Microsoft Networking issues and new Master Browser

Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 21:13:40 -0400 (EDT)

From: ITS Change <itschang@daisy.oit.unc.edu

Reply-To: Jim Gogan <gogan@net.unc.edu

To: unlisted-recipients:

Subject: MINOR: Microsoft Networking issues and new Master Browser

Issues and changes:

(1) For those of you that utilize Microsoft Networking (usually to

access NT services or Windows peer-to-peer networking services) - many

of you access resources via "browsing" through the Network Neighboorhood

icon on Wintel platforms. For reasons that I'll touch on in a minute,

browsing is not (and cannot be) guaranteed to work on the campus

network. The basic issues here are:

- no one knows how browsing REALLY works

- no one can find out how browsing REALLY works

- Microsoft can't say how browsing works in large environments

Due to these problems, many campuses have completely disallowed (and

block) the browsing functions from going out on the network at all!

(Note: it is highly unlikely that we would ever do that.)

Existing documentation (from Microsoft and others) is of little help. We

have seen Microsoft Networking actions in packet traces from the campus

network that directly contradict what little documentation about

browsing (and other Microsoft Networking functions) exists. Again, no

one in Microsoft seems to know all of the details either. We have been

saying for quite some time that many of these functions (especially

related to browsing) seem to be related to timing issues; Microsoft has

indicated otherwise. Recently, however, Sun has documented traces that

show that browsing activities are indeed directly related to timing

issues and has shared this with Microsoft. To date, there has been no

reaction or feedback from Microsoft on this of which we are aware.

SUMMARY for POINT 1: we cannot guarantee that you will always see

available Microsoft Networking resources via "browsing" in Network

Neighborhood.

COROLLARY: we can guarantee that if you do not configure

your PC to point to a WINS server, Network Neighborhood will be very

unlikely to ever work.

(2) Related to these browsing issues is the occurance of "master browser

elections" across campus that negatively impact the stability of

browsing (to whatever extent that is possible). In an attempt to

stabilize at least this aspect of Microsoft Networking, on Monday June

7th, we will be bringing up a server (running Unix - designed to be

stable from day one :-)) running Samba (SMB services for Unix) that is

being configured to ALWAYS win any "master browser elections". This

device should always win out over any NT system attempting to become the

Master Browser for the campus network. In order to provide this level

of stability, should we see other systems that through similar

mechanisms defeat this and win master browser elections, we MAY have to

block those devices from the network and notify the departmental system

administrator.

SUMMARY for POINT 2: Monday June 7th, we will deploy a new campuswide

Master Browser for Microsoft Networking that will, by default, win

browser elections. NO END SYSTEM CONFIGURATION CHANGES WILL NEED TO BE

MADE on end user platforms or departmental NT servers.

(3) In conjunction with this other service, we will on June 7th be

installing a WINS server on this new system (at 152.2.1.3) that will

ultimately (by June 21st) replace the WINS server running on

152.2.21.242.

SUMMARY for POINT 3: If you are currently pointing to 152.2.21.242 as

either a primary or secondary WINS server, you should change that to

152.2.1.3 by June 21st (but not before June 7th).

OVERALL SUMMARY: one fervently hopes that Microsoft does a better job

of this in Windows 2000 .....

If you have any questions about this, please let me know. Thanks!

-- Jim Gogan

ATN Networking and Communications