Offline files and folder redirection on mixed mode AD

May 29, 2008

Hello. I've been charged with finding an automated backup system for

our desktops and laptops on the network. I'm thinking that offline

files used with folder redirection could be a possibility for us. I'm

wondering how that might work in our network environment (right now we

are running mixed mode 2000/2003 AD).

I'm also wondering specifically what folder redirection does and when it

does it. I've googled but not come up with any clear answer. What I

mean is that when I google (for example) offline folders, I can find any

number of articles telling me "when you shut down your PC on the

network, offline files will sync if you choose that setting. It will do

the same when you dock and boot up on the network again." All I can

find for folder redirection is that it 'redirects' your chosen folder(s)

to the share you specify. I can't find more details in terms of when it

does that, or how often it does that. I have both desktops and laptops

to secure backups for and they will have different needs, like laptops

dock and undock all the time, sometimes go to different offices on the

same network. Desktops will always be in the same place on the network,

but what if the network goes down, or they throw a NIC? This is the

desktop scenario.

I'm also wondering how well offline folders and folder redirection work

in tandem? Are they aware of each other and working together, or are

they 2 separate features working independently?

Is this recommended to occur only on a LAN, or would over a WAN be OK if

not concerned about speed?

Client machines are all running either Vista Business RTM or XP sp2 with

all critical updates.

Any informative links are also welcome. Thanks for any help.

May 29, 2008

Re: Offline files and folder redirection on mixed mode AD

Hi Kapibarra,

The documentation on Offline Files and Folder Redirection is generally

pretty accurate. The main points are:

- Roaming Profiles stores a copy of the profile on the network.

- Redirection actually Moves the folders out of the profile to the new

location, not sync or copy etc but Move

- Offline Files is a generic technology that provides a local cache of

selected network files. They can be any files on a shared drive where

caching is enabled (as it is by default). It just so happens that Redirected

Folders are automatically made available offline, but they are two different

technologies.

You can then work out the implications from there, as regards what you need

to back up

Hope that helps,

Anthony,

http://www.airdesk.co.uk

"kapibarra" <k@piba.rra> wrote in message

news:%23Hkv$qawIHA.5584@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Hello. I've been charged with finding an automated backup system for our

> desktops and laptops on the network. I'm thinking that offline files used

> with folder redirection could be a possibility for us. I'm wondering how

> that might work in our network environment (right now we are running mixed

> mode 2000/2003 AD).

>

> I'm also wondering specifically what folder redirection does and when it

> does it. I've googled but not come up with any clear answer. What I mean

> is that when I google (for example) offline folders, I can find any number

> of articles telling me "when you shut down your PC on the network, offline

> files will sync if you choose that setting. It will do the same when you

> dock and boot up on the network again." All I can find for folder

> redirection is that it 'redirects' your chosen folder(s) to the share you

> specify. I can't find more details in terms of when it does that, or how

> often it does that. I have both desktops and laptops to secure backups

> for and they will have different needs, like laptops dock and undock all

> the time, sometimes go to different offices on the same network. Desktops

> will always be in the same place on the network, but what if the network

> goes down, or they throw a NIC? This is the desktop scenario.

>

> I'm also wondering how well offline folders and folder redirection work in

> tandem? Are they aware of each other and working together, or are they 2

> separate features working independently?

>

> Is this recommended to occur only on a LAN, or would over a WAN be OK if

> not concerned about speed?

>

> Client machines are all running either Vista Business RTM or XP sp2 with

> all critical updates.

>

> Any informative links are also welcome. Thanks for any help.

May 29, 2008

Re: Offline files and folder redirection on mixed mode AD

Anthony [MVP] wrote:

> Hi Kapibarra,

> The documentation on Offline Files and Folder Redirection is generally

> pretty accurate. The main points are:

> - Roaming Profiles stores a copy of the profile on the network.

> - Redirection actually Moves the folders out of the profile to the new

> location, not sync or copy etc but Move

Out of the local profile on the workstation?

> - Offline Files is a generic technology that provides a local cache of

> selected network files. They can be any files on a shared drive where

> caching is enabled (as it is by default). It just so happens that Redirected

> Folders are automatically made available offline, but they are two different

> technologies.

> You can then work out the implications from there, as regards what you need

> to back up

> Hope that helps,

> Anthony,

> http://www.airdesk.co.uk

Hi Anthony and thanks for your quick reply. So if redirected files are

always made available offline, would I not need to incorporate offline

files with it? What would be the difference between say, a laptop user

which likes to undock and work offline out of the office using folder

redirection, compared to a desktop pc which never leaves the office, but

say the server is taken offline for maintenance and the desktop user

still wants access to their files in order to work locally? I guess I'm

just wondering how folder redirection would handle each situation. If

redirected folders are available offline automatically, where should the

user access their data from? From the share on the server, or from

their local data directory? Can they consistently access their data

from that same spot on their machine whether online or offline (or at

least have it appear that way)?

Have I missed any required reading on this subject you would recommend?

Sorry for so many questions. :)

>

> "kapibarra" <k@piba.rra> wrote in message

> news:%23Hkv$qawIHA.5584@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Hello. I've been charged with finding an automated backup system for our

>> desktops and laptops on the network. I'm thinking that offline files used

>> with folder redirection could be a possibility for us. I'm wondering how

>> that might work in our network environment (right now we are running mixed

>> mode 2000/2003 AD).

>>

>> I'm also wondering specifically what folder redirection does and when it

>> does it. I've googled but not come up with any clear answer. What I mean

>> is that when I google (for example) offline folders, I can find any number

>> of articles telling me "when you shut down your PC on the network, offline

>> files will sync if you choose that setting. It will do the same when you

>> dock and boot up on the network again." All I can find for folder

>> redirection is that it 'redirects' your chosen folder(s) to the share you

>> specify. I can't find more details in terms of when it does that, or how

>> often it does that. I have both desktops and laptops to secure backups

>> for and they will have different needs, like laptops dock and undock all

>> the time, sometimes go to different offices on the same network. Desktops

>> will always be in the same place on the network, but what if the network

>> goes down, or they throw a NIC? This is the desktop scenario.

>>

>> I'm also wondering how well offline folders and folder redirection work in

>> tandem? Are they aware of each other and working together, or are they 2

>> separate features working independently?

>>

>> Is this recommended to occur only on a LAN, or would over a WAN be OK if

>> not concerned about speed?

>>

>> Client machines are all running either Vista Business RTM or XP sp2 with

>> all critical updates.

>>

>> Any informative links are also welcome. Thanks for any help.

>

May 29, 2008

Re: Offline files and folder redirection on mixed mode AD

Hi,

Out of the profile, whether roaming or local.

My Documents etc. are called "special folders". Windows Explorer knows where

they are, from the registry. When you are online, Explorer goes to the real

location. When you are offline it goes to the offline cache. It does the

same for a lpatop or a desktop, although obviously the laptop is actually

out of the office whereas the desktop just has a network interruption.

The documentation is pretty good, as long as you keep the different concepts

separate. Profiles, Folder Redirection, Offline Files are all independent,

although they can interact with each other in the way they are used. You can

use roaming profiles without redirection; redirection without offline files;

etc.

Anthony,

http://www.airdesk.co.uk

"kapibarra" <k@piba.rra> wrote in message

news:e4SNp4bwIHA.2208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Anthony [MVP] wrote:

>> Hi Kapibarra,

>> The documentation on Offline Files and Folder Redirection is generally

>> pretty accurate. The main points are:

>> - Roaming Profiles stores a copy of the profile on the network.

>> - Redirection actually Moves the folders out of the profile to the new

>> location, not sync or copy etc but Move

>

> Out of the local profile on the workstation?

>

>> - Offline Files is a generic technology that provides a local cache of

>> selected network files. They can be any files on a shared drive where

>> caching is enabled (as it is by default). It just so happens that

>> Redirected Folders are automatically made available offline, but they are

>> two different technologies.

>> You can then work out the implications from there, as regards what you

>> need to back up

>> Hope that helps,

>> Anthony,

>> http://www.airdesk.co.uk

>

> Hi Anthony and thanks for your quick reply. So if redirected files are

> always made available offline, would I not need to incorporate offline

> files with it? What would be the difference between say, a laptop user

> which likes to undock and work offline out of the office using folder

> redirection, compared to a desktop pc which never leaves the office, but

> say the server is taken offline for maintenance and the desktop user still

> wants access to their files in order to work locally? I guess I'm just

> wondering how folder redirection would handle each situation. If

> redirected folders are available offline automatically, where should the

> user access their data from? From the share on the server, or from their

> local data directory? Can they consistently access their data from that

> same spot on their machine whether online or offline (or at least have it

> appear that way)?

>

> Have I missed any required reading on this subject you would recommend?

>

> Sorry for so many questions. :)

>

>>

>> "kapibarra" <k@piba.rra> wrote in message

>> news:%23Hkv$qawIHA.5584@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> Hello. I've been charged with finding an automated backup system for

>>> our desktops and laptops on the network. I'm thinking that offline

>>> files used with folder redirection could be a possibility for us. I'm

>>> wondering how that might work in our network environment (right now we

>>> are running mixed mode 2000/2003 AD).

>>>

>>> I'm also wondering specifically what folder redirection does and when it

>>> does it. I've googled but not come up with any clear answer. What I

>>> mean is that when I google (for example) offline folders, I can find any

>>> number of articles telling me "when you shut down your PC on the

>>> network, offline files will sync if you choose that setting. It will do

>>> the same when you dock and boot up on the network again." All I can

>>> find for folder redirection is that it 'redirects' your chosen folder(s)

>>> to the share you specify. I can't find more details in terms of when it

>>> does that, or how often it does that. I have both desktops and laptops

>>> to secure backups for and they will have different needs, like laptops

>>> dock and undock all the time, sometimes go to different offices on the

>>> same network. Desktops will always be in the same place on the network,

>>> but what if the network goes down, or they throw a NIC? This is the

>>> desktop scenario.

>>>

>>> I'm also wondering how well offline folders and folder redirection work

>>> in tandem? Are they aware of each other and working together, or are

>>> they 2 separate features working independently?

>>>

>>> Is this recommended to occur only on a LAN, or would over a WAN be OK if

>>> not concerned about speed?

>>>

>>> Client machines are all running either Vista Business RTM or XP sp2 with

>>> all critical updates.

>>>

>>> Any informative links are also welcome. Thanks for any help.

>>

May 30, 2008

Re: Offline files and folder redirection on mixed mode AD

Here's one option that would satisfy your requirements:

Use folder redirection to redirect the users My Documents folder to a

network share (eg \\Server\Documents\<Username>)

Once this has been done, whenever a user attempts to access their My Docs

folder, instead of the computer looking at C:\Documents and

Settings\<Username>\My Documents, it will instead look at

\\Server\Documents\<Username>. It means that everybodys My Documents folder

is in a centralised location that can then be easily backed up.

The drawback with this is that if the server becomes unavailable, or a

laptop user is away from the network, then they no longer have access to

this folder. This is where Offline Folders comes in to play. By making the

folder available offline (with special folders like My Docs, I think windows

will do this automatically), a local cache of the folder is created on the

computer. The great thing is, the user continues to work as normal, and

windows will decide whether it needs to use the local cache or the online

copy.

Windows will synchronise the server version of the My Docs folder with the

local cache (dependent on the settings) under three circumstances:

-At logon and logoff

-When Windows detects the availability of the server for reconnection, it

will inform the user. Clicking on the message will initiate a

synchronisation.

-The user decides to manually synchronise.

I would recommend you have a play around with it using your own user

account - it is a very simple process, and you will soon understand exactly

how it works.

The only thing to be aware of is that there are several file types that by

default will not synchronise - these include mdb and pst files; there are

others, but I forget what they are off hand. The reason these files are

prevented from synchronising is because data loss can occur if more than one

user uses them offline at the same time. In your situation, the offline

files will be private to just one user, so this restriction could be removed

using group policy.

Hope that simplifies it a bit!