willp2
asked on
Mac's not seeing Windows SMB network reliably.
Mac's not seeing Windows network reliably.
We have a bunch of Mac’s running Leopard and newer that have a very hard time seeing the Windows network reliably. Often it is not visible at all. When it is visible and they try to connect, it usually takes a very long time to connect. Once connected, things are ok for that session, but if they go back to the same server in a few minutes again they either can’t find the domain or when they do connecting to the server is very slow.
It’s a Windows 2003 AD. DNS appears to be working fine. All the machines are on the same physical / logical LAN.
Any ideas?
We have a bunch of Mac’s running Leopard and newer that have a very hard time seeing the Windows network reliably. Often it is not visible at all. When it is visible and they try to connect, it usually takes a very long time to connect. Once connected, things are ok for that session, but if they go back to the same server in a few minutes again they either can’t find the domain or when they do connecting to the server is very slow.
It’s a Windows 2003 AD. DNS appears to be working fine. All the machines are on the same physical / logical LAN.
Any ideas?
strung
http://www.macwindows.com/snowleopard-filesharing.html#091709k
ASKER
Thanks. I had seen that thread and many others about this issue. Amazingly it's starting to sound like there just is no real fix for this issue.
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Ugly any way you look at it. Amazing anyone is getting any work done like this. I'll look again into AFP options, but I
Any idea if something like Centrify would help this issue at all?
Any idea if something like Centrify would help this issue at all?
ASKER
Wish there was a way to edit comments (I do understand why there isn't). I was saying but I was hoping not to spend more cash on software and to add another layer on the computer / networking if avoidable.
Well the issue Mac or PC its a interoperability problem. Macs use AFP, they are good, stable and efficient with AFP. WIndows use SMB the same is true. The problems occur when using a system which needs to access the others storage.
You have a few options.. a MAC with Admitmac to improve access to SMB, a windows server with extremez-ip to provide a AFP layer. Or you can look at hosting everything on a mac server, enabling AFP and SMB sharing and both sets of machines can access that way.
There isnt a perfect way of doing it - thats why people who specialise in cross platform integration (something i enjoy) make a decent living.
You have a few options.. a MAC with Admitmac to improve access to SMB, a windows server with extremez-ip to provide a AFP layer. Or you can look at hosting everything on a mac server, enabling AFP and SMB sharing and both sets of machines can access that way.
There isnt a perfect way of doing it - thats why people who specialise in cross platform integration (something i enjoy) make a decent living.
ASKER
Ended up going with ExtremeZ-IP (goofy name by the way) and so far its working great. Thanks!