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DFS Namespace issue

Anonymous
2024-03-31T15:11:00+00:00

Hi,

I have DFS set up with two file servers, one Windows 2012 and one Windows 2019. (The second one was added to replace a previous Windows 2012R2 DFS member that failed). DFS and replications seems to be working fine. I have configured Domain based namespaces (correctly I thought. For info, they are in 2008 Mode), but have just noticed an issue with Namespace resolution. The namespaces are, at least supposed to be, hosted on the DFS Fileservers, not the Domain Controllers (as I have previously read that this was bad practice.)

When the Domain Controller holding the FSMO roles is offline, the DFS Namespace details cannot be seen in the DFS management console. When I try to get the detail of the Namespace(s), I am informed of the error

"(\mydomainname\namespacename) The namespace cannot be queried. The specified domain either does not exist or cannot be contacted. (The namespaces are identified as Domain based).

When the DC is up, querying the Namespaces shows that the Namespace serves are enabled and the paths are the names of the DFS file servers as I expected them to be.

However, for the Namespace servers, the 2K19 server includes the domain name in its name, whereas the 2K12 one doesn't. I don't know how I created this difference, but it doesn't seem right? Should both not show the domain name? (Both servers exist in the domain DNS)

They are shown as

e.g. 2K19 \dfsservername1.domainname\namespacename

and 2K12 \dfservername2\namespacename

(The folder targets below the root show the server names, neither includes the Domain name)

What have I done wrong?

How can I resolve the current issue?

Thanks for any input

regards

Dave

Windows for business Windows Server Networking Network connectivity and file sharing

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-04-05T02:22:36+00:00

    Hello,

    For the situation you describe, although the difference in display may cause confusion, it does not affect basic functionality as long as the reference to the DFS Namespace server is correct and the client can properly access the DFS share via the UNC path. In other words, whether it is displayed as \\dfsservername1.domainname\namespacename or \\dfservername2\namespacename, as long as the DFS Namespace points to the correct file servers and these servers can respond to client requests, you don't have to worry too much about this display difference. However, to unify management and reduce confusion, you may consider the following:

    If you want all servers to be displayed consistently in the DFS management console, you can remove and re-add the namespace server in the DFS management interface. Make sure that the path format entered during the addition process is consistent, including the domain name.

    Best regards

    Zunhui

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