What is FRS and its Utilities

[DanielV]

I got some problem with my Vista system today. Actually my files in System Volume (SYSVOL) and Distributed File System (DFS) shares are replicated excessively and there is no apparent change to the files. So when i asked to one my colleague about this error, he said this issue is related to FRS. What is FRS and its utilities ? i have never heard about this. Please help.

[Techno01]

File Replication service (FRS) is a technology that replicates files and folders stored in the SYSVOL shared folder on domain controllers and Distributed File System (DFS) shared folders. When FRS detects that a change has been made to a file or folder within a replicated shared folder, FRS replicates the updated file or folder to other servers. Because FRS is a multimaster replication service, any server that participates in replication can generate changes. In addition, FRS can resolve file and folder conflicts to make data consistent among servers.

By keeping files and folders synchronized across servers, FRS enables organizations to increase the availability of data. If one server becomes unavailable, the files are still available, because they exist on another server. Using multiple servers to host data also helps organizations that have offices in multiple geographic locations, because clients can access servers in or closest to their current site and do not need to use expensive WAN links to access data.

FRS is closely related to Active Directory replication. It is the process by which the changes that are made to Active Directory objects on one domain controller are automatically synchronized with other domain controllers. This replication method does not use FRS and does not include SYSVOL replication. However, FRS replicates SYSVOL by using the connection object topology and schedule that the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) creates for Active Directory replication.

[deveritt]

You can use the FRS debug log files and the outbound log of the FRS database to locate the source of FRS replicating files. To solve your problem,, just go through this steps:-

Open a Windows NT CMD prompt, and then type: cd /d %systemroot%\debug
From the %SystemRoot%\Debug folder, use either of the following steps: If you are using FRS in Windows 2000 or Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1), run the following command:

findstr /i "contentcmd" %systemroot%\debug\ntfrs_00??.log

If you are using FRS in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2003, increase log level verbosity to 4, and then let the service run for a sufficient period of time to capture replication events. To filter the FRS change events, run the following command:

findstr /i "content" %systemroot%\debug\ntfrs_00??.log

Use the Layout tab in the CMD sessions properties to set the window size width and height to accommodate FINDSTR output. To start, set the width at 110 characters, the height at 45, and the resolution to 1024 x 768.

[Dodger]

Basic FRS Components

When you set up DFS replication, you choose a shared folder whose contents you want to replicate. For the SYSVOL shared folder on domain controllers, replication is established automatically during the domain controller promotion process. The set of data to be replicated to all servers is known as the replica tree, and the servers to receive this replica tree are known as replica members. The group of replica members that participates in the replication of a given replica tree is known as a replica set. Replica members are connected in a topology, which is a framework of connections between servers and defines the replication path. There are a number of common topologies, such as full mesh, ring, and hub and spoke.