Re: Domain Logon Speed

From: Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] (lanwench_at_heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmail.atyahoo.com)
Date: 06/22/04 

Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 10:02:05 -0400

Chad A. Gross [SBS MVP] wrote:
> It's so nice when others experience the same phenomena as I . . . it
> provides a welcome (albeit short) respit from my usual day-to-day
> insanity :^)

Indeed - that experience was slowly driving me out of my gourd, I admit. :-)
>

>
> Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] wrote:
>> Chad A. Gross [SBS MVP] wrote:
>>> Believe it or not, I have a few clients with Dell PowerEdge 2600
>>> servers and Dell PowerConnect switches . . . setting the nics to
>>> anything besides AutoSense absolutely kills network performance
>>> (we're talking 100 full duplex acting like 14.4 dialup) . . . I
>>> usually only adjust nics away from autosense if I'm experiencing
>>> network issues - an overwhelming majority of my SBS2k3 sites are
>>> happily set to autosense with no issues . . .
>>
>> Funnily enough, the only switches I have ever had problems using
>> hard-coded settings are PowerConnects. Everything else seems to work
>> a lot better without autosense. On the Dell switches (rebadged Cisco
>> IOS I think?) we ended up locking down the ports on the switch
>> themselves and letting the clients use autosense....
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] wrote:
>>>> Marina Roos [SBS-MVP] wrote:
>>>>> Hi Michael,
>>>>>
>>>>> You don't need to lock down the speed always, but if you have XP
>>>>> clients, it sometimes helps to do this. Personally I haven't had
>>>>> the need yet to set those nics on anything but autosense, but if
>>>>> you experience slowness, it can help to put XP nics on anything
>>>>> but autosense.
>>>>
>>>> Must respectfully disagree. The OS really doesn't have anything to
>>>> do with it - with any OS, any NIC, autosense can be a major problem
>>>> -
>>>> the NIC will often "flop" back and forth between speeds while
>>>> trying to make a connection. I use autosense only when
>>>> troubleshooting a connection....always lock down the settings on
>>>> all NICs and you won't have that problem. If you can lock down the
>>>> switch ports at the same setting, even better.
>>>>
>>>>> Check out www.smallbizserver.net, SBS 2000, Workstations
>>>>> for some more information.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Harlequin" <michael.mason@arraspeople.co.uk> schreef in bericht
>>>>> news:eKy3Hq1VEHA.584@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Thanks Marina, Lawntech.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Once in the new offices I certainly will be using a "formal"
>>>>>> network infrastructure. 2 NICs, DHCP and all the other things
>>>>>> suggested in this newsgroup.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One question though if you don't mind:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why would I need to lock down resources to "specific NIC
>>>>>> speed/duplex setting"...?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>> Michael Mason
>>>>>> Arras People
>>>>>> www.arraspeople.co.uk
>>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>> "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
>>>>>> <lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmail.atyahoo.com> wrote
>>>>>> in message news:eQdwyuxVEHA.2696@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>> Harlequin wrote:
>>>>>>>> Thanks Marina.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Once we move and I deploy the server "For Real" I'm considering
>>>>>>>> self assigned IP addresses. Do you think this would have any
>>>>>>>> benefits or would you simply allow DHCP to manage
>>>>>>>> everything...?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Self assigned? As in, statics? No way. Use DHCP from the SBS
>>>>>>> server....statics should be used only for servers, network
>>>>>>> devices, & printers (even for the latter, you could use DHCP
>>>>>>> reservations). The days of
>>>>>>> keeping track of IP addresses with a spread*** are over, my
>>>>>>> friend, and they won't be missed by me!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What Marina was getting at is that in AD, since everything
>>>>>>> relies *very* heavily on DNS, you must specify that all servers
>>>>>>> and workstations specify *only* the internal AD-integrated DNS
>>>>>>> server's IP address in their network settings. The AD-integrated
>>>>>>> DNS server should be set up with forwarders to your ISP's DNS
>>>>>>> servers for external resolution.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I would also suggest that you lock down all servers &
>>>>>>> workstations
>>>>>>> at a specific NIC speed/duplex setting - don't use autosense
>>>>>>> anywhere. If you're using a hub, get a good switch instead. If
>>>>>>> you can afford it, get a managed switch & lock down the ports to
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> same speed/duplex setting as well.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In addition, if you use roaming profiles, make sure the profiles
>>>>>>> are tiny. Redirect My Documents to the users' home directories -
>>>>>>> via group policy folder redirection or manually set per profile,
>>>>>>> as you wish.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi Michael,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Check the ipconfig/all on the clients. Everything should point
>>>>>>>>> to the server-IP.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Marina
>>>>>>>>> Microsoft SBS-MVP
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "Harlequin" <michael.mason@arraspeople.co.uk> schreef in
>>>>>>>>> bericht news:%23hPQJIxVEHA.2696@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>>>>> Hi all
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hopefully another quickie...
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I've noticed that when users logon to the domain it takes a
>>>>>>>>>> while, I mean "Go make a cup of coffee" while.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I hope this is down to the current infrastructure,
>>>>>>>>>> non-structured 10 Mb ps network. However, I'd still be
>>>>>>>>>> interested in any tips
>>>>>>>>>> anyone has for speeding up a domain logon.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> As an aside: one user referred to something they saw as being
>>>>>>>>>> "Nearly as slow as logging on to 'Mick's' domain". That
>>>>>>>>>> certainly made me think...
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>>>>>> Michael Mason
>>>>>>>>>> Arras People
>>>>>>>>>> www.arraspeople.co.uk
>>>>>>>>>> -----------------------------