DFS R2 Browsing Namespace Extremely Slow

Hello everyone. I've had DFS issues from the beginning of installation.
These are two Windows 2003 R2 Standard servers that have fresh installations
that are only a couple of months old. When I have implemented DFS with test
shares only, with our without replication, browsing the namespace from either
server becomes extremely slow, and creates, literally, hundreds of
connections to port 389. The SMB shares are with dummy folders and files
(small in size). This is all testing before production.

Here's the general config info:

DC1 Win2k3 R2 Standard x64
- Hardware: Dell 2950, dual quad-core, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
- Roles/config: FSMO (all 5 roles), AD (GC), DNS, DHCP, WINS, File Server,
DFS (all components)
- Extended schema and verified as version 31
- Uninstalled antivirus

DC2 Win2k3 R2 Standard x32
- Hardware: Dell 2600, dual Xeon, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
- Roles/config: AD (GC), DNS, WINS, DFS (replication only)
- Uninstalled antivirus

Other Info:
- DCs are on different subnets and communicate over a very fast VPN
connection
- DCDiag with /e /v ALL passed
- No DNS errors or AD replication errors
- Have removed and implemented File Server roles/DFS a couple of times in
hopes that it will "just work"
- Did demote/promote DC2 because wasn't sure if I had extended the schema
on DC1 before it's first promotion (thought maybe that was the problem)
- DFS configuration is simple! One namespace with couple of namespace
folders with a couple of targets to dummy folders and files
- I did use a different path instead of C:\DFSroot\...; changed drive
letter to D:\DFSroot\...

I am really at a loss here. I read and trudged through much material. I
have seen hints of others having this problem but with no answers.

Thanks,

Tim Heller
-----

So I'm wondering:

-- is there any compatibility problem with DC1 x64 and DC2 x32 running
different versions of any of the services involved?
-- if I did promote DC2 before extending the schema on DC1, will
demoting/promoting DC2 after extending the schema on DC1 correct it?
-- is the default site connection for DC1 and DC2 proper or adequate for DFS?

I'm think this is a schema issue or connection issue. How do I narrow it
down?

"Tim Heller" wrote:

> Hello everyone. I've had DFS issues from the beginning of installation.
> These are two Windows 2003 R2 Standard servers that have fresh installations
> that are only a couple of months old. When I have implemented DFS with test
> shares only, with our without replication, browsing the namespace from either
> server becomes extremely slow, and creates, literally, hundreds of
> connections to port 389. The SMB shares are with dummy folders and files
> (small in size). This is all testing before production.
>
> Here's the general config info:
>
> DC1 Win2k3 R2 Standard x64
> - Hardware: Dell 2950, dual quad-core, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> - Roles/config: FSMO (all 5 roles), AD (GC), DNS, DHCP, WINS, File Server,
> DFS (all components)
> - Extended schema and verified as version 31
> - Uninstalled antivirus
>
> DC2 Win2k3 R2 Standard x32
> - Hardware: Dell 2600, dual Xeon, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> - Roles/config: AD (GC), DNS, WINS, DFS (replication only)
> - Uninstalled antivirus
>
> Other Info:
> - DCs are on different subnets and communicate over a very fast VPN
> connection
> - DCDiag with /e /v ALL passed
> - No DNS errors or AD replication errors
> - Have removed and implemented File Server roles/DFS a couple of times in
> hopes that it will "just work"
> - Did demote/promote DC2 because wasn't sure if I had extended the schema
> on DC1 before it's first promotion (thought maybe that was the problem)
> - DFS configuration is simple! One namespace with couple of namespace
> folders with a couple of targets to dummy folders and files
> - I did use a different path instead of C:\DFSroot\...; changed drive
> letter to D:\DFSroot\...
>
> I am really at a loss here. I read and trudged through much material. I
> have seen hints of others having this problem but with no answers.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim Heller
> -----
>
>

Hi Tim

Are your servers on the same site? Are both DC´s used as namespaceserver?

I had the same problems as you describe. I only have 2 server on the same
site and when both servers were acting as namespaceservers browsing where
slow and where freezing. When i removed the namespace from server2 it all
started to work as it should.


"Tim Heller" wrote:

> So I'm wondering:
>
> -- is there any compatibility problem with DC1 x64 and DC2 x32 running
> different versions of any of the services involved?
> -- if I did promote DC2 before extending the schema on DC1, will
> demoting/promoting DC2 after extending the schema on DC1 correct it?
> -- is the default site connection for DC1 and DC2 proper or adequate for DFS?
>
> I'm think this is a schema issue or connection issue. How do I narrow it
> down?
>
> "Tim Heller" wrote:
>
> > Hello everyone. I've had DFS issues from the beginning of installation.
> > These are two Windows 2003 R2 Standard servers that have fresh installations
> > that are only a couple of months old. When I have implemented DFS with test
> > shares only, with our without replication, browsing the namespace from either
> > server becomes extremely slow, and creates, literally, hundreds of
> > connections to port 389. The SMB shares are with dummy folders and files
> > (small in size). This is all testing before production.
> >
> > Here's the general config info:
> >
> > DC1 Win2k3 R2 Standard x64
> > - Hardware: Dell 2950, dual quad-core, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > - Roles/config: FSMO (all 5 roles), AD (GC), DNS, DHCP, WINS, File Server,
> > DFS (all components)
> > - Extended schema and verified as version 31
> > - Uninstalled antivirus
> >
> > DC2 Win2k3 R2 Standard x32
> > - Hardware: Dell 2600, dual Xeon, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > - Roles/config: AD (GC), DNS, WINS, DFS (replication only)
> > - Uninstalled antivirus
> >
> > Other Info:
> > - DCs are on different subnets and communicate over a very fast VPN
> > connection
> > - DCDiag with /e /v ALL passed
> > - No DNS errors or AD replication errors
> > - Have removed and implemented File Server roles/DFS a couple of times in
> > hopes that it will "just work"
> > - Did demote/promote DC2 because wasn't sure if I had extended the schema
> > on DC1 before it's first promotion (thought maybe that was the problem)
> > - DFS configuration is simple! One namespace with couple of namespace
> > folders with a couple of targets to dummy folders and files
> > - I did use a different path instead of C:\DFSroot\...; changed drive
> > letter to D:\DFSroot\...
> >
> > I am really at a loss here. I read and trudged through much material. I
> > have seen hints of others having this problem but with no answers.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Tim Heller
> > -----
> >
> >

Hi Magnus. There are only 2 servers, single forest and domain, at 2
different buildings being routed over a VPN. I think I may have set up both
servers as namespace servers at first. Today I am removing all remnants of
DFS, DFS roots, services, etc. I want to make sure any previous
configuration info is really gone. It's my understanding that DFS and all
services need to be set up on the main DFS server and then DFS replication
service only on the second server. This is correct?

Thanks for the the reply,

Tim

"Magnus Winberg" wrote:

> Hi Tim
>
> Are your servers on the same site? Are both DC´s used as namespaceserver?
>
> I had the same problems as you describe. I only have 2 server on the same
> site and when both servers were acting as namespaceservers browsing where
> slow and where freezing. When i removed the namespace from server2 it all
> started to work as it should.
>
>
> "Tim Heller" wrote:
>
> > So I'm wondering:
> >
> > -- is there any compatibility problem with DC1 x64 and DC2 x32 running
> > different versions of any of the services involved?
> > -- if I did promote DC2 before extending the schema on DC1, will
> > demoting/promoting DC2 after extending the schema on DC1 correct it?
> > -- is the default site connection for DC1 and DC2 proper or adequate for DFS?
> >
> > I'm think this is a schema issue or connection issue. How do I narrow it
> > down?
> >
> > "Tim Heller" wrote:
> >
> > > Hello everyone. I've had DFS issues from the beginning of installation.
> > > These are two Windows 2003 R2 Standard servers that have fresh installations
> > > that are only a couple of months old. When I have implemented DFS with test
> > > shares only, with our without replication, browsing the namespace from either
> > > server becomes extremely slow, and creates, literally, hundreds of
> > > connections to port 389. The SMB shares are with dummy folders and files
> > > (small in size). This is all testing before production.
> > >
> > > Here's the general config info:
> > >
> > > DC1 Win2k3 R2 Standard x64
> > > - Hardware: Dell 2950, dual quad-core, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > > - Roles/config: FSMO (all 5 roles), AD (GC), DNS, DHCP, WINS, File Server,
> > > DFS (all components)
> > > - Extended schema and verified as version 31
> > > - Uninstalled antivirus
> > >
> > > DC2 Win2k3 R2 Standard x32
> > > - Hardware: Dell 2600, dual Xeon, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > > - Roles/config: AD (GC), DNS, WINS, DFS (replication only)
> > > - Uninstalled antivirus
> > >
> > > Other Info:
> > > - DCs are on different subnets and communicate over a very fast VPN
> > > connection
> > > - DCDiag with /e /v ALL passed
> > > - No DNS errors or AD replication errors
> > > - Have removed and implemented File Server roles/DFS a couple of times in
> > > hopes that it will "just work"
> > > - Did demote/promote DC2 because wasn't sure if I had extended the schema
> > > on DC1 before it's first promotion (thought maybe that was the problem)
> > > - DFS configuration is simple! One namespace with couple of namespace
> > > folders with a couple of targets to dummy folders and files
> > > - I did use a different path instead of C:\DFSroot\...; changed drive
> > > letter to D:\DFSroot\...
> > >
> > > I am really at a loss here. I read and trudged through much material. I
> > > have seen hints of others having this problem but with no answers.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Tim Heller
> > > -----
> > >
> > >

Well, I removed DFS namespace server, namespace, and deleted referenced
folders. I removed DFS replication from DC2. Here's the config and it
appears to be the same problem. This seems to be either a misconfiguration
on my part or an incompatibility issue.

DC1
DFS services - ALL components installed and services running and DFS
management
SMB Public2 share
Created namespace \\blah.domain.com\public with the root on DC1 - D:\dfsroot
Created 4 namespace folders
Added 4 target folders from DC1:\\Public2 share to 4 namespace folders
Tested accessing the namespace and browsing worked fine with no browsing
delays
Looked at dfsr debug logs on both DC1 and DC2 and no new entries confirming
dfsr is not actively the problem
Added DC2 as another namespace server for availability with the root on DC2
- E:\dfsroot
Now, with no replication added or started, browsing from either server
becomes slow and there are hundreds if not over a thousand connections to
port 389


DC2
DFS service itself ONLY installed and running

I am really missing something here or there's a compatibility issue, or
maybe the VPN connection is to blame. The VPN connection is OpenVPN between
two open source firewalls both with gigabit ports going across fiber. It's
not a speed issue but maybe DFS just doesn't like how the routing and ports
are being handled? It's more likely a configuration issue.

Thanks,

Tim

"Tim Heller" wrote:

> Hi Magnus. There are only 2 servers, single forest and domain, at 2
> different buildings being routed over a VPN. I think I may have set up both
> servers as namespace servers at first. Today I am removing all remnants of
> DFS, DFS roots, services, etc. I want to make sure any previous
> configuration info is really gone. It's my understanding that DFS and all
> services need to be set up on the main DFS server and then DFS replication
> service only on the second server. This is correct?
>
> Thanks for the the reply,
>
> Tim
>
> "Magnus Winberg" wrote:
>
> > Hi Tim
> >
> > Are your servers on the same site? Are both DC´s used as namespaceserver?
> >
> > I had the same problems as you describe. I only have 2 server on the same
> > site and when both servers were acting as namespaceservers browsing where
> > slow and where freezing. When i removed the namespace from server2 it all
> > started to work as it should.
> >
> >
> > "Tim Heller" wrote:
> >
> > > So I'm wondering:
> > >
> > > -- is there any compatibility problem with DC1 x64 and DC2 x32 running
> > > different versions of any of the services involved?
> > > -- if I did promote DC2 before extending the schema on DC1, will
> > > demoting/promoting DC2 after extending the schema on DC1 correct it?
> > > -- is the default site connection for DC1 and DC2 proper or adequate for DFS?
> > >
> > > I'm think this is a schema issue or connection issue. How do I narrow it
> > > down?
> > >
> > > "Tim Heller" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello everyone. I've had DFS issues from the beginning of installation.
> > > > These are two Windows 2003 R2 Standard servers that have fresh installations
> > > > that are only a couple of months old. When I have implemented DFS with test
> > > > shares only, with our without replication, browsing the namespace from either
> > > > server becomes extremely slow, and creates, literally, hundreds of
> > > > connections to port 389. The SMB shares are with dummy folders and files
> > > > (small in size). This is all testing before production.
> > > >
> > > > Here's the general config info:
> > > >
> > > > DC1 Win2k3 R2 Standard x64
> > > > - Hardware: Dell 2950, dual quad-core, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > > > - Roles/config: FSMO (all 5 roles), AD (GC), DNS, DHCP, WINS, File Server,
> > > > DFS (all components)
> > > > - Extended schema and verified as version 31
> > > > - Uninstalled antivirus
> > > >
> > > > DC2 Win2k3 R2 Standard x32
> > > > - Hardware: Dell 2600, dual Xeon, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > > > - Roles/config: AD (GC), DNS, WINS, DFS (replication only)
> > > > - Uninstalled antivirus
> > > >
> > > > Other Info:
> > > > - DCs are on different subnets and communicate over a very fast VPN
> > > > connection
> > > > - DCDiag with /e /v ALL passed
> > > > - No DNS errors or AD replication errors
> > > > - Have removed and implemented File Server roles/DFS a couple of times in
> > > > hopes that it will "just work"
> > > > - Did demote/promote DC2 because wasn't sure if I had extended the schema
> > > > on DC1 before it's first promotion (thought maybe that was the problem)
> > > > - DFS configuration is simple! One namespace with couple of namespace
> > > > folders with a couple of targets to dummy folders and files
> > > > - I did use a different path instead of C:\DFSroot\...; changed drive
> > > > letter to D:\DFSroot\...
> > > >
> > > > I am really at a loss here. I read and trudged through much material. I
> > > > have seen hints of others having this problem but with no answers.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Tim Heller
> > > > -----
> > > >
> > > >

Well, I did create a new AD site and this did take care of the AD traffic and
hundreds of connections to port 389. I think this was normal traffic for DFS
even though I haven't implemented replication. Even though the traffic
calmed down the original browsing problem is there.

Magnus wrote:
When i removed the namespace from server2 it all
started to work as it should.

It is true if I remove the namespace from DC2 browsing is timely as it
should be. But I thought that adding another namespace server is one of the
points of DFS. This is a supported feature and provides availability if one
of the namespace servers go down. I'm about to abandon DFS because of the
problems I'm having up front and it seems like just another layer of
technology that can go wrong. Straight SMB shares seems like a great idea
after all of this.

Thanks,

Tim


"Tim Heller" wrote:

> Well, I removed DFS namespace server, namespace, and deleted referenced
> folders. I removed DFS replication from DC2. Here's the config and it
> appears to be the same problem. This seems to be either a misconfiguration
> on my part or an incompatibility issue.
>
> DC1
> DFS services - ALL components installed and services running and DFS
> management
> SMB Public2 share
> Created namespace \\blah.domain.com\public with the root on DC1 - D:\dfsroot
> Created 4 namespace folders
> Added 4 target folders from DC1:\\Public2 share to 4 namespace folders
> Tested accessing the namespace and browsing worked fine with no browsing
> delays
> Looked at dfsr debug logs on both DC1 and DC2 and no new entries confirming
> dfsr is not actively the problem
> Added DC2 as another namespace server for availability with the root on DC2
> - E:\dfsroot
> Now, with no replication added or started, browsing from either server
> becomes slow and there are hundreds if not over a thousand connections to
> port 389
>
>
> DC2
> DFS service itself ONLY installed and running
>
> I am really missing something here or there's a compatibility issue, or
> maybe the VPN connection is to blame. The VPN connection is OpenVPN between
> two open source firewalls both with gigabit ports going across fiber. It's
> not a speed issue but maybe DFS just doesn't like how the routing and ports
> are being handled? It's more likely a configuration issue.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim
>
> "Tim Heller" wrote:
>
> > Hi Magnus. There are only 2 servers, single forest and domain, at 2
> > different buildings being routed over a VPN. I think I may have set up both
> > servers as namespace servers at first. Today I am removing all remnants of
> > DFS, DFS roots, services, etc. I want to make sure any previous
> > configuration info is really gone. It's my understanding that DFS and all
> > services need to be set up on the main DFS server and then DFS replication
> > service only on the second server. This is correct?
> >
> > Thanks for the the reply,
> >
> > Tim
> >
> > "Magnus Winberg" wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Tim
> > >
> > > Are your servers on the same site? Are both DC´s used as namespaceserver?
> > >
> > > I had the same problems as you describe. I only have 2 server on the same
> > > site and when both servers were acting as namespaceservers browsing where
> > > slow and where freezing. When i removed the namespace from server2 it all
> > > started to work as it should.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Tim Heller" wrote:
> > >
> > > > So I'm wondering:
> > > >
> > > > -- is there any compatibility problem with DC1 x64 and DC2 x32 running
> > > > different versions of any of the services involved?
> > > > -- if I did promote DC2 before extending the schema on DC1, will
> > > > demoting/promoting DC2 after extending the schema on DC1 correct it?
> > > > -- is the default site connection for DC1 and DC2 proper or adequate for DFS?
> > > >
> > > > I'm think this is a schema issue or connection issue. How do I narrow it
> > > > down?
> > > >
> > > > "Tim Heller" wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hello everyone. I've had DFS issues from the beginning of installation.
> > > > > These are two Windows 2003 R2 Standard servers that have fresh installations
> > > > > that are only a couple of months old. When I have implemented DFS with test
> > > > > shares only, with our without replication, browsing the namespace from either
> > > > > server becomes extremely slow, and creates, literally, hundreds of
> > > > > connections to port 389. The SMB shares are with dummy folders and files
> > > > > (small in size). This is all testing before production.
> > > > >
> > > > > Here's the general config info:
> > > > >
> > > > > DC1 Win2k3 R2 Standard x64
> > > > > - Hardware: Dell 2950, dual quad-core, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > > > > - Roles/config: FSMO (all 5 roles), AD (GC), DNS, DHCP, WINS, File Server,
> > > > > DFS (all components)
> > > > > - Extended schema and verified as version 31
> > > > > - Uninstalled antivirus
> > > > >
> > > > > DC2 Win2k3 R2 Standard x32
> > > > > - Hardware: Dell 2600, dual Xeon, 4 GB RAM, RAID 5
> > > > > - Roles/config: AD (GC), DNS, WINS, DFS (replication only)
> > > > > - Uninstalled antivirus
> > > > >
> > > > > Other Info:
> > > > > - DCs are on different subnets and communicate over a very fast VPN
> > > > > connection
> > > > > - DCDiag with /e /v ALL passed
> > > > > - No DNS errors or AD replication errors
> > > > > - Have removed and implemented File Server roles/DFS a couple of times in
> > > > > hopes that it will "just work"
> > > > > - Did demote/promote DC2 because wasn't sure if I had extended the schema
> > > > > on DC1 before it's first promotion (thought maybe that was the problem)
> > > > > - DFS configuration is simple! One namespace with couple of namespace
> > > > > folders with a couple of targets to dummy folders and files
> > > > > - I did use a different path instead of C:\DFSroot\...; changed drive
> > > > > letter to D:\DFSroot\...
> > > > >
> > > > > I am really at a loss here. I read and trudged through much material. I
> > > > > have seen hints of others having this problem but with no answers.
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks,
> > > > >
> > > > > Tim Heller
> > > > > -----
> > > > >
> > > > >