Problem adding 2nd NIC???

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cloaked
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Cloaked

I have a DELL W2K Server / DC running AD with an internal NIC.

It was recently ocnfigured and deployed - no problem.

We decided that we wanted to add a 1000bt ethernet card - a LinkSys
EG1064.

The physical install went without incident, all drivers loaded no
problem.

I reset the address of the motherboard NIC and disabled the
connection, and then set the address of the EG1064 to the server
address that the network clients need to see. Again no problem.

I started letting client machines log in and then the problems
started!

Firstly, the logins were S-L-O-W. Also, file access to the server was
also slow. As a test I tried a 3GB file copy from the server to the
desktop and it report it would take 183 minutes??? This same copy runs
at 10 minutes on the motherboard NIC!

Then, most people could not load our CRM Program - Goldmine. Those
that could load were - you guessed it - painfuly slow!

So I had everone log out. Re-addressed the EG1064 and disabled the
connection. I re-enabled the motherboard NIC and re-addressed it.

Now everyone logs back in and all is well!

WTF??????

The EG1064 was added with a view to future needs. Basically, we don't
want to have to rip the server apart at a later date. All we want to
do is replace our current unmanaged switch with one that is gigabit
capable, and then update client machines as required.

We do not want or need a multi-homed server, so I have no problem
disabling the motherboard NIC.

So I do have time to play with this and get it working properly.

But why the slowdown?? Any ideas???

Thanks
 
Possible:

1. Check DNS zone and see if any of the new IP addresses you assigned when
disabling these connections have been registered. Delete any such records
and restart the Netlogon service.

2. Even after disabling a connection, it may remain at the top of the
binding order and this can cause slowdowns. Right click My Network Places,
select Properties, click Advanced/Advanced Settings - move the enabled
connection to the top of the binding order list.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
 
I had done some Googling before posting here, so I had already checked
the Binding order. No problem there.

I did have a quick look at DNS, but the only address I noticed was the
proper adddress.

It appears to me that DNS is not only a critical part of W2K, but also
a very sensitive and finiky area.

Since I am a bit of a DNS novice, could you provide a more detailed
explanation of where to look and what to look for???

Thanks!
 
Cloaked said:
I had done some Googling before posting here, so I had already checked
the Binding order. No problem there.

I did have a quick look at DNS, but the only address I noticed was the
proper adddress.

It appears to me that DNS is not only a critical part of W2K, but also
a very sensitive and finiky area.

Since I am a bit of a DNS novice, could you provide a more detailed
explanation of where to look and what to look for???
Click to expand...

What is on the other end of the cable with this Gig Nic? If it just goes
into a 10/100 port on a switch then you may have to set the GIG Nic to run
at 100 ans set the switch port statically to 100 as well so they don't have
to negociate anything. Unless the LAN is desinged to accomidate this Gig
Nic there really isn't any benefit to using it, in fact they often just
cause trouble.
 
The Gig NIC is set to Auto, but I checked it and it had connected at
100MBPS - which is what I expected.

I was under the impression that the speed negotiation was done at the
start of establishing the connection and that once the speed was set,
it was left alone.

Are you suggesting that the Gig NIC may be constantly trying to
re-negotiate for the higer speed???

Indeed, the other end of the cable is a switch - an autosensing
unmanaged 10/100 switch. So there is no adjustments that can be made
to the switch, it is just plug & pray.

If what you are saying is true, then perhaps setting the Gig NIC at
100 / Full would be a good test of the theory. It is certainly easy
enough to do.

As I said before, nothing else is raised to the Gigabit level - yet.
But the final resting place for the server is in a secure room - and
everyone's productivity will depend on it, so we do NOT want to have
to mess with it once it is fully deployed.

Upgrading the switch will be a total cake walk, as will be upgrading
specific high-traffic machines - when compared to the work on the
server itself and the potential impact on ALL users.
 
Cloaked said:
Are you suggesting that the Gig NIC may be constantly trying to
re-negotiate for the higer speed???
Click to expand...

Some Gig Nics and not very dependable in the auto-negociation department. I
am skeptical of all of them.
 
Following up...

I tried leaving the on-board NIC alone and just enabling the Linksys
NIC. Even with the Linksys NIC Enabled, the system slowed down! :(

I went into the servers BIOS Setup and disabled the on-board NIC.

I then set the Linksys card to the correct address, forced it to
connect at 100 MBPS, and rebooted.

Login speed returned to normal, however still having problems with
applications loading from the server. Some wont load, some are
painfully slow.

I decided to heck with it. I removed the external NIC from the server,
re-enabled the internal NIC, readjusted all the settings, and
re-booted.

All is back to normal.

What a pain in the a$$.
 
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