Home Folders and folder redirection
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Wow.. no additional discussion?
TCO - My folder redirection also creates the required folders on the server. The mapping to the u: drive just allows the users two things server side access to their my documents folder and a place that's clearly not on their machine for them to save things that are only for them.
I'm sure there were reasons I went this route 10+ years ago, but now I can't remember them.
I'm wondering how much pain I'll cause the users by taking away their access to the U: Drive and simply telling them to save everything that is theirs alone to their My Documents (redirected - but invisible to them) and everything shared to our S: Drive (which they already do).
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@Dashrender said:
Wow.. no additional discussion?
TCO - My folder redirection also creates the required folders on the server. The mapping to the u: drive just allows the users two things server side access to their my documents folder and a place that's clearly not on their machine for them to save things that are only for them.
I'm sure there were reasons I went this route 10+ years ago, but now I can't remember them.
I'm wondering how much pain I'll cause the users by taking away their access to the U: Drive and simply telling them to save everything that is theirs alone to their My Documents (redirected - but invisible to them) and everything shared to our S: Drive (which they already do).
Why not use GPP mapped Drives for that? it would be all automated.
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Having users save everything in their Documents and having it invisible to them might be counterproductive. Because they can't see that there is some tomfoolery at work with a drive mapping or whatever, they might end up saving it to their Desktop or the like, thus negating its effect. I would say keep it as a drive mapping. If people are used to saving things in a U drive, leave it as is. Maybe updating the methodology on the backend makes sense, but I would leave a mapped drive. I agree to use GPP for this.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Why not use GPP mapped Drives for that? it would be all automated.
I don't follow, the mapping happens because the entry exists in ADUC, I'm not running a script to get the mapping.
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@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
Why not use GPP mapped Drives for that? it would be all automated.
I don't follow, the mapping happens because the entry exists in ADUC, I'm not running a script to get the mapping.
You have folder redirection setup...
Which auto creates the folders Suppose It's "\servername\users$%username%\ Documents" for every userSetup a GPP (I would suggest making a group for Employees or something so service users accounts don't get them.). my a GPP Mapped Drive for U of \servername\users$%username% which would be the root level for your redirection. Use item-level targeting to apply it to the group.
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@ajstringham said:
Having users save everything in their Documents and having it invisible to them might be counterproductive. Because they can't see that there is some tomfoolery at work with a drive mapping or whatever, they might end up saving it to their Desktop or the like, thus negating its effect. I would say keep it as a drive mapping. If people are used to saving things in a U drive, leave it as is. Maybe updating the methodology on the backend makes sense, but I would leave a mapped drive. I agree to use GPP for this.
I think there's misunderstanding. The items they put into the My documents folder is completely visible to the users. The U: Drives original intent (I think) was a place for non document thinks that a user might want to keep backed up, but at the same time don't want to keep in their my documents directory.
I'm guessing in most environments when the my documents are redirected, the end user doesn't really realize it. They are told by IT, save everything you care about to my documents, and you'll be safe.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
You have folder redirection setup...
Which auto creates the folders Suppose It's "\servername\users$%username%\ Documents" for every userSetup a GPP (I would suggest making a group for Employees or something so service users accounts don't get them.). my a GPP Mapped Drive for U of \servername\users$%username% which would be the root level for your redirection. Use item-level targeting to apply it to the group.
I'm not looking for a new way to map drives. The current process works fine.
I'm asking about getting rid of the mapping to the U: drive since the only thing there is the network copy of their my documents and their favorites - neither of which do the users need to manipulate directly.
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Let me ask this question another way - assuming you redirect my documents to \server\users$%username%\my documents,
\server\users$%username%\favorites
\server\users$%username%\desktop
do you map this point (\server\users$%username%) to a drive letter for the user?If so, why?
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@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
You have folder redirection setup...
Which auto creates the folders Suppose It's "\servername\users$%username%\ Documents" for every userSetup a GPP (I would suggest making a group for Employees or something so service users accounts don't get them.). my a GPP Mapped Drive for U of \servername\users$%username% which would be the root level for your redirection. Use item-level targeting to apply it to the group.
I'm not looking for a new way to map drives. The current process works fine.
I'm asking about getting rid of the mapping to the U: drive since the only thing there is the network copy of their my documents and their favorites - neither of which do the users need to manipulate directly.
If users are saving to My Documents and not actually saving to the U: drive, ditch it. That would make sense.
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@Dashrender said:
Let me ask this question another way - assuming you redirect my documents to \server\users$%username%\my documents,
\server\users$%username%\favorites
\server\users$%username%\desktop
do you map this point (\server\users$%username%) to a drive letter for the user?If so, why?
Yes, Because redirection break sometimes.. also Some users like old habits
I actually never redirect the desktop. and just usually just make the root and the doucments redirect 1 in the same. . -
But the AUDC Home Folder is considered depreciated.
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@Dashrender said:
Let me ask this question another way - assuming you redirect my documents to \server\users$%username%\my documents,
\server\users$%username%\favorites
\server\users$%username%\desktop
do you map this point (\server\users$%username%) to a drive letter for the user?If so, why?
It depends. If users have been saving things to a network drive previously, it forces them to have accountability for where they save their documents. Some might think that if they put it on their Desktop it's the same as their Documents, which could result in lost files and confusion.
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@ajstringham said:
It depends. If users have been saving things to a network drive previously, it forces them to have accountability for where they save their documents. Some might think that if they put it on their Desktop it's the same as their Documents, which could result in lost files and confusion.
Luckily I don't have this issue. Most people save either to their My Documents or to the shared drive, rarely directly to the U: Drive.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
But the AUDC Home Folder is considered depreciated.
Awesome - well sorta - this was the kind of information I was looking for. Was their an official recommendation from MS on using GPP instead?
I'd done a tiny bit of Googlein' but haven't found something from MS yet.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Yes, Because redirection break sometimes.. also Some users like old habits
I actually never redirect the desktop. and just usually just make the root and the documents redirect 1 in the same. .@thecreativeone91 I can't say that I've noticed an issue with redirection failing, at least not enough that I worry about giving them a drive letter to access the files directly. But I'll definitely agree with the old habits - but sometimes those habits just need to change - for example, my use of Home Folders.
