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misaro said:
Hi,
Normally all the computers have the master browser client
service to see and access the network neighborhood all
the computers by NETBIOS.
The service is actually known as the "Windows Browser Service". What you are actually seeing when you browse computers in Network Neighborhood are computers running the "Server Service". IOW, these are computers that are capable of creating disk and printer shares and advertizing them. When a computer joins the network, it announces its presence to the rest of the network via broadcast along with some qualifying information such as its operating system version and role. The Master Browser of that subnet (NETBios broadcast domain) maintains the browse list of these computers and is referenced by other computers on the network when they want to browse the network. There are a few rules to remember about Browse Masters:
- They gain their role through election (see KB 188001)
- The PDC FSMO role holder will always be the *Domain* Master Browser (unless it's not available, in which case there is no Domain Master Browser)
- Domain Controllers are *always* Browser Masters (unless disabled)
- There will be at least one browser master per NETBios broadcast domain for each 32 qualifying systems on that broadcast domain. (So, if you have 75 computers, you will have at least 3 Browsers on that network - one Master and two Backup Browsers.
- *Any* computer on the network running a Server Service is (at minimum) a *Potential Browser* - meaning, it will participate in elections and potentially get elected as a Backup or Master Browser in the abscence of any other better qualified computers.
But I have a problem once in a while multiple computers
trying to promove to master browser in the domain.
It's a pretty common problem in networks where the Browser service is not well understood by the network designers. (Cisco folks, listen up! You are about to learn something new ...)
When a Master Browser or Backup Browser are removed from the network for some reason, another computer will be "elected" to replace it. (recall the rules above) This means that if Sally Secretary's desktop machine might get elected unless there is another computer more *qualified* to win the election. This is pretty common on networks when a subnet doesn't have dedicated servers placed on it and the only computers in it are desktop computers. What happens next is that users whose computers have been elected to be Browsers restart or shutdown their systems. When the user properly shuts down their system, the Browser Service on that machine announces that it is doing so to the network and calls for an election. At that time, every computer running the Server service participates and you will see election packets and possibly a new Browser elected. If the user simply turns the power off on their machine, no announcement is made to the network and it is left to the first computer that discovers the missing Browser to announce that fact. It does this by making it's own call for election - which results in the same activity mentioned above. If you don't have dedicated Browsers on an network with lots of clients, this can be very *interesting*.
EventID:8003 Source:MRxSmb "The Master Browser has
received a server announcement from the computer MANA12
that believes that is the master browser for the domain or
transport NetBT_Tcpip"
I accessed the local computer registry key and change the option to avoid that pc propagate anymore like MB.
It is recommend to do this process to all clients computers ! Any script or tool available to remove the option from
the client!
See KB 297789 and my comments below ...
Thanks for any comments about it !!
There are a few good approaches to this problem:
- Disable the Server Service on any clients that don't need to run it. (Warning! Don't do this if you are running SMS and managing your clients centrally or if you like connecting to the default admin shares) This will reduce the number of "Servers" on the network and thereby reduce the number of required Browsers.
- Identify network segments where there are lots of clients and few servers and dedicate some systems to become Browsers on that network. This can be done by either placing servers that will be assured to win elections or by selecting systems that won't be restarted all the time and modifying their regsistry as follows: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Services \Browser \Parameters set MaintainServerList=Yes
Setting the IsDomainMasterBrowser parameter entry to True or Yes on a computer makes that computer a preferred master browser. A preferred master browser has priority over other computers in master browser elections. Whenever a preferred master browser starts, it forces a browser election.
Any computer running Windows (Client or server) can be configured as a preferred master browser. When the Browser service is started on the preferred master-browser computer, the Browser service forces an election. Preferred master browsers are given priority in elections, which means that if no other condition prevents it, the preferred master browser will always win the election. This gives an administrator the ability to configure a specific computer as the master browser.
- You can completely disable the Browser Service throughout the domain. It's not necessary in a managed network if you centrally assign shares through mapping or publishing. (See KB 297789:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q297789/)
Although I have always loved the innate "techiness" of getting the Browser Service to work properly in a large network (Yes - you can!), it is actually an archaic service that is no longer necessary in the age of directory-enabled networks.
-ds
