How to disable the requirement that a global catalog server be available to validate user logons (241789)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
This article was previously published under Q241789 IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry SUMMARY
Placement of Global Catalog servers in remote sites is usually desired to improve performance in user logon time, searches and other actions requiring communication with Global Catalog servers, and to reduce wide area network (WAN) traffic. However, to reduce administrative intervention, hardware requirements, and other related overhead, in some situations you may not want to locate a Global Catalog server at a remote site. Essentially, duplicating the functions of the backup domain controller (BDC) in the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 environment. This is especially relevant in environments that have a large number of sites, which could experience substantially increased hardware costs when the size of the sites may not justify that hardware and administration. The problem as noted earlier in this article, is that logons require the domain controller authenticating the user to contact a Global Catalog server to determine if the user is a member of any universal groups. So if the remote office does not have a Global Catalog server and a Global Catalog server cannot be contacted (for various reasons) the user's logon request may not work (based on the rules stated earlier).
Windows 2003 offers an alternative to the setting below known as universal group caching. When this is enabled for a site, users who log on while a Global Catalog server is online can continue to do so if the Global Catalog server is offline at the next logon. For more information on universal group caching, read the Global Catalog Processes and Interactions section at the following Microsoft Web site:
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 6/20/2006 |
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Keywords: | kbinfo KB241789 |
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