9.1 Guidelines for Combining Platforms, Volumes, and Protocols

When planning your DFS environment, consider the guidelines in this section for the supported combinations of platforms, volumes, and protocols.

9.1.1 Supported Combinations for Junctions

DFS junctions point to data that is stored on a different NSS volume or NCP volume. Table 9-1 summarizes the requirements for the junction, junction target location, and the users’ file access. Consider the following additional requirements:

  • Both the junction and junction target servers must use the same file access protocol for users.

  • You must configure file system trustee rights for users on the junction and the junction target location. For visibility, users must have at least Read and File Scan rights on the target location.

  • When you create a junction, the target volume or subdirectory must already exist.

  • The junctions on the target volume must also be supported by the protocol the users are using to access data.

  • Novell CIFS for Linux allows multiple levels of junctions when the junction points to the root of a target volume or to a subdirectory.

In the following table, the NetWare and Linux platforms represent only the explicitly supported versions of NetWare and Linux as defined in Section 3.1, Requirements for OES 2 Services.

Table 9-1 Supported Combinations for Junctions

Junction Server

Junction Target Server

Target Location

User

Platform

Volume

Protocol

Platform

Volume

Protocol

Root

Subdir

File Access

NetWare or Linux

NSS

NCP

NetWare or Linux

NSS

NCP

Yes

Yes (no junctions)

Novell Client

NetWare or Linux

NSS

NCP

Linux

NCP Volume

NCP

Yes

Yes (no junctions)

Novell Client

NetWare

NSS

CIFS

NetWare

NSS

CIFS

Yes

No

CIFS/Samba

Linux

NSS

CIFS

Linux

NSS

CIFS

Yes

Yes

CIFS/ Samba

NetWare

NSS

CIFS

Linux

NSS

Samba

Yes (no junctions)

No

CIFS/Samba

9.1.2 Supported Combinations for Moving Volumes

The Move operation moves the implicit rights of the source volume to the target volume. If it is a different pool, the destination pool can be on the same server or on a different server in the same DFS management context. Table 9-2 summarizes the requirements for the original and destination servers.

During the move process, the original and destination servers must both use the NCP protocol. Users can continue to access data via NCP or CIFS/Samba in the original location while data is being copied to the new location. After the move, you can configure the destination server to use NCP, CIFS, or Samba, as appropriate for your environment.

IMPORTANT:Samba does not support DFS junctions. If you move a volume from NetWare to Linux, junctions on the volume are broken for Samba users.

After the move is complete, the volume location is automatically updated in the VLDB. This ensures that junctions that point to the volume are not broken. No junctions are created in the move process.

In the following table, the NetWare and Linux platforms represent only the explicitly supported versions of NetWare and Linux as defined in Section 3.1, Requirements for OES 2 Services.

Table 9-2 Supported Combinations for the Move Volume Task

Original Server Configuration

Destination Server Configuration

Platform

Volume

Protocol

Platform

Volume

Protocol

NetWare or Linux

NSS

NCP, during the move

NetWare

NSS (new)

NCP, during the move

NCP or CIFS, after the move

NetWare or Linux

NSS

NCP, during the move

Linux

NSS (new)

NCP, during the move

NCP or Samba (no junctions), after the move

9.1.3 Supported Combinations for Splitting Volumes

The DFS Split Volume task splits data from a directory on an NSS volume to a new NSS volume. You can split the volume at any subdirectory level. The target location is the root of a new NSS volume. The Split Volume task does not allow you to split a volume to a subdirectory. Table 9-3 summarizes the requirements for the original and destination server.

During the split process, the original and target servers must both use the NCP protocol. Users can continue to access data via NCP or CIFS/Samba in the original location while data is being copied to the new location. After the split is complete, a junction is created in place of the directory in the original volume. Users access data in the target location via that junction.

IMPORTANT:Samba does not support DFS junctions. If you split an NSS volume on Linux, the junction works only for NCP users.

The Split operation moves the implicit rights on the directory being split to the target volume. For visibility, users must have at least Read and File Scan rights on the target location.

In the following table, the NetWare and Linux platforms represent only the explicitly supported versions of NetWare and Linux as defined in Section 3.1, Requirements for OES 2 Services.

Table 9-3 Supported Combinations for the Split Volume Task

Original Server Configuration

Destination Server Configuration

Junction Target Location

Platform

Volume

Protocol

Platform

Volume

Protocol

Root

Subdirectory

NetWare or Linux

NSS

NCP, during the split

NCP, after the split

NetWare or Linux

NSS (new)

NCP, during the split

NCP, after the split

Yes

Not allowed

NetWare

NSS

NCP, during the split

CIFS, after the split

NetWare

NSS (new)

NCP, during the split

CIFS, after the split

Yes

Not allowed

Not supported for CIFS/Samba

NetWare

NSS

NCP, during the split

CIFS, after the split

Linux

NSS (new)

NCP, during the split

Samba, after the split

Yes (no junctions)

Not allowed

Not supported for CIFS/Samba