Overview

Using the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) convention to mount file shares makes things easier. Advantages include:

• Your mapping can still work even when the provisioning service underneath changes completely.
• The DFS convention is easier to remember than the fully qualified names.A fully qualified name may look something like, <as-chm-serv_2.ad.cornell.edu>.
• DFS leverages AD groups, making permissions easier to understand for users, and more efficient to support and maintain.
• Mount points can be on a wide variety of services on campus, including services provisioned by CRCF, A&S, and CIT.

Cornell's Active Directory domain supports DFS, which is available to Windows, Macs, and Linux computers. Below are examples of how you can use the Cornell implementation as a member of the Chemistry department.

Research group with file server services have group accounts with easy-to-remember mount-point names:

• Abruna, Dichtel, Freed (2 names coming), Lin.
• Example: \\files.cornell.edu\as\chm\abruna mounts the Abruna Group's file share.

Windows

\\files.cornell.edu\as\chm\... wherever you have permission to look and/ or write to.

CCB staff using Windows have the following auto-mapped:

• Staff file shares. R:
  is mapped to <\\files.cornell.edu\as\chm\>.
• From R:
  , you can browser department file shares you are authorized to either just see or see and write to.

This service will not work with:

• Non-CU AD computers, such as a student's personal computer.

Mac and Linux

smb://files.cornell.edu/as/chm/... wherever you have permission to look and/ or write to.

All staff Macs are on CU AD, as are many Research Macs.

This service will not work with:

• Non-CU AD computers, such as a student's personal computer.
• Mac OS X 10.6 or older.
• Q: Read-only for NTFS shares?