Hi all,

I am not sure why I would want to use offline files?

Scenario is as follows:

On my local workstation I have my document folder that I write and change
files. On my server I have folder redirection enabled. If I change files on
my local workstation they change on the server as well.

If my server goes down I still have a local copy on my workstation. If I
make any changes while the server is down....so what, they will get copied
when the server comes back online.....right???

Am I missing something??


D

--






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I'm not sure I understand your configuration. If you have redirection
enabled, your My Documents folder is actually stored on the server. In the
default configuration for redirection, your documents are synchronized to
the local PC, and that's Offline Files. So if the server is unavailable for
any reason, you work from the offline copy, which then syncs back up when
the server becomes available, or at logoff, etc. depending on how you've
configured it.

If you r-click My Documents on the Start Menu -> Properties, you'll be able
to see if the My Documents folder is kept on the server or locally. And if
you go to Windows Explorer and click Tools -> Folder Options -> Offline
Files -> View, you'll be able to see the offline copies of the files that
are stored on the server.

IMO this scenario gives the best of both worlds - the docs are stored on the
server for backup purposes, while being available on the local PC in case an
unexpected event prevents access to the server copies.

"-Draino-" <guest@unknown.com> wrote in message
newsE170DCB-CA6F-4D31-926F-CDA5E9724EE2@microsoft.com...

-Draino- <guest@unknown.com> wrote:
Nor am I!
Not in realtime, if you're using offline files.
Unless something goes wrong. And things *do* go wrong sometimes. And in a
small office, if "the server" (as opposed to a larger network with
*multiple* servers) goes down I don't want users accessing/working on
anything, period. Just in case.
I personally don't see why anyone would want offline files enabled on LAN
connected machines. I disable it via group policy and use folder redirection
for My Documents, and usually also Application Data and Desktop.

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]
<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatya hoo.com> wrote:
Sorry, my bad - if your server's up you are entirely correct.

Let me try again.

Brand New SBS 2003 Server. Out of the box it has an option in server config
for Folder Redirect. Default is Documents only, App Data, Desktop, and Start
Menu not setup by default but do exist in the default GP. I set it up with
one click and am only using defaults for now.

SBS 2003 already has a shared folder by default for storing the folder
redirects...right out of the box!!!! Really Cool

On my XPSP2 box I have many folders and files in my "My Documents" folder. I
have not logged on to the Server from the XP box yet. But when I do, all of
my documents will be redirected to the SBS Server. Reading the documentation
tells me that I will still retain a local version of all files in the "My
Documents" folder and I will also have an exact copy on the SBS server. I am
guessing that the local copy is a cached copy and the "real" files are on
the Server. So when I make changes on the local XP machine they will change
in real time on the server.

If my server goes down, I still have a local copy that I can work with and
it never really matters if the server NEVER comes back online. If this is
the case why would I even consider making these files on the server
available offline??? In a sense they are already available
offline.....right???

I was reading this:
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/art...rver-2003.html
but have also read somewhere that offline files should be used as well.

Hope this clears things up a little.


D



"Dave Nickason [SBS MVP]" <gwdibble@NOSPAM.frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ECF351E4-C577-47E1-9288-7EBAF0B094C3@microsoft.com...

Right on all counts. When you log in, the group policy will apply, and your
existing My Documents folder and all contents will be moved to the server.
The "local copy" you refer to is only available because of Offline Files.
It should be configured automatically, so in that respect, you are correct
in saying that you would not configure it manually. It'll just take care of
itself, although I do recommend going into the offline files settings on the
XP machine and configuring how it syncs (for example, at system startup).

FWIW, my opinion on offline files differs from Duncan and Lanwench. I have
not had problems caused by synchronization or anything else to do with this
process. However, I do need users to be protected against unexpected
network or server down time. I work in a firm where people are frequently
working at or near a deadline, and the inability to access a document could
cause serious consequences. I need those files to be reliably available
offline, and they are (and I've tested it). If you think about the points
of failure between your workstation and the server, even a $3 cable or $50
switch can keep you from accessing a document. With offline and
redirection, if a workstation goes down, you can just log in elsewhere and
go back to work. If anything outside the workstation goes down, you just
transparently start working from the cached copy.

"NEVER comes back online" is a special case. If that happens, or if a
server has to be scratch reinstalled, you need to go to Windows Explorer on
the workstation, and save the files somewhere outside the offline cache. Of
course you would have a good server backup and this would just be
precautionary, but if you join the workstation to a newly created domain or
otherwise lose the ability to authenticate the original user account, you
can lose access to cached copies.


"-Draino-" <guest@unknown.com> wrote in message
news:3EB73804-6777-44F2-A545-7AF293E17B7D@microsoft.com...

Hi Dave,

What I didn't realize is that when I log on to the Domain from a Workstation
the Workstation gets a "new" My Doc's Folder named "My Documents.ServerName"

It didn't move my original "My Documents" folder to the Server. Did I do
something wrong???

I did not change the permissions on the default W2K3 Users folder. I did
create 3 subfolders named for each of my users but I did not set permissions
on them. When I look in these folders I can see a subfolder was created in
each of the folders for each of my users, Documents was created as well as
My Pictures folder.

Any Help would be appreciated

Thanks,

Randy Desrochers



"Dave Nickason [SBS MVP]" <gwdibble@NOSPAM.frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:3CD65C5C-7F81-41A6-8002-C56F6A60C83C@microsoft.com...

You should not have a local copy that you can access by browsing the file
system. The local copy is in the "client-side cache" - also known as
Offline Files. To view the offline files, you have to go to Windows
Explorer Tools -> Folder Options and look on the offline tab. Click the
View button to see the contents of the cache.


"-Draino-" <guest@unknown.com> wrote in message
news:FE6C5380-3E4A-4B23-9567-14CC133BDA7B@microsoft.com...