offline folders and slow link detection

[Guest]

I have a 2003 network with a WAN link between offices A and B and file
servers and DCs in each office. User Freddie has folder redirection and
offline folders configured for "My Documents" and points to
\\LAN-A-Server\userdocs\freddie\mydocuments.

When he travels to LAN B he authenticates successfully against LAN-B-DC.
His redirected "My Documents" goes online as slow link detection reacts to
the link to the authenticating DC and not to the link to the data (3 2048byte
ICMP packets to the DC see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816045 for
details) so his access to "My Documents" occurs across the WAN link = slow.

I can't just disable non-server traffic over the WAN link as part of the
point of having a WAN is so that users can access files on servers in other
offices but I can't have roaming users use online access to their offline
folders while in another office (my WAN crosses three continents and some
awfully slow links are involved!). While it is theoretically possible to
identify computers from LAN-A and, when they login to LAN-B that ICMP is
filtered down to >2048bytes but that is a lot of work and maintaining that
solution would be frightening.

Ideas?

 

[Guest]

uh, the final sentence on my previous post should read:

While it is theoretically possible to identify computers from LAN-A and,
when they login to LAN-B, to filter ICMP down to <2048bytes so that LAN-A
users on LAN-B would think it's a slow link but that is a lot of work and
maintaining that solution would be frightening.

 

[Guest]

got it.

what we do is create a computer group for computers on LAN A called,
cleverly, "LAN A Computers" and the same for LAN B computers.

On the LAN B site we create a group policy that sets the Group Policy slow
link threshold to over 100Mbs and filter the policy such that it doesn't
apply to "LAN B Computers" but does apply to all others. When a LAN A
computer goes to Site B, the slow link threshold policy will apply and the
computer will think it's on a slow link and offline folders will remain
offline. Of course, we are still testing this but it's a good idea if I do
say so myself. If anyone cares, email me at (e-mail address removed) and i'll let
you know how it goes.

-mike