Does installing DFS-N on two domain controllers provide DFS root redundancy?

I'm in the process of researching and setting up Distributed File System (DFS) in our environment. From all the articles I've read, I've decided that I want to install the namespace server on the Domain Controller. Here's my question(s). We have two domain controllers so that we have AD redundancy (in case on is down). If I install DFS-N on both of the domain controllers, will they automatically provide DFS Root redundancy for each other? In all the articles I've read, I'm still not clear if I should have two DFS root namespace servers and if so, if they automatically provide root redundancy. If not, can it be setup manually, and how?

My current thinking is that I should install DFS-N on both domain controllers for redundancy. I just need some expert direction. Thanks.

We're running Windows Server 2008 R2, is running at 2003 Domain and Forest functional Level. We're small and all our servers are in the same LAN.

Solution 1:

Yes, you want more than one server hosting the namespace root. From the Storage Team at Microsoft:

What makes a namespace fault tolerant is where and how the root is hosted. For a stand-alone namespace to be fault tolerant, the root must be created on a server cluster. For a domain-based namespace to be fault tolerant, you need at least two domain controllers in the domain (to provide referrals to the namespace) and two namespace servers hosting the root (to provide referrals to folder targets). This last point about domain-based namespaces is often misunderstood, too. Customers think that because the namespace is in Active Directory, this somehow makes the namespace fault tolerant. The AD aspect is more about consistency than redundancy. All namespace servers will poll a domain controller periodically to obtain the latest DFS metadata, helping ensure that all the namespace servers provide referrals that are consistent. You still need an operational domain controller and namespace server (which can be the same server) to provide referrals.