Distributed File System mapping

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

Distributed File System mapping

A Distributed File System (DFS) mapping consists of a DFS root, one or more DFS links, and referrals to one or more targets.

The domain server on which a DFS root resides is known as a host server. You can replicate a DFS root by creating root targets on other servers in the domain. This provides file availability when the host server becomes unavailable.

To users, a DFS mapping provides unified and transparent access to the network resources they need. To system administrators, a DFS mapping is a single DNS namespace: With domain DFS, the DNS names for the DFS root targets resolve to the host servers for the DFS root.

Because the host server for a domain distributed file system is a member server within a domain, the DFS mapping is automatically published to Active Directory by default, thus providing synchronization of DFS topologies across host servers. This, in turn, provides fault tolerance for the DFS root and supports optional replication of targets.

You can expand a DFS mapping by adding a DFS link to the DFS root. The only constraint on the number of hierarchical levels in a DFS mapping is imposed by the Windows Server 2003 family limit of 260 characters for any file path. A new DFS link can refer to a target with or without subfolders, or to an entire Windows Server 2003 family volume. If you have adequate permissions, you can also access any local subfolders that exist in or are added to a target.