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Using Robocopy with Simple Failover
(Robocopy is a product from Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/)
Using Robocopy (Robocopy.exe: Robust
File Copy Utility) to synchronize server contents on a scheduled
basis.
First download and install Robocopy from
http://www.microsoft.com on both of your
servers.
You can use ROBOCOPY, a Microsoft
resource kit tool, to keep your files replicated on two or more
servers. You need to have a direct connection to both the source-
and destination servers.
You can run ROBOCOPY in many ways. If
you prefer, you can run it from a command prompt, or from a batch
file, or via a scheduled task.
Download the zip-file and extract the
two files and save them into, for example, the SYSTEM32 folder on
your computer. The zip file includes the tool itself and the
complete explanation and documentation to all the switches.
The easiest way to use ROBOCOPY is to
run the following command:
ROBOCOPY \\sourceserver\share\path
\\destinationserver\share\path /MIR
Or
ROBOCOPY source-drive:\path
destination-drive:\path /MIR
/MIR is an option to ROBOCOPY where you
mirror a directory tree with all the subfolders including the empty
directories and you purge files and folders on the destination
server that no longer exists in source.
ExampleYou add a file "KYOTO-file.html" to the directory
"webdir" on the server "kyoto". You also delete another file
"DALLAS-file.html" on the server "kyoto".
The files have to be synchronized
between the two servers. The "KYOTO-file.html" file is copied to the
"dallas" server and the file "DALLAS-file.html" is deleted from the
"dallas" server because it is no longer in the "webdir" directory on
the "kyoto" server.
The result of the ROBOCOPY command is
displayed in the following figure:
The servers are now fully
synchronized.
SchedulingYou can also schedule the file replication
instead of running it manually. Before you can use this option you
must prepare your system.
 Create a new file on the Kyoto server with - for example
Notepad, containing one line:
robocopy.exe \\kyoto\webdir \\dallas\webdir
Save the file. Choose a describing name
for the file - for example:
kyoto-dallas.cmd
 Create a new scheduled task. Open Start, Control Panel,
Scheduled Tasks, Add Scheduled Task.
Click the Next> button to
continue.
Browse for the file you just
created.
Select the directory and highlight the
file and click the Open button.
Select how often you want to run the
CMD-file. In this example we want to make the file replication
process once every day. Click the Next > button to continue.
Select the start time when your command
should be performed. It is advisable to select off-hours if
possible.
Enter the user name of a user with the
necessary access rights to both servers and the corresponding shares
where the files you want to replicate are located. It is good idea
to use an account with rights that is limited to only the
appropriate directories.
Select the option Open advanced
properties for this task when I click Finish and click the Finish
button to continue.
Enter additional information about this
task in the Comments field. Click the OK button to finish the
configuration of the scheduled task.
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