In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure materials for DFS, Microsoft explains that a DFS Namespace presents a virtual tree of folders, and each folder can have one or more folder targets . A folder target is simply " a UNC path to a shared folder that contains the actual data ." The guide emphasizes that folder targets do not need the DFS Namespaces role installed ; the role is only required on namespace servers that host the namespace itself. Likewise, DFS Replication (DFSR) is optional -you enable it only when you want to keep the contents of multiple folder targets synchronized.
The text states that " any SMB share on any Windows server (or cluster) can be used as a folder target ," and that " DFSR is used to replicate the data between folder targets but is not a prerequisite for configuring a target ." Applying this to the scenario: you are creating a domain-based namespace \\contoso.com\Public and a folder Finance . The namespace servers must have the DFS Namespaces role (e.g., Server1/Server3), but folder targets for Finance can reside on any server hosting an SMB share , regardless of whether the DFS Namespaces or DFS Replication roles are inst alled. Therefore, Server1, Server2, Server3, and Server4 can all be configured as folder targets for the Finance folder.