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Setup:

1 File Server and 2 Terminal Servers (RDS Hosts), 1 Domain

Roaming Profiles are set to \WS2008R2\PROFILES\

Local Profile storage as per default is in C:\Users

Relevant Software:

Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Standard (64-bit)

Microsoft Outlook 2007 (no Exchange Server)

Problem:

My predecessor didn't calculate enough space for the C:\ drives of both Terminal Servers (RDS hosts). Now with growing user data over the years (in particular their Outlook PST-files) the remaining space is ebbing away due to the saved local copies of the Roaming User Profile in C:\Users.

My First idea was to use folder redirection to redirect the user's "Documents" folders (which contain the Outlook file) to their RDS Home Folders on the network. However, I've been told it is discouraged and not supported by Microsoft to access Outlook PST-files on network shares because it can lead to performance issues (apparently it's been improved with Office 2010 but they use Office 2007).

The easiest solution would be to change the local folder for user profiles (C:\Users), that syncs back to the Roaming User Profile on the file server, to D:\Users, as there is enough free space on that drive. However I haven't found any information on whether and how it is possible or supported.

When I log on as one of the users and check the properties of e.g. "Documents" I can change the path to D:\Users\Documents there but surely the solution can't be to log in as each user and manually set the path for each one (user permission and ACL concerns aside).

Any advice is appreciated

LumenAlbum
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1 Answers1

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  1. Don't try to change the path of the local user profiles. That's a non-standard configuration and you're just asking for headaches.

  2. Your statement about storing and accessing PST files on a network share are correct, but that's the lesser of two evils. Every RDS environment I've seen has used Folder Redirection to keep the user profile copies small and lean and that means having the PST files on a network share.

My strong suggestion to you would be to implement Folder Redirection as opposed to changing the path of the local user profiles.

joeqwerty
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