead Product Manager, Development Services: Elaine Nuerenberg Lead Product Manager: Sandy Alto Group Product Manager: Robert Stewart Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources iii Introduction This module provides students with the knowledge and skills to share file resources in a network by installing, configuring, and managing the Distributed file system (Dfs). In the hands-on lab in this module, students will have a chance to use Dfs to share network resources. Materials and Preparation This section provides you with the materials and preparation needed to teach this module. Materials To teach this module, you need the following materials: ?? Microsoft® PowerPoint® file 1558A_09.ppt Preparation To prepare for this module, you should: ?? Read all the materials for this module. ?? Complete the lab. ?? Study the review questions and prepare alternative answers to discuss. ?? Anticipate questions that students may ask. Write out the questions and provide the answers. ?? Read the white paper, Distributed File System: A Logical View of Physical Storage, on the Student Materials compact disc. ?? Read the walkthrough, Distributed File System (Dfs), on the Student Materials compact disc. Presentation: 45 Minutes Lab: 45 Minutes iv Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources Module Strategy Use the following strategy to present this module: ?? Introduction to Dfs In this topic, you will introduce the basic concepts of Dfs. Illustrate the benefits of Dfs. Describe the two types of Dfs roots. Show students the hierarchical structure of a Dfs root with child nodes. Explain how to gain access to file resources through Dfs. Using an example, describe how the universal naming convention (UNC) syntax is used to gain access to file resources. ?? Setting Up a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root In this topic, you will introduce setting up a Dfs root. Demonstrate how to create a fault-tolerant Dfs root. Emphasize that because changes to a fault- tolerant Dfs tree are stored in Active Directory ™ directory service, you can always restore a Dfs tree topology if the server hosting the Dfs root goes offline for any reason. Illustrate how to create additional replicas for a fault- tolerant Dfs root. ?? Configuring Child Nodes for a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root In this topic, you will introduce configuring child nodes for a fault-tolerant Dfs root. Demonstrate how to set up Dfs child nodes. Explain why a Dfs client caches the referral to the child node. Illustrate how to create multiple replicas of child nodes. Emphasize that configuring multiple replicas of a child node creates fault tolerance and load balancing. Describe how to configure replication among child nodes. ?? Guidelines for Configuring Dfs for a Multisite Environment In this topic, you will describe how to configure Dfs for a multisite environment. Emphasize the reason for each guideline. ?? Administering Dfs In this topic, you will introduce administering Dfs. Demonstrate how to check the status of replicas. Show students the green check marks and red cross marks that appear after status check. Tell them what these marks mean. Illustrate how to change the status of a replica. Demonstrate how to change the referral interval for a Dfs root and child node. ?? Lab A: Implementing Dfs Prepare students for the lab in which they will use Dfs to share network resources. Make sure that students run the command file for the lab, and tell them that they will work with their partner’s computers. After students have completed the lab, ask them if they have any questions. ?? Best Practices Present best practices for implementing Dfs. Emphasize the reason for each best practice. Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources v Customization Information This section identifies the lab setup requirements for a module and the configuration changes that occur on student computers during the labs. This information is provided to assist you in replicating or customizing Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courseware. The labs in this module are also dependent on the classroom configuration that is specified in the Customization Information section at the end of the Classroom Setup Guide for course 1558A, Advanced Administration for Microsoft Windows 2000. Lab Setup The following list describes the setup requirements for the labs in this module. Setup Requirement 1 The labs in this module require that the folders in the following table exist and are shared. Each folder needs to contain a text file with a name that matches the folder name. Folder to be shared Share name C:\MOC\Win1558A\Labfiles \Lab09\Reports Reports C:\MOC\Win1558A\Labfiles \Lab09\Customers Customers C:\MOC\Win1558A\Labfiles \Lab09\Reports2 Reports2 To prepare student computers to meet this requirement, perform one of the following actions: ?? Run C:\MOC\Win1558A\Labfiles\Lab09\Setup\Lab0901.cmd. ?? Create the folders manually, share the folders, and then create the required text files in the folders. Lab Results Performing the lab in this module creates a Dfs root with child nodes. You can run C:\MOC\Win1558A\Labfiles\Lab09\Setup\Lab09Rm.cmd to remove most configuration changes introduced during the labs in the module. Remove the Dfs root manually. Important Important Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources 1 Overview ? Introduction to Dfs ? Setting Up a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root ? Configuring Child Nodes for a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root ? Guidelines for Configuring Dfs for a Multisite Environment ? Administering Dfs ? Best Practices With more and more files being distributed across local area networks (LANs), administrators face growing problems as they try to provide users with the access that they need. Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Distributed file system (Dfs) provides a mechanism for administrators to create logical views of directories and files, regardless of where those files are physically located on the network. Fault-tolerant network storage resources are also available by using Dfs. Dfs fault-tolerant features ensure that users can continue to gain access to shared files, even if a server becomes unavailable. At the end of this module, you will be able to: ?? Describe the purpose of Dfs. ?? Create a fault-tolerant Dfs root. ?? Configure child nodes for a fault-tolerant Dfs root. ?? Identify the guidelines to configure Dfs for a multisite environment. ?? Administer Dfs. ?? Apply best practices for sharing file resources by using Dfs. Slide Objective To provide an overview of the module topics and objectives. Lead-in In this module, you will learn to share file resources in a network by installing, configuring, and managing Dfs. 2 Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources ? Introduction to Dfs ? What Is Dfs? ? Types of Dfs Roots ? Accessing File Resources Through Dfs ? Using the UNC Syntax to Access File Resources In a network environment, it may be difficult for users to keep track of the physical locations of shared folders. Dfs allows administrators to build hierarchical file systems that span multiple file servers and file shares. This allows users to gain access to shared folders at a single point, regardless of where these folders are located in the network. Slide Objective To introduce the basic concepts of Dfs. Lead-in You use Dfs to allow users to gain access to shared folders at a single point, independent of the servers on which these shared folders are located. Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources 3 What Is Dfs? Server2 South West Sales Data Server1 Sales Data North East ? Organizes Resources ? Facilitates Navigation ? Facilitates Administration ? Preserves Permissions Dfs Share Dfs ShareDfs Share Sales Data North East South West Dfs Root Dfs Root Child Nodes Child Nodes Dfs is a single hierarchical file system whose contents are distributed across the enterprise network. Dfs provides a logical tree structure for file resources that may be physically located anywhere on the network. Because a Dfs tree is a single point of reference, users can easily gain access to network resources regardless of the actual location of the files and file servers. To share file resources across the network, Dfs does the following: ?? Organizes resources in a tree structure. Dfs organizes shared folders that can reside on different computers. A Dfs share uses a tree structure containing a root and child nodes. Each Dfs root can have multiple child nodes beneath it, each of which points to a shared folder. The child nodes of the Dfs root represent shared folders that can be physically located on different file servers. ?? Facilitates network navigation. Dfs provides users with easy navigation to shared folders. A user who has access to the shared folder through Dfs does not need to know the name of the server on which the folder is shared. This simplifies network access because users do not need to find the server where a specific folder is located. After connecting to a Dfs root, users can browse and gain access to all file resources below the root, regardless of the physical location of the resource in the network. ?? Facilitates network administration. Dfs simplifies the administration of multiple shared folders. If a server fails, you can move the shared folder that a child node represents from one server to another without users being aware of the change. All that is required to indicate the new location of the resource that a child node represents is to modify Dfs to refer to the new server location. Users continue to use the same path for the child node. ?? Preserves network permissions. A user can gain access to a shared folder through Dfs only if the permissions of the shared folder itself and any applicable NTFS file system permissions allow the user to gain access to the folder. Slide Objective To illustrate the benefits of Dfs. Lead-in Dfs organizes shared folders and simplifies navigation to shared folders. Key Points If a user has the required permission to gain access to a shared folder, he or she can gain access to the shared folder through Dfs. Only members of the Administrators group can administer Dfs trees. 4 Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources Types of Dfs Roots Stand-Alone Dfs Root Stand-Alone Stand-Alone Dfs Dfs Root Root ? Stores the Dfs Topology on a Single Computer ? Provides No Fault Tolerance if the Computer Fails ? Allows Only One Server to Host Each Stand-Alone Dfs Root ? Supports Only a Single Level of Child Nodes ? Stores the Dfs Topology on a Single Computer ? Provides No Fault Tolerance if the Computer Fails ? Allows Only One Server to Host Each Stand-Alone Dfs Root ? Supports Only a Single Level of Child Nodes Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root Fault-Tolerant Fault-Tolerant Dfs Dfs RootRoot ? Stores the Dfs Topology in Active Directory ? Continues to Function When a Server Fails ? Allows All Participating Servers to Host and Provide Fault Tolerance for a Given Dfs Root ? Supports Multiple Levels of Child Nodes ? Supports File Replication ? Stores the Dfs Topology in Active Directory ? Continues to Function When a Server Fails ? Allows All Participating Servers to Host and Provide Fault Tolerance for a Given Dfs Root ? Supports Multiple Levels of Child Nodes ? Supports File Replication A Dfs root represents the topmost part of the Dfs topology. It is the starting point for the hierarchy of shared folders. An enterprise may have any number of Dfs roots, but each computer running Windows 2000 Server can host only one Dfs root. A Dfs root can be defined at the domain level (for fault-tolerant Dfs operation only) or at the server level. You can configure the following two types of Dfs roots: ?? Stand-alone Dfs root. Stores the Dfs topology on a single computer. Because all of the information about the Dfs topology is stored on one computer, a stand-alone Dfs root does not provide root-level fault tolerance or load balancing (load balancing means distributing client requests for gaining access to files across multiple servers). Only one server can host each stand-alone Dfs root. Also, a stand-alone Dfs root supports only a single level of child nodes, and a child node cannot contain another child node. Use fault-tolerant Dfs roots on computers that are members of a domain. A fault-tolerant Dfs root provides all benefits of a stand-alone Dfs root. ?? Fault-tolerant Dfs root. Stores the Dfs topology in Active Directory ™ directory service. Because fault-tolerant Dfs is integrated with Active Directory, all of the information about the logical name space is maintained in Active Directory. If you have multiple servers in your domain, all participating servers can host and provide fault tolerance for a given Dfs root. This means that a fault-tolerant Dfs root can continue to function even when a server hosting the root fails. Fault-tolerant Dfs roots also support nested levels of child nodes. In addition, fault-tolerant Dfs roots support file replication that enables you to synchronize files between multiple replicas of child nodes. Slide Objective To describe the two types of Dfs roots. Lead-in You can configure two types of Dfs roots: stand-alone and fault-tolerant. Delivery Tip Show students the hierarchical structure of a Dfs root with child nodes. Key Points A stand-alone Dfs root provides no fault tolerance because the Dfs topology is stored on a single computer. A fault-tolerant Dfs root provides fault tolerance because the Dfs topology is stored in Active Directory. Note [...].. .Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources Accessing File Resources Through Dfs Slide Objective Server Hosting Dfs Root To describe how to gain access to file resources through Dfs Lead-in You gain access to file resources through Dfs in the same way that you gain access to other shared folders The process of gaining access is transparent to users Sales Data Sales Data... The fault-tolerant Dfs root is hosted on multiple servers by creating replicas that are stored on each server 8 Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources Creating a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root Slide Objective To Create a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root To Create a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root To describe how to create a fault- tolerant Dfs root Lead-in Select the New Dfs Root Volume Option Select the New Dfs Root... hosting the Dfs root to update the referral Important Dfs does not use separate NTFS permissions or shared folder permissions for child nodes Windows 2000 applies all permissions that you assign to the shared folder to which the child node points 5 6 Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources Using the UNC Syntax to Access Dfs File Resources Slide Objective To describe how the UNC syntax is used to gain... this Dfs referral for x seconds box, change the default value of 1800 seconds Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources 19 Lab A: Implementing Dfs Slide Objective To introduce the lab Lead-in In this lab, you will use Dfs to share network resources Explain the lab objectives Objectives ?? After completing this lab, you will be able to use the Distributed file system (Dfs) to share network resources. .. network d) Reconnect to the network e) Close all open windows, and then log off Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources 27 Best Practices Slide Objective To introduce the best practices for sharing resources by using Dfs Always Use Fault-Tolerant Dfs Roots Always Use Fault-Tolerant Dfs Roots Lead-in Create a Customized MMC Console File for Future Use Create a Customized MMC Console File for Future... New Dfs Root Wizard Configure the Create New Dfs Root Wizard Options by Selecting: Options by Selecting: Select Dfs Root Type Select Dfs Root Type Select Domain to Host Dfs Select Domain to Host Dfs Specify Server to Host Dfs Specify Server to Host Dfs Select Share for Dfs Root Volume Select Share for Dfs Root Volume Provide the Dfs Root Name Provide the Dfs Root You can create a fault-tolerant Dfs. .. Objective To Create a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root To Create a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root To describe how to set up Dfs child nodes Select the Dfs Root Select the Dfs Root Lead-in A Dfs child node exists below the Dfs root and can refer to a shared folder with or without subfolders Select the Dfs Root Select the Dfs Root Configure the Add to Dfs Dialog Box Configure the Add to Dfs Dialog Box Options by Selecting:... install a Dfs client from http://www.microsoft.com/ntServer/nts/downloads/winfeatures/NTSDistrFile/ default.asp Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources 7 ? Setting Up a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root Slide Objective To introduce the topics related to setting up a Dfs root Lead-in Administrators can ensure that users can gain access to all shared folders from a common location by setting up a Dfs root... fault-tolerant Dfs roots to allow you to maintain the Dfs tree topology even if the server hosting the Dfs root goes offline Delivery Tip Demonstrate how to create a fault- tolerant Dfs root Demonstrate the process for creating a stand-alone Dfs Key Point Because changes to a faulttolerant Dfs tree are stored in Active Directory, you can always restore a Dfs tree topology if the server hosting the Dfs. .. Use the Create New Dfs Root wizard to select the options for creating the additional replica The only options that are available while creating additional replicas are Specify Server to Host Dfs and Select Share for Dfs Root Volume 9 10 Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources ? Configuring Child Nodes for a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root Slide Objective To introduce the topics related to configuring child . fault-tolerant Dfs root provides fault tolerance because the Dfs topology is stored in Active Directory. Note Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources. located. Module 9: Using Dfs to Share File Resources 11 Setting Up Dfs Child Nodes To Create a Fault-Tolerant Dfs Root To Create a Fault-TolerantTo Create