ntFrs, Sites awareness, and network failure

[Fari Fuladi]

Hi,
My Dfs setup works fine in happy-day scenarios, and it
also works fine when there is a network failure. However,
when the failed network is re-stored, clients don't switch
back to the server that's closest to them.

I have 2 sites, and when the server on site 2 is down,
site 2 clients grab the copy of the files from server on
site 1. However, when the server on site 2 is up and
running again, site 2 clients don't switch back to site 2
server. It does not happen even when client cache referal
expires. The only way that it happens is that I run
dfsutil /pktflush
to flushout client's PKT. After this, upon clients'
retrieval, it swtiches back to the server on site 2.

I am not sure if there is something else that I should
know, but I was under the assumption that clients retrieve
a fresh referral from the hosting Dfs server. Any thoughts?

thanks,

Fari

 

[Jeremy]

What are the OS versions involved on server and Desktop?

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy]

There are several issues under 2K server and client that do not always
perform properly when it comes to DFS.
I know that the DFS scenario under 2003 and XP SP1 addressed alot of these
issues. I'm not trying to ram an upgrade down your throat as the solution,
I just know that certain issues won't be fixed under 2000 from what I have
heard.
Now with that said, test your scenario and ensure all works under that
platform spec before running out and upgrading (which may not be an option
for you anyways)

Jeremy