I have a question with regards to having two or more
replicas that map to servers on the same site. I'd
appreciate if you could share your knowledge on this
issues:

It seems to me that in scenarios where there is
more than one replica in a given site Dfs chooses
the "closest" replica on a random basis; this may be
because it basically has two replicas to choose from, and
it just makes a random selection.

For example, I have the following Dfs links:

\\domain\dfs_root\foo1
that physically maps to
\\server1\J\f1
and
\\san1\J\f1
and
\\server2\J\f2

The other Dfs link is
\\doman\dfs_root\foo2
that physically maps to
\\server1\J\f2
and
\\san1\J\f2
and
\\server2\J\f2

where server1 and san1 are on the same site, and server2
is on a different site.

When, On server1, I map network drives to
\\domain\dfs_root\foo1 and \\domain\dfs_root\foo2, and
check the properties in Windows Explorer - Dfs tab foo1
indicates that it's pointing to server1 and foo2 shows
that it's pointing to san1.

What's also worth noting is that if you map the network
drives on san1, you will get results that are different
from those above i.e. for a given replica, on Server1 it
may indicate that it's pointing to San1 and the same
replica on San1 would show that it's pointing to Server1.

So, behavior like this leads me to believe that Dfs
uses a "random" selection algorithm where there is more
than one replica in a given site i.e. for some replica it
uses the mapping to server1 while for others it points to
the physical mapping on the san1.

I'd appreciate if you have any inputs or comments.

thanks,

Fari

AFAIK the list of servers returned is somehow sorted, but Dfs changes this
sort order to balance the load.

--
Regards

Matjaz Ladava, MCSE, MCSA, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Active Directory
(E-Mail Removed), (E-Mail Removed)
http://ladava.com

"Fari Fuladi" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2aea601c392ad$55463d90$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I have a question with regards to having two or more
> replicas that map to servers on the same site. I'd
> appreciate if you could share your knowledge on this
> issues:
>
> It seems to me that in scenarios where there is
> more than one replica in a given site Dfs chooses
> the "closest" replica on a random basis; this may be
> because it basically has two replicas to choose from, and
> it just makes a random selection.
>
> For example, I have the following Dfs links:
>
> \\domain\dfs_root\foo1
> that physically maps to
> \\server1\J\f1
> and
> \\san1\J\f1
> and
> \\server2\J\f2
>
> The other Dfs link is
> \\doman\dfs_root\foo2
> that physically maps to
> \\server1\J\f2
> and
> \\san1\J\f2
> and
> \\server2\J\f2
>
> where server1 and san1 are on the same site, and server2
> is on a different site.
>
> When, On server1, I map network drives to
> \\domain\dfs_root\foo1 and \\domain\dfs_root\foo2, and
> check the properties in Windows Explorer - Dfs tab foo1
> indicates that it's pointing to server1 and foo2 shows
> that it's pointing to san1.
>
> What's also worth noting is that if you map the network
> drives on san1, you will get results that are different
> from those above i.e. for a given replica, on Server1 it
> may indicate that it's pointing to San1 and the same
> replica on San1 would show that it's pointing to Server1.
>
> So, behavior like this leads me to believe that Dfs
> uses a "random" selection algorithm where there is more
> than one replica in a given site i.e. for some replica it
> uses the mapping to server1 while for others it points to
> the physical mapping on the san1.
>
> I'd appreciate if you have any inputs or comments.
>
> thanks,
>
> Fari
>