Nortel Networks NN46110-602 manual Why should Wins settings be different for extranet access?

84 Chapter 4 Troubleshooting

The client system’s NetBIOS name must be unique in the private network to which the client is connecting. Do not use the same name as your office desktop machine or something like my computer. Uniqueness is required.

What is the preferred way to access neighbors on the network?

Microsoft recommends against browsing the Network Neighborhood when tunneling. Another way to access a network resource is through the run command. For example, to access shared folders on the machine HotDog, choose Start > Run and type in \\HotDog. If you experience delays using Network Neighborhood, try this method instead.

Why should WINS settings be different for extranet access?

WINS servers cache a correspondence between IP addresses and NetBIOS names. These cached values are only invalidated by a timer, not by network activity. Therefore, if a WINS server is used heavily by clients, set its expiration timeouts low.

In a static environment, where names and addresses correspond forever, this is not an issue. But in the extranet environment, clients are assigned new IP addresses whenever they form a tunnel. Therefore, the correspondence is transitory.

Microsoft default values for the timeouts are enormous (for example, 3 weeks). These must be reduced for an extranet environment.

What WINS settings are recommended?

The WINS settings are available on the WINS server through the Start menu > Programs > Administrator Tools. The following values for a WINS server are:

•Server Configuration

•Renewal Interval: 41 minutes

•Extinction Interval: 41 minutes

•Extinction Timeout: 24 hours

•Verify Interval: 576 hours

NN46110-602