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Re: [cobalt-users] Strange Problem in Network Neighborhood

This is off-topic really but has been asked here so I'll answer it.

Chuck wrote:
> Master Browser war with only one server around is a pretty interesting
> Windoze feature!

If only that were true. *ANY* Windows client can act as a browse master,
and they do so when there is no NT server set up on the local LAN. I'll
explain (and this is where the three reboot part comes in):

In an environment where there's a non-NT SMB server (samba for example)
then all the clients have the ability to act as browse masters. When
your machine switches on for the first time, it broadcasts a request for
the nearest one. If none answers then it assumes the role. Next time
someone else wants to assume this role, the machines force a browser
election and will drop out one by one until a single machine is left. In
an NT server environment, this is always the PDC or BDC. In our
environment it should be the Qube mentioned, but a particularly
agressive client - or one on which the registry has been tweaked - will
also win.
If that machine then gets switched off, all the other machines already
have it listed as the master and will lose some (if not all) the network
neighborhood contents until the next time there is an election.
That time can be forced by carrying out multiple reboots of a machine -
eventually it wants to be boss, so will call an election. Then
everyone's happy.

Samba (which I presume provides SMB on the Qube) can be tweaked to force
it to (almost!) always be the master browser, but that's a topic for a
Samba FAQ/mailing list instead. And will more than likely invalidate the
warranty anyway ;-)

Now, back to Cobalt...


Best Wishes,

Graeme Fowler
Systems Administrator
graeme.f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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