Macs getting kicked off Win2k

[dragonfly]

I am supporting a business with in a mixed environment with over 200
Macs. The models range from 400 MHz G4's to the latest G5's with OS
10.3.9. We all connect to Windows 2003 servers with the most recent
MSUAM clients [2001!] SMB is not an option becasue we have to comply
with the Sarbannes-Oxley law that requires an authentication method
which allows users to change their psswords as well as warning the
users when their passwords will expire - neither of which is a feature
of SMB.

Several of our users get kicked off the network at least twice a day.
These are graphic designers who create large files > 1GB. I am
beginning to suspect that the connection between MSUAM client and the
Win2k3 server has difficulty maintaining a stable connection if file
transfers are above a certain size. This has been occuring since OS
10.3.7.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[William Smith]

Several of our users get kicked off the network at least twice a day.
These are graphic designers who create large files > 1GB. I am
beginning to suspect that the connection between MSUAM client and the
Win2k3 server has difficulty maintaining a stable connection if file
transfers are above a certain size. This has been occuring since OS
10.3.7.

Your observation is correct. In particular, Windows Server 2003 uses the
older AFP 2.2 file sharing protocol and Mac OS X uses AFP 3.1. The two
can have problems together.

Be sure that none of your Mac clients have their Energy Saver settings
set to go to sleep. This includes the Classic environment if you use
this.

Otherwise, I suggest you consider looking at an AFP 3.1 server such as
Mac OS X Server or ExtremeZ-IP for Windows.

For other reasons, you should consider an AFP 3.1 server since Microsoft
will not be advancing their Macintosh file services any further. AFP 3.x
supports longer file names (up to about 255 characters), which Mac OS X
can now generate and with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) you'll be able to take
advantage of Access Control Lists (ACLs). Apple has specifically modeled
their ACL environment after Windows.

Group Logic, the makers of ExtremeZ-IP, will soon release an update to
their product that will support ACLs.

Hope this helps! bill