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Slow Network Access

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by param2k_st

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Sir/Madam,

When the Router is Switched off or when the ISDN line is dead our local network and intranet becomes very slow. It takes a lot of time to reslove the IP addresses.
We have also tried enabling the WINS feature in theServer and assigning its IP address for all the computers but in vain.
We don?t have any problems when internet is UP and the network is very fast.

So please help us to overcome this problem.
The network setup details are mentioned below for your refernce.

We use Windows 2000 Family Operating System in our network.

The network setup follows with these points.

1. We use star topology - all our computers are connected to a Switch ( DES-1224) using aCAT5 cable and 10/100 Mbps Network Interface Card.
2. We have two Windows 2000 Server Computers which are made the Primary Domain Controller and Additional Domain Controller for our network. (Active Directory Installed)
3. Since we have not yet registered our domain we have assigned the Prefered DNS Server and Alternate DNS Server IP address for all the machines including the servers, the IP address of the DNS Servers of the ISP.
4. And also a connection from the switch to the Router (Prestige 100/1001H) is done.
5. The router IP address is mentioned as the default Gateway address for all machines in the network.
6. We use 128 Kbps ISDN dail-up line to connect to our ISP.

Everthing is fine when the router is ON and Internet is Up.
The problem arises as soon as the router is put off.
We have 25 computers in our network.
The hardware configuration and OS in our machines are mentioned below.
we have 25 computers in our network with adequate hardware and win2kprof.

10 replies

by rohan_r

hi
i am asuming that you are using NAT to logon to the internet. are both your server cofigured with dhcp. if they are that will slow down the connection because one will be giving out useless addresses.if this doesn't fix it e-mail me and i will try to help you (some of my friends are more versed on this subject and i ask them about it)
i am 99% sure that you problem is with dhcp and dns so you might want to check there setting to make sure they are ok.
good luck

by timwalsh

Thanks for providing all the info. The more the better (to help us help you). The one thing you don't mention is how are the client IP addresses assigned - fixed or dynamic.

Most of your problem is that Active Directory will NOT work properly without access to DNS.

I would take the following path:

Host your own internal DNS and DHCP.
DNS setup - create forward and reverse lookup zones for your AD domain. Set your DNS server to look to itself for DNS resolution (Primary DNS server). Set all clients to look to your internal DNS server as Primary DNS server. Add your ISPs DNS server as a forwarder. The end result is that all DNS queries relating to internal resources will be resolved by your DNS server. Any queries relating to resources outside of your domain (i.e. the Internet) will be forwarded to your ISP's DNS server for resolution.
DHCP setup - disable the NAT/DHCP capability of your router (I'm assuming it has this capability, but couldn't find any specs on your router to make sure). Create a DHCP scope that covers the same IP address range (192.168.X.X). This way you aren't reliant on either an ISDN connection or an operable router for internal network operation.

Hope this helps (let us know if you needmore specifics on how to accomplish the above).

by shortbus

Alright, Windows 2000 relies heavily on DNS. DNS will have had to be installed on your PDC.

Note: In windows 2000, there's a PDC emulator role that functions as a PDC to downlevel NT DC's. Win2K Domain Controllers function as multimaster peers.

It doesn't matter if you've registered your domain name with an internet registrar like Network Solutions. You should still point your clients to your domain controllers for DNS resolution.

The reason it's running slow is because you're clients are trying to resolve the names through DNS initially. When you're router is up, the clients are contacting the specified DNS server and recieving an error so then as a last resort, they're attempting to locate the information using WINS which is then successful. Unless you point your clients to your internal DNS servers (your domain controllers), this delay will continue to occur.

If you've setup or during the dcpromo wizard has setup the DNS service on the domain controllers to function as a "root" server then you'll have to delete the "." zone in your DNS database to enable forwarding. After the "." is deleted, the DNS service will understand that it is not a root server and will revert to using standard root servers for DNS resolution. You may have to restart the DNS service after deleting the "." zone for it to take effect faster.

Then configure your DNS service to forward DNS requests to the ISP's DNS server.

Good luck,

Shortbus

by shortbus

Sorry forgot to specifically mention why it takes so long. Continuing from the 4th paragraph...

When your router is down, the clients are still trying to contact the DNS server but since it's unavailable, you're having to wait for their requeststo time out before they resort to using WINS.

by param2k_st

I think this is the best solution, which I have implemented after your suggestions.
Thanks for the solution .
Thanks TechRepublic

by rvkempen

Ok ,
if you have an active directory, you don't need to install dns, because it is already there.
go tho the dns manager, delete the root zone (the .) so that the dns server will resolve internet addresses.
configure your clients to use the w2k dns server.
your latency problems are history.
ps.
It does not matter that you have not registered a dns name yet, since it will only be used inside.
try to use a different name for youre inside dns than that your official name is going to be.
Good luck.
Ron.

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