Hi all, I need to create some type of universal share as the shares within a specific company change often. DFS is a bit overkill for this as it's only two shares I need. Server1 has share company Server2 has share 3d This is going to change in the future. How could I make these shares show in the \\domain.local\ share? This is so when I introduce Server3, I can move all the data here and only have to change dns or domain.local share to this machine. Users shortcuts won't be affected.

If you don't want to use DFS namespaces then have you considered creating two shortcuts for the targets above and placing them in a folder (on a server for example) and deploying a shortcut to that folder to users by Group Policy? Below you have a tutorial: http://www.grouppolicy.biz/2011/04/screencast-how-to-use-group-policy-preferences-to-setup-up-shortcuts/Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi, Thanks for your posting. Replies above are available solution for your requirement. 1. Create a sharefolder at your DC; we assume the folder name is “allshare” 2. Create two shortcuts target to your Server1 sharefolder and Server2 sharefolder Then user can access data distributed on Server1 and Server2 form “\\DC(FQDN or NetBIOS)\allshare\shortcut1 or shortcut2”. So next time you can just create a shortcut for Server3. Attention, access “\\domain name\allshare\” is not available in this setting. In any case, we still recommend you use DFS, it’s more easy to set and manage. For more information please refer to following MS articles: Best practices for Distributed File System (DFS) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736324(v=WS.10).aspx Distributed File System (DFS) How To... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758923(v=WS.10).aspx How To Share Files and Folders over the Network in a Windows Server 2003 Domain Environment http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324267 Lawrence Lv TechNet Community Support

It depends on your target aim. If you need only access to share, then make an shortcut icon for something like explorer \\server\share or if you want to personalize share explorer \\server\share\myspace When user closes Explorer window the connection disappeares.

If you don't want to use DFS namespaces then have you considered creating two shortcuts for the targets above and placing them in a folder (on a server for example) and deploying a shortcut to that folder to users by Group Policy? Below you have a tutorial: http://www.grouppolicy.biz/2011/04/screencast-how-to-use-group-policy-preferences-to-setup-up-shortcuts/Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hello, For shares access using \\domain.local\share, it will be better to use DFS namespace. If the wanted domain name is different your AD domain name then you can proceed like that: Create a new DNS zone named domain.local Create an empty A record with the file server's IP address Create wanted shares Even you have just two shares, I would recommend using DFS namespace. For simple access to shares, you can also use mapped drives. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

Thanks for the replies.

Hi, Thanks for your posting. Replies above are available solution for your requirement. 1. Create a sharefolder at your DC; we assume the folder name is “allshare” 2. Create two shortcuts target to your Server1 sharefolder and Server2 sharefolder Then user can access data distributed on Server1 and Server2 form “\\DC(FQDN or NetBIOS)\allshare\shortcut1 or shortcut2”. So next time you can just create a shortcut for Server3. Attention, access “\\domain name\allshare\” is not available in this setting. In any case, we still recommend you use DFS, it’s more easy to set and manage. For more information please refer to following MS articles: Best practices for Distributed File System (DFS) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736324(v=WS.10).aspx Distributed File System (DFS) How To... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758923(v=WS.10).aspx How To Share Files and Folders over the Network in a Windows Server 2003 Domain Environment http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324267 Lawrence Lv TechNet Community Support