3 seconds login delay

[Kees Damen]

Hello,

We recently switched from "security = user" to 
"security = server". And are now using a NT4 server for
password authentication. This method gives less problems
with NT4/W2K Workstations and encrypted passwords.

When we where using "security = user" Samba authentication
was against the local Unix password files and login was fast
without any delay. After the switch there was a 3 seconds
login delay when connecting for the first share. I have read
about this in the listing before, others where also complaining
about this.

I started searching in the 2.2.2 source code and found that 
this is caused by the check for a "broken NT4 server" in the
file smbd/password.c line 1182. Samba gives a incorrect
username and password to the authentication server for guest
account testing. The NT server gives you a 3 second delay
for this incorrect username/password. After switching this
test off login was fast again and everything worked fine
without any problems.

Switching off this test is a workaround that works for our
company because our NT4 server is not suffering from the
broken server bug.

My suggestion for improving Samba is this:

- Let only the Mother smbd process test the authentication
  server for this behavior and make this result available
  for all the Child processes. For example by an extra command
  line switch for smbd. Then only the Mother gets the 3 seconds
  penalty from the authentication server during system boot.
  And all the Child's login fast without any delay.


Regards,

Kees Damen


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