I think we can forget about the minor problem above. Now we have a bigger problem.
(sorry if the elaboration below appears odd; was pasted from another email composition)
Last month, site 2 got a new server installed with Windows 2003, with
intention to promote it and replace the current win2000 server (_all_
duties). I shall not elaborate the long story of problematic schema
update and FSMO role transfers and server hardware due to above setup,
but I managed to update the schema at the end of a few (not THE) days
and succeeded in allowing the win2003 server a DC promotion.
Now that the win2003 DC was poised for action, its services were
configured similar to the win2000 predecessor, and took over all
services. The old DC was relegated to another IP address for
"retirement". However this setup was not smooth. For a period of time,
everything was fine and the users use the trans-network link as per
normal. But now, computers cannot always browse computers in the other
network, sometimes possible with just IP addresses, and now even IP
addresses won't do. I have duplicated a similar setup with a Virtual PC
win2003 DC i have at home to connect to network 1, and my home machines
can browse the computers just fine.
Now, at the same time the site 2 DC had another problem - the inability
to locate the NETWORK SERVICE account, which was discovered to be due
to the win2000-based forest domain. The lack of this common account in
the 2000 schema prevents the win2003 server from actually finding it.
This was further highlighted when my friend installed SP1 (prior to the
problem), which inserted these new DCOM errors of unable to properly
initiate network-related applications due to lack of NETWORK SERVICE.
RTM never showed these errors. So, the server was restored to a pre-SP1
image,
but the problems persist. Yesterday, some network 2 computers could
randomly access others in site 1, but it was not consistent.
In our searching we find many articles and discussions discouraging
putting RRAS and DNS/Master browser together because it is multi-homed.
The architectural flaws of NetBIOS are revealed in such a setup (which
happen to be the case if you use Small Business Server anyway), and no
good fix appears to be at hand. Everything seems to point to this being
the prime suspect. But, my (our) question is, if that is the case,
shouldn't our original win2000-win2000 setup also exhibit such
behaviour? Also, my own home DC and network does not exhibit such a
problem either.
That leads me to thinking the NETWORK SERVICE account problem could be
the catalyst to all these (meaning how Browser service would actually
still work under original conditions is still beyond me). An example of
the post-SP1 error
------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10016
Date: 4/21/2005
Time: 2:24:08 AM
User: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
Computer: MOTOKO
Description:
The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local
Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID
{BA126AD1-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E} to the user NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK
SERVICE SID (S-1-5-20). This security permission can be modified
using the Component Services administrative tool.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
------------------------------------------------------------
All these CLSIDs point to network related apps. (huh huh) Unfortunately
now we cannot upgrade the network 1 DC to win2003 to see if that fixes
the (browsing) problem. What I need is to ask if any of you with
in-depth knowledge about the Computer Browser service have anything to
say. I did read the Chapter 3 "Windows NT Browsing service" and got a
better understanding of what it does but it does not explain what
topology setup to use for the Domain Master Browser and Master Browsers
for WAN links.
There is also a KB article that states AD actually _replaces_ this
legacy service but falls short of explaining just _how_ this is done,
so I don't know how to go about completely removing NBT, WINS, and
Computer Browser.
Any hints and suggestions appreciated, thanks.
The melody of logic will always play out the truth. ~ Narumi Ayumu, Spiral