Friday, December 12, 2003

Setting up an Windows 2003 FTP with Isolated Storage Google Search It During a previous attempt to set up Windows 2003 FTP server in Isolated Storage mode I was unsuccessful.  This link, however, provided the additional information I need such a that I could get it working even with the DFS share I configured.  The keys were to create a directory named after my domain (MICHAELIS) in the root folder and then to place each user's directory (using the users logon name) within that folder.  For anonymous access I needed a folder called "LocalUser" which included a directory called "Public".  That got everything working.  A few comments: When I create the ftp site couldn't the wizard optionally create these directories for me? I would really like to have each users default ftp directory map to their corresponding directory under Documents and Settings.  Alas, this would require creating a virtual folder for each user from within IIS (I presume this would work?). The Isolated Storage mode using Active Directory option seems really lame.  It is supposed to be specifically targeted at ISPs, however, it requires a special script be run for each user that is to have ftp access.  LAME!  One would think that this type of thing would be auto-configurable.  Oh well, I guess my expectations are a little to high. Anyway, I kinda of agree with some on the comments on my last ftp post indicating that it is kinda poor.  For a server based product that has been available for more that 10 years one would think they could create a better ftp server.  That said, the insecure nature and push for users to use WebDav, perhaps explains Microsoft's behavior in this area. 11:38:29 PM   []    comment []

Setting Up DFS on Windows 2003 Google Search It I tried to set up the Windows 2003 Distributed File System (DFS) this evening.  I wanted to use this as the root for my FTP and Web directories.  The process went relatively smoothly at first.  After opening up the Distributed File System MMC I elected to "New Root...."  This prompted me as to whether I wanted a domain root or a stand-alone root.  The stand-alone option creates a DFS share using the name of the computer on which the root is configured.  Since I wanted this to look as though it was on the domain and not a particular computer I instead elected to use the Domain Root option and selected my domain (MICHAELIS.NET) at the next dialog.  After selecting the computer (LION) I provided a DFS "Share" name (Data).  Next I selected the "Documents and Settings" directory as this is what I wanted to make distributed.  That was it!  Now when I browse to \Michaelis.netdata I see the DFS as though it was a Share on a computer named Michaelis.net. Now for the problem:  Every time I tried to perform any write operation I received an Access Denied message.  Bummer!  I checked the file security permissions but since I could write directly to the Documents And Settings directory (outside of the DFS) this didn't appear to be the problem.  I wrestled with if for a little while and eventually realized that when the DFS share was created a Share was added to the computer (LION) with the same name as the share DFS name (Data).  Checking the security properties of this share revealed that it indeed it was read-only and changing that solved the problem.  (I should have purchase a Mac - fewer options and it just works.) 11:03:19 PM   []    comment []

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