The DFS
Shared files are usually distributed across networks, administrators face concerns as they struggle to keep users connected to shared data. The Distributed File System (Dfs) in the Microsoft Windows® 2000 operating system provides a method for administrators to generate logical data structures without needing to worry where the physical data resides Fault tolerance of network storage resources is also possible using Dfs.
The DFS might be used to construct a hierarchical view of file shares and servers on the network. You don’t need to think about using particular machine names for file sets, the user will only need to remember one name; which will be the ‘key’ to a list of shares found on servers in the network. Think of it as the home of every file share with links that point to one or more servers that actually host those shares. DFS has the capability of routing clients to the closest available file server by using site metrics. Installation might be on a cluster for improved performance and reliability. The organisations most likely to profit from the use of DFS are medium to large – for small companies it is simply not worth using as an ordinary file server would be completely fine.