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Folder Redirection via Group Policy: Potential Network Problems with DFS. (Maybe WINS?)

已答复 Folder Redirection via Group Policy: Potential Network Problems with DFS. (Maybe WINS?)

  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 2:29
     
     
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    We have 8 buildings. Each building had their own file server and DC. All the buildings are connected by a 1 GB fiber loop. All users had their "My Documents" folders redirected to their building's file server via Group Policy. They all use Windows XP.

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    In an effort to consolidate, I deployed a new file server at the main building. Using migration tools from Microsoft and DFS, I migrated the servers in each of the branch buildings to the new main server. The UNC paths for the old servers were preserved. The Group Policy Objects for each building still redirect the users' "My Documents" files to the old UNC paths.

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    For the majority of users everything is working fine. For example, someone in Building1 logs in, their "My Docs" folder is redirected to "\\WSfile1\StaffData\username" and it goes across the fiber WAN to the new file server's DFS share for that building. HOWEVER, there are some users that are having problems. When they log in they see the following error message:

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    Offline Files (\\wsfile1\StaffData on wsfile1): Unable to connect to '\\Wsfile1\staffdata.' The network name cannot be found.

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    At first I thought the user simply didn't have access to the share for some reason, whether it was network or permissions. Other users in the same building have access and are operating normally. I tried the following things in my efforts to troubleshoot this problem:

    • Logged the same user into a different computer that works: Everything worked properly, and their "My Docs" folder redirected and synchronized properly. So it's not a permissions issue.
    • Logged different users into this computer: I tried with users that did and did not have a profile on the computer because I wanted to see if it was profile-related. All received the same errors as the original user. Not a profile issue.
    • Logged into the computer as a domain admin with local admin rights for the computer: Same errors occurred.
    • I re-initialized the Offline files cache (Folder options, ctrl+shift [delete files]) and rebooted. I log back in with the user account and everything works perfectly. HOWEVER, on the next reboot, everything goes back to being broken with error messages.
    • Removed the computer from the domain, deleted the computer account, reconnected it: Errors remained.
    • Ping wsfile1:  Successful with steady <1ms ping times to the IP address of the new centralized DFS file server.
    • Pathping WSfile1:  Perfect results.
    • Flushed the DNS on the computer
    • Flushed the ARPcache on all switches in the building.
    • We do have WINS on the network, and I noticed expired entries for WSFILE1 with the old IP address from before consolidation. I deleted the entries from all servers a couple days ago just to be safe. Changes have replicated.
    • I went to START --> RUN and entered \\WSFILE1\staffdata on a computer that has the problem and IT DOESN'T WORK. It does not go across the network to the share even though pings resolve it correctly. Instead it opens a LOCAL cached copy of the folder that displays a synchronized copy of the user's MY DOCS folder. When I reinitialized the offline file cache in the steps above, the UNC path worked fine until the next reboot.

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    Based on these last tests mentioned above, I have a feeling this might be a problem with WINS? I'm not sure how to go about fixing that. Any guidance (or other theories) are appreciated.

     

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  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 3:12
     
     
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    Hello,

    You can ping the server but you cannot access the share, right? If you can ping the server and it responds with the correct IP then resolution is not the problem (even thought I recommend you disable WINS). This sounds like a connectivity problem.

    What may be happening is that your computer connection is sloow or intermittent and the client is goingoff line into cached mode.

    Try scanning the problem computer for malware, check the ethernet cable for loose pairs that may cause intermittent problems. Get a ping utility and do some ping tests to make sure that connectivity and speed is steady and there is no packet loss.

    Also, disable slow link detection on the server's Group Policy by selecting a value threshold of 0.

    Miguel Fra / Falcon IT Services
    Computer & Network Support, Miami, FL
    Visit our Knowledgebase and Support Sharepoint Site


     
  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 3:26
     
     
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    Thanks for the reply. You're correct about the ping. It resolves fine, and the times are <1ms. Your explanation makes sense. The problems only occur on some computers. Since all computers are configured in the same manner with regards to WINS, DNS, etc, then this must be something with the individual computers themselves, such as not being able to process the GP in time before it switches to offline mode. I will try your suggestions now and let you know what happens.

     
  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 4:38
     
     
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    On one of the affected computers I edited the registry according to this page:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759191%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

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    I also went into Group Policy and made sure any slow link detection was turned off:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc978717.aspx

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    I made sure the GP was applied to the client (gpupdate /force) and rebooted. The problems still exist and there has been no improvement. Also, as I mentioned above in my original post, when I re-initialize the offline folder cache, and then reboot, everything works fine. UNC paths work, folder redirection and synchronization works fine, mapped drives reconnect without any problems.  So speed doesn't seem to be an issue at that point.All ping tests are coming back consistently low: <1ms.

     
  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 6:22
     
     
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    The problem seems to be that the computer is in off line mode, the questions is why?

    Is this computer wireless?

    Instead of re-initializing the cache, wait a  minute after log on and see if a manual sync works.

    Miguel Fra / Falcon IT Services
    Computer & Network Support, Miami, FL
    Visit our Knowledgebase and Support Sharepoint Site



     
  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 6:31
     
     
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    I agree. I have developed the following work-around which seems to agree that they are in "offline mode."

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    In folder options, I go to the "Offline Files" tab and click the "ADVANCED" button on the bottom. I select "Never allow my computer to go offline."  After clicking OK, I also uncheck "Enable Offline Files." When I reboot, the user's folder redirection is working fine, and all other mapped drives operate normally.So this is just a problem with offline files.

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    Some of the computers I am working on have been logged in for the entire weekend with no one else in the office (no network traffic at all) and they still haven't reconnected. Rebooting them and waiting does nothing either. They just seem to quickly slip into offline mode right after login and don't reconnect.  Puzzling.

     
  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 8:12
     
     
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    Are they wireless?

    Miguel Fra / Falcon IT Services
    Computer & Network Support, Miami, FL
    Visit our Knowledgebase and Support Sharepoint Site

     
  • 2012년 4월 15일 일요일 오후 9:39
     
     
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    I'm sorry, I forgot to include that in my response.  No, none of the computers are wireless. They are all hardwired. They are using 100 mb NICs.
     
  • 2012년 4월 17일 화요일 오전 8:03
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    Hi,

    You mentioned "expired entries for WSFILE1 with the old IP address" in WINS, then have you checked DNS for such kind of expired entries?

    TechNet Subscriber Support in forum |If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

     
  • 2012년 4월 23일 월요일 오전 6:10
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    How are things going? If there is anything we could help please just let us know.

    TechNet Subscriber Support in forum |If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

     
  • 2012년 5월 7일 월요일 오후 3:29
     
     
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    Sorry for my late response, I was on vacation. There were / are no outdated entries in DNS.

     
  • 2012년 5월 7일 월요일 오후 3:33
     
     
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    I am once again back from vacation and working on this issue. I recently saw this brief article with regard to offline files and DFS:

    http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2006/01/19/using-dfs-namespaces-and-offline-files.aspx

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    Currently, all shares on the DFS server are set to "Only the files and programs that users specify are available offline" under Advanced Sharing --> Caching.  Would it help matters if I changed this setting to "All Files and programs that users open from the shared folder are automatically available offline"?

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    Secondly: When the shares migrated over to the new DFS server they all were set up in stand-alone name spaces. Would there be enhanced performance and better results for the users in all the different sites / subnets if I was using Domain-based Namespaces instead? (I intend to set up a second DFS server in another location for replication / redundancy as well in case that's a factor.)
     
  • 2012년 5월 15일 화요일 오후 3:02
     
     
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    Update: 5/15/12

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    I am now convinced this is a computer-specific issue and has nothing to do with DFS. I currently have two laptops sitting next to me connected to the same switch on the network, using the same username to login, and one is having the problem and the other is not. This MUST be an issue with computer itself since all other factors are equal (network location, DNS servers / settings, GPOs applied, operating system (XP SP3), user login, etc.)  Naturally, it could be differences in the user profile or local settings, but certainly something local to the computer.  Any thoughts on what local issue would cause the above?

     
  • 2012년 5월 15일 화요일 오후 3:47
     
     
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    The computers have different network cards. The drivers are up to date. However, to see if it might be a speed issue, I lowered the working laptop's NIC to 10mbps / full duplex instead of 100mbps Full  to see if that affected anything.  I even tried running it at 10 / Half and everything still worked, so it's probably not network speed.
     
  • 2012년 5월 25일 금요일 오후 12:32
     
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    Issue solved:

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    The problem was the namespaces for each of the 3 affected buildings did not have the "Clients fail back to preferred targets" option turned on. All other sites and buildings that were working correctly had this setting turned on. All those other sites were migrated one at a time from their local file server to the new centrally located DFS server. The three buldings that experienced the issue and had the missing setting were all migrated at the same time-- which possibly accounts for the difference. I enabled this setting and now everything works as it should.

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