Win2000 network disconnect issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter kfergus
  • Start date Start date
K

kfergus

We have been having network disconnect issues for about
eight weeks now. The network consists of one Win2000
domain controller(running active directory and acting as
an application server for MAS90), 6 Win2k clients and 4 XP
clients logging into the domain. There are 2 additional
Win2k clients that are on the network, but are logged onto
locally and run CAD programs. The problem began the week
before the 4th of July. I was installing SP4 on the Win2k
clients and doing the critical updates on the rest of the
machines when I started having issues (I did not install
SP4 on the server). During the update process all
machines lost network connectivity. I rebooted the server
and that had no effect. I unplugged the power to the
network switch and that seemed to fix the problem. During
the rest of the week the problem reoccurred once daily
until the end of the week and it happened several times.
I replaced the switch thinking that was going bad. The
next week the issue started again and would happen once a
day. Each time the users found that if they did nothing
the connectivity returned after 10 to 15 minutes. We also
found that once a week there would be an episode where the
only way to restore connectivity would be to unplug the
switch and have all users reboot then plug the switch back
in. Nothing was done to the server. Two weeks ago, I
installed the latest critical updates to all machines due
to the Virus issues. After that we went one week with no
disconnect issues. Last week the problem started all over
again. One time a day, users waited 15 minutes and
everything worked. Yesterday the only way to fix was
unplug the switch and reboot all machines. Today the one
time disconnect and after 15 minutes connectivity
returned, nothing else needed. Any ideas where to look
for the cause of the issue?
 
How many nics in the server? Does an ipconfig/all from the clients show that
everything is pointing to your server-IP?

Marina
 
One nic in the server. Everything is correct as for as
ipconfig on all machines. The network was running fine
for over a year until this happened.

Thanks inadvance for any ideas.
Kirk Fergus
 
Got DNS and DHCP installed on the server, right? Has DHCP options 003, 006
and 015?
The servernic has the DNS-field filled with the server-IP?
Anything in the eventlogs of the server and the clients at the time this is
happening?

Marina
 
DNS is installed. Dhcp is installed for one ip address
and is only used by a laptop that is brought in once in a
while (this laptop has not been on the network since this
issue started). All other clients are static ip.
Nothing in the event log on the server unless the switch
is turned off and back on, then a network connection
down/back up is shown.
 
I do administration remotely and static settings make life
easier when using remote access tools. By the way, none
of the network settings have been changed since the
original setup was done a year ago. The issue just
started eight weeks ago while doing the the updates.
Here is the ipconfig for the server and a client:
Server:
Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : TSC-SERVER
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R)
PRO/100 S Desktop Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-B3-8D-49-
C1
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
64.105.152.186
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110

Client:
Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : office-5
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R)
PRO/100 S Desktop Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-B3-5D-FC-
31
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.16
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
64.105.152.138
 
Hi Kirk,

See inline:

Kirk Fergus said:
I do administration remotely and static settings make life
easier when using remote access tools. By the way, none
of the network settings have been changed since the
original setup was done a year ago. The issue just
started eight weeks ago while doing the the updates.
Here is the ipconfig for the server and a client:
Server:
Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : TSC-SERVER
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R)
PRO/100 S Desktop Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-B3-8D-49-
C1
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
64.105.152.186
Click to expand...
Get rid of this second DNS. Should not be here. If it is the ISP-DNS, put it
in the forwarders of your DNS-server.
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110

Client:
Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : office-5
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : tsc1-
theisenco.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R)
PRO/100 S Desktop Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-B3-5D-FC-
31
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.16
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
64.105.152.138
Click to expand...

Same here, get rid of the 2nd DNS.

Marina
 
Hi Marina,

I have the ISP's DNS ips set in the forwarders in the DNS
properties. I also removed the ISP's ip address from the
ip configuration on the server. The ISP's DNS ip address
was originally added to the clients a long time ago while
the server was down. The user's needed to access the
internet to retreive their e-mail from webmail. I will be
on site Wednesday of this week and will remove the entry
from the clients then. I still do not believe that this
is the answer to the issue we are having with the daily
network disconnects. Any more thoughts on the issue?

Thanks for your help to this point.
Kirk Fergus
 
Back
Top