Sporadic trouble with SA2500 (7.1R7) accessing DFS ressources

[SBu_]

Hello,

We have sporadic issue browsing DFS ressources from our SA2500 (running 7.1R7 release) :

Info

FBR20500

2012-07-09 10:54:12 - ive - [81.246.10.214] SWCS\ftr(Utilisateurs SWCS.BE)[Utilisateurs SWCS.BE, dh2.swcs.be, Ecopack, Informatique, Network Connect, Administrateurs, Administration Informatique, KTP] - Failed to read Windows directory \\SWCS\swcs.be\di with error 19.

At the same time, direct access, from the same IVE, to the share behind the DFS ressource is working.

Also, it appear that, from time to time (but not each time the error occur), a extra value is added by the IVE in front of the UNC (the first SWCS in uppercase in the example above).

I have also to mention that all others fonctionnalities are working fine (http, network connect, ...).

Our domain (fonctionnal level 2003) consist of four windows 2003 domain controllers and the IVE is configured as standalone.

Thanks in advance for your help,

StŽphane.

[fbl_]

Salut StŽphane,

I have the same issue.

My file resource is declared with \\domainname\sharename\subdirectories. Just like you sometime it works somtimes it does not.

To solve it (only a workaround before understand what really occurs) I've changed the declaration as follow:

\\servername_holding_the_share\sharename\subdirectories.

I let both bookmarks and I confirm that while the first one is retruning an error the second one is fully functional.

I am investigating and also waiting some information from a Windows System Engineer.

I will let a feedback asap.

Franois

[zanyterp_]

Have you been able to capture a tcp dump of both working and non to see why the servers respond differently?
How is the bookmark configured?

[spuluka]

In Windows DFSR these domain based names

\domainname\sharename\subdirectories

Are resolved by your DFSR name servers. These look at where the computer is coming from and then decides which of the DFSR servers to send the request to.

I can think of two possible problems.

1-Your AD sites and services does not identify the IVE zone and therefore the request is being occasionally directed to a server far from the IVE that it cannot reach.

2-Check the configuration in the DFSR mgmt mmc and confirm that the path and ports to these servers are all available to the IVE. I haven't used these remote this way so I'm not sure what the ports are off hand.

Unless you are load balancing multiple file shares in the same location you are probably better to point the IVE to the closest server by name in the bookmark. I've also had issues with DFSR name servers occassionally picking the "wrong" server to supply a client even with all the correct information in place. This just makes file access slower. Chances are there is a specific server that is best to hit from the IVE location.

[rdit_]

I have the same sporadic problem with some users. Does anyone have a solution for this?

Sometimes the log shows the following while the users gets "Error FB-2":

Failed to read Windows directory <dfs-path> with error 19.

[rdit_]

OK I was able to solve that issue, it was nothing about the SA-Configuration, it was a Firewall-Rule preventing the access.

In your case the DNS-Name "SWCS" resolves probably to more than just 1 Domain Controller, right? In our case there was another DC added to the pool and noone provided this information to our firewall-admins. So this single host was not allowed and everytime a request was send by the SA to particulary this DC, the access failed with error19 (FB-2). Every request to other DC's in this pool was okay, so that caused this sporadic behaviour. 9 out of 10 times it worked but on the 10th time it reached the new DC and was dropped by the FW-ruleset.

This solved it in our case, maybe you have similar issues. This happens when the communication between teams is improvable ;-) So maybe someone else changed something, must not be an issue of the SA.