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# How to use DFS Namespaces with Azure Files
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[Distributed File Systems Namespaces](/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/dfs-overview), commonly referred to as DFS Namespaces or DFS-N, is a Windows Server server role that's widely used to simplify the deployment and maintenance of SMB file shares in production. DFS Namespaces is a storage namespace virtualization technology, which means that it enables you to provide a layer of indirection between the UNC path of your file shares and the actual file shares themselves. DFS Namespaces works with SMB file shares, agnostic of where those file shares are hosted. It can be used with SMB shares hosted on an on-premises Windows File Server with or without Azure File Sync, Azure file shares directly, SMB file shares hosted in Azure NetApp Files or other third-party offerings, and even with file shares hosted in other clouds.
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[Distributed File Systems Namespaces](/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/dfs-overview), commonly referred to as DFS Namespaces or DFS-N, is a Windows Server server role that's used to simplify the deployment and maintenance of SMB file shares in production. DFS Namespaces provides storage namespace virtualization, enabling you to provide a layer of indirection between the UNC path of your file share and the actual file share. DFS Namespaces works with SMB file shares, agnostic of where those file shares are hosted. It can be used with SMB shares hosted on an on-premises Windows File Server with or without Azure File Sync, Azure file shares directly, SMB file shares hosted in Azure NetApp Files or other third-party offerings, and even with file shares hosted in other clouds.
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At its core, DFS Namespaces provides a mapping between a user-friendly UNC path, like `\\contoso\shares\ProjectX` and the underlying UNC path of the SMB share like `\\Server01-Prod\ProjectX` or `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\projectx`. When the end user wants to navigate to their file share, they type in the user-friendly UNC path, but their SMB client accesses the underlying SMB path of the mapping. You can also extend this basic concept to take over an existing file server name, such as `\\MyServer\ProjectX`. You can use this capability to achieve the following scenarios:
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- Provide a migration-proof name for a logical set of data. In this example, you have a mapping like `\\contoso\shares\Engineering`that maps to `\\OldServer\Engineering`. When you complete your migration to Azure Files, you can change your mapping so your user-friendly UNC path points to `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\engineering`. When an end user accesses the user-friendly UNC path, they will be seamlessly redirected to the Azure file share path.
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- Provide a migration-proof name for a logical set of data. For example, you can mapp `\\contoso\shares\Engineering` to `\\OldServer\Engineering`. When you complete your migration to Azure Files, you can change the mapping to `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\engineering`, such that when an end user accesses the user-friendly UNC path, they are seamlessly redirected to the Azure file share path.
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- Establish a common name for a logical set of data that is distributed to multiple servers at different physical sites, such as through Azure File Sync. In this example, a name such as `\\contoso\shares\FileSyncExample` is mapped to multiple UNC paths such as `\\FileSyncServer1\ExampleShare`, `\\FileSyncServer2\DifferentShareName`, `\\FileSyncServer3\ExampleShare`. When the user accesses the user-friendly UNC, they are given a list of possible UNC paths and choose the one closest to them based on Windows Server Active Directory (AD) site definitions.
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- Extend a logical set of data across size, IO, or other scale thresholds. This is common when dealing with user directories, where every user gets their own folder on a share, or with scratch shares, where users get arbitrary space to handle temporary data needs. With DFS Namespaces, you stitch together multiple folders into a cohesive namespace. For example, `\\contoso\shares\UserShares\user1` maps to `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\user1`, `\\contoso\shares\UserShares\user2` maps to `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\user2`, and so on.
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- Extend a logical set of data across size, IO, or other scale thresholds. This might be useful when dealing with user directories, where every user gets their own folder on a share, or with scratch shares, where users get arbitrary space to handle temporary data needs. With DFS Namespaces, you stitch together multiple folders into a cohesive namespace. For example, `\\contoso\shares\UserShares\user1` maps to `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\user1`, `\\contoso\shares\UserShares\user2` maps to `\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\user2`, and so on.
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You can see an example of how to use DFS Namespaces with your Azure Files deployment in the following video overview. Note that Azure Active Directory is now Microsoft Entra ID. For more information, see [New name for Azure AD](https://aka.ms/azureadnewname).
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You can see an example of how to use DFS Namespaces with your Azure Files deployment in the following video overview.
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[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd49W33DxkQ)
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> [!NOTE]
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If you already have a DFS Namespace in place, no special steps are required to use it with Azure Files and File Sync. If you're accessing your Azure file share from on-premises, normal networking considerations apply. See [Azure Files networking considerations](./storage-files-networking-overview.md) for more information.
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## Applies to
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| File share type | SMB | NFS |
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| Standard file shares (GPv2), LRS/ZRS |||
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| Standard file shares (GPv2), GRS/GZRS |||
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- An Active Directory domain. This can be hosted anywhere you like, such as on-premises, in an Azure virtual machine (VM), or even in another cloud.
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- A Windows Server that can host the namespace. A common pattern deployment pattern for DFS Namespaces is to use the Active Directory domain controller to host the namespaces, however the namespaces can be setup from any server with the DFS Namespaces server role installed. DFS Namespaces is available on all supported Windows Server versions.
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- An SMB file share hosted in a domain-joined environment, such as an Azure file share hosted within a domain-joined storage account, or a file share hosted on a domain-joined Windows File Server using Azure File Sync. For more on domain-joining your storage account, see [Identity-based authentication](storage-files-active-directory-overview.md). Windows File Servers are domain-joined the same way regardless of whether you're using Azure File Sync.
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- The SMB file shares you want to use with DFS Namespaces must be reachable from your on-premises networks. This is primarily a concern for Azure file shares, however, it technically applies to any file share hosted in the cloud. For more information, see [Networking considerations for direct access](storage-files-networking-overview.md).
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- The SMB file shares you want to use with DFS Namespaces must be reachable from your on-premises networks. For more information, see [Networking considerations for direct access](storage-files-networking-overview.md).
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## Install the DFS Namespaces server role
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In the **Installation Type** section of the installation wizard, select the **Role-based or feature-based installation** radio button and select **Next**. On the **Server Selection** section, select the desired server(s) on which you want to install the DFS Namespaces server role, and select **Next**.
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In the **Server Roles** section, select and check the **DFS Namespaces** role from role list. You can find this under **File and Storage Services** > **File and ISCSI Services**. When you select the DFS Namespaces server role, it might also add any required supporting server roles or features that you don't already have installed.
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In the **Server Roles** section, select and check the **DFS Namespaces** role under **File and Storage Services** > **File and ISCSI Services**. When you select the DFS Namespaces server role, it might also add any required supporting server roles or features that you don't already have installed.
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After you have checked the **DFS Namespaces** role, you may select **Next** on all subsequent screens, and select **Install** as soon as the wizard enables the button. When the installation is complete, you may configure your namespace.
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After you check the **DFS Namespaces** role, you can select **Next** on all subsequent screens, and select **Install** as soon as the wizard enables the button. When the installation is complete, you may configure your namespace.
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# [PowerShell](#tab/azure-powershell)
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From an elevated PowerShell session (or using PowerShell remoting), execute the following commands.
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# [Portal](#tab/azure-portal)
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On a Windows DNS server, open the DNS management console. You can find this by selecting the **Start** button and typing **DNS**. Navigate to the forward lookup zone for your domain. For example, if your domain is `contoso.com`, the forward lookup zone can be found under **Forward Lookup Zones** > **`contoso.com`** in the management console. The exact hierarchy shown in this dialog depends on the DNS configuration for your network.
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Right-click on your forward lookup zone and select **New Alias (CNAME)**. In the resulting dialog, enter the short name for the file server you're replacing (the fully qualified domain name will be auto-populated in the textbox labeled **Fully qualified domain name**). In the textbox labeled **Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the target host**, enter the name of the DFS-N server you have set up. You can use the **Browse** button to help you select the server if desired. Select **OK** to create the CNAME record for your server.
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Right-click on your forward lookup zone and select **New Alias (CNAME)**. In the resulting dialog, enter the short name for the file server you're replacing (the fully qualified domain name is auto-populated in the textbox labeled **Fully qualified domain name**). In the textbox labeled **Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the target host**, enter the name of the DFS-N server. You can use the **Browse** button to help you select the server if desired. Select **OK** to create the CNAME record for your server.
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The basic unit of management for DFS Namespaces is the namespace. The namespace root, or name, is the starting point of the namespace, such that in the UNC path `\\contoso.com\Public\`, the namespace root is `Public`.
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If you're using DFS Namespaces to take over an existing server name with root consolidation, the name of the namespace should be the name of server name you want to take over, prepended with the `#` character. For example, if you want to take over an existing server named `MyServer`, you would create a DFS-N namespace called `#MyServer`. The PowerShell section below takes care of prepending the `#`, but if you create via the DFS Management console, you'll need to prepend as appropriate.
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If you're using DFS Namespaces to take over an existing server name with root consolidation, the name of the namespace should be the name of server name you want to take over, prepended with the `#` character. For example, if you want to take over an existing server named `MyServer`, you would create a DFS-N namespace called `#MyServer`. The PowerShell example takes care of prepending the `#`, but if you create via the DFS Management console, you'll need to prepend as appropriate.
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# [Portal](#tab/azure-portal)
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To create a new namespace, open the **DFS Management** console. You can find this by selecting the **Start** button and typing **DFS Management**. The resulting management console has two sections called **Namespaces** and **Replication**, which refer to DFS Namespaces and DFS Replication (DFS-R) respectively. Azure File Sync provides a modern replication and synchronization mechanism that may be used in place of DFS-R if replication is also desired.
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