Intermittant Network Issues

[smaslin]

I am at my wits end with this problem.

I have an HP ML570, loaded with dual proc's, lots of ram, etc. I also have an external PCI-X HP NIC card.

This machine is our main e-mail server (Exchange 2003).

For about 3-4 weeks now, this machine intermittantly drops off the network (cannot PING). It drops for about 30 seconds, then comes back. Completely random, happens at night and during the day.

We have tried replacing the external NIC, we have tried using the internal NIC, we have tried a different switch port, we have tried a different switch blade (cabletron backbone switches), we've even tried a different switch and different CAT5 cable! Our last resort was to replace the motherboard, and we did that, still same problems.

This problem causes our users to lose connection intermittantly, and even causes our nightly backups to completely fail or hang.

HELP!!!
Any ideas would be helpful. I'm thinking its more of a Windows 2003 thing now, but I dont even know where to start.
We have checked the settings on the NIC's, and there are no errors or anything like that. Its also not set for AUTO, its set for 100/full (and so are the switch ports we plug into).

Thanks in advance.

 

[markdmac]

Check the properties ont he NIC under Power management and make sure it is not set to "Allow The Computer to Turn off Device."

Much as I love Microsoft, I can't figure out why the heck anybody would want a NIC to shut off (by default) to conserve power under any circumstances.

I hope you find this post helpful. Please let me know if it was.

Regards,

Mark

 

[smaslin]

I dont see the option you are referring to.

Under Power Options in control panel, theres only one option and thats to power down the hard disks (which is set to Never of course).

I even tried turning Wake-On-Lan capabilities off to see if that made any difference, and it didnt.

Where exactly is that option supposed to be?

 

[markdmac]

It isn't supported by all NICs, but if yours supports it you will find it by right clicking My Network Places, select properties. Right click your network connection, click Properties. Click the Configure Button. If you have a Power management tab at the top you will find the default setting is to allow the computer to shut off the NIC.

I hope you find this post helpful. Please let me know if it was.

Regards,

Mark

 

[smaslin]

Unfortunately it doesnt have that Power Management tab.

I did find another posting on this type of problem, and it referenced turning the DFS service off. I have done that and so far it has not dropped off the network. Cross your fingers!!!

 

[LiverpoolFan]

One last thing, and I am sure you have done this, are your NIC drivers up-to-date? I have seen weird things happen with drivers that are not up-to-date.

If the DFS service fix does not work, you could check out the drivers. Also, if you have Insight Manager Agents running, check Insight Manager for hardware issues/integrated log(although they pretty much seem to have been addressed by what you have done).

 

[smaslin]

The NIC drivers were updated as part of my attempt to fix the problem before (I probably left that out of the original post). They are the latest drivers. I had also tried the internal built-in NIC, with the same results.

We do have the Insight management running, we'll probably try upgrading that next. Nothing appears out of the ordinary in the logs.

 

[Tightpants]

I posted a query about DFS which is what you may have been referring to. We had a nightmare few months with a problem which sounds very similar to yours. When I disabled the DFS service the network stopped having problems. We had two sets of consultants look at the issue (before I narrowed it down to DFS) and neither could find a problem. In the process we also tried new motherboards, new NICs, new drivers, reconfiguring software time and time again, and so on. After having a trouble free six months I turned DFS on again and the network problems started within an hour! Hence my post about DFS.

Good luck! I would be interested to find out more if you get to the bottom of this one.

 

[smaslin]

It appears that disabling DFS helped my CA Brightstor Backups to work better, but the server still looses its network connection intermittantly. Its too wierd.