Windows Server: Replicate folders without DFS?

Solution 1:

DFS is usable but a) cause issues working with open files b) Hyper-V, SQL Server and Exchange has no DFS support c) can't avoid a spit-bran issue. When multiple users works with the same file that has no sync between hosts will cause a two different original files.

For the case I asume the build of HA shared storage between servers will do the job. However, iSCSI storage vendors such as S2D, HPE VSA or StarWind Virtual SAN can provide required storage replication but all require the implementation of AD. Consider go with Active Directory to benefit with configuration of SMB/NFS on top of shared "nothing" storage.

Solution 2:

DFS-R requires active directory, so that option will not be available to you. As yagmoth mentions in his comment, you could use robocopy

For example: robocopy /mir /mot:10 would run a mirror every 10 minutes. Could set it as a task on startup, etc..

Beyond that, there are 3rd party utilities that could also perform similar functionality - including backup dedicated utilities.

Solution 3:

There are two options that I have used and work relatively well.

Peersync - http://www.peersoftware.com/products/sync-backup/peersync-for-servers.html

Is licensed however works really well, very well documented and easy to understand.

Freefilesync - http://www.freefilesync.org/

Is free only downsize there is no inherited automation, but once you configure your two directories to be synced, it has the option to create a batch file that can be run though a schedules task.