How does the Novell Client Bad Name Cache work?

(Last modified: 20Apr2006)

This document (10093266) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

goal

fact

Novell Client 4.9 for Windows NT/2000/XP

symptom

Client workstations may not connect to server resources

Sometimes the client is slow, other times the client is fast. Why?

fix

BAD NAME CACHE - How it works:

The Novell client uses several mechanisms to find resources (servers, print servers, etc.) on the network. If the workstation is using IP, the Novell client can use NDS, the workstation's host file, DNS, SLP, and DHCP/NDS to find resources. If the workstation is using IPX, the client can use Bindery, NDS, and SAP to find resources on the network.

The bad name cache is an enhancement to the Novell client to help increase performance. A server name gets added to the bad name cache when none of the methods described above cannot locate that resource. For example, let's say a workstation has IP and IPX protocols bound to the Novell client. A request is made to find the file server FS1. Assuming all the protocol components for IP and IPX are selected and used, the client will try to find server FS1 via the local host file, NDS, DNS, SLP, Bindery, and SAP. If the client can not find server FS1 via any of these methods, then the file server name FS1 gets added to the bad name cache for five (5) minutes. Any attempts to try to resolve FS1 within those five minutes will automatically fail - you will never see any requests on the wire (LAN interface) for FS1, even though the application may be attempt to connect to FS1. This dynamic method of populating the bad name cache is only in memory; only the programs that access it (NWFS.SYS) have access to the contents of the dynamic bad name cache. There is not a way to view the contents of the dynamic bad name cache on a workstation.

However, there is a way that the Bad Name Cache can be enabled for certain names. Please see TID 10065560, titled "Poor performance accessing Microsoft Office documents on a Novell server." Specifically, see "Problem 6" in the above mentioned document. The Bad Name Cache can be enabled or disabled via the "Advanced Settings" tab on the Novell Client Properties page. The Bad Name Cache is enabled by default.

As a side note, the Windows NT/2000/XP client doesn't resolve in the protocol order as they appear on the "Protocol Preferences" tab of the Novell Client Properties page. The client can use any protocol in any order. Many times it uses all the protocols simultaneously.

document

Document Title:	How does the Novell Client Bad Name Cache work?
Document ID:	10093266
Solution ID:	NOVL97360
Creation Date:	15Jun2004
Modified Date:	20Apr2006
Novell Product Class:	Netware Client

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