Using an external Fileserver with Alfresco

[sargon]

Hello,

we are currently testing Alfresco_Labs3 to determine what features are relevant for our institution.

We already have a fileserver running for a couple of years now. We would like to use Alfesco to work with the files stored on this fileserver. Because this server is located somewhere else (and we just have the admisitrator rights for it), we would like to keep Alfresco on our own machine. How is it therefore possible to work with the files stored on a remote fileserver directly from Alfresco? If so, what do we need to configure?

Thanks in advance!

[ofrxnz]

I dont think what you want is possible. 

You will have to import the files you want to use Alfresco with into Alfresco through one of its many points. 

Alfresco doesn't work as a front end for a standard folder on a computer.  It only attaches to its repository. 

Alfresco does have a CIFS interface which looks like a fileserver.  so you could have 2 mounted networks drives

F:\\Fileserver         could be your fileserver
Q:\\Alfresco           could be your alfresco repository. 

The Alfresco CIFS interface works just like a CIFS/SMB/Windows network drive, but on the backend Alfresco can still version and checkin/out documents with the user being none the wiser.

On the other hand, you can use the Fileserver to store the Alfresco files.  These files would only be useful for an Alfresco sever and be pretty much unusable for an end user.  you need alfresco to transform the files into something meaningful (its how it manages versioning that causes the issue)

Take a look here

http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Cluster_Configuration_V2.1.3_and_Later

This is the alfresco cluster configuration documentation which you dont need all of but it discusses how to store Alfresco files on a network drive

[whitesh4rk]

see http://forums.alfresco.com/en/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15747