browser lists/WINS servers/Domains questions

[Chad Price]

I've been reading the docs for a while now trying to figure out how to make
my Samba server appear on the campus browse lists for my users.

We have:  
	(1) multiple subnets on both token ring and ethernet separated by routers
	(2) Multiple PDC (primary domain controllers) and multiple NT domains
	(3) Multiple workgroups which do not belong to domains
	(4) 2 & 3 are scattered throughout the various subnets
	(5) My Samba server is not part of a domain with a PDC, it is one of the
workgroups without a PDC.

When there is only one domain or workgroup to consider, it's a bit complex,
but clearly described what one has to do.  With multiple PDCs and
workgroups and subnets, I get lost.

I'm confused about terminology and assumptions for browsing.  In reading
the Samba docs (eg BROWSING.txt) and Frisch's NT book (the 'Configuring the
Browser Service' section), it appears that essentially all of these assume
that you have 1 PDC or none, and that browsing across subnets is within a
single PDC "area" or that there is a single workgroup on the subnet.

It seems that there should be a single WINS server per subnet and a
"domain" master WINS server, but I'm not clear about what is meant by
domain in this context.  Is this a loose use of the word which really means
both workgroups and PDC domains?  If this is the case, it seems that if
there are systems in multiple workgroups or logging in to more that one PDC
in a single subnet, there could be multiple WINS local Master browsers on
each subnet, one for each workgroup or PDC used by PCs on that subnet?

Does a WINS master browser coordinate browse lists for more than one
'domain' and if so, how does one define domain here? Does it also include
workgroups as separate browser-domains (as separate from PDC login domains?).

Ultimately, I'm trying to figure out if my Samba server should also run as
the 'domain master browser' and if I need to have local WINS master
browsers in the other subnets in which I want to be visible; and do this
ignoring the fact that there are multiple PDC login domains also on the
same set of subnets.

If this is discussed with reference to multiple PDCs and subnets in some
documentation I've missed, please just point me at it.

Thanks,

Chad


Chad Price
Systems Manager
University of Nebraska Medical Center
600 S 42nd St
Omaha, NE 68506-6495
cprice at molbio.unmc.edu
(402) 559-9527 
(402) 559-4077 (FAX)