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user sessions and connected users

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by svybiral

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Hello everyone. I have a (hopefully) simple questions. When I use Server Manager/Properties/Users I get a list of User Sessions on my server. Some of the entries have a Connected User name (NT logon id) and some do not. What are the Connected Users with no names?

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by joseph moore

I take it that you are looking at your PDC or BDC, right?
Ok. When domain member workstations are booted up, they are authenticated against the SAM database. Remember, each client machine has an account in the SAM, just like user accounts do. In the SAM, the machine accounts are all named MACHINENAME$ where the name of the machine is followed by a $.
So, during boot, the client makes a request against the PDC that it is coming up and its machine name is XXX. This is checked against the SAM for a match.
If there is one, then the machine is granted access to the domain, and then a user could log into the domain.
So, each of these authentication requests count as a connection to the domain controllers.
And these are the blank user connections you are seeing in the Users button in Server Manager.
I think that connections will time out after the autodisconnect time (15 minutes default) but as users use their workstations, the blank machine connection stays active.

So, yes, it looks weird, but this is how it is supposed to be.

hope this helps

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