Windows server directory replication

A typical deployment scenario for RODC is the branch office. The Active Directory replication topology most commonly deployed in this scenario is based on a hub-and-spoke design, where branch domain controllers in multiple sites replicate with a small number of bridgehead servers in a hub site.

One of the benefits of deploying RODC in this scenario is unidirectional replication. Bridgehead servers are not required to replicate from the RODC, which reduces administration and network usage.

However, one administrative challenge highlighted by the hub-spoke topology on previous versions of the Windows Server operating system is that after adding a new bridgehead domain controller in the hub, there is no automatic mechanism to redistribute the replication connections between the branch domain controllers and the hub domain controllers to take advantage of the new hub domain controller.

The new functionality is enabled by default. You can disable it by adding the following registry key set on the RODC:. Sites ensure that replication is routed around network failures and offline domain controllers. The KCC runs at specified intervals to adjust the replication topology for changes that occur in AD DS, such as when new domain controllers are added and new sites are created.

The KCC reviews the replication status of existing connections to determine if any connections are not working. If a connection is not working due to a failed domain controller, the KCC automatically builds temporary connections to other replication partners if available to ensure that replication occurs.

If all the domain controllers in a site are unavailable, the KCC automatically creates replication connections between domain controllers from another site.

Subnets group computers in a way that identifies their physical proximity on the network. Subnet objects in AD DS identify the network addresses that are used to map computers to sites. Site information allows administrators to configure Active Directory access and replication to optimize usage of the physical network. Site objects are associated with a set of subnets, and each domain controller in a forest is associated with an Active Directory site according to its IP address.

Sites can host domain controllers from more than one domain, and a domain can be represented in more than one site.

Site links are Active Directory objects that represent logical paths that the KCC uses to establish a connection for Active Directory replication. A site link object represents a set of sites that can communicate at uniform cost through a specified intersite transport.

All sites contained within the site link are considered to be connected by means of the same network type. Sites must be manually linked to other sites by using site links so that domain controllers in one site can replicate directory changes from domain controllers in another site. Because site links do not correspond to the actual path taken by network packets on the physical network during replication, you do not need to create redundant site links to improve Active Directory replication efficiency.

When two sites are connected by a site link, the replication system automatically creates connections between specific domain controllers in each site that are called bridgehead servers. In Windows Server , all domain controllers in a site that host the same directory partition are candidates for being selected as bridgehead servers. The replication connections created by the KCC are randomly distributed among all candidate bridgehead servers in a site to share the replication workload.

By default, the randomized selection process takes place only once, when connection objects are first added to the site. A site link bridge is an Active Directory object that represents a set of site links, all of whose sites can communicate by using a common transport.

Site link bridges enable domain controllers that are not directly connected by means of a communication link to replicate with each other. Typically, a site link bridge corresponds to a router or a set of routers on an IP network. By default, the KCC can form a transitive route through any and all site links that have some sites in common.

Sync the deletions in source directory to destination : By default, this Basic Sync feature does not sync deleted files automatically, but you can check this feature to ensure the deletions are synced together.

Step 5. Confirm the operations and click Start Sync to automatically sync folders between Windows Server Then, you can access data in the shared folder by its network path. And the latter version has a continuous improvement. It uses a compression algorithm known as remote differential compression RDC to detect changes to the data in a file, then enables DFS Replication to replicate only the changed file blocks rather than the entire file. And it can resolve the administrative issue that XCopy and Robocopy cannot.

If not, this method will not work for you. In this case, you can go back to the first method. Step 1. Click Next in the Before You Begin page. Confirm this installation and click Install to ensure you want to install the selected roles, role services, or features. Wait for a while, the installation process will be completed with words "Installation succeeded" displayed, and then click Close to close this page.

Start new replication. Click Add and look up the servers in Active Directory, then select the servers you want to share files or folders and click Next. This feature make the shared files or folders stay to sync among all of the servers regardless of where the files are updated. However, there is no need to use it in most cases, so you can use it or not according to your situation.

Primary member is very useful during the first synchronization, it will first sync files in the Primary member if there are any conflicts, but only once. And then, all the files will be synchronized nearly instantaneously, because the Full mesh topology treats all servers as equals. Click Add and you will enter a new window, then select the folders you want to replicate and click Next.

You can use the default existing permissions because it works in most cases. However, you still can set custom permissions. Now, you will see all the selected servers and you will be noted that the local path is not set and it's disabled. Then click Edit and select enabled as well as choose the local folder on the remote server.

One with a bouncer at it. Active Directory AD is the bouncer at the door. It checks your credentials, determines if you are allowed to go through the door, and what resources you can access once inside. If something happens to that domain controller, your whole system of servers falls apart. Always have more than one domain controller DC.

But how do you make sure that both domain controllers have the same information? You want to make sure that change is replicated on your other DCs immediately. Why wait 15 minutes or more for it to happen by schedule? You need to force replication of the domain controllers in Active Directory. This is the quickest one-off way to force DC duplication.