Hello All,
I¹ve seen some posts recently talking about using the filer to participate in a DFS schema. I asked NetApp support if a filer could participate in MS DFS and was told no, and referred to Virtual File Manager which seems to replace the DFS schema not allow the filer to participate. What is required from a NetApp storage perspective to participate in MS DFS? Also does anyone have familiarity with VFM and whether if has any advantages over VFM?
Thx
The answer you got from NetApp is part right and part wrong. It's correct in that a filer cannot host a DFS root. It also cannot do some of the cooler DFS features like DFS-R (DFS Replication) with 2003 R2 systems. However, it's also incorrect because a filer *can* participate in DFS as a target device to which DFS links.
As an example, I can create a domain-based DFS root and point links within that root at my filer with no problems.
IIRC - VFM doesn't replace DFS, but acts more as a "manager" of DFS and gives you some extra features from a management perspective, but you're still required to implement DFS for VFM to work. It's been a while since we've looked at VFM so the details are a bit fuzzy.
Jeff Mery - MCSE, MCP National Instruments
------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Allow me to extol the virtues of the Net Fairy, and of all the fantastic dorks that make the nice packets go from here to there. Amen." TB - Penny Arcade -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Partyka mpartyka@acmn.com Sent by: owner-toasters@mathworks.com 10/11/2007 09:32 AM
To "toasters@mathworks.com" toasters@mathworks.com cc
Subject Microsoft DFS participation and Virtual File Manager
Hello All,
I’ve seen some posts recently talking about using the filer to participate in a DFS schema. I asked NetApp support if a filer could participate in MS DFS and was told no, and referred to Virtual File Manager which seems to replace the DFS schema not allow the filer to participate. What is required from a NetApp storage perspective to participate in MS DFS? Also does anyone have familiarity with VFM and whether if has any advantages over VFM?
Thx
Well this is not 100% complete. With the use of VFM, you can create a filer hosted DFS root. Let me see if I can clear up a few things.
By using VFM and a “Namespace Availability” policy, you can replicate a Stand-Alone (server based) DFS root to a filer and thus create another Stand-Alone based root. What is generated on the filer, as Adam mentioned, are widelinks that would correspond to the DFS targets required.
Now, this does require at least one windows server to host the original DFS root and to make namespace updates. However, with the use of the availability policy, the changes can be updated every ‘x’ minutes.
AC
From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com [mailto:owner-toasters@mathworks.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Mery Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:33 To: Mike Partyka Cc: owner-toasters@mathworks.com; toasters@mathworks.com Subject: Re: Microsoft DFS participation and Virtual File Manager
The answer you got from NetApp is part right and part wrong. It's correct in that a filer cannot host a DFS root. It also cannot do some of the cooler DFS features like DFS-R (DFS Replication) with 2003 R2 systems. However, it's also incorrect because a filer *can* participate in DFS as a target device to which DFS links.
As an example, I can create a domain-based DFS root and point links within that root at my filer with no problems.
IIRC - VFM doesn't replace DFS, but acts more as a "manager" of DFS and gives you some extra features from a management perspective, but you're still required to implement DFS for VFM to work. It's been a while since we've looked at VFM so the details are a bit fuzzy.
Jeff Mery - MCSE, MCP National Instruments
------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Allow me to extol the virtues of the Net Fairy, and of all the fantastic dorks that make the nice packets go from here to there. Amen." TB - Penny Arcade -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Partyka mpartyka@acmn.com Sent by: owner-toasters@mathworks.com
10/11/2007 09:32 AM
To
"toasters@mathworks.com" toasters@mathworks.com
cc
Subject
Microsoft DFS participation and Virtual File Manager
Hello All,
I’ve seen some posts recently talking about using the filer to participate in a DFS schema. I asked NetApp support if a filer could participate in MS DFS and was told no, and referred to Virtual File Manager which seems to replace the DFS schema not allow the filer to participate. What is required from a NetApp storage perspective to participate in MS DFS? Also does anyone have familiarity with VFM and whether if has any advantages over VFM?
Thx
The only way I know that a filer will "participate" (if you can call it that), in DFS is by using widelinks the filer can issue a client a DFS redirect if it accesses the widelink. In this way you can have a directory point to another UNC path on the same filer, a different filer, or in fact any system that supports UNC paths. But this feature doesn't talk to a DFS server or do any type of participation with it. It's internal to the filer.
The big thing that VFM provides is a true CIFS global name space. And it understands NTAP things like SnapMirror so if a SnapMirror source goes down, it can detect that condition, break the snapmirror, then redirect your clients to the destination (which is now read/write). People have also used it for CIFS data migrations.
-- Adam Fox adamfox@netapp.com
________________________________
From: Mike Partyka [mailto:mpartyka@acmn.com] Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:32 AM To: toasters@mathworks.com Subject: Microsoft DFS participation and Virtual File Manager
Hello All,
I've seen some posts recently talking about using the filer to participate in a DFS schema. I asked NetApp support if a filer could participate in MS DFS and was told no, and referred to Virtual File Manager which seems to replace the DFS schema not allow the filer to participate. What is required from a NetApp storage perspective to participate in MS DFS? Also does anyone have familiarity with VFM and whether if has any advantages over VFM?
Thx
I¹ve heard of the CIFS ³widelinks² option that uses DFS referrals but I think the customer that asked me about it had something more in mind.
I didn¹t know about the NTAP integration features but that makes sense and that fact that it can break mirrors for you ³automagically² is something I¹ve wondered about in the past, So thanks for the info!
On 10/11/07 10:57 AM, "Fox, Adam" Adam.Fox@netapp.com wrote:
The only way I know that a filer will "participate" (if you can call it that), in DFS is by using widelinks the filer can issue a client a DFS redirect if it accesses the widelink. In this way you can have a directory point to another UNC path on the same filer, a different filer, or in fact any system that supports UNC paths. But this feature doesn't talk to a DFS server or do any type of participation with it. It's internal to the filer.
The big thing that VFM provides is a true CIFS global name space. And it understands NTAP things like SnapMirror so if a SnapMirror source goes down, it can detect that condition, break the snapmirror, then redirect your clients to the destination (which is now read/write). People have also used it for CIFS data migrations.
-- Adam Fox adamfox@netapp.com
From: Mike Partyka [mailto:mpartyka@acmn.com] Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:32 AM To: toasters@mathworks.com Subject: Microsoft DFS participation and Virtual File Manager
Hello All,
I¹ve seen some posts recently talking about using the filer to participate in a DFS schema. I asked NetApp support if a filer could participate in MS DFS and was told no, and referred to Virtual File Manager which seems to replace the DFS schema not allow the filer to participate. What is required from a NetApp storage perspective to participate in MS DFS? Also does anyone have familiarity with VFM and whether if has any advantages over VFM?
Thx
-
Andre M. Clark -
Fox, Adam -
Jeff Mery -
Mike Partyka