Problem with computer browser

In my network, there are two disjoint subnets, for eg:
subnet 172.16.1.x, and subnet 172.16.20.x
Traffic from the first subnet must pass the router in
order to go to the second subnet, and vice versa.

On this network, I got two Windows 2003 domain
controllers, and one Exchange 2000 server running Windows
2000. The first one (\\FIRST) handles the domain naming
and schema roles, and have two network cards, each bind to
one of these two subnets.

The second domain controller (\\SECOND) handles RID, PDC,
and Infrastructure roles, and only has one network card.
It listens in the 172.16.20.x subnet

I've WINS server installed on these two servers, and the
clients are setup to use these two WINS servers.

Right now I'm having some browsing problem, in which the
list of the computers on the network keeps come and go,
meaning that right now I could see \\COMPUTER1 , but a few
minutes later \\COMPUTER1 is gone, though I can still
do "net view \\COMPUTER1"

I've done some debugging with browstat.exe, and I noticed
that sometimes the Master Browser (MBR) is being handled
by three servers, instead of just the PDC.
Furthermore, when I connected to the second DC (handles
PDC) and issued browstat status, it says that the MBR is
itself (\\SECOND), but when I connected to the first DC,
it says the MBR is itself (\\FIRST), instead of \\SECOND.

My question is how am I supposed to fix this? Do I need to
go back to previous configuration, where the DC that
handles PDC have two network card and listens on both
subnets?

Thanks

Having the PDC multihomed and listening on both subnets is definitely the
wrong way to go. This created two different browse lists (one on each
interface) and these cannot be merged. It is not a great idea to have
servers multihomed if you can avoid it, especially ones which can become
master browsers. Personally I would not have a WINS server mutihomed either.

If you must have a server multihomed, disable Netbios over TCP/IP on one
interface, so that only one interface will appear in a browse list or
register in WINS.

The basic approach to use in a setup like this is to have one machine
act as the master browser for its segment. So if your PDC emulator is the
browser for one segment, make sure no other server in that segment can act
as a master browser. Similarly, arrange that only one server (preferably a
single homed one) is the master browser on the other subnet.

If each segment has a stable segment browser, the PDC emulator will
build a merged browse list and each segment master browser will get a copy
of this. So when browsing settles down, each segment master browser will
have a browse list for the complete network. The segment master browsers use
WINS to contact each other across the router.

See KB 188001 for a description of how the browser service works across
routers, KB 188305 for a troubleshooting guide for thr browser service and
KB 191611 for problems with multihomed browsers.

"IHB" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:050a01c3c91e$62b448d0$(E-Mail Removed)...
> In my network, there are two disjoint subnets, for eg:
> subnet 172.16.1.x, and subnet 172.16.20.x
> Traffic from the first subnet must pass the router in
> order to go to the second subnet, and vice versa.
>
> On this network, I got two Windows 2003 domain
> controllers, and one Exchange 2000 server running Windows
> 2000. The first one (\\FIRST) handles the domain naming
> and schema roles, and have two network cards, each bind to
> one of these two subnets.
>
> The second domain controller (\\SECOND) handles RID, PDC,
> and Infrastructure roles, and only has one network card.
> It listens in the 172.16.20.x subnet
>
> I've WINS server installed on these two servers, and the
> clients are setup to use these two WINS servers.
>
> Right now I'm having some browsing problem, in which the
> list of the computers on the network keeps come and go,
> meaning that right now I could see \\COMPUTER1 , but a few
> minutes later \\COMPUTER1 is gone, though I can still
> do "net view \\COMPUTER1"
>
> I've done some debugging with browstat.exe, and I noticed
> that sometimes the Master Browser (MBR) is being handled
> by three servers, instead of just the PDC.
> Furthermore, when I connected to the second DC (handles
> PDC) and issued browstat status, it says that the MBR is
> itself (\\SECOND), but when I connected to the first DC,
> it says the MBR is itself (\\FIRST), instead of \\SECOND.
>
> My question is how am I supposed to fix this? Do I need to
> go back to previous configuration, where the DC that
> handles PDC have two network card and listens on both
> subnets?
>
> Thanks
>
>