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AD integrated DFS

This is more of just an assurance of what i think i know. So, as of now we deploy msi files via a single server..i.e. \\servername\share. Clients boot up and should that GPO be applied to an OU where the comptuer account resides, that computer will get the application. My question is this, since this is a physical server should that server die, even though we add a new server with the exact same name and share location, the application will get intalled again (looking for documentation on this but can't find any). Now, if we use AD integrated DFS teh path is virtual. So should a server in the DFS fail, everything will still be groovy. We just need to add a new server and integrate it with the AD DFS. No comptuers will get the application installed again.

More to this, is AD integrated DFS is site savy and can load balance. Just seeing what others are doing and if i understand the benefits of DFS (\\domain.com\share) vs \\servername\share).

Many Thanks

Joseph Daly

First I would think that the sever dying and being replaced with another server with the same name and paths etc would not cause the software to be reinstalled. I believe that AD handles all of the software push via GPO. As long as you didnt move the computer out of its existing GPO I would bet that the software policy would not get pushed again.

I would also reccomend doing the DFS method just for the benefits it has. Like you said the DFS path is virutal and if one server dies the others will pick up the slack. Also if you have a distribute network with several sites in different locations the machines will pull from their closest server in the DFS replication. If there is a DFS member server onsite it will go to that one. This should reduce the amount of traffic you are putting over the network.

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