Win2008 Network Shares: Curious Behaviour?

Hello,

I'm facing a very curious behaviour these days. I have the following
test-environment (all Win2008 Servers!):

- 'SRV' is hosting a network-share '\\srv\share\SRC'
- 'ClientA' checking for files in \\srv\share\SRC. If a file has found then
he will do a convert with an 3rd-Party-Tool to \\srv\share\ClientA.
Converting means that he writes a new file to the ClientA-Folder
- 'ClientB' checking for files in \\srv\share\ClientA. If a file has found
the he will do the same (convert) to \\srv\share\ClientB.

So what happens now, is that ClientA is workling properly without any
problems. All files found in SRC-Folder will be converted to ClientA-Folder.
In the next step (Convert by ClientB) ClientB has problems with finding all
files in Client-A folder. Around 20-30% of the files will be found by ClientB
and successfully converted to \\srv\share\ClientB (Note: The Client will be
informed by the Server which file must be converted).

Now the curious thing: If I'll open \\srv\share\ClientA-Folder on ClientB in
explorer while ClientB is converting the files within this folder he will
find ALL files (100%). I've tested this on two different installations and
the behaviour is everywhere the same. All files will be written correctly by
ClientA so the files must be found by ClientB. This happens also with shared
folders located on local and SAN-Disks. The conversion-tool shouldn't be the
source of this behaviour, too.

So, is there any sort of file caching on Win2008-Servers? On Win2003-Server
all is running correctly. Offline-Files are deactivated on both - Server and
Clients.

Perhaps somebody can help me with this.

Best Regards,

Bastian

Hello Bastian,

If you have problems accessing shared folders on Windows server 2008 check
the following article about known network problems:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/acefekay/arc...-problems.aspx

Additional make sure to use only the domain internal DNS servers on the NIC
of all machines. Sometimes it is also helpful to disable IPv6 on the Windows
server 2008 machine:
http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/paulb...dows-2008.aspx

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm


> Hello,
>
> I'm facing a very curious behaviour these days. I have the following
> test-environment (all Win2008 Servers!):
>
> - 'SRV' is hosting a network-share '\\srv\share\SRC'
> - 'ClientA' checking for files in \\srv\share\SRC. If a file has found
> then
> he will do a convert with an 3rd-Party-Tool to \\srv\share\ClientA.
> Converting means that he writes a new file to the ClientA-Folder
> - 'ClientB' checking for files in \\srv\share\ClientA. If a file has
> found
> the he will do the same (convert) to \\srv\share\ClientB.
> So what happens now, is that ClientA is workling properly without any
> problems. All files found in SRC-Folder will be converted to
> ClientA-Folder. In the next step (Convert by ClientB) ClientB has
> problems with finding all files in Client-A folder. Around 20-30% of
> the files will be found by ClientB and successfully converted to
> \\srv\share\ClientB (Note: The Client will be informed by the Server
> which file must be converted).
>
> Now the curious thing: If I'll open \\srv\share\ClientA-Folder on
> ClientB in explorer while ClientB is converting the files within this
> folder he will find ALL files (100%). I've tested this on two
> different installations and the behaviour is everywhere the same. All
> files will be written correctly by ClientA so the files must be found
> by ClientB. This happens also with shared folders located on local and
> SAN-Disks. The conversion-tool shouldn't be the source of this
> behaviour, too.
>
> So, is there any sort of file caching on Win2008-Servers? On
> Win2003-Server all is running correctly. Offline-Files are deactivated
> on both - Server and Clients.
>
> Perhaps somebody can help me with this.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Bastian
>

Hello Meinolf,

at first thank you for the fast reply. I've checked all participating server
for ipv6 and disabled rss and autotuninglevel, but the problem
still exists.

I'm stumped...

Best Regards

Bastian



"Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS]" wrote:

> Hello Bastian,
>
> If you have problems accessing shared folders on Windows server 2008 check
> the following article about known network problems:
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/acefekay/arc...-problems.aspx
>
> Additional make sure to use only the domain internal DNS servers on the NIC
> of all machines. Sometimes it is also helpful to disable IPv6 on the Windows
> server 2008 machine:
> http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/paulb...dows-2008.aspx
>
> Best regards
>
> Meinolf Weber
> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
> no rights.
> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
> ** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
>
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm facing a very curious behaviour these days. I have the following
> > test-environment (all Win2008 Servers!):
> >
> > - 'SRV' is hosting a network-share '\\srv\share\SRC'
> > - 'ClientA' checking for files in \\srv\share\SRC. If a file has found
> > then
> > he will do a convert with an 3rd-Party-Tool to \\srv\share\ClientA.
> > Converting means that he writes a new file to the ClientA-Folder
> > - 'ClientB' checking for files in \\srv\share\ClientA. If a file has
> > found
> > the he will do the same (convert) to \\srv\share\ClientB.
> > So what happens now, is that ClientA is workling properly without any
> > problems. All files found in SRC-Folder will be converted to
> > ClientA-Folder. In the next step (Convert by ClientB) ClientB has
> > problems with finding all files in Client-A folder. Around 20-30% of
> > the files will be found by ClientB and successfully converted to
> > \\srv\share\ClientB (Note: The Client will be informed by the Server
> > which file must be converted).
> >
> > Now the curious thing: If I'll open \\srv\share\ClientA-Folder on
> > ClientB in explorer while ClientB is converting the files within this
> > folder he will find ALL files (100%). I've tested this on two
> > different installations and the behaviour is everywhere the same. All
> > files will be written correctly by ClientA so the files must be found
> > by ClientB. This happens also with shared folders located on local and
> > SAN-Disks. The conversion-tool shouldn't be the source of this
> > behaviour, too.
> >
> > So, is there any sort of file caching on Win2008-Servers? On
> > Win2003-Server all is running correctly. Offline-Files are deactivated
> > on both - Server and Clients.
> >
> > Perhaps somebody can help me with this.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > Bastian
> >
>
>
> .
>

"Bastian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:2C23AE58-196C-472E-8595-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello Meinolf,
>
> at first thank you for the fast reply. I've checked all participating server
> for ipv6 and disabled rss and autotuninglevel, but the problem
> still exists.
>
> I'm stumped...
>
> Best Regards
>
> Bastian
>
>

From what you're stating, at this point, I don't think it's network connectivity, and no, caching wouldn't be an issue, unless you are using Redirection. I would suggest to check the application if you can enable logging or check with Process Explorer to see exactly where it's failing. It could be something simple as AV causing it. If not, I'm not sure how your app is checking the folder. If it is using the NtChangeDirectoryNotification event, and the files are being populated quickly, it could also be a timing problem.

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.

Ace Fekay, MVP, MCT, MCITP EA, MCTS Windows 2008 & Exchange 2007, MCSE & MCSA 2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services

If you feel this is an urgent issue and require immediate assistance, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.

On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:54:01 -0800, Bastian wrote:

> So, is there any sort of file caching on Win2008-Servers? On Win2003-Server
> all is running correctly. Offline-Files are deactivated on both - Server and
> Clients.

I'm not sure this is the issue, but, Windows Server 2008 has something
called 'Branch caching'.
It could be what you're looking for.

Check out these links:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...e.aspx?pf=true
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=1081

Post some info if you solve this one...

"Matija Kapraljevic [Revenger]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:54:01 -0800, Bastian wrote:
>
>> So, is there any sort of file caching on Win2008-Servers? On Win2003-Server
>> all is running correctly. Offline-Files are deactivated on both - Server and
>> Clients.
>
> I'm not sure this is the issue, but, Windows Server 2008 has something
> called 'Branch caching'.
> It could be what you're looking for.
>
> Check out these links:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...e.aspx?pf=true
> http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=1081
>
> Post some info if you solve this one...


I would also be curious what the resolution is.

Ace.

Hello,

BrancheCache is not installed on the servers. I've done some more tests and
I think I've located the source of my problems.

I moved the shares '\\srv\share\SRC|ClientA|ClientB' to a windowsxp-client
and all is running fine. So there must be a problem with the w2k8 server
hosting the file shares... I've checked the following:

- AntiVirus-Software => turned off
- "Caching" (Offline Settings => Files or programs from the will not be
available offline
- Folder Archiving and Indexing => turned off

There must be sth. about sharing where the behaviour of w2k8 is different to
w2k3/xp/etc...

Best Regards

Bastian
"Ace Fekay [MVP-DS, MCT]" wrote:

> "Matija Kapraljevic [Revenger]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:54:01 -0800, Bastian wrote:
> >
> >> So, is there any sort of file caching on Win2008-Servers? On Win2003-Server
> >> all is running correctly. Offline-Files are deactivated on both - Server and
> >> Clients.
> >
> > I'm not sure this is the issue, but, Windows Server 2008 has something
> > called 'Branch caching'.
> > It could be what you're looking for.
> >
> > Check out these links:
> > http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...e.aspx?pf=true
> > http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=1081
> >
> > Post some info if you solve this one...
>
>
> I would also be curious what the resolution is.
>
> Ace.
>
> .
>

"Bastian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:9D251B35-A6F2-4DF2-B633-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello,
>
> BrancheCache is not installed on the servers. I've done some more tests and
> I think I've located the source of my problems.
>
> I moved the shares '\\srv\share\SRC|ClientA|ClientB' to a windowsxp-client
> and all is running fine. So there must be a problem with the w2k8 server
> hosting the file shares... I've checked the following:
>
> - AntiVirus-Software => turned off
> - "Caching" (Offline Settings => Files or programs from the will not be
> available offline
> - Folder Archiving and Indexing => turned off
>
> There must be sth. about sharing where the behaviour of w2k8 is different to
> w2k3/xp/etc...
>
> Best Regards
>
> Bastian

There could be a number of things causing it. What type of clients are accessing it? Is this server a DC?

If a DC, you may need to disable SMB signing, but that depends on the type of clients accessing it.

Also, you may want to look at disabling RSS TCP Chimney feature, and IPv6. Read more on it...

TCP Chimney and RSS Features May Cause Slow File Transfers or Cause Connectivity Problems
http://msmvps.com/blogs/acefekay/arc...-problems.aspx

Ace

Hello Ace,

RSS TCP Chimney and IPv6 is disabled on all servers. The server hosting the
shares is an w2k8 enterprise failovercluster (2 nodes) and is not a domain
controller.

Best Regards

Bastian

"Ace Fekay [MVP-DS, MCT]" wrote:

> "Bastian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:9D251B35-A6F2-4DF2-B633-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hello,
> >
> > BrancheCache is not installed on the servers. I've done some more tests and
> > I think I've located the source of my problems.
> >
> > I moved the shares '\\srv\share\SRC|ClientA|ClientB' to a windowsxp-client
> > and all is running fine. So there must be a problem with the w2k8 server
> > hosting the file shares... I've checked the following:
> >
> > - AntiVirus-Software => turned off
> > - "Caching" (Offline Settings => Files or programs from the will not be
> > available offline
> > - Folder Archiving and Indexing => turned off
> >
> > There must be sth. about sharing where the behaviour of w2k8 is different to
> > w2k3/xp/etc...
> >
> > Best Regards
> >
> > Bastian
>
> There could be a number of things causing it. What type of clients are accessing it? Is this server a DC?
>
> If a DC, you may need to disable SMB signing, but that depends on the type of clients accessing it.
>
> Also, you may want to look at disabling RSS TCP Chimney feature, and IPv6. Read more on it...
>
> TCP Chimney and RSS Features May Cause Slow File Transfers or Cause Connectivity Problems
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/acefekay/arc...-problems.aspx
>
> Ace
>
> .
>

"Bastian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:19A931F2-9F58-4E37-A1D5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello Ace,
>
> RSS TCP Chimney and IPv6 is disabled on all servers. The server hosting the
> shares is an w2k8 enterprise failovercluster (2 nodes) and is not a domain
> controller.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Bastian

Ok, then I assume 'SRV' is the cluster name published in DNS and WINS? Otherwise, I'm assuming you've correctly configured sharing on the 2008 server, cluster or not, and set the Offline settings as such:
http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/...8_File_Sharing

Ace