ITD provides file services for the Unity Active Directory environment. The space ITD provides is hosted on Windows servers and is integrated with the Unity Active Directory domain.
During the development and testing phases of the migration project, we will provide some space at no charge to students and departments. This will change as the new environment replaces the legacy Novell environment in 2007 and 2008. We will address the details of billing as the project nears production. Billing terms will be similar to the ones currently in place for Novell lockers and student profile directories.
Benefits
Improving access to file services was one of the driving forces behind the migration away from Novell technologies.
No client required... With the legacy environment, workstations needed to have the Novell client installed in order to access file space. This is not necessary with the new environment. Windows workstations can obviously connect to shares on Windows servers and workstations without needing any additional components. This will make it much easier for users to access their files from their own machines.
Familiarity... Many administrators and users are already familiar with Windows shares and permissions. The management of permissions on servers and clients is the same in the new environment.
Integration... Windows file services are nicely integrated with Active Directory. Once you become the least bit familiar with Active Directory users and groups, you should be able to manage permissions very easily.
DFS
Distributed File System (DFS) technology is used in the the Unity Active Directory environment to provide a consistent, organized, robust, and flexible file service architecture. If you are familiar with the basic concepts of AFS, DFS should be easy to understand. It is essentially a service that runs on Windows servers that allows you to add paths to file space residing on virtually any machine. The paths are linked into the DFS namespace. Users see a single directory hierarchy but the files actually reside on several machines. Drives can be mapped or UNC paths used to navigate anywhere in the DFS namespace. The DFS namespace can be organized as you see fit.
Please read Microsoft's documentation on DFS to familiarize yourself with the technology:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/storage/dfs/default.mspx
The top of a namespace is called a DFS root. ITD will host a DFS root for any department wishing to use the technology free of charge. (Note: this does not include any actual file space) The DFS root is the top of the namespace you will organize and manage. Departments can link in the paths to any shared space that is useful for them or their users.
ITD has created a DFS root called "DFS". The full path to this root is:
\\unity.ad.ncsu.edu\DFS
The "DFS" root is not department-specific. It will not contain any links that point directly to shares. Instead, the "DFS" root will contain links to other departmental roots. DFS roots are independent, but you can link a DFS root underneath another DFS root. As a result, a user can map to the overarching root called "DFS" and all of the departmental roots will appear in the tree.
Here is how it looks in the DFS Management utility:
In the example above, three DFS roots are shown: "DFS", "ITD", and "Your Department". The "DFS" root contains links to the "ITD" and "Your Department" roots, which contain links to shares. If you map the S: drive to \\unity.ad.ncsu.edu\dfs (the "DFS" root), you will see the departmental roots:
Unity Home Directories
ITD will provide home directories for all Unity accounts in the Active Directory environment. This space is intended to be used as the user sees fit, and will also contain data from redirected Windows folders. This space is NOT used to save roaming profiles. It should NOT be referred to as profile space.
Home directories are linked in DFS under:
\\unity.ad.ncsu.edu\dfs\itd\users
This path contains folders named a...z. The home directories are organized based on the first letter of the user's Unity ID. This design should be familiar to everyone as it is very similar to the organization of AFS user directories. For example, ibuser's home directory will reside at:
\\unity.ad.ncsu.edu\dfs\itd\users\i\ibuser
Quotas will be placed on home directories. The quotas will eventually be managed by the Quota Manager utility in Sysnews. The initial quota amounts and other details have not been determined yet.
Department Locker Space
As was the case with the legacy Novell environment, departments will be able to purchase locker space. This space will be hosted on ITD's Windows servers and will be very robust as the data resides on the SMS. A DFS root will be created for each departmental locker. A link will be created to the departmental space he overarching "DFS" root. Billing and other terms have yet to be determined.
Groups participating during the development and testing phases will be given locker space to use free of charge until the project reaches production.
Future Plans
Enhancing file services will be on ongoing task over the next couple years. We plan on evaluating or implementing the following:
- Microsoft clustering
- DFS file replication
- Active Directory home directories integrated with Quota Manager
- Remote access to file space
Sysnews
Unity Forums
Microsys Blog
Documentation