With DFS

Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) can be used to create a single storage area into which files that are sent via FTP to either MOVEit Automation computer are stored. Files received by the FTP server on either computer are automatically copied to the corresponding directory on the other computer. The copying is done quickly, so the file appears on both computers nearly simultaneously (depending on the size of the file and other factors).

DFS is available on Windows Server. You must be a member of a domain to use DFS.

Overview

In brief, to use DFS, you take the following steps:

Create a DFS root on your domain if none already exists
On each FTP server, create a network share for the root FTP directory on that computer
For each of these shares, add a link to that share to the DFS root
Use the Replication Wizard to set up replication between these two links

Details

Check to see whether a DFS root already exists on your domain:
1. Run Administrative Tools > Distributed File System and select Action > Show Root...
2. Expand Domain DFS roots and look to see if there are any entries beneath it. In this example, there is already a root named test2003root.
If there is not already a root, create one:
1. Select Action > New Root...
2. In the New Root Wizard, click Next.
3. For Root Type, select Domain root and click Next. Replication requires the root to be of type Domain.
4. For Domain, select the domain and click Next.
5. For Host Server, click Browse and select the name of a MOVEit Automation server. (It does not matter which one you choose.) Click OK to close the dialog box. Click Next.
6. For Root Name, type a name of your choosing and click Next.
7. Click Finish.
Create filesystem shares on each of the MOVEit Automation computers, each pointing to the local root FTP directory. For example, if your two servers are named win2003srv1 and win2003srv2, and each has its IIS FTP root at c:\inetpub\ftproot, then you would create the shares:

Sharename

Local directory pointed to

\\win2003srv1\ftpshare

c:\inetpub\ftproot

\\win2003srv2\ftpshare

c:\inetpub\ftproot
On one of the servers, create a link to the local ftpshare:
1. Run Administrative Tools > Distributed File System if it is not already running.
2. Select the DFS root you created. If the root is not visible in the tree, use Action > Show Root... as described in Step 1a.
3. Use Action > New Link... to open the New Link dialog.
4. In the New Link dialog box, type a link name of your choice (for example, FTPLink) and type the full path to the share (for example, \\win2003std1\ftpshare) and choose OK.
Create a second target to that link and enable replication:
1. On either server, run Administrative Tools > Distributed File System if it is not already running.
2. Select the newly-created link and select Action > New Target...
3. In the New Target dialog, enter the name of the other FTP share created above. Leave the "Add this target to the replication set" box checked.
4. You receive the prompt: "The target cannot be replicated until replication is configured. Do you want to configure it now?" Click Yes.
5. At the Configure Replication Wizard welcome page, click Next.
6. You will be asked to select the initial master. If neither FTP server has received any files yet, it doesn't matter which one you select. Otherwise, select the FTP server which is more current. Then click Next.
7. For the replication topology, accept the default of Ring, and choose Finish.
Test file replication by sending a short file to one of the FTP servers. It should appear on the other server within seconds. You may have to stop and start the File Replication service on both computers to enable file replication.