Roaming Profiles Fail to Copy

[Guest]

Okay the situation is that we use roaming profiles for the notebook users to
provide some redundnacy (we backup the serverside copy), the My Documents
contains all the docs and the archive.pst file.

The profiles are anywhere between 500MB - 5GB, they do take awhile to copy
as they are way too large, but the issue is that part way through the copying
process (as you log off) the notebook severes itself from the network!

Can anyone please help me sort this out?

It doesn't always fails, but happens in batches often failing for an entire
week before one works.

We are running W2K Server, W2K/XP with all the latest patches - office, if
you start a ping from another PC to the notebook then logoff you can quite
clearly see that the notebook drops off from the network, the server end also
shows it's stopped as there is only 50-500MB copied (have left the notebook
for the weekend once).

I've also tried to manual do a copy, through the System, user profile, copy
to command, this also failed, dropped the network connection.

If I manually copy the files from explorer (as a test) it works fine, takes
about 10 minutes but it gets there.

So I assume there is a problem with the mechanism of transfering the
profile, not the network itself as a normal copy works....

Any help would be much appreciated

Cheers
Corey

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Okay the situation is that we use roaming profiles for the notebook
users to provide some redundnacy (we backup the serverside copy),

Heck, I'd do this for all users/computers - not just notebooks.

the
My Documents contains all the docs and the archive.pst file.

Bad idea even without roaming profiles or notebooks in the picture. Use
folder redirection so that all users' My Documents points elsewhere. You
might want two group policy settings - one for notebooks (in a separate OU)
and one for desktops. Have desktops redirect My Documents to the users' home
directories, and for notebooks, I'd use a local path like c:\data and use
SecondCopy (www.centered.com) to sync the data. I'm not fond of the built-in
Offline Files feature in W2k/XP, as I've seen too many people lose data.

In addition, I'd avoid PST files outright for archive or anything else. They
*must* be accessed from a local drive. They will eventually have problems.
If data is important, I suggest it remain on the Exchange server - I'm
presuming you have one as you mention archive.pst only....

The profiles are anywhere between 500MB - 5GB,
Youch!!!

they do take awhile to
copy as they are way too large, but the issue is that part way
through the copying process (as you log off) the notebook severes
itself from the network!

Can anyone please help me sort this out?

Keep profiles tiny. Like, 20MB. Really. It can be done.

It doesn't always fails, but happens in batches often failing for an
entire week before one works.

We are running W2K Server, W2K/XP with all the latest patches -
office, if you start a ping from another PC to the notebook then
logoff you can quite clearly see that the notebook drops off from the
network, the server end also shows it's stopped as there is only
50-500MB copied (have left the notebook for the weekend once).

I've also tried to manual do a copy, through the System, user
profile, copy to command, this also failed, dropped the network
connection.

Don't bother.

If I manually copy the files from explorer (as a test) it works fine,
takes about 10 minutes but it gets there.

Robocopy can be your friend here - or xcopy.

So I assume there is a problem with the mechanism of transfering the
profile, not the network itself as a normal copy works....

It's just too large a profile. Hope the above helps. Tell users *not* to
store any items on their desktops, ever, or you will beat them soundly.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your thoughts...just to expand

- It's done only on notebooks as all the other users work off the network
drives (which are backed up)
- The notebooks need access to all files/emails when they are offline (away
from the network) as they travel quite a bit and work out of hours, so a
folder redirection will not solve anything, they can vpn in but it's all
quite expensive/slow.
- The size issue has come about as we are not allowed to have more than 50MB
on the exchange server/user so all the users have to backup extensively to
pst (this has blown the archives out somewhat): company policy
- The Second Copy program is a great program, I've used it in the past -
however I believe my current employer would prefer to use the the roaming
profiles.

I've not been working here long so I'm not sure whether the profiles have
been failing from the very begining or not.

It looks like I might have to use offline folders....but I'd really like to
know why the roaming profile mechanism fails.

What can cause the roaming profile to drop the network connection/crash?

Cheers
Corey

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Thank you for your thoughts...just to expand

- It's done only on notebooks as all the other users work off the
network drives (which are backed up)

But their profiles aren't, if you don't use roaming profiles....I use them
for desktops even more than for laptops.

- The notebooks need access to all files/emails when they are offline
(away from the network) as they travel quite a bit and work out of
hours, so a folder redirection will not solve anything, they can vpn
in but it's all quite expensive/slow.

Terminal Server. Not cheap, but if this is a need, well....

- The size issue has come about as we are not allowed to have more
than 50MB on the exchange server/user so all the users have to backup
extensively to pst (this has blown the archives out somewhat):
company policy -

Company policy needs to reflect company need - and PST files are bad news if
this is actually data the company plans to support.

The Second Copy program is a great program, I've
used it in the past -
Yep!

however I believe my current employer would
prefer to use the the roaming profiles.

Apples and oranges. Not mutually exclusive. I use both. And folder
redirection. While juggling on a unicycle, even.

Seriously, you can't do what you want and have anything work well, if at
all. I promise you that a 1GB profile will blow up.

I've not been working here long so I'm not sure whether the profiles
have been failing from the very begining or not.

It looks like I might have to use offline folders....

I wouldn't. Especially if users all need access to the same files. You're
going to lose data - and you're going to end up with conflicts when users
modify the same items. If they all need the same stuff, perhaps it's time
for a terminal server.

but I'd really
like to know why the roaming profile mechanism fails.


What can cause the roaming profile to drop the network
connection/crash?

Because it's too big.

Cheers
Corey

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your help, I had thought the solution was to reduce
(dramatically reduce) the profile sizes.

Does MS have a recommended roaming profile size?

Thank you
Corey

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Thank you for your help, I had thought the solution was to reduce
(dramatically reduce) the profile sizes.

Does MS have a recommended roaming profile size?

Dunno, but I do - 30MB or so?

 

[Christian =?ISO-8859-1?Q?D=FCrrhauer?=]

On the seventh day, Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] wrote...

In

But their profiles aren't, if you don't use roaming profiles....I use them
for desktops even more than for laptops.
ACK


Terminal Server. Not cheap, but if this is a need, well....


Company policy needs to reflect company need - and PST files are bad news if
this is actually data the company plans to support.


Apples and oranges. Not mutually exclusive. I use both. And folder
redirection. While juggling on a unicycle, even.

Seriously, you can't do what you want and have anything work well, if at
all. I promise you that a 1GB profile will blow up.

not alone, but given a whole company with users' profiles at 1gig each,
certainly that will blow up the whole infrastructure. I guess, Fast
Ethernet is only capable of accommodating 5-6 simultaneous logins (given
the server hardware is capable of sustained 50-60MB/s hard disk transfer
and matching network infrastructure), more logons will grind everything to
a halt. GBoC takes more, of course, given a powerful RAID.

Corey might check into what I found out (10/10/2005 FYI: roaming profiles
issues) first.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

On the seventh day, Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] wrote...

In

But their profiles aren't, if you don't use roaming profiles....I
use them for desktops even more than for laptops.

ACK

That was so very retro Bill the Cat!

not alone,

Oh, very likely yes.

but given a whole company with users' profiles at 1gig
each, certainly that will blow up the whole infrastructure.

My goodness, absolutely.

I guess,
Fast Ethernet is only capable of accommodating 5-6 simultaneous
logins (given the server hardware is capable of sustained 50-60MB/s
hard disk transfer and matching network infrastructure), more logons
will grind everything to a halt. GBoC takes more, of course, given a
powerful RAID.

Corey might check into what I found out (10/10/2005 FYI: roaming
profiles issues) first.

Roaming profiles need to be kept teensy weensy if they are to be implemented
at all.