RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Computer Browser service questions

[joe]

> My first question is, is it OK to shutdown browser service on domain controllers > and WINS servers and not affect WINS and DC functionality?   Yes. WINS Servers and DC's do not need the browser service for their functionality. Some apps that run on those may want the browser service for what they do though, you need to verify for your apps you run. Note that once you shut that down on the PDC, you will lose your domain master browser, you will want to read up on the impact that can cause as it is network wide.     > The second question is, what is a best practice method to fully populate Network > Neighborhood either in Windows or in an app such as Veritas or Symantec that > look to “browse” a network to find clients.     The browser system basically sucks. Someone else posted a website with some troubleshooting info, here is another link http://labmice.techtarget.com/networking/browsersrvc.htm   There could be many things that cause it not to work fully, troubleshooting it is not very fun. Look at the apps that use it and see if they have alternate methods that can be used and use them. If not complain to the vendor that they need a better method. Shutting down the browser service on WINS and DCs (especially the PDC) is not going to help it work better. As more and more clients load up firewall software and block most traffic I expect to see the browser service working more and more horribly.     joe     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stockbrugger, Brian L. Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 9:47 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Computer Browser service questions Yes this I know about WINS and browser service being different.  My first question is, is it OK to shutdown browser service on domain controllers and WINS servers and not affect WINS and DC functionality?  I realize it is an obscure question but it was posed to me and I am not sure how to best answer it.  The second question is, what is a best practice method to fully populate Network Neighborhood either in Windows or in an app such as Veritas or Symantec that look to “browse” a network to find clients.  The issue is not all clients are showing up – why?  How can I get them to all show up?   Sorry for the confusion and I hope this attempt makes more sense. ~Brian From: joe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 6:36 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Computer Browser service questions   WINS is name resolution. The browser service doesn't do name resolution, it is a directory of NetBIOS resources and machine names. The services aren't the same, WINS is used to resolve names that the browser service maintains.   For your specific question, you can disable browser everywhere and Windows will be fine. However if your users browse to resources, they may have an issue...   What exactly is your goal?     joe   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stockbrugger, Brian L. Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 5:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ActiveDir] OT: Computer Browser service questions Two Wins servers, 10 subnets, all clients point to both Wins servers, mix of Windows clients   Is there an issue with disabling the Computer Browser service on all clients (assuming they are all Wins clients)? Theoretically speaking, however, I'm a bit unsure.  Also, would turning off the Computer Browser service on (1) the Wins servers and/or (2) Domain Controllers be problematic?  Again, all would be Wins clients vs. Computer Browser "broadcast" clients.   Any advice or assistance here would be appreciated.  I've done a fair amount of research, but can't really find anything pertaining to eliminating the Computer Browser service in lieu of using Wins only. Methods to "fully" populate our Network Neighborhood is really what I'm trying to achieve here... ~Brian