File Server Migration: Offline Files + Changes Lost

[fault]

We are in the process of migrating our main file server from an old server running Windows 2000 Server to a new server running Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition. During testing we've found that for laptop users (who use local profiles, folder redirection for the Desktop/My Documents, and Offline Files), any changes made to their existing files (or any creation of new files) while they're "offline" and away from the network aren't reflected when they return to the network.

In between the user disconnecting from the network, making changes offline, and reconnecting to the network, we modify the GPO that defines the UNC path to the redirected Desktop/My Documents file server.

Basically, any files that were synchronised onto the old server before disconnecting from the network are preserved and copied across to the new server. When the user reconnects to the network, the Desktop/My Documents folders redirect fine to the new server and the user can continue working. But all the changes to existing files or the creation of any new files while offline aren't synchronised/copied across to the new path and seem to be lost.

Has anyone got a nice solution to this problem? :)

I found this article (which suggests using the Microsoft File Server Migration Toolkit, FSMT, to create a DFS root server and so on) but we use Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition on the new server so we're out of luck there.

[dcline]

Hi Fault, oddly enough I found your post here after I found the same article on FSMT as you did while trying to find the answer to this conundrum. I don't want to try to justify buying "Enterprise" just to save me from digging for an affordable answer to this problem.

If anyone has an idea on how we can do this it would be greatly appreciated by more than one person now. I'll let you know what I come up with on this if I happen upon anything.

[Guest]

Im not sure what you mean by out of luck with your R2 server? R2 is the current daddy for DFS. R2 has DFSR which is new improved version which will feature in Windows 2008. Anyway this new version will be useless as your old server is 2000.

Anyway since you have an existing Windows 2000 server use the normal "Distributed File System" on the Windows 2003 server to replicate the folders from the 2000 server to the new 2003 server.

The Windows 2000 server will only allow you to create one DFS Root. The 2003 server allows more. You only need to create one root though with multiple replicated folders.