Summary

This article describes NTFS features that Neverfail Continuity Engine does not support/protect — and explains how Neverfail reacts to each of these features and how you can resolve each situation. 

More Information

Neverfail Continuity Engine treats any NTFS feature that can cause data corruption, loss, or abnormal disk usage on the Passive server as unsupported or unprotected. Depending on the risk each feature poses, Neverfail responds in one of three ways:

1. Warn, and Continue Replication
2. Log Error, Mark ‘Out of Synch’
3. Log Error, Stop Replication

1. Warn, and Continue Replication

Unsupported Features: Sparse files, Disk quotas
Affected Features: Sparse files, disk quotas may not replicate but do not threaten data integrity.

Example: Sparse Files
WARNING

• Unprotected Feature Detected [Primary | Secondary]
• “Sparse files may not be replicated for the file/directory: C:\MyDirectory\SF\File1.txt.”

Result:

• Replication continues uninterrupted.
• Only the sparse attributes might be skipped.

Resolution:

• No action is required unless your Passive server must preserve sparse attributes.

2. Log Error, Mark File System “Out of Synch”

Unsupported Features: Encryption, Extended attributes
Reason: These features can leave files out of sync after a switchover, risking data inconsistency.

Example: Encryption
ERROR

• Unprotected Feature Detected [Primary | Secondary]
• “Use of Encrypted Files has been detected for the file/directory: C:\MyDirectory\Encrypt\EncryptFolder.”
• “Automated Out Of Synch Applied: this folder is now marked Out Of Synch.”

Result:

• Replication continues, but the file system status is set to Out of Synch.
• Switchover is disabled until the issue is resolved (failover on server crash still works).

Resolution:
Remove or isolate the affected items, then re-sync:

1. Preferred: Move or delete the encrypted files, or unshare the folder during replication.
2. Alternate: Copy files to a FAT32 volume and back, or zip/unzip them.
3. After clearing the issue, open the Heartbeat Management Client:
• Go to Data → Replication
• Select the red folder in the right pane
• Click Synchronize (do not select subdirectories)

3. Log Error, Stop Replication

Unsupported Features: Hard links; Reparse points (junctions, mount points, symbolic links, single-instance store, remote storage)
Reason: These features can corrupt or overwrite data on the Passive server upon failover.

Example: Hard Links
ERROR (1)

• Unprotected Feature Detected [Primary | Secondary]
• “Use of Hard Links has been detected for the file/directory: C:\MyDirectory\HardLinkFile1.”
• “Automated Replication Stop Applied.”

ERROR (2)

• System Stop [Primary | Secondary]
• “Neverfail Heartbeat is stopping for use of Hard Links in C:\MyDirectory\HardLinkFile1.”

Result:

• Replication stops immediately.
• Shared folders remain available on the Active server.

Resolution:
Remove the offending files or folders, then restart replication:

1. Preferred:
• Move or delete the hard-linked file(s) to an unshared location.
• In the Heartbeat Client, go to Server → Summary and click Start Replication.
• Wait until both File System Status and Registry Status show Synchronized.
2. Alternate:
• Open Data → File Filters in the Heartbeat Client.
• Delete the filter entries for the affected path(s).
• Restart replication via Server → Summary → Start Replication.
3. Optional Manual Sync:
• If red folders remain, go to Data → File Synch And Verify.
• Select the red folder and click Synchronize (no subdirectories).

Windows NTFS File System

None

KBID-321