Windows replicate folder

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DFS Replication is a role service in Windows Server that enables you to efficiently replicate folders including those referred to by a DFS namespace path across multiple servers and sites. DFS Replication is an efficient, multiple-master replication engine that you can use to keep folders synchronized between servers across limited bandwidth network connections. Consider using Azure File Sync to reduce your on-premises storage footprint. Azure File Sync can keep multiple Windows file servers in sync and each one only needs to keep a cache on-premises while the full copy of the data is in the cloud.

Azure File Sync also has the additional benefit of cloud backup with integrated snapshots. For more information, see Planning for an Azure File Sync deployment. RDC detects changes to the data in a file and enables DFS Replication to replicate only the changed file blocks instead of the entire file. To use DFS Replication, you must create replication groups and add replicated folders to the groups. Replication groups, replicated folders, and members are illustrated in the following figure.

This topic provides some background of this server-to-server replication configuration, as well as how to set it up and manage the environment. In this scenario, each server should be in a different physical or logical site. Each server must be able to communicate with the other via a network. Many of these requirements can be determined by using the Test-SRTopology cmdlet.

You get access to this tool if you install Storage Replica or the Storage Replica Management Tools features on at least one server. There is no need to configure Storage Replica to use this tool, only to install the cmdlet.

More information is included in the steps below. A pair of logical "sites" that represent two different data centers, with one called Redmond and one called Bellevue.

Download and install Windows Admin Center. Download and install the Remote Server Administration Tools. Open a PowerShell session as administrator by selecting the Start button, typing PowerShell , right-clicking Windows PowerShell, and then selecting Run as administrator. Enter the following command to enable the WS-Management protocol on the local computer and set up the default configuration for remote management on the client. Starting in Windows Admin Center version , you can configure a destination server automatically in Azure.

If you choose that option, install Windows Server on the source server and then skip to Step 3: Set up server-to-server replication. Add network information, join the servers to the same domain as your Windows 10 management PC if you're using one , and then restart the servers. From this point on, always logon as a domain user who is a member of the built-in administrator group on all servers.

Always remember to elevate your PowerShell and CMD prompts going forward when running on a graphical server installation or on a Windows 10 computer. Restart nodes as needed. Consult your hardware vendor documentation for configuring shared storage and networking hardware. Ensure power management in Windows Server is set to High Performance. Restart as required. Install the File Server and Storage Replica roles and features on each of the nodes and restart them.

On SR-SRV06 or a remote management computer, run the following command in a Windows PowerShell console to install the required features and roles and restart them:. Ensure that each server can see that site's storage enclosures only and that the SAS connections are correctly configured.

Ensure that each cluster can see that site's storage enclosures only. You should use more than one single network adapter if using iSCSI. Provision the storage using your vendor documentation.

Ensure that each cluster can see that site's storage enclosures only and that you have properly zoned the hosts. You can use the cmdlet in a requirements-only mode for a quick test as well as a long running performance evaluation mode.

For example, to validate the proposed nodes that each have a F: and G: volume and run the test for 30 minutes:. When using a test server with no write IO load on the specified source volume during the evaluation period, consider adding a workload or it will not generate a useful report.

You should test with production-like workloads in order to see real numbers and recommended log sizes. For instance, a sample with a low write IO workload for ten minutes to the D: volume:. Examine the TestSrTopologyReport. Select New to create a new partnership. To create a new Azure VM to use as the destination for the partnership:. Provide the details of the partnership, and then select Create as shown in Figure 3. Removing the partnership from Storage Replica in Windows Admin Center doesn't remove the replication group name.

Now you will configure server-to-server replication using Windows PowerShell. You must perform all of the steps below on the nodes directly or from a remote management computer that contains the Windows Server Remote Server Administration Tools. Configure the server-to-server replication, specifying the source and destination disks, the source and destination logs, the source and destination nodes, and the log size.

The default log size is 8GB. On the source server, run the following command and examine events , , , , , and On the destination server, run the following command to see the Storage Replica events that show creation of the partnership. This event states the number of copied bytes and the time taken. Skip to main content.

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