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        "summary": "Compare DFS referral ordering choices, site-only limits, and the exception for explicitly prioritized targets.",
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        "potentially_affected": "Administrators configuring referral ordering for DFS namespace roots or folders with targets.",
        "dse_recommendation": "Test referral results from each client site, including a site without an available local target, before changing ordering policy.",
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            "name": "Set the Ordering Method for Targets in Referrals",
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        "content_html": "<h2>Source facts</h2>\n<p><a href=\"https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/set-the-ordering-method-for-targets-in-referrals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Microsoft&#8217;s DFS documentation</a> describes referrals as ordered target lists: clients try the first target and move to the next when it is unavailable. The lowest-cost method places same-site targets first, then orders remote targets by cost; equal-cost targets are randomized. Without an overriding target priority, the site-only method returns only same-site targets; if none exist, the client receives no referral. Targets prioritized first or last across all targets remain in referrals despite site-only ordering.</p>\n<h2>Applicability</h2>\n<p>Decide whether the change concerns the namespace root or a folder. Review client site placement and the intended target set. Treat a requirement to avoid remote access and a requirement to retain access during a local outage as separate business decisions that need an owner.</p>\n<h2>DSE recommendation</h2>\n<p>Write down the intended outcome for each site before choosing the ordering method. Include the normal local target, acceptable remote alternatives, and conditions under which access should deliberately be unavailable. Ask the application or file-service owner to approve that last condition explicitly. Preserve the prior ordering configuration so the change can be reversed.</p>\n<h2>Verification</h2>\n<p>Collect actual referrals and successful file-access results from representative clients. Repeat the exercise with an approved unavailable-target scenario and with a client site lacking a local target. Compare the returned order with the approved design. Record the target actually reached, not merely whether the namespace name resolved.</p>\n<h2>Official references</h2>\n<p><a href=\"https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/set-the-ordering-method-for-targets-in-referrals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Microsoft Learn: Set the Ordering Method for Targets in Referrals</a>. Source reviewed September 8, 2026.</p>",
        "content_text": "Source facts\nMicrosoft’s DFS documentation describes referrals as ordered target lists: clients try the first target and move to the next when it is unavailable. The lowest-cost method places same-site targets first, then orders remote targets by cost; equal-cost targets are randomized. Without an overriding target priority, the site-only method returns only same-site targets; if none exist, the client receives no referral. Targets prioritized first or last across all targets remain in referrals despite site-only ordering.\nApplicability\nDecide whether the change concerns the namespace root or a folder. Review client site placement and the intended target set. Treat a requirement to avoid remote access and a requirement to retain access during a local outage as separate business decisions that need an owner.\nDSE recommendation\nWrite down the intended outcome for each site before choosing the ordering method. Include the normal local target, acceptable remote alternatives, and conditions under which access should deliberately be unavailable. Ask the application or file-service owner to approve that last condition explicitly. Preserve the prior ordering configuration so the change can be reversed.\nVerification\nCollect actual referrals and successful file-access results from representative clients. Repeat the exercise with an approved unavailable-target scenario and with a client site lacking a local target. Compare the returned order with the approved design. Record the target actually reached, not merely whether the namespace name resolved.\nOfficial references\nMicrosoft Learn: Set the Ordering Method for Targets in Referrals. Source reviewed September 8, 2026.",
        "content_markdown": "## Source facts\n\n[Microsoft’s DFS documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/set-the-ordering-method-for-targets-in-referrals) describes referrals as ordered target lists: clients try the first target and move to the next when it is unavailable. The lowest-cost method places same-site targets first, then orders remote targets by cost; equal-cost targets are randomized. Without an overriding target priority, the site-only method returns only same-site targets; if none exist, the client receives no referral. Targets prioritized first or last across all targets remain in referrals despite site-only ordering.\n\n## Applicability\n\nDecide whether the change concerns the namespace root or a folder. Review client site placement and the intended target set. Treat a requirement to avoid remote access and a requirement to retain access during a local outage as separate business decisions that need an owner.\n\n## DSE recommendation\n\nWrite down the intended outcome for each site before choosing the ordering method. Include the normal local target, acceptable remote alternatives, and conditions under which access should deliberately be unavailable. Ask the application or file-service owner to approve that last condition explicitly. Preserve the prior ordering configuration so the change can be reversed.\n\n## Verification\n\nCollect actual referrals and successful file-access results from representative clients. Repeat the exercise with an approved unavailable-target scenario and with a client site lacking a local target. Compare the returned order with the approved design. Record the target actually reached, not merely whether the namespace name resolved.\n\n## Official references\n\n[Microsoft Learn: Set the Ordering Method for Targets in Referrals](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/dfs-namespaces/set-the-ordering-method-for-targets-in-referrals). Source reviewed September 8, 2026."
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                "articleBody": "Source facts\nMicrosoft’s DFS documentation describes referrals as ordered target lists: clients try the first target and move to the next when it is unavailable. The lowest-cost method places same-site targets first, then orders remote targets by cost; equal-cost targets are randomized. Without an overriding target priority, the site-only method returns only same-site targets; if none exist, the client receives no referral. Targets prioritized first or last across all targets remain in referrals despite site-only ordering.\nApplicability\nDecide whether the change concerns the namespace root or a folder. Review client site placement and the intended target set. Treat a requirement to avoid remote access and a requirement to retain access during a local outage as separate business decisions that need an owner.\nDSE recommendation\nWrite down the intended outcome for each site before choosing the ordering method. Include the normal local target, acceptable remote alternatives, and conditions under which access should deliberately be unavailable. Ask the application or file-service owner to approve that last condition explicitly. Preserve the prior ordering configuration so the change can be reversed.\nVerification\nCollect actual referrals and successful file-access results from representative clients. Repeat the exercise with an approved unavailable-target scenario and with a client site lacking a local target. Compare the returned order with the approved design. Record the target actually reached, not merely whether the namespace name resolved.\nOfficial references\nMicrosoft Learn: Set the Ordering Method for Targets in Referrals. Source reviewed September 8, 2026.",
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