Long delay when you log on to a public folder and you cannot connect to the public folder server (812227)

SYMPTOMS

When you try to log on to an Exchange 2000 server public folder, you may experience a long delay, and then you may not be able to open the public folder. It may appear that the mail client program has stopped responding.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if the public folder server is unavailable and the client program has not been redirected to another public folder server by Directory Services. The client program sends a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) to the public folder server that it is configured to contact. The client program does not perform any other activity while it waits for the RPC to complete.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, create a Public Folder Tree (top-level hierarchy), without the folder's contents, on each server. If the Private Mailbox server is available, the Public Store will also be available, and the client program can log on, regardless of the availability of a specific content server.

MORE INFORMATION

When a mail client program connects to an Exchange 2000 Server-based server, the client program uses the Exchange Server Information Store Service Provider (EMSMDB) to access the Exchange Message Store. The client program sends an RPC to the public folder server that it is configured to contact. If the public folder server is unavailable, the client program is not redirected to an alternate server. The RPC must time out before it ends. The client must then request an alternative public folder server from Directory Services. Directory Services makes a function call (EcFindAlternatePFServe) to locate an alternative public folder server. Directory Services finds the Public Store that is associated with the client program's private store by checking the omPublicMDB in the Private Store properties. Directory Services then looks in the same administration group for other servers with the same top-level hierarchies. All Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 servers are filtered out, and then the client is referred randomly to one of the remaining servers. EMSMDB asks up to five times for a server to which it can connect.