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System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (NIS+) |
Part I About Naming and Directory Services
Part II NIS+ Setup and Configuration
4. Configuring NIS+ With Scripts
5. Setting Up the NIS+ Root Domain
8. Configuring an NIS+ Non-Root Domain
10. NIS+ Tables and Information
12. Administering NIS+ Credentials
14. Administering Enhanced NIS+ Security Credentials
15. Administering NIS+ Access Rights
16. Administering NIS+ Passwords
18. Administering NIS+ Directories
20. NIS+ Server Use Customization
NIS+ Global Table or Local File
Default NIS+ Server Preferences
Efficiency and NIS+ Server Preference Numbers
Preferred-Only NIS+ Servers and All Servers
When NIS+ Server Preferences Take Effect
Viewing NIS+ Machine Preferences
How to View Preferences for an NIS+ Server
How to View Preferences for an NIS+ Machine
How to View Global Preferences for an NIS+ Machine
How to View Global Preferences for an NIS+ Subnet
Specifying NIS+ Preference Rank Numbers
Specifying NIS+ Global Server Preferences
How to Set Global Preferences for an NIS+ Subnet
How to Set Global Preferences for an Individual NIS+ Machine
How to Set Global Preferences for a Remote NIS+ Domain
Specifying Local NIS+ Server Preference
How to Set Preferences on a Local NIS+ Machine
Modifying NIS+ Server Preferences
How to Change an NIS+ Server's Preference Number
How to Replace One NIS+ Server With Another in a Preference List
How to Remove NIS+ Servers From Preference Lists
Replacing an Entire Preferred Server List in NIS+
Specifying Preferred-Only Servers in NIS+
How to Specify Preferred-Only Servers in NIS+
How to Revert to Using Non-Preferred Servers in NIS+
Ending Use of Server Preferences in NIS+
Eliminating Local Server Preferences in NIS+
How to Switch From Local to Global Subnet Preferences in NIS+
How to Switch From Local to Machine-Specific Global Preferences in NIS+
How to Stop a Machine From Using Any Server Preferences in NIS+
Putting NIS+ Server Preferences Into Immediate Effect
23. Information in NIS+ Tables
Common NIS+ Namespace Error Messages
When client machines, users, applications, or processes need NIS+ information, they seek an active NIS+ server (master or replica) from which to get the needed data. On large networks, networks with many subnets, and networks that span wide-area links, you may be able to improve NIS+ performance by customizing server usage.
By default, if no server preferences have been set with the nisprefadm command, a client will first try to obtain the information it needs from an NIS+ server on the client's local subnet. If the client finds an active server on the local subnet, it obtains the information it needs from the first local server that responds. If no server is available on the local subnet, the client searches outside the local subnet, and obtains the NIS+ information it needs from the first remote server that responds.
On large, busy networks, this default search behavior may reduce NIS+ performance for one of two reasons:
When multiple servers on a subnet are serving a large number of clients, the random nature of the client's default search pattern may result in some servers being over worked while others are under used.
When a client has to seek an NIS+ server beyond the local subnet, it will obtain its information from the first server that responds even if that server is overworked, or linked to the client's subnet by a slower Wide Area Network connection such as a modem or a dedicated line that is already carrying heavy traffic.
The Solaris release contains a new feature – server-use customization – that allows you to control the order in which clients search for NIS+ servers.
With this new feature you can balance and customize server usage by:
Specifying that clients prefer (search for) certain servers over others.
Specify whether or not clients are permitted to use remote servers if no local servers are available.
The search criteria that you specify can be applied to all clients within a domain, all clients on a subnet, or to individual clients on a machine-by-machine basis.
Note - When server-use preferences are set for a particular machine, those preferences apply to all users, applications, processes, or other clients running on that machine. You cannot set different server-use patterns for different clients on the same machine.