New Domain-Based Namespaces On The Way!

Things have been a little quiet around here since we released Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 (over 250,000 downloads so far and counting!), so I wanted to take this chance to let you know about something that you’ll soon be able to take advantage of in Windows Server 2008. The DFS Namespaces team has let me know that they are adding support for domain-based namespaces that exceed the previous size recommendation of 5,000 folders with targets in a namespace. Starting in Windows Server 2008, you will be able to use the DFS Management snap-in to create a new domain-based namespace in one of the following modes:

• Windows 2000 Server mode provides the same functionality and scalability currently available in namespaces hosted on servers running Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003.
• Windows Server 2008 mode provides increased scalability and support for access-based enumeration, which will be configurable using Dfsutil. There are now no hard limits to the size of the namespace – however, we are currently running performance tests to determine guidelines for sizing these new domain-based namespaces for practical performance considerations.

To create a domain-based namespace in Windows Server 2008 mode, your servers and domain will need to meet the following requirements:

• The domain functional level must be Windows Server 2008
• All servers hosting the namespace must run Windows Server 2008

Stand-alone namespaces will also benefit from the underlying DFS Namespaces changes made in Windows Server 2008, allowing stand-alone namespaces hosted on servers running Windows Server 2008 to support access-based enumeration.

Pretty cool, no? Stay tuned for more feature update news as we get ready for our next big milestone release 🙂

David.