synchronization issue

[Joe]

I'm a helpdesk guy so I apologize in advance for any lack of details or
improper terminology, that said, then hopefully I will at least be able
describe the problem. We had a very good network administrator who left for
another job. The replacement administrator didn't have that kind of Win2000
background and certifications as our previous administrator. The replacement
administrator was later released.



Here's one problem he let us with, our Win2000 domain use to be in a
cluster. The replacement network administrator really disliked the cluster,
he persuaded our supervisor to dismantle the cluster and go with individual
servers. When he setup the replacement server he gave it a new name xxxS04.
xxxS04 was in service with that name for about 3 - 4 days. Then took down
the main server (cluster) xxx01 and renamed xxxS04 to xxx01. So now when
about 50% of the client systems log on to the domain their systems are
trying to synchronize with xxxS04? Eventually the synchronization fails and
they go on with their work until the next time they log on. This has been
going since June or July and our acting a net admin thought once everyone
was at SP4 he would be able to resolve it but that has not happened. The
only way I know how to resolve it is by re-imaging the system. We only like
to reimage when we we issue a system or when the OS, MS Office or some
other application gets corrupted. Does anyone know of a regedit or something
else that might fix the synchronization issue?



TIA, have a pleasant holiday season,

Joe

 

[NIC Student]

Hi Joe,

Well, I think I understand: Some machines want to synch with ServerS04 and
some want to synch with Server01 but S04 and 01 are really the same machine?

You can get Server01 to also answer to ServerS04 requests so any requests on
either name will work.

This involves editing the registry and you should make a note of these
changes in a server log or something, becasue when we are finished Server01
will think it is also ServerS04 and conflicts will occur if someone later
deploys a server named ServerS04.

To get a server to respond to an alias name you add a CNAME record to DNS
with the desired name pointing to the actual FQDN of the server.

However this will not work for browsing or "net use" becasue the query is
sent to the correct IP address but the server will not listen for any
NetBios name except it's own, so "net use x: \\server\share" will not work.

In addition to the CNAME record, the registry must be edited:

http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBA/tip0000/rh0062.htm

In case the page doesn't work, the important part of the article is listed
below:

Create an alias instead, by editing:

HKEY_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

Add Value: "OptionalNames" REG_SZ String: "ServerS04"

If you make it a type REG_MULTI_SZ, you can add multiple aliases.

 

[Joe]

Scott,
Thanks for the quick reply back. Yes, ServerS04 was renamed to Server01, so
ServerS04 does not exist anymore. The regedit is for the client systems,,
not the server correct? And if so could you explain this part a little more
"If you make it a type REG_MULTI_SZ, you can add multiple aliases" is this
another entry in the regedit?

TIA,
Joe

 

[NIC Student]

No, the registry edit is for the server.

When you add the registry edit, you will see where the option exists to add
the key as REG_MULTI_SZ, if you do that you can add several aliases, not
just one. For example, the server would listen for requests as ServerS04,
Server01, ServerABC, etc. Obviously you don't want to go too crazy with
that, just add the alias(es) you absolutely require.

 

[Joe]

Scott,
Thanks for the info & explanation; I'll forward this to our network guy on
Monday.