Dell PowerStore Configuring Multiprotocol File Sharing

About distributed file system

Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) allows you to group file systems (shared folders) that reside on different servers into a logical DFS namespace. A DFS namespace is a virtual view of these file systems that is shown in a directory tree structure. By using DFS, you can group file systems into a logical DFS namespace and make folders that are distributed across multiple servers appear to users as if they reside in one place on the network. Users can navigate through the namespace without having to know server names or the file systems hosting the data.

Each DFS tree structure has a root target, which is the host server running the DFS service and hosting the namespace. A DFS root contains DFS links that lead to the file systems (a share and any directory below it on the network). The file systems are seen as DFS targets. Microsoft offers stand-alone and domain-based DFS root servers. The domain-based DFS server stores the DFS hierarchy in the AD. The stand-alone DFS root server stores the DFS hierarchy locally. PowerStore provides the same functionality as a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 stand-alone DFS root server.