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DFS-N: Namespace root referrals should use the Lowest Cost ordering method on the following DFS namespace

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Updated: June 30, 2010

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

This topic is intended to address a specific issue identified by a Best Practices Analyzer scan. You should apply the information in this topic only to computers that have had the File Services Best Practices Analyzer run against them and are experiencing the issue addressed by this topic. For more information about best practices and scans, see Best Practices Analyzer.

Operating System

Windows Server 2008 R2

Product/Feature

File Services

Severity

Warning

Category

Configuration

Issue

The following DFS namespace does not use the Lowest Cost ordering method for namespace root referrals

Impact

If all namespace servers or folder targets in the local site become unavailable, client computers will either fail over to a random namespace server or folder target without consideration to cost, or will fail to receive a referral (depending on the ordering method).

Resolution

Use DFS Management to set the ordering method for namespace root referrals to Lowest Cost on the following namespace:

To set the ordering method for targets in namespace root referrals

  1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DFS Management.

  2. In the console tree, and under the Namespaces node, right-click a namespace, then click Properties.

  3. On the Referrals tab, click Lowest cost.

Additional references