Subdirectory of local drive 'map' to a UNC?

[davecampbell]

Is there a way to map a subdirectory of a local drive to a share on a file server?

Ideally, I'd like to have something like:

D:\ACCOUNTING map to //server/accounting
D:\PROJECTS map to //server/projects
D:\UTILITY map to //server/utility

Is there such a thing as .DIR file that has the UNC in it, or something?

An alternative might be to map a drive to one UNC, but how would I then make the other UNC show as a subdirectory of the mapped drive (instead of additional mapped drives)?

So, this may work, if possible:

Y:\ maps to //server/whatever
Y:\ACCOUNTING maps to //server/accounting
Y:\PROJECTS maps to //server/projects
Y:\UTILITY maps to //server/utility

This is a Windows2000 Professional and the server is NT4.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm doing this because an inexpensive internet backup system I want to try only allows ONE local path to be backed up, and I'd like to pull a bunch of different files through what would appear as one local path.

[davecampbell]

This appears to be a challenging question.

I'd appreciate it also, if a knowledgeable person would respond with "that's impossible". That would be almost as helpful as a solution.

Any other NT Forums where someone might know?

Thanks.

[kc0arf]

Hello,

Sometimes you need to be patient on seeking answers. The people here are all volunteers, and posting a question in the afternoon / evening of Jul 26, and expecting complete answers within 48 hours, can be pushing it a bit. Hang in there. People will come around.

Looking at your problem though, I do not think that you are going to be able to do what you intend. As you know, network resources are created on the server by sharing the folder, and a client maps a drive to that sharepoint.

I think your desire to make backups over the network is flawed. If I were you, I would focus my backup energies on the server, and run the backups from there. Why? Because:

** Backing up from the 2000 box means all of the information has to go through the network. This adds time, and another layer of failure if the network were to go down.

** You will need administrator or backup operator status on the server in order to see all the files. If someone sniffs you, they will also see all the files.

** Physical security. What prevents someone from going to your 2000 workstation, and yanking the tape out before you get there? I am assuming your NT server is secured, but it is possible that your 2000 box is in a cube somewhere.

** Restoration. Are you going to setup the new NT server, and then WAIT for the 2000 box to restore it? How are you going to grab all the hidden windows things, such as the registry, through the sharepoint?

** I doubt your solution will restore the NTFS permissions on the files. That is a problem too.

SERIOUSLY, you are designing a backup scheme that is backwards, and has some serious flaws. Your data is your most important asset. Treat it and respect it as such.

Christian

[davecampbell]

OK, whatever. I guess I expected more expertise than can be found here.

I should have simply devoted the 10 minutes to Google on the front-end.

The solution appears to be what DFS is all about, and I'm surprised that DFS isn't in the bread-and-butter working vocabulary of people who claim to know something about Windows operating systems.

For those who need a refresher:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q241452

And thanks for your 'suggestions' on my flawed approach, but you were somewhat premature to assume that what I was trying to test was the only backup system I have in place. The server is backed up with a conventional approach (Backup Exec, AIT tape drive, etc.) and I am testing a way to get up to 2GB of files off-site, over the internet, on a scheduled basis, for less than $2 / month. Intended for CRITICAL business files or files that could change even after the normal tape rotations.

Those files are then available from a browser - anywhere, anytime. Handy for disaster recovery planning, as well. $2 / month - ideal for small businesses where $$ matter.

If anyone wants an update of how my tests proceed...drop me a line.

davecampbell
[e-mail]

[kc0arf]

Hello,

I am glad that you found your answer.

Yes, I am aware of what DFS is, but I thought it had to be on the server, and not on the client end. You said that your server was NT4, and I knew that NT4 did not support it.

I am glad that you found your answer though, and apologize for thinking down the wrong path for your solution. Thank you for returning here, and letting us know what you found.

As a side note, if your NT4 server could also run a SSH service, you would have SCP available, which is an encrypted file transfer format. You could then program a client to pull the data on a schedule over the internet.

Christian