Remote Differential Compression Overview

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

The Remote Differential Compression (RDC) feature is a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that applications can use to determine if a set of files have changed, and if so, to detect which portions of the files contain the changes. RDC detects insertions, removals, and rearrangements of data in files, which enables an application to replicate only the changed portions of a file. This is useful when replicating files over a limited-bandwidth network such as a wide area network (WAN) connection.

To install RDC, open Server Manager and then use the Add Features Wizard, or type the following command at an elevated command prompt: Servermanagercmd -Install Rdc

In Windows Server “8” Beta, open Server Manager and then use the Add Roles and Features Wizard, or open a Windows PowerShell session with elevated user rights and then type the following command: Install-WindowsFeature Rdc

Note

You do not need to install the RDC feature to use RDC with DFS Replication or AD DS.

Additional references