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i think i've stumbled onto a microsoft undocumented feature :)<br />
<br />
workstations, member servers and dc's in the same domain use the domain controller that comes first in the alphabet<br />
<br />
even the pdc emulators themselves...<br />
<br />
i know this sounds silly, but try it for yourself...<br />
<br />
add a dc with an alphabetical name thats &quot;higher&quot; on the list and watch the output of &quot;net time&quot; shift to the new server.<br />
<br />
i've tested this in all 5 domains in our forest and each time the result was predictable<br />

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i think i've stumbled onto a microsoft undocumented feature :)

workstations, member servers and dc's in the same domain use the domain controller that comes first in the alphabet

even the pdc emulators themselves...

i know this sounds silly, but try it for yourself...

add a dc with an alphabetical name thats "higher" on the list and watch the output of "net time" shift to the new server.

i've tested this in all 5 domains in our forest and each time the result was predictable


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Why does the &quot;net time&quot; command run on an XP or W2K workstation (that are joined to a W2K native mode AD) return a domain controller in another site that does not hold the PDC Emulator role ?<br />
<br />
The XP workstation, W2K workstation and the PDC Emulator are in different subnets bound to the same site.<br />
<br />
Also, W2K domain controllers in a third site also return the same value.<br />
<br />
It seems to me, these machines should be returning the value of the PDC Emulator for the domain.<br />
<br />

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Why does the "net time" command run on an XP or W2K workstation (that are joined to a W2K native mode AD) return a domain controller in another site that does not hold the PDC Emulator role ?

The XP workstation, W2K workstation and the PDC Emulator are in different subnets bound to the same site.

Also, W2K domain controllers in a third site also return the same value.

It seems to me, these machines should be returning the value of the PDC Emulator for the domain.



net time returns a DC in an alternate site that's not the PDC Emulator

Windows 2000 is an operating system for use on both client and server computers. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the last version of Microsoft Windows to display the "Windows NT" designation. Four editions of Windows 2000 were released (Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server) that shared a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console. All versions of the operating system support NTFS 3.0, Encrypting File System, as well as basic and dynamic disk storage. The Windows 2000 Server family includes support for Active Directory services, Distributed File System and fault-redundant storage volumes.