Migrating existing file shares to DFS

EngineerConsultant 1

Hello,
We currently have a Windows 2008 server that is going to be decommissioned. This server is the main file server for our company.
We have a number of department related folders. Within those folders, are more folders. The department related folders have specific permissions and the folders inside them have specific permissions as well.
We are looking to keep a majority of the shared folders on premise.
So for an on premise solution, we are looking at DFS.
Any suggestions on moving the existing file shares, folders and keeping the current permissions and group permissions in tact. This, with little disruption to our users?

Thank you.

1 answer

Martin Tästensen 456 Reputation points

2022-04-12T18:57:35.497+00:00

How do the users connect to this share today?

Are they using IP address, servername or a alias of the servername?

Copying the permissions are not the issue, that can be arhieved using DFS, powershell or robocopy, but when it's done, you need to get alle the users to use the new server, and dependent on how they connect today, this part can be tricky
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EngineerConsultant 1 Reputation point

2022-04-12T19:03:08.577+00:00

Hello,
Users access the file share through mapped drives. They use \server\sharename, we do have aliases they use as well, for example \server\sharename = \serverusershare\sharename, for example.

Martin Tästensen 456 Reputation points

2022-04-12T19:07:27.253+00:00

So, just to clarify.

You are planning to use DFS in the future?

If yes, then you can create the new server, create the DFS namespace, and add the old server to this namespace but NOT start syncronising anything using DFS. Then i would normally pre-seed the DFS fileshare on the new server using robocopy since DFS is not that fast at replicating large amount of files.

while it's seeding i would start changing the path on all your shares to the new DFS fileshare (GPO, scripting etc).

When you are done and sure everything is using the namespace path, you can make a deltasync (again using robocopy), and then start the sync in DFS. When you are ready, you can now simply disable the old server from DFS, and it will now be running on the new server.

EngineerConsultant 1 Reputation point

2022-04-12T19:10:23.233+00:00

Yes, we are goin to move to DFS for this file server and most of the file shares/folders.
We are looking into RoboCopy as well.
Just needed other insight on processes we may be overlooking.

Thank you.

Martin Tästensen 456 Reputation points

2022-04-12T19:12:36.243+00:00

Well, i have completed the above mentioned process a few times before, and except some clients not responding to the GPO when updated, it works without issues and with limited downtime, since you can make the cutover to DFS "slowly" without disrupting the connectivity to the shares.

Basically, it's still using the old server, but just a new name, so nothing has changed. When ready, you can then add the new server that is now synced, and forward traffic to the new server while removing the old one. With the users having really limited downtime
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