[Samba] Windows caching Netbios names ??

[Jakob Curdes]

Hello,

we have a setup with a main samba server an an emergency server which 
synchronizes its data  via rsync. Recently, I got the idea to run the 
emergency server under a different server name parallel to the main 
server so that users can easily recover deleted files etc. This lead to 
massive problems; the reason was that the clients randomly connected to 
the main or the backup server ! 
The setup is essentialy this :

Main server :
DNS : mainserver.local.domain
IP : 192.168.2.1
NETBIOS name : MAINSERVER
- master browser
- domain master

Backup Server :
DNS : backupserver.local.domain
IP : 192.168.2.2
NETBIOS name : BACKUPSERVER
- no master browser
- no domain master

What happened is that I run the backup server as main server for one 
evening while repairing the latter. I ran it under the ip and NETBIOS 
anme of the name server. Then I switched back. The following day, 
clients would randomly connect to the backup or main server like mad, 
causing a lot of confusion. I was under the impression that the windows 
clients follow the results of the WINS resolution for their connection 
requests. But now I suspect they cache the MAC address an use this for 
connecting. It cant't be the ARP cacghe itself because other services 
(e.g. mail) have no problems connecting to the right server; it must be 
specific to the Windows networking protocols.

Any idea what is happening or how this could be avoied ??

Yours,
Jakob Curdes