If you have more than one folder target for fault tolerance purposes, you'll want to configure a replication group so that the contents of the folders are kept synchronized and users have a transparent interface to the items contained therein. A replication group is a set of servers that sends or receives updates of replicated folders. When you enable DFS Replication on a folder with targets, the servers that host the folder targets are automatically made members of the replication group, and the folder targets are associated with the replicated folder. All other properties, like the name of the group and the name of the folder, are identical as well.
You can use DFS Replication in both standalone and domain-based namespaces. Therefore, you can complete this task regardless of the type of namespace you created in the previous section. You do, however, need to have Active Directory deployed, and you need to be a member of the Domain Administrators group. Note, however, that this requirement will hamper an attempt to delegate control of your DFS structure.
To create a replication group for a folder:
In the left pane of the console, right-click on the folder in the namespace you created, and select Replicate Folder.
The Replication Group and Replicated Folder Name screen appears. Enter a name for the replication group (most people keep this as the same name as the namespace folder path) and then also enter the name of the replicated folder. Click Next to continue.
The Replication Eligibility screen appears. In this step, the Replicate Folder Wizard determines which, if any, folder targets are able to participate in replication. Make sure that at least two of these targets, located on different servers, are eligible, and then click Next.
The Primary Folder Target screen appears. Here, specify the folder target that will be used as the primary member of the replication group, i.e., the member whose content is authoritative, the master copy of the content. Click Next to continue.
The Topology Selection screen appears. On this screen, you can choose how the connections among the server members of the replication group will be deployed. If you have three or more members in your replication group, you can choose the hub and spoke methodology, in which hub members are connected to other members and data originates from the center and moves outward to the spokes. Your other choices are full mesh, in which each member replicates all data with all other members, and no topology, where you can create your own topology. For this example, choose "full mesh," and then click Next to continue.
The Replication Group Schedule and Bandwidth screen appears. Here, you can choose whether to replicate full time (24 x 7) or on a specific schedule. To set the schedule, click the Edit Schedule button. You can also choose how much bandwidth to use during replication, which helps keep more bandwidth available for regular usage. You can choose Full from the list to drop all bandwidth concerns and replicate everything as fast as possible. Click Next to continue.
The Review Settings and Create Replication Group screen appears. Verify all of the settings you have chosen; if you need to change something, click the Back button. Otherwise, click Next, and the wizard will set off creating your replication group.
The Confirmation screen appears. Make sure there are no errors, and then click Close.
The Replication Delay screen appears. This message appears to let you know that there may be an initial delay while the configuration of the replication group is propagated among all of the members of the group. Click OK to acknowledge.