TS-X6.0TL/R5 Active Directory connection dropping out

[DeanUK]

Hi everyone,

 

New to the forums, so hello to you all.

 

Was hoping someone could please help with a problem we have had for a while.

 

We have one of the TS XL R5 series Terastations and since day one, we cannot work out why it randomly loses connectivity to Active Directory.

 

We are running a Windows 2003 environment and have the latest 1.50 firmware on the device, however, this problem was still apparent on earlier firmware versions.

 

We set up a scheduled reboot of the device at midnight, but I've just found out that the latest firmware doesn't start the device again. This was resolving the problem as a temporary solution, but the connection to AD is now dropping throughout the day. 

 

We have a few shares set up on the device and those with permissions are giving access denied, even though those trying to access are in the AD groups which with given permissions to on the Buffalo. Any shares without permissions, continue to work fine.

 

It's almost like it loses connection to the domain controller we have specified in the settings. I've checked the account being used to authenticate and it is fine and isn't locked out. Also, the domain controller is perfectly normal too. Both the DC and Tera are on the same switch on the same VLAN, so can't see this is a problem.

 

Rebooting the device again, restores the connection again, but it is becoming more of a pain.

 

We've gone through and taken out any accounts/groups that have admin in the name and renamed these accordingly.

 

Any help would be massively appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance,

Dean.

[Jotin]

The sleep function is a known issue of the firmwares right now and the fix will be assesed in the form of a firmwre update. For your issue of droppign the AD connection, is the switch on the back set to auto, what is the time , date and time zone set to, and how many users do you have in your AD. 

[DeanUK]

Hi Jotin,

 

The switch on the back of the device is set to manual.

 

The time is set correctly as per the DC we are using, with NTP sync set to daily.

 

We have roughly 2500 users and groups within AD. I have seen that for certain boxes there is a 1000 user/group limit. However, we were advised that the box we have, had a 10000 limit?!?

 

We have just switch the Active Directory configuration on the box to use a different domain controller and the problem is still happening.

 

When I called Buffalo, they just said that it was a network problem, not a box problem. I cannot see how this is, becasue we have multiple other devices on the network and same VLAN that use AD group permissions for shared folders and these are fine. 

 

They also suggested creating a new share, which I did and added only myself and a colleague as users from AD with permission. This also has the same problem where something happens and you don't have access to the share, until you reboot the device.

 

Any help would be massively appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Dean.

 

[Jotin]

The unit has a 1000 user limitation so that could by why its dropping out. When you moved it to the other domain controller did it have less then 100 users? You could try reflashing the firmware and resetting it to see if that solves the issue. 

[DeanUK]

Hi Jotin,

 

Are you sure it only has a 1000 user limit, as we were told it would be 10000 when purchasing the box? I'm looking on the Buffalo site and other sites selling this box and it doesn't mention a limit anywhere?!?

 

Also, both DC's are pointing to the same domain, so will both have 2500 user objects. We changed it to see if it was the DC causing problems, which it obviously isn't, as it loses the connection to both.

 

If it does only have a 1000 user limit, I'd guess this is why it keeps dropping, as others have had this problem.

 

Many Thanks,

Dean.

[Jotin]

I am very sure.