setting up DFS on server 2008 R2

The replication topology (mesh or hub-and-spoke) you choose depends on how you want to manage control.  Do you want changes on the off-site machine to replicate back to the main office or not?

And yes, deletions replicate, if the replication topology allows it.

Yes the off site server needs to replicate the data back because they are all using drwaings and the  make changes to them at the main site and the remote site.

So you'll want to make sure there's a path for replication to come back from the off-site location.  A full mesh might be easiest, just so you don't have to create each path individually.

Ok thats what I was going to do. I setup the namespace with the folders from the 2 servers at the main site, then I setup a replication group and I added in all 3 servers, 2 from the main site and the 1 from hte remote site.
I figured with the full mesh, data will replicate back forth between all 3 servers, correct?

That's correct.  Any change on any server will be replicated to the other two.

One more question and I think I know the answer but if a user has a file open at the remote site, does it lock the file while they are using it until they are done with it so that no one else can access it while they are using it?

That depends on the file and the application using it.  That it's in a DFS share doesn't affect that.  In other works, a Word document would be locked by Word.  A text document could be opened/edited in Notepad by several people at once - the last one to save overwriting all the others.

Ok thanks for all of your information. I will assign you the points in a bit after I make sure I dont have any more questrions if that is ok...

Ok I do have another question..
I got the replication occuring for a entire folder but now I need to add in some folders within another folder, but dont need the entire folder, how do I set this up and can a add it already to the replication group that I already have?
When I try to add folders like, ex: 3300, 3300-01, 3300-02, etc and then put them to the remote server, it tells me that the path is already in use when I try to save all 3 folders that I am am trying to replicate to the same folder on the remote server.

I'm not sure I understand your question.  Anything you put under the DFS share will be replicated, so yes, you can add folders, files, whatever.  

It's not possible to replicate only part of a folder (unless the DFS share starts inside that folder).  Does that make sense?

If you create folders on one DFS host, then try to create the same folders on another host with that share, you'll get a notice those folders already exist if they've replicated already...

Well here is what I meant...
c:\data\jobs\0012, 0013, 0014, 0015, 0016 0017, etc
When I try to select just say 0012 and 0013 from under the share, each time I try to tell it to go to the remote server at location c:\data\jobs, it says that I cant have more than one going to the same path.
Does that make any sense?

Not really!  Are you trying to copy folders from one location to another?  I can't think of any reason DFS would have a problem with that.

...or maybe you're doing something in the DFS management utility...?

I am trying to copy from one of the servers at the main location to the other server at the remote location with those folders that I showed you.
So I go in and add the folder targets but each time it tells me I cant add them to the same location on the remote which I am trying to repliacate thema ll to c:\data\jobs folder on the remote server..

Ah, I think I see.  I don't think that should be necessary.  If c:\data\jobs is the DFS root (or if c:\data is), anything underneath that should replicate.  You just need to set up a share on each machine who's going to participate and add that server to the list of namespace servers, specifying the share for the namespace.

So take the remote node, create a shared folder on it.  Add the server to the DFS namespace.  Don't worry about adding folders in the DFS Manager.  Everything in the source server's share will replicate to the destination server's share.

Well they dont wnat the entire jobs folder to replicate over they just want certain folders to replicate over. Is that possible or is it easier just to have to entire jobs folder replicate over?

Anything under the share will replicate.  If you don't want it to replicate, don't put it under the DFS share.  That's the limit of your control.

I guess I am a littl confused about the dfs share...
I have a namepsace setup now anda replication group. I have a share of 270GB that has just finished replicating because they needed the entire folder for that one. But now this job share, do I add the entire folder to the namespace and then remove folders from it that they do not want or am I wrong on this setup?

No, it sounds like you're on the right track.  

So I cant just pick folders out of a share and add them I have to add the entire share?
Also do I have to let the entire share replicate or can I removed folders fromit before I replicate it?

Not in the sense I think you mean, no.  Everything in the share/namespace is replicated.  

No, you don't have to wait for replication to finish.  What happens is each server keeps track of all the changes that need to be replicated, then the negotiate among themselves to see who has the most recent version.  So you can add and delete things while replication is starting and those changes will just get added to the list of changes that need to replicate.

Ok I understand that but back to my orignal thought. The client does not want the entire jobs share to be replicated, only certain folders from unde the jobs share. So what would be the best way to set that up?

Maybe something like:

Jobs
   Shared
      Folder1
      Folder2
      Folder3
   Unshared
      FolderA
      FolderB
      FolderC

...where the Shared folder contains those items to be replicated.  The Shared folder would be the DFS Root/Namespace and anything in it would replicate per your replication topology.

So do I just keep adding folders(from servers at the main offcie) to the one namespace that I have setup now which is replicating a complete share to the remote server or do I have to create another namespace?

Whether or not you create a separate namespace is more a managment issue.  Generally, if the folders are related and if they're replicated among the same servers, they would go in the same namespace.

 Another way to think about it would be to ask if you would normally group the data into a single share so people can have access to it.  If the answer is "No", you might want to create a new namespace.  Otherwise, there's no harm in having all the data in the same namespace.

I guess I am, well I know I am, getting confused on how to add the other folders now. I have the one namespace setup and the 1 replication group, and that is repliacting a complete share just fine. I am now trying to add in selected folders from another server and another share but each time it gives a error message something like the c:\jobs is already being replicated. Because it wans me to select the target server for each folder that I am trying to add in becuse the client does not want to replicate the entire jobs share.

Yes, but you're doing that in the DFS Manager (I believe).  What you should be doing is just copying the folders into the actual share on one of the replicating servers.  If that isn't what you want to do, consider creating a new set of shares, a new namespace, and a whole new replication topology.

This is the mesage that I get when I try to setup another replication group and add in the folders that they want from the share jobs folder....

The path entered (c:\jobs) confilcts with another replicated folder path (c:\jobs) for replication group abc123jobs

Because it wnats me to select a local path for each folder that I added.

Thanks for all of your help. Your information on this help to get this resolved.
Again, thanks for all of your great inforamtion.

I'm happy you were able to get it working and to have helped.