VPN, DNS, and Network Adapters

In researching issues with VPN connections, web based applications and DNS resolution, there was alot of talk about network connection binding order. According to Microsoft:

The binding order determines when network interfaces will be used to make network connections by the computer. A disabled adapter high in the binding order can degrade performance.

So where does one adjust this binding order? Open "Network Connections", click on "Advanced" and choose "Advanced Settings". Out pops a window similar to the one you see to the right.

Sounds easy enough. So if you have a users with DNS related issues, rather than adjusting the DNS entries server-side, you can manipulate the adapter order on the local machine. Great idea if you only have to deal with a few users. But what about a large network of users?

This is where it get interesting. According to Microsoft, this is not an easy task:

• There is no unattended way to change the order of the connections during the installation of the network adapter.
• You cannot programmatically script changes to the binding order of network adapters for a computer that is running.
• You cannot use Domain Naming System (DNS) to change the order of connections or to change the binding order because DNS does not respect the ordering.

More to follow but depending upon your network/user setup, it may be a monumental task adjusting each machine's binding order.