The ABC.com network consists of a single Active Directory domain named ABC.com. All servers
on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2003.
ABC.com has its headquarters in Chicago and two branch offices in Dallas and Miami. The branch
offices are connected to the headquarters by means of T1 WAN links. The network at each office
is configured as a separate Active Directory site as shown below.
ABC.com users in all three sites require access to a file server named ABC-SR10 that is located in
the Chicago site.
Users in the Miami and Dallas offices are complaining about the unacceptable file server
performance during peak working hours. You want to design a solution that provides fault
tolerance for the file server and minimizes traffic over the WAN links during office hours.
Which solution would you recommend?
A.
Implement a Distributed File System (DFS) with the DFS root in the Chicago office and DFS
replicas in the Dallas and Miami offices. Configure replication to occur during off-peak hours.
B.
Install Windows Server 2003 file servers in the Dallas and Miami offices. Use the File
Replication Service to replicate the folders during off-peak hours.
C.
Implement a two-node file server cluster in the Chicago office using Microsoft Cluster Services.
D.
Implement a two-node file server cluster in each office using Microsoft Cluster Services.
Explanation:
A DFS root is effectively a folder containing links to shared files. A domain DFS root
is stored in Active Directory. This means that users dont need to know which physical server is
hosting the shared files. All they do is open a folder in Active Directory and view a list of shared
folders.
A DFS replica is another server hosting the same shared files. We can configure replication
between the file servers to replicate the shared files out of business hours. The users in each
office will access the files from a DFS replica in the users office, rather than accessing the files
over a WAN link.
Reference:
Jill Spealman, Kurt Hudson & Melissa Craft, MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-294);
Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory
Infrastructure, Microsoft Press, Redmond, Washington, 2004, p. 12: 15