Migration Strategy
Dfs is by no means an all-or-nothing deployment You can implement it incrementally until you are familiar with its operation.
Existing Windows NT Shared Folders
As you begin to deploy Dfs into an organization, you can incorporate existing shared folders into your Dfs namespace or namespaces at a pace that makes sense for the organization. Dfs provides an alternative logical view of the physical topology, but that topology exists with or without Dfs. Thus, legacy names can still be used to gain access to shared folders even when they are published to the Dfs namespace.
An organization can choose to publish as much or as little of its physical storage in the Dfs namespace as it thinks is appropriate. The Dfs namespace strategy described earlier dictates the decision of what to publish in the Dfs namespace. A reasonable schedule can then be established for publishing shared folders to the Dfs namespace.
Dfs 4. x
There are no tools to migrate a Dfs 4. x implementation to a Windows 2000 domain-based Dfs root. During an upgrade of Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, any Dfs 4. x roots are converted automatically to Windows 2000 stand-alone Dfs roots. Note that Dfs 4. x implementations can be administered with the Windows 2000 Dfs administrative console.
However, an organization might be motivated to migrate its legacy-based stand-alone Dfs roots to domain-based Dfs roots to take advantage of file replication, load sharing, Active Directory integration, and so on. Again, you can choose to migrate your organization's stand-alone Dfs roots at a pace with which you are comfortable. Some roots can remain as stand-alone; others can be migrated to domain-based. Both can coexist in a Windows 2000 domain.
Platform Interoperability
Compatibility between different computers that host Dfs roots, clients, and shared folders depends on the operating system, its version, and whether Dfs is stand-alone or domain-based. Table 17.5 summarizes this information for Windows 2000.
Table 17.5 Platform Interoperability
Platform |
Host Dfs cClient? |
Host Dfs rRoot? |
Act as Dfs tTarget? |
|---|---|---|---|
UNIX or NetWare file servers |
No |
No |
Yes, with NCP for NetWare and NFS for UNIX |
MS-DOS, Microsoft® Windows 3. x , Windows for Workgroups |
No |
No |
Yes, with SMB support |
Windows 95 |
Yes, download client for Dfs 4. x and Dfs 5.0 1 |
No |
Yes |
Windows 98 |
Yes, client for Dfs 4. x and stand-alone Dfs 5.0 included; download client for domain-based Dfs 5.0 1 |
No |
Yes |
Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 |
Yes, client for Dfs 4. x and stand-alone Dfs 5.0 included |
Yes, stand-alone server only |
Yes |
Windows 2000 |
Yes, client for Dfs 5.0 included |
Yes, stand-alone and domain-based server or domain controller |
Yes |
1 The Dfs 5.0 client for Windows 95 and Windows 98 is included in the Active Directory Client Pack for Windows 95/98 (often abbreviated as DSClient Pack for Win9 x ).