DNS or Domain Problem? Windows Server 2003. 1

[RVStevenson]

I recently converted our NetWare network to a Windows Network. Our server is running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and our clients are all Win 2000 Pro.

The Win 2003 Server is running with DNS and AD. Additionally we have tried both static and DHCP address assignment.

Periodically a client system will, upon reboot or power on, not be recieving packets from the lan. This problem is solved by disjoining the client from the domain then rejoining it. (done while logged in locally obviously)

Any suggestions on what the problem may be?

 

[bcastner]

What does an ipconfig show when this happens?
If using a static IP, what happens when you ping the server?

 

[RVStevenson]

Essentially there is no lan connection when this happens. A ping of anything, including the server, will time out. Pakets are sent but none are recieved.

Thanks,

Ryan V. Stevenson
Specialty Services Director

National Support Network
East Lansing, MI - USA

Ryan@itpayz.com

http://www.itpayz.com

 

[jpm121]

What about a ping to 127.0.0.1 (loopback) when the problem is occuring?

[gotta love sporadic, non-reproducable network glitches, eh?]

 

[RVStevenson]

Loop-back is normal... I found a thread on another forum that addressed these symptoms being caused by the RPC Locator service, however this service is not running on my server or clients...

Thanks,

Ryan V. Stevenson
Specialty Services Director

National Support Network
East Lansing, MI - USA

Ryan@itpayz.com

http://www.itpayz.com

 

[bcastner]

What I am curious to know is whether the adapters are pulling a DHCP address, and the DNS and other entries are populating fully.

If what the adapter is showing in IPCONFIG is an APIA address of 169.x.x.x then DHCP is failing somehow.

If DHCP is succeeding, then it is a DNS issue. Is the DNS serve set to dynamicly register?

 

[RVStevenson]

The adapters are pulling addresses successfully if DHCP. There are some adapters set static as well. DNS and Gateway addresses are ok as well.

I believe the Server DNS is set to dynamicly register.


Thanks,

Ryan V. Stevenson
Specialty Services Director

National Support Network
East Lansing, MI - USA

Ryan@itpayz.com

http://www.itpayz.com

 

[bcastner]

See my notes on server and client DNS settings:

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?spid=779&sfid=4017

 

[DG659]

I`ve had this problem before and the resolution was to remove the All the clients bound to the network adaptor including all the protocols i.e TCP/IP and IPX/SPX then reinstalling only the required clients i.e client for microfoft networking and TCP/IP .
I think what happens on boot is the adaptor binds itself only to the first protocol installed (IPX/SPX) and ignores the TCP/IP.

 

[bcastner]

You may experience extremely long delays (up to 5 minutes) when logging into domains using Windows XP Pro. This is caused by the asyncronous loading of networking during the boot up process. This speeds up the login process in a stand-alone workstation by allowing the user to log in with cached logon credentials before the network is fully ready.

To disable this "feature" and restore your domain logons to their normal speed, open the MMC and add the group policy snap-in. Under Computer Configuration-->Administrative Templates-->System-->Logon, change "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon" to ENABLED.

This can be fed to clients via a group policy from a Windows 2000 server by upgrading the standard policy template with the XP policy template. Since this is an XP only command, non-XP systems will ignore it in a domain distributed group policy. The Windows 2003 server should have the appropriate .adm already installed.