Serious and Strange Server Issues (server stops responding to network requests)

[Lino]

Our lovely server at work, *that the company doesn't actually want to spend money on.*

Windows Server 2003 SBS Server with Exchange+ISA 2004

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthr...eeded-on-rebuilding-SBS-2003-Server&p=4119697

This is a continuation on that thread. Still waiting to get the go ahead regarding prices on the replacement hard-drives etc. I have cleaned out the machines (physically) and ran Intel Platform Confidence tests a number of time and there were no issues at all.

Now what seems to happen is the following:

At random intervals the server seems to stop responding to network requests. It usually starts with clients being unable to connect to Exchange, then within minutes they cannot connect to the internet or any network resource. The only way to resolve this is to restart the machine.

Could this be the switch giving issues? Network Card(s) of the server? Corrupted Windows installation?
This is something I need sorted out and it is getting worse and worse.

 

[ramar]

First thing i would check would be to check for malware / viruses. What AV package are you running on the server? Check server performance stats in task manager or performance monitor. Is it experiencing high CPU, RAM or network traffic usage when your clients are getting timeouts?
Is possible could be a faulty switch, but with all the other problems you have listed in the past i suspect it is more a software issue.
And check your event logs.

 

[Lino]

First thing i would check would be to check for malware / viruses. What AV package are you running on the server? Check server performance stats in task manager or performance monitor. Is it experiencing high CPU, RAM or network traffic usage when your clients are getting timeouts?
Is possible could be a faulty switch, but with all the other problems you have listed in the past i suspect it is more a software issue.
And check your event logs.

Thank you for the response ramar

The machine has been checked for malware using various software packages. Currently the machine is running Trend Micro Worry Free Security. No unusual high performance issues with anything. Strange thing is that this also happens when there are no client active. Aka 8 o clock at night. To make it even harder to check, there are no event logs that can identify this issue.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Agree with ramrar.

I would also check with a new card (scavenge from another machine if you have to). Really sounds like a driver issue to me - had the same problem under Ubuntu on my work machine and resolved it with a R100 network card.

 

[w1z4rd]

Linux is free. *run/hide*

 

[TheGuy]

Download and install the SBS2003 best practices analyzer. I know there is a issue with Task offloading or something that causes this problem but the BPA will tell you what it is and how to fix it.

 

[HavocXphere]

At random intervals the server seems to stop responding to network requests. It usually starts with clients being unable to connect to Exchange, then within minutes they cannot connect to the internet or any network resource. The only way to resolve this is to restart the machine.

So is the box locking up completely or just the networking part?

Bad driver/card could be, but this business about services falling over one after the other sounds more like resources running out. If it were a dud card then surely everything would fall over at the same time, no?

 

[Lino]

Download and install the SBS2003 best practices analyzer. I know there is a issue with Task offloading or something that causes this problem but the BPA will tell you what it is and how to fix it.

Thanks have done that, I see it did complain about Task Offloading. I have disabled that, will be interesting to see if this solves the issue.

 

[Lino]

So is the box locking up completely or just the networking part?

Bad driver/card could be, but this business about services falling over one after the other sounds more like resources running out. If it were a dud card then surely everything would fall over at the same time, no?

The box its self doesn't lock up at all. Heck doing anything on the box, it continues to run without issues. It is just the clients that can no longer connect to the box unless I restart the box.

 

[Ivork]

The box its self doesn't lock up at all. Heck doing anything on the box, it continues to run without issues. It is just the clients that can no longer connect to the box unless I restart the box.

Then I would start with ISA personally.

 

[Malasius]

Has any new software been installed prior to this happening?

 

[Lino]

Nope no new software has been installed on the machine

 

[Malasius]

Are any pc's on the network giving issues? freezing/network connectivity issues?

 

[bekdik]

Check your dns event log. dns problems can cause funnies as you have described.

This has also helped, run from cmd prompt: dfsutil /PurgeMupCache

If your dns server isn't on the sbs, then check that too.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Lino

If the network stops, can you still ping some (or all) of the workstations from the server?

If not, try resetting the network switch first and see if that resolves the issue.

 

[w1z4rd]

It could be a gammy switch as well.

 

[syntax]

Check open connections on the server, and see if there is a large amount of tcp connections that are open..

 

[Conradl]

Best thing is to start troubleshooting from the OSI level one, moving up. Does the link light go down? Can you ping the machine IP? Can you ping the Name? Can you open a network share? How about a web page on the server?

The link light going down could indicate a hardware fault, whereas a share error could be licensing. You need to do more testing when the fault occurs....