I'm currently utilizing two on-premises file servers in different locations that synchronize file shares using DFS-N and DFS-R to present a unified path. As part of our cloud migration, I'm planning to create a file share in Azure Files and use it as a target for my existing DFS shares, aiming for essentially triple redundancy. Are there any potential downsides or catches to this setup?
2 Answers
Azure File Sync is a great solution for this! It allows you to manage your file shares in Azure while still keeping your on-premise infrastructure in the loop. You can easily sync everything without the need for DFS-R. Just keep DFS-N for the namespace.
You're definitely on the right track! First, set up your Azure file share, then configure the Azure File Sync Cloud Endpoint, and install the AFS agent on both your on-prem DFS servers. Once replication finishes, you can ditch DFS-R, making Azure Files your primary source while your local servers act as cache. By the way, I made a video covering all the steps if you need a visual guide!
Thanks for the tips! I'm concerned though—my domain is a .local domain. Will that complicate things? We do have Azure VMs that communicate with our local setup but haven't implemented AFS yet.