Frequent Reboots?

[tylan]

I have no idea what causes this, I hope someone has seen this before...

I believe that the server is NW 5.1 w/ SP6. It has 256MB of RAM. Its running Group Wise 5.5, and I'm not sure of the service pack. It also has Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition (Client Only), and Backup Exec Remote Agent.

After about 15-17 days of running the server goes into sluggish mode. It also gets a Time Sync error where it can't find itself. The console also looks clean, no errors. You can't authenticate to it, and you can't map drives to it. It seems like the server isn't there, but at the console it looks like everything is running super.

Thanks
Tylan

 

[marvhuffaker]

Are you saying that all communication in and out from the server stops?

Have you looked in Monitor under LAN/WAN and seen if traffic is coming in and out? Also what about packet errors?


Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[Lou0686]

Hi,

Sluggishness usually means low free block on SYS. Novell recommends at least 10% free block. My guess is that your under 5%. You can check this in Monitor, Volumes, highlight the Volume and hit the tab key.

Lou

 

[tylan]

Since this isn't my server, it's my client's, I'm not 100% sure if all communication stops... From what they've told me it sounds like communication goes down. I'd say that its just a paperweight if you can't log on, right? I don't think it even gives you a login screen from the PCs. The next time this happens, I'll have them check the LAN/WAN stats.

As for free space on SYS, Why would a reboot fix that problem?

 

[Lou0686]

Hi again,

Free space and free block are 2 different thigs. Deleted files are taking up the free space and NetWare itself does not have enough space to process what it needs.

Purge the volume.

Lou

 

[marvhuffaker]

Lou has good point. That can definitely kill your system.

I am also wondering about your total RAM. With both NetWAre and Groupwise, you may be running slim. When the system first comes up, how many Total Cache Buffers does it show (Main page on MONITOR.NLM). Compare that to how it is 15 days later.

Also it may be helpful if you could post the Original and Total Cache Buffers that is currently showing in MONITOR. If you run out of memory, your system processes may also begin to fail. (purging your volumes may help this because deleted files still take resources)

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[tylan]

I'm going to pass this info on to my client. I'll either have him read this thread or join.

Get this... The server has been doing this for several years! From what I've heard it could have been 5 or more!

Thanks guys, I'll have to post our results.

To be continued...

 

[Lou0686]

WOW, and you could be there hero.

Good Luck with it.

Lou