Enable or Disable Referrals to a Folder Target
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
A referral is an ordered list of targets that a client computer receives from a domain controller or namespace server when the user accesses a namespace root or folder with targets in the namespace. After the client receives the referral, the client attempts to access the first target in the list. If the target is not available, the client attempts to access the next target. If a target becomes unavailable, you can configure clients to fail back to the target after it is restored.
The following sections provide information about how to enable or disable referrals or enable client fail back.
Enable or disable referrals
By disabling a folder target's referral, you can prevent the client from being directed to that folder target when accessing the folder in the namespace. This is useful if you need to temporarily take a folder target offline for maintenance.
To enable or disable referrals to a folder target
Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DFS Management.
In the console tree, under the Namespaces node, click a folder with targets, and then click the Folder Targets tab in the details pane.
Right-click the folder target, and then select one of the following options:
To enable the referral, select Enable Folder Target.
To disable the referral, select Disable Folder Target.
Enable client fail back
If a target becomes unavailable, you can configure clients to fail back to the target after it is restored. For fail back to work, client computers must meet the requirements listed in the following topic: Review DFS Namespaces Client Requirements.
To enable client failback for a namespace root
Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DFS Management.
In the console tree, under the Namespaces node, right-click a namespace, and then click Properties.
On the Referrals tab, select the Clients fail back to preferred targets check box.
Folders with targets inherit client failback settings from the namespace root. If client failback is disabled on the namespace root, you can use the following procedure to enable the client to fail back on a folder with targets.
To enable client fail back for a folder with targets
Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DFS Management.
In the console tree, under the Namespaces node, right-click a folder with targets, and then click Properties.
On the Referrals tab, click the Clients fail back to preferred targets check box.