Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

[Guest JohnB]

What's the difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders? In

experimenting with this for the first time, it "seems" like they are at

least very similar, because after logging in the My Documents folder on the

Desktop had the Offline Folders symbol on it.

 

If I turn off Offline Folders with a GPO will Folder Redirection still work?

Thanks

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

JohnB <jbrigan@yahoo.com> wrote:

> What's the difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders?

 

Folder redirection does just that - folders such as My Documents,

Application Data, Desktop, etc., are redirected to a server folder.

 

Offline files is sometimes used in conjunction with this (or without), but

isn't the same thing - it creates a local sync'd copy of that data on the

hard drive. I find it problematic & error prone, and I don't want it on a

LAN connected computer, certainly.

> In experimenting with this for the first time, it "seems" like they

> are at least very similar, because after logging in the My Documents

> folder on the Desktop had the Offline Folders symbol on it.

 

Yes, because it's enabled by default.

>

> If I turn off Offline Folders with a GPO will Folder Redirection

> still work? Thanks

 

Absolutely. I never use offline folders, and I always use folder

redirection. I usually disable offline caching on my shares, even.

[Guest Ace Fekay [MVP]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

In news:uMl5ts$oIHA.1580@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

> JohnB <jbrigan@yahoo.com> wrote:

> > What's the difference between Folder Redirection and Offline

> > Folders?

>

> Folder redirection does just that - folders such as My Documents,

> Application Data, Desktop, etc., are redirected to a server folder.

>

> Offline files is sometimes used in conjunction with this (or

> without), but isn't the same thing - it creates a local sync'd copy

> of that data on the hard drive. I find it problematic & error prone,

> and I don't want it on a LAN connected computer, certainly.

>

> > In experimenting with this for the first time, it "seems" like they

> > are at least very similar, because after logging in the My Documents

> > folder on the Desktop had the Offline Folders symbol on it.

>

> Yes, because it's enabled by default.

> >

> > If I turn off Offline Folders with a GPO will Folder Redirection

> > still work? Thanks

>

> Absolutely. I never use offline folders, and I always use folder

> redirection. I usually disable offline caching on my shares, even.

 

Ahh, but I find Offline Files works nicely with travelling folks (sales,

execs, etc) using laptops. This way they have their data on the plane, etc,

without connectivity. The old Briefcase thingy...

 

But I never use it on a desktop. It wouldn't make sense because they are

theoretically always connected.

 

I've been using them successfully for quite a number of years. Curious, what

kind of problems have you experienced with Offline Files?

 

Ace

[Guest ProtonJohn]

RE: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

Folder redirection is used to redirect the My Documents and/or Desktop to an

alternate location - such as a network server with redundancy to prevent loss

of files. Opposed to keeping the My Documents and Desktop directories on the

local drive and losing the contents in the event there is a software or

hardware system failure.

 

 

 

Offline files are normally used with a laptop or mobile computer. The files

are synronized with a network location likely used in conjunction with folder

redirection. A copy of the files are cached on the mobile device and changes

are synced to the network location when the mobile device connects to the

network.

 

 

 

"JohnB" wrote:

> What's the difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders? In

> experimenting with this for the first time, it "seems" like they are at

> least very similar, because after logging in the My Documents folder on the

> Desktop had the Offline Folders symbol on it.

>

> If I turn off Offline Folders with a GPO will Folder Redirection still work?

> Thanks

>

>

>

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

Ace Fekay [MVP] <PleaseAskMe@SomeDomain.com> wrote:

> In news:uMl5ts$oIHA.1580@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,

> Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

> <lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>> JohnB <jbrigan@yahoo.com> wrote:

>>> What's the difference between Folder Redirection and Offline

>>> Folders?

>>

>> Folder redirection does just that - folders such as My Documents,

>> Application Data, Desktop, etc., are redirected to a server folder.

>>

>> Offline files is sometimes used in conjunction with this (or

>> without), but isn't the same thing - it creates a local sync'd copy

>> of that data on the hard drive. I find it problematic & error prone,

>> and I don't want it on a LAN connected computer, certainly.

>>

>>> In experimenting with this for the first time, it "seems" like they

>>> are at least very similar, because after logging in the My Documents

>>> folder on the Desktop had the Offline Folders symbol on it.

>>

>> Yes, because it's enabled by default.

>>>

>>> If I turn off Offline Folders with a GPO will Folder Redirection

>>> still work? Thanks

>>

>> Absolutely. I never use offline folders, and I always use folder

>> redirection. I usually disable offline caching on my shares, even.

>

> Ahh, but I find Offline Files works nicely with travelling folks

> (sales, execs, etc) using laptops. This way they have their data on

> the plane, etc, without connectivity. The old Briefcase thingy...

>

> But I never use it on a desktop. It wouldn't make sense because they

> are theoretically always connected.

>

> I've been using them successfully for quite a number of years.

> Curious, what kind of problems have you experienced with Offline

> Files?

 

Lost data, local copies that can't sync if I need to move the server

location, etc.

 

I've started to use separate GPOs for laptops (with loopback processing) so

that they redirect My Documents only (to c:\data\something) and then use

SecondCopy (http://www.centered.com) to sync the data to

\\server\sharedfolder\%username%\my documents at login & every X hours. This

works well. And if something bad happens, or if I decide to move all the

users' data to \\server2, I don't have to worry about the offline cache

being orphaned.

>

> Ace

[Guest Ace Fekay [MVP]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

In news:eSYPIzGpIHA.4292@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl,

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

> Lost data, local copies that can't sync if I need to move the server

> location, etc.

>

> I've started to use separate GPOs for laptops (with loopback

> processing) so that they redirect My Documents only (to

> c:\data\something) and then use SecondCopy (http://www.centered.com) to sync

> the data to \\server\sharedfolder\%username%\my documents at login &

> every X hours. This works well. And if something bad happens, or if I

> decide to move all the users' data to \\server2, I don't have to

> worry about the offline cache being orphaned.

 

I can understand what you went through. I know it is a PITA and requires

extra steps to take care of things such as changing a server location such

as disabling Offline Files on the client, restart, delete the Windows\CSC

folder, restart and renable them and choose from scratch what to synch up

again. But for the most part, I've had pretty good results with it.

 

I like that Second Copy tool too. I've used it for database and other data

from various servers to copy to a single point so I can back them up with

the regular backup app or simply making sure a copy of something is

elsewhere. But the differences are with Offline Files is Offline Files

service preserves permissions on the objects.

 

Cheers!

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

Ace Fekay [MVP] <PleaseAskMe@SomeDomain.com> wrote:

> In news:eSYPIzGpIHA.4292@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl,

> Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

> <lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>

>> Lost data, local copies that can't sync if I need to move the server

>> location, etc.

>>

>> I've started to use separate GPOs for laptops (with loopback

>> processing) so that they redirect My Documents only (to

>> c:\data\something) and then use SecondCopy (http://www.centered.com) to sync

>> the data to \\server\sharedfolder\%username%\my documents at login &

>> every X hours. This works well. And if something bad happens, or if I

>> decide to move all the users' data to \\server2, I don't have to

>> worry about the offline cache being orphaned.

>

> I can understand what you went through. I know it is a PITA and

> requires extra steps to take care of things such as changing a server

> location such as disabling Offline Files on the client, restart,

> delete the Windows\CSC folder, restart and renable them and choose

> from scratch what to synch up again. But for the most part, I've had

> pretty good results with it.

 

I know many people like it. I will never touch it again. I've had clients

sync GBs worth of data and lose changes I couldn't recover.

>

> I like that Second Copy tool too. I've used it for database and other

> data from various servers to copy to a single point so I can back

> them up with the regular backup app or simply making sure a copy of

> something is elsewhere. But the differences are with Offline Files is

> Offline Files service preserves permissions on the objects.

 

Well, as to that, so does robocopy in a batch file ;-)

On which objects is the security an issue?

 

>

> Cheers!

[Guest Ace Fekay [MVP]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

In news:eFQ9UjTpIHA.3900@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl,

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>

> Well, as to that, so does robocopy in a batch file ;-)

> On which objects is the security an issue?

 

No, not an issue. Offline Files preserves NTFS file security descriptors.

:-)

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

Ace Fekay [MVP] <PleaseAskMe@SomeDomain.com> wrote:

> In news:eFQ9UjTpIHA.3900@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl,

> Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

> <lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>

>>

>> Well, as to that, so does robocopy in a batch file ;-)

>> On which objects is the security an issue?

>

> No, not an issue. Offline Files preserves NTFS file security

> descriptors. :-)

 

Ah. Well, that's never mattered to me. The only stuff I'd ever sync is the

user's home/personal directory on the server to which they have modify

rights. No shared folders, ever. And the local copy has the rights I give

it - meaning, they have modify.

[Guest Ace Fekay [MVP]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

In news:ueYJZEgpIHA.4716@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>

> Ah. Well, that's never mattered to me. The only stuff I'd ever sync

> is the user's home/personal directory on the server to which they

> have modify rights. No shared folders, ever. And the local copy has

> the rights I give it - meaning, they have modify.

 

Good way to do it. In some of the environments I'm in redirecting 100's or

in the position I'm in now, about 3000 users under redirect and about 1200

of them laptop users set for Offline Files, we have to preserve permissions.

 

I've used the way you've mentioned with smaller customers. It works nicely.

But in the larger firms, gots to watch security. :-)

 

Cheers!

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

Ace Fekay [MVP] <PleaseAskMe@SomeDomain.com> wrote:

> In news:ueYJZEgpIHA.4716@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,

> Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

> <lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>>

>> Ah. Well, that's never mattered to me. The only stuff I'd ever sync

>> is the user's home/personal directory on the server to which they

>> have modify rights. No shared folders, ever. And the local copy has

>> the rights I give it - meaning, they have modify.

>

> Good way to do it. In some of the environments I'm in redirecting

> 100's or in the position I'm in now, about 3000 users under redirect

> and about 1200 of them laptop users set for Offline Files, we have to

> preserve permissions.

> I've used the way you've mentioned with smaller customers. It works

> nicely. But in the larger firms, gots to watch security. :-)

>

> Cheers!

 

<sniffle> I never get to play with the big kids. Not as a small-fry

consultant, anyway. Oh well!

[Guest Ace Fekay [MVP]]

Re: Difference between Folder Redirection and Offline Folders

 

In news:OEMWeYmpIHA.1240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl,

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> typed:

>

> <sniffle> I never get to play with the big kids. Not as a small-fry

> consultant, anyway. Oh well!

 

LOL!

 

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