w2k3_bridges_required

repadmin’s w2k3_bridges_required setting is often a misunderstood setting. Even I was confused to its usage. So when elite PFE engineer Glenn explained in an internal DL, I felt it would be good to share with others.

The +W2K3_BRIDGES_REQUIRED has nothing to do with DFS.  Repeat after me….”+W2K3_BRIDGES_REQUIRED has nothing to do with DFS”

This setting, when configured on a site, tells the KCC on the ISTG in said site to ignore the BASL setting (on or off) when determining site link transitiveness for the purpose of creating connection objects. Nothing more, nothing less.

If you want DFS to provide intelligence that can take advantage of site link costing, then you turn on sitecostedreferrals ( see DFS Tools and Settings for details).  If you want that intelligence to extend beyond the adjacent site, then you must have a site link bridge to the transitive sites containing DFS namespace and link servers.

One way to accomplish this transitiveness is the catchall BASL.  Another completely accurate way is manual site link bridge for each referral path for which you would like the costed referral to be something less than infinity.  That does not necessarily necessitate a full mesh of site link bridges.

DFS is just a consumer of ISM and its site cost matrix services.

If there is an adjacent or transitive path from this site to some other site, then that other site will have a cost from this site.  If there is no adjacent or transitive path from this site to some other site, then the cost of the other site is infinity.

DFS will order referrals for DFS namespace servers and link servers based on that servers site location and its cost away from the callers site.