AD and DC issue

[vaughn]

This is probably a dumb question but...I have 3 DCs in a Win2000 AD running
Exchange 2000. If I shut down one of the DCs temporaritly a lot of my users
suddently find that the Exchange server is unavailable. Is there a way, or
should it happen automatically, that the workstations will search the
directory in one of the DCs that is still running? I know a reboot will fix
the problem but can, or should, it happen automatically?

 

[Cary Shultz [A.D. MVP]]

Vaughn,

This is not a dumb question. I might also post it in the Exchange2000 Admin
News Group as it has some Exchange specific pieces ( namely the dsproxy /
dsaccess part ).

I have some questions for you:

1) is Exchange 2000 running on each DC? If so, are the users whose
mailboxes ( okay, okay, I know that the terminology is incorrect ) are
located on that particular Exchange Server / Domain Controller the only ones
complaining? Are all three DCs / Exchange Servers also Global Catalog
Servers?

2) or, is Exchange 2000 running on only one of the DCs? If so, then I have
to ask you another question: which of your DCs is a Global Catalog Server?
BTW - running Exchange 2000 on a member server might be a better idea if you
can swing it. But, that is a discussion for another day.

The issue is that of the dsproxy / dsaccess. Outlook 2000 does not handle
this as well as Outlook XP. However, simply closing Outlook and then
opening it up again should resolve the end-users problems. A bit
frustrating and annoying for them, but not terribly tragic.

I might ask why you are shutting down servers during the working hours? Or,
are you in a 24x7x365 environment where this can not be avoided ( other than
having scheduled down time - and we all know that there will be some
unscheduled down time! ).

HTH,

Cary

 

[vaughn]

ok, I mislead you...the exchange server is not on a DC. I shut it down only
for about 5 minutes to move physical locations, not shutting it down. I was
under the impression it would not cause a problem since all services on that
one are also on another. Not a huge deal for us for a minute or 2 of
downtime, otherwise I wouldn't have tried it. The Outlook 2003 users had no
problem of course but I did hear from some Outlook XP users. All the DCs
are also GCs in our environment. I have 2 DCs in this site and 1 in
another. The remote site wasn't affected of course. Thanks!