Dear experts,
My apology for the long question... but we're kinda stuck here.
We're having a problem with high utilization on our server that seems to be caused by NCP requests made by Workstation Manager on some machines.
After upgrading to Client 4.90SP1a and rolling out ZEN4 Agent 4.00.1093.40329 from Interim Release 4a (previously on 4.83SP1, no ZEN4 Agent), we're getting high utilization (~80%) on our file server which normally sits under 15% utilzation. Network Monitor records between 18k-60k packets/second. Packet capture shows that a number of machines (about 10% of them) keep sending this request :
NetWare Core Protocol
NCP over IP signature: Demand Transport (Request) (0x446d6454)
NCP over IP length: 30
NCP over IP Version: 1
NCP over IP Reply Buffer Size: 391
Type: Service request (0x2222)
Sequence Number: 137
Connection Number: 15
Task Number: 4
Function: 22 (0x16), Get Extended Volume Information
Packet Length: 5
SubFunction: 51 (0x33)
Group: File
Volume Number: 4
on which the server replies with :
NetWare Core Protocol
NCP over IP signature: Transport is NCP (Reply) (0x744e6350)
NCP over IP length: 16
Type: Service reply (0x3333)
Sequence Number: 137
Connection Number: 15
Task Number: 4
Response to Request in Frame Number: 2629
Time from Request: 0.000731000 seconds
Function: 22 (0x16), Get Extended Volume Information
SubFunction: 51 (0x33)
Completion Code: 251 (0xfb), Attempt to use an invalid parameter (drive number, path, or flag value) during a set drive path call
Connection Status: 0
Server facts :
Novell NetWare 6, Support Pack Revision 05
Server Version 5.60.05 May 27, 2004
Novell eDirectory Version 8.6.2 SMP
NDS Version 10350.30 December 15, 2003
ZENworks for Desktops 4.0.1 (WITHOUT Interim Release 4a)
Workstation facts :
- almost all problem workstations are Windows 2000 (so far only 2 are XP Professional)
- Novell Client 4.90SP1a
- ZEN 4 Agent 4.00.1093.40329
On problem workstations, the following symptoms are observed :
- Workstation Manager showing high utilization
- Policies are not showing up on Workstation Manager Scheduler
- ZENWSIMPORT is pointing to the correct import server as per HOSTS file
Access right to the Volume Number 4 (as shown in the packet capture) is not a problem, both for users and for workstations. One thing we notice though, the NCP request was made from a NOT-LOGGED-IN connection.
At one stage we had similar high utlization problem - and the workaround to this was by giving [RF] rights to Public, which is of course, less than ideal.
These has been attempted on problem workstations :
- unregistering workstation using zwsreg -unreg
- deleting workstation object from ConsoleOne
- registering the workstation using zwsreg
- applying SP4 for Windows 2000
The problem is that there is no consistent result. On some, getting the workstation registered properly seem to fix the problem. However, on others even when a workstation object is OK, some are still getting high utlization on Workstation Manager and still sending NCP requests.
Any suggestions to point me to the right direction?
Thanks in advance,
Andre
asumara@aut.ac.nz
My apology for the long question... but we're kinda stuck here.
We're having a problem with high utilization on our server that seems to be caused by NCP requests made by Workstation Manager on some machines.
After upgrading to Client 4.90SP1a and rolling out ZEN4 Agent 4.00.1093.40329 from Interim Release 4a (previously on 4.83SP1, no ZEN4 Agent), we're getting high utilization (~80%) on our file server which normally sits under 15% utilzation. Network Monitor records between 18k-60k packets/second. Packet capture shows that a number of machines (about 10% of them) keep sending this request :
NetWare Core Protocol
NCP over IP signature: Demand Transport (Request) (0x446d6454)
NCP over IP length: 30
NCP over IP Version: 1
NCP over IP Reply Buffer Size: 391
Type: Service request (0x2222)
Sequence Number: 137
Connection Number: 15
Task Number: 4
Function: 22 (0x16), Get Extended Volume Information
Packet Length: 5
SubFunction: 51 (0x33)
Group: File
Volume Number: 4
on which the server replies with :
NetWare Core Protocol
NCP over IP signature: Transport is NCP (Reply) (0x744e6350)
NCP over IP length: 16
Type: Service reply (0x3333)
Sequence Number: 137
Connection Number: 15
Task Number: 4
Response to Request in Frame Number: 2629
Time from Request: 0.000731000 seconds
Function: 22 (0x16), Get Extended Volume Information
SubFunction: 51 (0x33)
Completion Code: 251 (0xfb), Attempt to use an invalid parameter (drive number, path, or flag value) during a set drive path call
Connection Status: 0
Server facts :
Novell NetWare 6, Support Pack Revision 05
Server Version 5.60.05 May 27, 2004
Novell eDirectory Version 8.6.2 SMP
NDS Version 10350.30 December 15, 2003
ZENworks for Desktops 4.0.1 (WITHOUT Interim Release 4a)
Workstation facts :
- almost all problem workstations are Windows 2000 (so far only 2 are XP Professional)
- Novell Client 4.90SP1a
- ZEN 4 Agent 4.00.1093.40329
On problem workstations, the following symptoms are observed :
- Workstation Manager showing high utilization
- Policies are not showing up on Workstation Manager Scheduler
- ZENWSIMPORT is pointing to the correct import server as per HOSTS file
Access right to the Volume Number 4 (as shown in the packet capture) is not a problem, both for users and for workstations. One thing we notice though, the NCP request was made from a NOT-LOGGED-IN connection.
At one stage we had similar high utlization problem - and the workaround to this was by giving [RF] rights to Public, which is of course, less than ideal.
These has been attempted on problem workstations :
- unregistering workstation using zwsreg -unreg
- deleting workstation object from ConsoleOne
- registering the workstation using zwsreg
- applying SP4 for Windows 2000
The problem is that there is no consistent result. On some, getting the workstation registered properly seem to fix the problem. However, on others even when a workstation object is OK, some are still getting high utlization on Workstation Manager and still sending NCP requests.
Any suggestions to point me to the right direction?
Thanks in advance,
Andre
asumara@aut.ac.nz