This topic describes how you can design a high-availability topology for the application file server.

In a typical Microsoft Dynamics AX environment, the application file server, also known as the file share or application object data (AOD) server in previous releases, is installed on a single, dedicated machine. This configuration, however, can result in a single point of failure. Two solutions exist for enhancing availability of the application files, as described below.

1. Create a backup server:You can deploy the application files on a backup application file server. If the primary application file server fails, you can use the server configuration utility to point the Application Object Server (AOS) at the backup application file server.

2. Install the application file server using Microsoft Clustering Services (MSCS):You can deploy the application file share as a clustered resource using MSCS. Consider the following if the clustered file share fails over to another node in the cluster:

   • You will have to restart any AOS connecting to that file share because the AOS service is not resilient enough to survive the interruption caused by a failover.

   • As long as the share is correctly defined as a clustered resource and the AOS is configured to connect to the cluster name (not just the host name of a server in the cluster), no configuration changes are necessary on the AOS. You will need to change the AOS configuration manually if the AOS is configured to connect to the host name of a server.

You can use the Microsoft Dynamics AX Server Configuration Utilityto change the AOS configuration. For more information, see Microsoft Dynamics AX Server Configuration Utility Help.