Recommend WINS Configuration for Microsoft Cluster ServerID: Q193890
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A Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) with the Windows Internet Name Service
(WINS) running may have intermittent connectivity problems with clients on
remote networks. This is because the cluster network interface card (NIC)
is bound to the WINS TCP/IP Client.
By default, Windows NT binds all protocols to each NIC. The first TCP/IP
address configured on each NIC is also bound to the WINS TCP/IP client.
When WINS server is installed on a computer running Windows NT Server, the
WINS TCP/IP client is bound to each NIC in the server. This binding will
register the WINS server as a multihomed server with multiple IP addresses
in the multihomed entry.
A WINS server will register the first IP address of each NIC installed in
that computer, regardless if the TCP/IP Protocols WINS tab has primary or
secondary WINS servers configured. Leaving the WINS tab blank or with no
configuration will still result in the WINS server registering all of its
first IP addresses with the corresponding sixteenth character hex value for
NetBIOS. This behavior is by design.
When a WINS client queries a WINS server for a NetBIOS service, a list of
all addresses for a multihomed server will be returned to the client from
the WINS server. If the client is on a remote network segment (not on the
same LAN segment as the multihomed server), the client will randomly select
an address from the list returned from the WINS server.
Because the cluster NICs are typically used only for updates and
"heartbeat" communication between the servers in the cluster, there will be
no routes to the TCP/IP "network" between the cluster servers. If a client
is attempting to contact an MSCS server that has the WINS TCP/IP client
enabled on all NICs, the client could select the NIC that has been
configured for the cluster, thus causing the client to fail to connect to
that server. Disabling the WINS TCP/IP client, (thus disabling NetBIOS),
bindings for the NIC configured for the cluster will prevent the WINS
server from registering the cluster NIC in the multihomed entry. NetBIOS is
not required for the cluster to communicate. The cluster service will use
sockets with RPC for its communication.
To disable the WINS client from the private NIC, double-click the Network
icon in Control Panel and click the Bindings tab. Sort by network adapter,
and then click the plus sign next to the adapter used for the private
interconnect. Select the WINS client and right-click. Click Disable, and
then click OK. This change will require restarting the computer; however,
make these changes one node at a time to minimize downtime.
For additional information, please see the following articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q139985 WINS Client Fails to Reach a Multihomed Server
Q150737 Setting Primary and Secondary WINS Server Options
Q185786 Recommended Practices for WINS
Keywords :
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo Last Reviewed: February 18, 1999