The Global Server Set
Local servers are available only to the servers and clerks that are in a single LAN, but global servers are available throughout a cell. Any server can be configured as either a local or a global server (See the DCE control program dts configure command). The number of global servers is usually small, but global servers have several important functions that enable DTS to synchronize every node in the network. Global servers are necessary in the following situations:
· When a network has multiple LANs or an extended LAN
· When systems that are not on LANs have access to LANs through point-to-point links
· When clerks or local servers cannot access the required number of local servers determined by the minservers attribute
You can reconfigure a local server as a global server by using the dcecp program's dts configure command with the -global option. Configuring a server as a global server causes the server to export its binding to its entry in the namespace and its name to the cell profile.
Local servers and clerks request time values from global servers when they cannot obtain the number of local server responses that are mandated by the minservers attribute. Certain local servers also regularly request the time from global servers. See the following subtopic.