W2K3 R2 machine not in 'Entire Network' (computer browser problem)

[jfk8680]

Hi,

I am trying to do a remote backup of a Windows Server 2003 R2 machine using Backup Exec 8.6 (running on Windows 20000 Server SP4). The remote agent of Bexec seems to use the computer browser list (machines appearing in My Network Places\Entire Network\Microsoft Windows Network) but the W2K3 R2 machine I am trying to backup is not being displayed. The W2K3 server is missing in My Network Places on all machines I have checked (several Windows XP and W2K3 R2 machines).

All machines are part of the domain and only the domain controller which is holding the PDC Emulator FSMO is a Master Browser.

The DNS and WINS records are present:

NSLOOKUP
Server: <correct DNS server name>
Address: <correct DNS server ip>

Name: <correct FQDN for missing machine>
Address: <correct IP for missing machine>


NBTSTAT -N
Name Type Status
----------------------------------------------
<correct machine name> <00> UNIQUE Registered
<correct domain name> <00> GROUP Registered
<correct machine name> <20> UNIQUE Registered

It is a pretty large domain (over 30.0000 machines and users).

I have re-registered with WINS using nbtsat -RR and DNS using ipconfig /registerdns but that didn't resolve the issue. There are no errors related to the Browser service on any of the machines.

Does anyone know how I can correct this issue so that the machine is displayed in 'My Network Places'???

Thanks!

Regards

Jeffrey

 

[NetIntruder]

just a quick thought (probably not the problem, but worth looking at..)

on that server, open a command prompt and type:
net config server
look in the output to see if it says "Hidden: yes"



~Intruder~
CEH, CISSP, MCSA/MCSE 2000/2003

"The Less You Do, The Less Can Go Wrong"

 

[jfk8680]

Thanks for the reply but I already checked it and the machine is not hidden...

Jeffrey

 

[NetIntruder]

Check out browmon and/or browstat - see if master browser wars are going on. If the masters keep changing, then you will have some issues with this...

~Intruder~
CEH, CISSP, MCSA/MCSE 2000/2003

"The Less You Do, The Less Can Go Wrong"

 

[jfk8680]

I did some checking on my clients network and computer browsing is a complete mess :-(

They did nothing to control browser elections and it is completely random. In a large environment as this (multiple sites, multiple domains, over 30.000 computers) that is not good...

Using browstat and browcon I concluded that there are over 300 master browsers and over 800 backup browsers in our domain. There are some real issues here! It has been quite a long time since I had dealings with netbios browsing but if I recall correctly these are the 'best practice' guidelines, right???

- Stop the Server service on all servers and workstations that do not need to share resources (keeps the browsing list small)

- Set MaintainServerList to False on all multihomed machines

- Disable Computer Browser service on all workstations and member servers but keep one Master Browser and one Backup Browser per subnet

- The Domain Controller with the PDC Emulator FSMO is Domain Master Browser per default.

Are these guidelines correct and are there any other considerations???

Thanks,

Jeffrey

 

[NetIntruder]

All i had to do to get mine under control was to set the registry key to Auto (False broke a few NetBIOS-Aware applications to my dismay), and restart the Computer Browser service to have it take effect on all servers. Workstations should not be an issue.

Backup Exec unfortunately, relies on the Master Browser to this day (yes, i have commented to them on this!).

Get your browsing under control and your issue should go away. I would suggest a reg key in the GPO of all servers with the exception of your domain controllers. Just be careful on your application servers - do some testing on this before setting the key (Auto is not usually a problem, just False).

Hope this helps you!

~Intruder~
CEH, CISSP, MCSA/MCSE 2000/2003

"The Less You Do, The Less Can Go Wrong"