Adding a DFS link

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

A Distributed File System (DFS) link is an element in the DFS namespace that lies below the root and maps to one or more targets. Instead of seeing the target's actual name and physical location, users accessing a DFS namespace see the link name listed as a folder under the root. Because link names are not constrained by the target's name or location, you can create link names that are meaningful to the user. For example, you could create a link named "Marketing" that points to one or more targets that contain marketing information regardless of the actual name and location of those targets.

Large domain-based DFS namespaces might cause significantly increased network traffic due to the size of the DFS Active Directory object. As a result, it is recommended that you use fewer than 5,000 DFS links for a domain root. The largest recommended namespace size for a stand-alone root is 50,000 links on servers running Windows Server 2003.

For more information, see Add a DFS link.