the configuration for AppSense is local, so when you log on to a disconnected device it knows you're not connected to the corporate network and sets up redirection as required for a disconnected device (or not at all, depending on what you want)
The universal filepath for redirected user folders would be controlled through the variable. So your filepath reads %HOMESERVER%\Share\Whatever and the configuration sets the server destination as required. Or am I misunderstanding your needs? I wouldn't move the files personally - it seems like a bit of a pain to have to have the files local to a specific server per user. Which is why I'd be keen to use proper EFSS - then all you need is the nearest "sync server" instead. Just curious, which of your needs did the APS guys say they couldn't meet? Obviously I wasn't there but based around the limited interaction we've had here I would think that EM could meet the needs you had. However I am renowned for pushing the limits of their product, often in directions they aren't keen for me to take, but most of my deployments the users and admins seem perfectly happy :-) -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Leone Sent: 03 September 2015 18:24 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] Using DFS for user home folders On Thu, Sep 3, 2015 at 1:05 PM, James Rankin <[email protected]> wrote: > Firstly I'd sack Offline Files and go for a proper EFSS solution like > OneDrive for Business, DataNow, Hightail, etc. etc. - there's loads in this > space. Offline Files are a major pain for clearing caches and whatnot - with > proper EFSS you just delete the local profile and you're done. > > How do you assign the file server - using a logon script of some sort? No, we just set the user's home folder in ADU&C. Group membership determines which GPO gets implemented, and the GPOs are set to redirect to the same server. > I've seen this done with AppSense loads of times and what they tend to do is > set a variable at user logon that depends on your location, device, etc. And when you logon to a disconnected device, say your laptop at home? > Then you just reference the variable "%HOMESERVER%" or whatever you > want to call it elsewhere in the configuration for redirection, GPO > and whatever else you need. If files need to be moved from one server > to another, initiate a File/Folder Copy Action if the variable has > changed from last time. Needs some work to evaluate and store the > variable, but I've done this previously where users needed to remember > the last default printer they had for a particular subnet (a nightmare > that was, indeed!) The problem is that it doesn't do all we want - no universal filepath for redirected user folders, etc. But it could help somewhat with the offline files aspect. And I don't want to move files during a logon if a variable has changed from last time, certainly not with multiple gig of files in some users folders. > There's other solutions in this space besides AppSense - RES, Immidio, > Scense, to name a few - but they all offer more or less the same set of > parameters. I know for certain you can do this with AppSense though. That's not what the AppSense folks told us yesterday in a webinar. It could do some, but not all, of what we want to happen.
