Connecting to closest DFS share
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Connecting to closest DFS share

 
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Drew Carter
Guest





Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:51 pm    Post subject: Connecting to closest DFS share Reply with quote

Hello.

I'm running Windows 2000 Server. I have my domain broken into 5 sites that
are each connected via T1s to two other sites in a ring pattern. I have one
DFS server in each site.

However, when I go to \\domain\DFS (my DFS share), I am not necessarily
taken to the DFS server within the same site as the client. Sometimes I'm
taken to a site that's not even connected with a site link. It is very
important that my users connect to the local server, as I want fast response
times, and I want to avoid saturating the lines.

Is DFS supposed to be aware of which servers are part of the same site as
the clients? Furthermore, is it aware of which servers in other sites are
closest, assuming proper site link's are used? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks a lot.

-Drew Carter
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Paul Williams [MVP]
Guest





Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Connecting to closest DFS share Reply with quote

Hi Drew!

The default behaviour is to hit the closest root target and then to be
referred to the closest link. If, for whatever reason, that link isn't
available, the next referral is random and can be to any other link target.

Win2003 SP1 actually introduces a new feature called 'closest site
selection' which actually tries the next closest link target (defined by
cost of site links) and then the next, etc.

If you are having issues with being referred to the 'closest' site, there is
probably a problem with your Active Directory sites configuration. Can you
triple-check the subnets and site associations in AD Sites and Services, and
that the Dfs servers in question are in the correct sites?

--
Paul Williams
Microsoft MVP - Windows Server - Directory Services
http://www.msresource.net | http://forums.msresource.net
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John Smith
Guest





Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Connecting to closest DFS share Reply with quote

I was having a problem that sometimes for no apparent reason some clients
were being redirected to other sites even when the local DFS resource was on
line and working. What I did was set the "Insite" in dfsutil, and now
clients can only connect so there local DFS servers in their sites. That may
not work for you as you may want them to fail over to a remote DFS server if
the local is down, but in my case I never wanted clients going to other
sties so it worked well for me.


"Paul Williams [MVP]" <ptw2001@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eUa0bApkFHA.3448@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
Quote:
Hi Drew!

The default behaviour is to hit the closest root target and then to be
referred to the closest link. If, for whatever reason, that link isn't
available, the next referral is random and can be to any other link
target.

Win2003 SP1 actually introduces a new feature called 'closest site
selection' which actually tries the next closest link target (defined by
cost of site links) and then the next, etc.

If you are having issues with being referred to the 'closest' site, there
is
probably a problem with your Active Directory sites configuration. Can
you
triple-check the subnets and site associations in AD Sites and Services,
and
that the Dfs servers in question are in the correct sites?

--
Paul Williams
Microsoft MVP - Windows Server - Directory Services
http://www.msresource.net | http://forums.msresource.net

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Jill Zoeller [MSFT]
Guest





Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Connecting to closest DFS share Reply with quote

Hi Drew,

These problems can be difficult to troubleshoot and there are many reasons
why this might be failing. I recommend taking a look at the DFS Technical
Reference at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/TechRef/a9096e88-1634-4da6-b820-537341d34906.mspx
so that you can better understand just how DFS finds out about client sites,
target sites, etc. Some sections of interest include:

How Site Discovery Works
Situations in Which Clients Access Unexpected Targets



--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Drew Carter" <drew@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:uw4xKVhkFHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
Quote:
Hello.

I'm running Windows 2000 Server. I have my domain broken into 5 sites
that are each connected via T1s to two other sites in a ring pattern. I
have one DFS server in each site.

However, when I go to \\domain\DFS (my DFS share), I am not necessarily
taken to the DFS server within the same site as the client. Sometimes I'm
taken to a site that's not even connected with a site link. It is very
important that my users connect to the local server, as I want fast
response times, and I want to avoid saturating the lines.

Is DFS supposed to be aware of which servers are part of the same site as
the clients? Furthermore, is it aware of which servers in other sites are
closest, assuming proper site link's are used? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks a lot.

-Drew Carter
Back to top
Drew Carter
Guest





Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 12:50 am    Post subject: Re: Connecting to closest DFS share Reply with quote

Thanks for all the advice. I have looked through everything, and I believe
John Smith's suggestion may be what I need. My users are getting to the
right locations around 80% of the time. However, if all the DFS servers
from a given DFS site are down... I'd say I have bigger problems anyway.
Thanks for the suggestions.

-Drew

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" <jillz@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:up0s$mskFHA.3960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
Quote:
Hi Drew,

These problems can be difficult to troubleshoot and there are many reasons
why this might be failing. I recommend taking a look at the DFS Technical
Reference at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/TechRef/a9096e88-1634-4da6-b820-537341d34906.mspx
so that you can better understand just how DFS finds out about client
sites, target sites, etc. Some sections of interest include:

How Site Discovery Works
Situations in Which Clients Access Unexpected Targets



--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.


"Drew Carter" <drew@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:uw4xKVhkFHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
Hello.

I'm running Windows 2000 Server. I have my domain broken into 5 sites
that are each connected via T1s to two other sites in a ring pattern. I
have one DFS server in each site.

However, when I go to \\domain\DFS (my DFS share), I am not necessarily
taken to the DFS server within the same site as the client. Sometimes
I'm taken to a site that's not even connected with a site link. It is
very important that my users connect to the local server, as I want fast
response times, and I want to avoid saturating the lines.

Is DFS supposed to be aware of which servers are part of the same site as
the clients? Furthermore, is it aware of which servers in other sites
are closest, assuming proper site link's are used? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks a lot.

-Drew Carter


Back to top
Trevor Seward
Guest





Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:52 pm    Post subject: Re: Connecting to closest DFS share Reply with quote

We created a DC-less site in Sites and Services and assigned the subnet of
the server the clients should be targeting.

Worked great.


"Drew Carter" <drew@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:%233Osf%23HlFHA.3744@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
Quote:
Thanks for all the advice. I have looked through everything, and I
believe
John Smith's suggestion may be what I need. My users are getting to the
right locations around 80% of the time. However, if all the DFS servers
from a given DFS site are down... I'd say I have bigger problems anyway.
Thanks for the suggestions.

-Drew

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" <jillz@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:up0s$mskFHA.3960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
Hi Drew,

These problems can be difficult to troubleshoot and there are many
reasons
why this might be failing. I recommend taking a look at the DFS
Technical
Reference at

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/TechRef/a9096e88-1634-4da6-b820-537341d34906.mspx
so that you can better understand just how DFS finds out about client
sites, target sites, etc. Some sections of interest include:

How Site Discovery Works
Situations in Which Clients Access Unexpected Targets



--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.


"Drew Carter" <drew@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:uw4xKVhkFHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
Hello.

I'm running Windows 2000 Server. I have my domain broken into 5 sites
that are each connected via T1s to two other sites in a ring pattern.
I
have one DFS server in each site.

However, when I go to \\domain\DFS (my DFS share), I am not necessarily
taken to the DFS server within the same site as the client. Sometimes
I'm taken to a site that's not even connected with a site link. It is
very important that my users connect to the local server, as I want
fast
response times, and I want to avoid saturating the lines.

Is DFS supposed to be aware of which servers are part of the same site
as
the clients? Furthermore, is it aware of which servers in other sites
are closest, assuming proper site link's are used? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks a lot.

-Drew Carter




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