LaCie 12big Rack Fibre 8 Reference guide

LaCie Professional Server Table of Contents
Technical Brief: Shared Folders page 1
Table of Contents
1. Technical Brief: DFS ...................................................................................................... 3
2. Administrator ............................................................................................................... 3
3. Distributed File System (DFS) ........................................................................................ 4
3.1. Namespaces (DFS-N) ....................................................................................................................... 4
3.1.1. Namespace Example - Branch Office ....................................................................................... 5
3.2. Replication (DFS-R) ........................................................................................................................ 12
3.2.1. Replication Example - Branch Office ...................................................................................... 12
3.2.2. DFS-R as Backup .................................................................................................................. 14
3.2.3. DFS-R and Simultaneous File Sharing ..................................................................................... 14
4. Namespaces ............................................................................................................... 15
4.1. Create the Namespace ................................................................................................................... 15
4.1.1. New Namespace.................................................................................................................. 15
4.1.2. Add a Namespace Server (Domain only) ................................................................................ 20
4.1.3. Namespace: Creating Tree Folders and Adding Shared Folders ............................................... 22
5. Replication.................................................................................................................. 31
5.1. Why DFS-R? .................................................................................................................................. 31
5.2. DFS-R Setup .................................................................................................................................. 32
6. Contacting Customer Support ..................................................................................... 54
6.1. LaCie Technical Support Contacts ................................................................................................... 54

LaCie Professional Server Foreword
Technical Brief: DFS page 2
Copyrights
Copyright © 2010 LaCie. All rights re-
served. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written consent of La-
Cie.
Trademarks
Apple, Mac, Mac OS, and Macintosh are
registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Micro-
soft, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Win-
dows Vista, and Windows 7 are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Oth-
er trademarks mentioned in this manual are
the property of their respective owners.
Changes
The material in this document is for infor-
mation only and subject to change without
notice. While reasonable efforts have been
made in the preparation of this document to
assure its accuracy, LaCie assumes no liabil-
ity resulting from errors or omissions in this
document, or from the use of the informa-
tion contained herein. LaCie reserves the right
to make changes or revisions in the product
design or the product manual without reser-
vation and without obligation to notify any
person of such revisions and changes.
IMPORTANT INFO: Any loss, corruption
or destruction of data while using a LaCie
device is the sole responsibility of the user,
and under no circumstances will LaCie be
held liable for the recovery or restoration of
this data. To help prevent the loss of your
data, LaCie highly recommends that you
keep TWO copies of your data; one copy
on your LaCie device, for instance, and a
second copy either on your internal hard
disk, another external hard disk or some
other form of removable storage media.
LaCie offers a complete line of CD and
DVD drives. If you would like more informa-
tion on backup, please refer to our website.
IMPORTANT INFO: 1GB =
1,000,000,000 bytes. 1TB =
1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Total acces-
sible capacity varies depending upon op-
erating environment (typically 5–10% less).
100720v1.0

LaCie Professional Server Introduction
Technical Brief: DFS page 3
1. Technical Brief: DFS
Please consider this Technical Brief as a valuable resource on how
to integrate DFS Namespaces and DFS Replication into your LaCie
professional server. While an exhaustive explanation Microsoft File
Services is beyond the scope of this Technical Brief, LaCie encour-
ages users and network administrators to further their understanding
via the numerous books, instruction manuals, courses, and web sites
on this subject.
2. Administrator
In order to review, confirm, or redefine the software settings on your
LaCie professional server, you must have Administrative rights to the
device.
Click a topic:
✦Namespaces (DFS-N)
✦Replication (DFS-R)
✦Create the Namespace
✦DFS-R Setup
Quick Links

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 4
3. Distributed File System
(DFS)
A network administrator uses a distributed file system (DFS) to main-
tain and share the numerous files stored on the company server(s).
Important functions such as data security, permissions, and acces-
sibility are integrated into the DFS.
A key feature for Windows Storage Server 2008 is DFS Manage-
ment, a role service that is part of Windows Server File Services.
This document highlights two key role services that are part of DFS
Management:
✦DFS Namespaces (DFS-N)
✦DFS Replication (DFS-R)
TECHNICAL NOTE: File Services DFS-N and DFS-R must be in-
stalled on your LaCie professional server before creating Namespaces
and enabling replication. Go to Server Manager > Roles > Add
Role Services. Select the role services Distributed File System and
click Install.
3.1. Namespaces (DFS-N)
During the course of a business day, a user must access multiple
files from many servers that may populate multiple domains on a
network. A user may search through a list of Shared folders that are
mounted on his workstation as network drives. Shared folders con-
tain the data that users must access to complete their projects. One
can imagine how tiring it is for the user to spend much of his day
filtering through numerous network drives to find the files required
for a task at hand. (For additional information on Shared folders,
please see Technical Brief: Shared Folders)
However, placing Shared folders specific to a user in one mounted
network drive would help ease the burden of combing through mul-
tiple servers. The Namespace, a virtual location for important folders
and documents, becomes the sole network drive seen by the user.
While Namespaces are ideal for large networks, they are more than
useful for smaller configurations with limited or single domains. In
fact, most administrators may find that Namespaces allow for easier
file management for the users and more efficient network perfor-
mance.

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 5
3.1.1. Namespace Example - Branch Office
A company called LaCie has offices in Paris and New York. The net-
work administrator wants to provide access to data stored in Paris to
the branch in New York and vice-versa. However, there are growing
concerns that employee assets and time are being wasted as users
in both offices manually search through numerous server volumes
for important files.
The Paris office has heavy network storage demands. In addition to
the Active Domain (AD) server that acts as the domain controller,
the administrator has two LaCie 12big Rack Networks for storage.
The New York office has just installed a LaCie 5big Storage Server.
Since LaCie professional servers are powered by Windows Storage
Server 2008, they can receive critical user and permission instruc-
tions from Windows Server Active Directory. In the domain lacie.
com, the administrator adds Shared folders based upon business
unit and geography (Accounting Americas and Accounting Europe,
Marketing Americas and Marketing Europe, Software Development
Americas and Software Development Europe, etc.). Users may cre-
ate individual folders within each Shared folder to properly organize
individual documents (budget spreadsheets, corporate presenta-
tions, etc.).
Branch business units must have access to the data of their overseas
counterparts in order to avoid waste and needless duplication. That
is, New York Accounting must see the latest data from Paris Ac-
counting and Paris Accounting must see the New York Accounting
files.
As well, department managers require data from other business
units.
An administrator will receive the data storage requirements for each
department to plan for optimal network organization. He will create
one Namespace for the company, making it easier for users. Access
to data is based upon permissions granted to users on a Shared
folder basis.
TECHNICAL NOTE: A Namespace appears as a network volume
to the user. An administrator assigns Shared folders to a Namespace
based upon the data needs of the user(s).
The following two tables (Table 02 - LaCie Shared and Data Folders
and Table 03 - A Single Namespace with Folder Hierarchy) offer
small samplings of the Shared folders and data folders stored on
the LaCie professional servers that the administrator must manage.
continued on the next page>>
Table 01 - Folder Types
Folder Type Use
Shared Folder A Shared folder has many features, including a
directory for data folders. Please see Technical
Brief: Shared Folders for further information.
Target Folder A virtual folder that links to Shared folders as-
signed by the administrator.
Tree Folder A virtual folder used in DFS to organize folders
and data. It can contain Target folders or other
Tree folders.

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 6
Table 02 - LaCie Shared and Data Folders
LaCie 12big Rack Network (x2) - Paris 5big Storage Server - New York
Shared Folders
✦Data Folders
Accounting Europe
✦Accounts Payable Europe
✦Accounts Receivable Europe
✦Projected Budgets Europe
✦Accounts Budgetary Planning Europe
Accounting Americas
✦Accounts Payable Americas
✦Accounts Receivable Americas
✦Projected Budgets Americas
✦Accounts Budgetary Planning Americas
Shared Folders
✦Data Folders
Marketing Europe
✦Product Testing Europe
✦Product Road Maps Europe
✦Products in Development Europe
✦Top Secret Products Europe
✦Marketing Budgetary Planning Europe
Marketing Americas
✦Product Testing Americas
✦Product Road Maps Americas
✦Products in Development Americas
✦Top Secret Products Americas
✦Marketing Budgetary Planning Americas
Shared Folders
✦Data Folders
Software Development Europe
✦Project Manager Reports Europe
✦Alpha Programs Europe
✦Beta Programs Europe
✦Release Candidates Europe
✦Dev Budgetary Planning Europe
Software Development Americas
✦Project Manager Reports Americas
✦Alpha Programs Americas
✦Beta Programs Americas
✦Release Candidates Americas
✦Dev Budgetary Planning Americas
Shared Folders
✦Data Folders
Creative Services Europe
✦Illustrations Europe
✦Ads Europe
✦Logos Europe
✦Documentation Europe
✦CS Budgetary Planning Europe
Creative Services Americas
✦Illustrations Americas
✦Ads Americas
✦Logos Americas
✦Documentation Americas
✦CS Budgetary Planning Americas
Shared Folders
✦Data Folders
Common Resources Europe
✦Travel Expenses Europe
✦PR Presentations Europe
✦IT Documentation Europe
✦Training Europe
Common Resources Americas
✦Travel Expenses Americas
✦PR Presentations Americas
✦IT Documentation Americas
✦Training Americas
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 7
Seeing so many Shared folders, it is very easy to understand why a
Namespace would help with file management and data security.
Noting the list of Shared folders in Table 02 - LaCie Shared and Data
Folders, a salaried employee who works in accounting must use
files from three Shared folders: Accounting Americas, Accounting
Europe, and Common Resources (Fig. 01).
Fig. 01
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 8
An accounting manager must use files in eight of the ten Shared
folders: Accounting Americas, Accounting Europe, Marketing Amer-
icas, Marketing Europe, Software Development Americas, Software
Development Europe, and Creative Services (Fig. 02).
Fig. 02
The amount of Shared folders becomes somewhat unwieldy for the
employees as they attempt to hunt for files located in numerous net-
work volumes. It is far more efficient to limit the mounted drives.
In our example, we can create a single Namespace to contain the
company files.
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 9
Table 03 - A Single Namespace with Folder Hierarchy
Namespace Tree Folder Target Folders Shared Folder Server Location
LaCie_Files Accounting ✦Americas ✦Accounting Americas ✦5BIGSTORAGE (New York)
✦Europe ✦Accounting Europe ✦12BIGNETWORK-1 (Paris)
Common
Resources
✦Americas ✦Common Resources Americas ✦5BIGSTORAGE (New York)
✦Europe ✦Common Resources Europe ✦12BIGNETWORK-2 (Paris)
Creative
Services
✦Americas ✦Creative Services Americas ✦5BIGSTORAGE (New York)
✦Europe ✦Creative Services Europe ✦12BIGNETWORK-2 (Paris)
Marketing ✦Americas ✦Marketing Americas ✦5BIGSTORAGE (New York)
✦Europe ✦Marketing Europe ✦12BIGNETWORK-1 (Paris)
Software
Development
✦Americas ✦Software Development Americas ✦5BIGSTORAGE (New York)
✦Europe ✦Software Development Europe ✦12BIGNETWORK-2 (Paris)
With the single Namespace LaCie_Files acting as a virtual volume,
all LaCie employees mount only one network drive. This is very help-
ful when users search for their data since there is no need to hunt
through a series of mounted network volumes. For the administrator,
management is simplified due to a single network drive for every-
one. Access to files is granted when a Shared folder is created.
As Table 03 - A Single Namespace with Folder Hierarchy demon-
strates, LaCie_Files provides easy access to Shared folders that are
dispersed among all three LaCie professional servers in New York
and Paris.
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 10
In Fig. 03, the DFS Management window lists the Tree folders and
their Target folders.
Fig. 03
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 11
All users in New York and Paris will have access to LaCie_Files. Note
the Target and Shared folders on the left in Fig. 04.
Fig. 04
From our example earlier, a salaried employee in the Accounting
department has been granted permission to open the Accounting
Americas and Accounting Europe Shared folders. Both are accessi-
ble within the Accounting Target folder. He can search his assigned
Shared folders within the Namespace LaCie_Files for important data
related to his job. However, he will not have access to other Shared
folders without receiving additional permission(s) from the admin-
istrator.

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 12
3.2. Replication (DFS-R)
DFS-R is a file service that can help administrators control bandwidth
issues over a wide area network (WAN). Users accessing files from
their local network, or LAN, usually experience limited to no delays.
However, lags in viewing files are not uncommon when many users
attempt to work with multiple files stored on one or more remote
servers.
This offers serious challenges to companies with branch offices due
to lost time. Branch office users must access data stored on servers
at the company headquarters and, in many instances, users at the
home office must retrieve data from their affiliates’ servers. A com-
pany’s bandwidth could find itself coming to a crawl with so many
requests for data over the WAN.
In such cases, replicating files using DFS-R can dramatically improve
bandwidth bottlenecks and enable employees to use their time more
efficiently. DFS-R will replicate data from a remote server to a server
on the LAN, providing faster access to files for the user. Further,
DFS-R uses remote differential compression (RDC), an intelligent en-
gine for updating files across the WAN. The RDC knows when a file
has been edited, revamped, or removed, and makes the necessary
adjustments on all the replicated files. If a file needs to be updated,
RDC knows to only replicate the changes, rather than the whole file.
For low to medium bandwidth WANs, DFS-R can help control bottle-
necks by significantly decreasing demand for data stored on remote
servers.
DFS-R may be implemented without DFS-N to replicate any type of
folder among two or more servers. For example, to backup folders
across servers or to push information from one server to many oth-
ers.
3.2.1. Replication Example - Branch Office
Returning to LaCie, we see that the administrator has created
Shared folders to store the company data. He has also assigned
a Namespace for convenient access to data folders. Each user no
longer looks for data over a large group of server volumes and
Shared folders.
However, after a few days testing the network, the administrator dis-
covers that employees in New York and Paris are losing valuable
time accessing files on remote servers. For example, when an ac-
counting manager in New York wants to see last month’s payroll
data for Europe, he has to wait due to limited network bandwidth.
This is not the case when reviewing the equivalent file for the Ameri-
cas stored on his LAN-based server.
continued on the next page>>
IMPORTANT NOTE: DFS-R is compatible with NTFS formatted
disk drives.

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 13
By enabling DFS-R on folders, the administrator can replicate data
stored on remote servers to LAN-based servers. Since a users’s ac-
cess is prioritized by geography, data will no longer be dragged
across the WAN. Instead, files are retrieved from the replicated fold-
ers on the LAN. Best of all, the replication is transparent to users
since they still see the same Namespace and its contents. The RDC
engine works in the background, discovering changes to files and
updating them on all the pertinent servers.
Table 04 - Replicating Folders shows a sampling of the folders in the
Namespace that will be replicated to the other LaCie professional
servers. Now, when the accounting manager in New York looks for
last month’s payroll data for Europe, the lengthy delay will be gone
since the file is replicated on his LAN.
12BIGNETWORK-1 (LaCie Paris) 12BIGNETWORK-2 (LaCie Paris)
5BIGSTORAGE (LaCie New York)
Namespace: LaCie_Files
✦Accounting Europe
✦Marketing Europe
Namespace: LaCie_Files
✦Creative Services Europe
✦Software Development Europe
✦Common Resources Europe
Namespace: LaCie_Files
✦Accounting Americas
✦Common Resources Americas
✦Creative Resources Americas
✦Marketing Americas
✦Software Development Americas
Table 04 - Replicating Folders
DFS-Replication
DFS-ReplicationDFS-Replication

LaCie Professional Server DFS-N & DFS-R
Technical Brief: DFS page 14
3.2.2. DFS-R as Backup
While the primary goal of our example is to improve bandwidth
performance, there are other advantages to employing DFS replica-
tion. As it turns out, replicating data to other servers is a simple and
effective way to configure an automatic backup.
As seen in Table 04 - Replicating Folders, folders are replicated
across three servers. In the event that one of the servers requires
temporary servicing or must be updated, the data will still be avail-
able to users due to replication on the other two servers. Further, it
is relatively transparent since the DFS-R knows to go to an available
server for the requested file(s).
3.2.3. DFS-R and Simultaneous File Sharing
While DFS-R is perfect for providing local (LAN) access to files
stored on remote servers (WAN), users are cautioned when sharing
or working on a document within the same period of time. DFS-R
does not look to a “master” server that sets the rules on how a file
is replicated. Rather, it is more democratic, intuitively updating rep-
licated files in all locations, no matter where the changes occur. If
a file is opened on one workstation at LaCie New York and another
workstation at LaCie Paris at the same time, DFS-R will replicate the
changes from the last user who chooses Save (“last writer wins”).
Edits registered just before the last user will go into a folder called
“Conflict and Deleted” on one of the servers. Access to the Conflict
and Deleted folder is limited to members of the local Administrators
group.
On a LAN, a user receives a warning if a file is in use. DFS-R, how-
ever, does not search the WAN for replicated versions when a file is
opened. This means that users at LaCie Paris and LaCie New York
can work on the same accounting spreadsheet at the same time.
If LaCie Paris logs his changes at 11:02 EST and LaCie New York
saves her version at 11:03 EST, the New York version is used by the
RDC for replication. The Paris version goes into the Conflict and
Deleted folder.
A second potential conflict could arrive when users are not working
on a document at the same time but within a period between file
replications. For example, the user at LaCie Paris edits a file and
saves it. Soon after, the user at LaCie New York opens the same
file, makes changes, and saves. Since there was no replication dur-
ing the interval that LaCie Paris and LaCie New York saved their
respective files, only the changes made by LaCie New York will be
replicated. The changes made by LaCie Paris will be ignored and his
file stored in the Conflict and Deleted folder.
An administrator should consider how often files must be simultane-
ously accessed or revised in a limited period of time. If users will
work on replicated files at the same time, there are third-party soft-
ware solutions for DFS-R to integrate file locking over a WAN.

LaCie Professional Server Namespace
Technical Brief: DFS page 15
4. Namespaces
Once DFS has been installed on your LaCie professional server, you
can create Namespaces to organize Target folders and files.
4.1. Create the Namespace
4.1.1. New Namespace
1. To launch the New Namespace Wizard, go to Start >Admin-
istrative Tools > DFS Management > New Namespace
2. The first window prompts you to select the server that will host
the Namespace. You can type the name of the server or search
for it using the Browse... button (Fig. 05). Click Next>.
Fig. 05
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server Namespace
Technical Brief: DFS page 16
3. Enter a name for the new Namespace (Fig. 06).
Fig. 06
4. To modify the settings for the Namespace, click Edit Settings...
(Fig. 06) and see the next step.
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server Namespace
Technical Brief: DFS page 17
5. In Fig. 07, we are creating a path for the Namespace in D,
the letter assigned to the 12BIGNETWORK-1 Data volume. As
a default, Windows Storage Server creates DFSRoots to better
identify the DFS in comparison with other files. The name can be
changed by the administrator. Click OK then Next>.
Fig. 07
6. Choose the type of Namespace you wish to create, domain-
based or stand-alone. Click Next>.
Fig. 08
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server Namespace
Technical Brief: DFS page 18
7. Review the choices you have made for the Namespace and click
CREATE (Fig. 09).
Fig. 09
continued on the next page>>

LaCie Professional Server Namespace
Technical Brief: DFS page 19
8. It will take a few minutes to create the Namespace. Once fin-
ished, a confirmation window appears (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10
9. The Namespace has been added to the server (Fig. 11).
Fig. 11

LaCie Professional Server Namespace
Technical Brief: DFS page 20
4.1.2. Add a Namespace Server (Domain
only)
Once a new Namespace is created, you can add it to other servers
in the domain. While many of the steps are similar, this process is
not the same as making a new or separate Namespace.
1. Create the first Namespace (4.1.1. New Namespace).
2. Go to Start >Administrative Tools > DFS Management >
Namespaces.
3. Right-click on the Namespace to select Add Namespace Serv-
er... (Fig. 12).
Fig. 12
4. Choose the destination server (Fig. 13). Click Edit Settings...
Fig. 13
continued on the next page>>