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Mike R. · Guest

I am totally new with FRS and DFS and by reading all the good stuff about
this amazing technology I am interested to use it on my network. The problem
I have is how to design a right FRS and DFS solution according to my network
needs.

I am going to explain how my network is configured and how I want to take
advantage from FRS and DFS and I would really appreciate if some one can put
me in the right track.

I have 2 servers:

1) SBS 2003:

Applications:
IIS, Exchange 2003, Printers, Shared Folders, Active Directories, Veritas
Backup Exec 9.1, DHCP, DNS, and AntiVirus. This is my primary Domain
Controller and server.

Hardware:
Giga NICs (x2)
Raid Controller with raid hard drive
Tape device
Etc.

2) Server 2003

Applications:
IIS, SQL 2000, ColdFusion, Shared Folders, Active Directories, and Veritas
Backup Exec 9.1.

Hardware:
Same as server 1

Here is a little map:

Internet > Firewall > Giga Switch > Server 1, Server 2, stations and printers

Now I want to buy a remote storage device and replicate
directories/files/configurations from these servers on it. The purpose would
be if server one died then I want this system comes to play and at least keep
the Shared Folders running. It would be nice if it can have information about
active directories and as well as applications but my priority are my Shared
Folders. Basically this device will be just sitting there and synchronize
servers files every once a while.

My other question is what kind of hardware do I need! Just a remote storage
such a big hard drive or it has to be something special such as Dell
PowerVault 770N.

Thanks very much in advanced,

Mike

Jill Zoeller [MSFT] · Guest

It sounds like you want to use DFS for disaster recovery for file shares,
correct? Your "remote storage device" server would be a hot standby server,
so users wouldn't be actively using this server until another server goes
down.

The first thing you'll want to do is determine how much data you want to
replicate and check out our recommendations at
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=840675. If the # of files is much larger
than our recommendations, then FRS might not be the best solution for you.
DFS can also be used with Robocopy.

You might also want to review the Designing and Deploying File Servers
chapter at www.microsoft.com/dfs. This guide contains design guidelines for
DFS and FRS in addition to file server sizing recommendations.

If you have specific questions about DFS and FRS, let me know.

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"Mike R." <MikeR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
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Mike R. · Guest

Jill,

A maximum of 64 GB of data is perfect so sounds like I can take advantage
from FRS. Now I need to figure out what type of hardware to purchase and what
extra software do I need to set this thing up.

Thanks very much Jill for your reply and great info.

Mike

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

Jill Zoeller [MSFT] · Guest

No problem!

Just to let you know, FRS has a number of dependencies, such as AD and DNS.
FRS also requires that you create a domain DFS root (as opposed to a
stand-alone root). You'll also want to make sure you are using an
FRS-compatible antivirus program (see
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=815263). Using a compatible AV program not
only helps you avoid replicating viruses around but also ensures that the
antivirus software doesn't cause FRS to do bad things (as a result of the
incompatibility).

To ensure trouble-free operations, you really should use one of our
monitoring tools (preferably Ultrasound). Check out our monitoring and
tshooting tools at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/fileandprint/file/dfs/tshootfrs.mspx.

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"Mike R." <MikeR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
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