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tsnirone

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LAN slow accessing old server after introducing new server

Old: Win2003 Std
New: Win SBS2011 Std

The new sbs has dhcp and dns and this is turned off on the old server.

The problem is that when the clients are working on files on the old server (typically word-files) the normal and auto-save is extremely slow - sometimes even the connection to the server gets lost entirely. When this happened I tested trying to open up shares by Start - Run - \\sharename and it timed out. Pinging the server didnt work either. Accessing wan worked just fine.

DNS problems?

Anyone got any ideas on how to troubleshoot this?
Avatar of Brian Pierce
Brian Pierce
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It could very well be DNS issues - make sure that all machines point to the new DNS server as their DNS server - including the new machine and of course the old server.
Is the Old Server still alive and in the network?
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tsnirone

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Thank you for your answers! :)

The old server is still alive and in the network - this is the server that the files are saved on, and the client PC's are still connected to that domain. The old server will get phased out over time and all PC's will eventually join the new domain. As it is right now however I have a set of new PC's connected to the new domain on the new server and a set of PC's still connected to the old domain on the old server. The new PC's is not in production yet so I do not know if they have the same problem.

IPCONFIG for old and new server and one of the new PC's that are joined to the new domain:

OLD SERVER
Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : OLDSERVER
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : olddomain.local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : olddomain.local

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : HP NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.10
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8

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NEW SERVER
Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : SERVER01
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : int.local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : int.local

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : HP Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 331i Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

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NEW PC (NEW DOMAIN)
Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : XX-XXX
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : int.local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : int.local

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : int.local
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
   Fysisk adresse  . . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.105(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP-server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8
   DNS-servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

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Unfortunately I am unable to access the problematic PC's right now but they are all dhcp enabled so I would guess (pretty sure) that its ipconfig would be something like:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : olddomain.local
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.10x(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP-server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8
   DNS-servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

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Yes thats should be the IP Address for the Client. DNS point towards New Server.

Did you follow some whitepaper to Migrate ?
Thank you for your answer.

No migration. Its a clean install of the sbs.
Looks like the old PCs, which are still in the old domain, are using the new server for DNS.  That server is in the new domain, though, so it doesn't have the old domain's forward lookup zones unless you've manually created them and configured zone transfers from the old server to the new one.  In order for the old machines to resolve DNS names in the old domain using the new server, you'll need to do this or configure a conditional forwarder or stub zone.

What's your ultimate goal?  Since you can't create trusts in SBS, if you're wanting to move users from the old domain into the SBS environment without recreating them from scratch, your best bet is going to be starting the SBS installation over in migration mode, which will allow you to join the SBS server to the old domain.  MS has a migration whitepaper here that specifically addresses migrating to SBS 2011 from SBS 2003.  Since you're migrating from 2003 Standard, some of the steps won't apply to you (like things dealing with Exchange and Sharepoint migration), but a lot of them will.

There is also apparently a way to make the Active Directory Migration Tool work in SBS (and therefore without creating a trust), but I've never tried this myself.
Thanks for your answer!

The ultimate goal is to retire the old server entirely (or perhaps set it up as some sort of backup - but not likely). The old PC's will leave the old domain and join the new one. This will however not happen in a couple of weeks.

I do believe though that both servers have the same forward lookup zones (using ISP dns-server?)

Also, DNS is turned off on the old server...

Is still "conditional fwd" or "stub zone" the way to go given the above information?
DNS being turned off on the old server complicates things.  If you want to use a conditional forwarder or stub zone, it will need to be turned back on, because both of those options result in DNS queries being sent to it.  If you do this, configure the old server to use itself for DNS rather than the new server.

The alternative would be to create a forward lookup zone named olddomain.local (not literally olddomain.local, but the actual name of the old domain) on the new server, configure it to accept secure and nonsecure dynamic updates, and run ipconfig /registerdns on the old server.  (You should also restart the old server's Net Logon service.)

From a security standpoint, the former option is better.
Thank you for your answer. :)

I seem to recall reading that it was "best practice" to disable both dhcp and dns on the old server and have only the new server running them?

So, from what I understand from your posts there is some sort of "link" between a PC being logged on to a domain and having a dns-server on the same domain? So there is no way of fixing this without enabling dns on the old server? (Aside from removing it and its domain completely and change domains on the client pc's that is...)
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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DrDave242
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Since this is just temporary. I did a "shortcut" I think might work. I changed all the links/mapped drives etc to use IP instead of name. It seems to be better now....

what do you think?
That should work just fine for accessing shares.  Since it's only a temporary arrangement, I don't see any problems with it.
Hey thanks man. Seems to be working just fine so far. :)