Initiate file replication

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To initiate file replication

  1. Open Distributed File System.

  2. Click the domain root or link for which you would like to initiate replication.

  3. On the Action menu, select Configure Replication.

  4. Follow the instructions that appear in the Configure Replication wizard.

Caution

  • Do not create File Replication service (FRS) replica sets on a volume that is managed by Remote Storage. Otherwise you might severely impact system performance and possibly cause data loss within your media library.

    FRS might need to periodically read every file in the replica set to send the file contents to another computer. This causes FRS to recall all files that Remote Storage has sent to secondary storage, which might take a long time (hours or days). If you use tape for your secondary storage, remember FRS recalls files in directory order rather than media order, so the excessive number of tape seeks performed by FRS will likely ruin the tapes and cause data loss.

  • Do not enable replication on Distributed File System (DFS) roots.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

  • To open DFS, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Distributed File System.

  • Automatic file replication through the File Replication service is only available with domain DFS.

  • A domain DFS root or link must have at least two targets before you can begin replication.

  • To stop replication on a link, click the link, click the Action menu, and then click Stop Replication.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Show a DFS root
View replication properties