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Jason
Asked: 2012-01-05 14:50:56 +0800 CST

Secondary domain controller not processing log on requests

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So I have a weird bug that pauses the netlogon service periodically on my primary domain controller. When this happens users cannot log in to the domain. I have a secondary DC offsite that is a Global Catalog and DNS server but it is reachable through an MPLS connection.

DC1 has all FSMO roles and is located with most client PCs in the 192.168.1.0/24 network. The offsite DC is fully reachable through its dns name and sits with a few clients in the 192.168.2.0/24 network.

Why wont DC2 take over log on responsibilities when DC1 is unavailable?

windows-server-2008 windows-server-2003 active-directory netlogon

2 Answers

  1. Can you clarify what error the clients receive when attempting to log in when DC1 is down?

    Off the top though, I'll hazard a guess - is the offsite DC configured as the secondary DNS server for the client systems?

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  2. I could be wrong, but my guess is that it's because the Domain Controller locator process (including querying DNS) between the clients and DC1 in the DC1 site is functioning correctly (due to client affinity).

    A Windows domain joined client will have an "affinity" for a particular DC (the closest DC), therefore all of the clients in the same site as DC1 will have an affinity for DC1 (by virtue of the fact that they're in the same site) and are going to continue to "home" themselves to DC1. If DC1 were down hard then clients would seek out DC2 for the logon process.

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