Manually Constructing a Topology for Directory Access

To troubleshoot problems with a specific global catalog server or domain controller, you may want to override the automatic discovery of servers by clearing the Automatically discover servers check box. For example, to determine whether queries to a global catalog server are working correctly, you can manually set this server as the only available global catalog server.

When you manually create a topology for DSAccess, you no longer have the advantages of automatic failover and load balancing that you have when DSAccess automatically discovers the topology. If a server that you set manually becomes unavailable, the list does not update and Exchange still tries to use the unavailable server, thereby causing Exchange to fail.

If you manually set a domain controller or global catalog server on the Directory Access tab in the Properties dialog box of a server that is not running Windows 2000 Server SP3 or later, Exchange will not use the domain controller or global catalog server, and Exchange logs an Event 2116. For detailed instructions, see How to Manually Create a Topology for Directory Access.