W2k3 losing network connectivity

Note: This is unrelated to the similarly named post by 'The Devil' a few
days ago.

I'm having a strange problem with my Win2k3 Server. Every so often, it
just loses network connectivity. More specifically, it does so without
the system noticing it.
What happens is this: the network goes down, i.e. all connections such
as RDP, Shares, etc. break. However, when I log on to the machine
(physically), no problem is reported and the network appears to be
working - except that it doesn't. The only way to resolve the issue
seems to manually dis- and reenable the NIC.

I've already replaced the crappy VIA Rhine II on-board network card with
a Intel Pro/1000 GT, but no improvement whatsoever.

Going through the Event Viewer, the only incidents I can find that could
possibly be related to the issue at hand are STATUS_RDP_PROTOCOL_ERROR
(encryption error) [1] and EVENT_FAILED_TO_RENEW (DHCP problem) [2].
However, both of these appear to be rather a symptom than a cause (if
anything) since, form what I've seen so far, they can't account for all
connectivity losses and are chronologically not close enough.

One other problem I'm having is that the server seems to be somewhat
underpowered (it's an old Athlon XP 1800+ with 1.5 GB of RAM). I'm
running two fully encrypted software RAIDs which frequently causes full
CPU load when copying things around. While this is more an annoyance
than a real problem, it might be related to the above issue.

I'm pretty much out of ideas as to how to troubleshoot this problem. Any
ideas where to start?

Thanks in advance,
raph


[1]
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sup...rmDD&LCID=1033

[2]
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sup...DHCP&LCID=1033

Hello,

How is connected your network interface card ?:
-To a passive hub : move to another port.
-To a switch : If no vlan move to another port.
-Could you change the ethernet cable ?

What is the level of service pack on your 2003 server ?
Did you make an update Windows Update ?
Have you enabled the ACPI in bios / power management on NIC ?
What is the antivirus installed on it?
Could you test this service by disabling all
NON-MICROSOFT services with MSConfig.Exe
go to "services" and select hide Microsoft soft
and disable all NON MICROSOFT product ,then monitor it
as a test for a week.

Have a good test.


Olivier C.

Hewlett Packard for Microsoft Support

#########################################
"Raphael Pigulla" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%233Hs%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Note: This is unrelated to the similarly named post by 'The Devil' a few
> days ago.
>
> I'm having a strange problem with my Win2k3 Server. Every so often, it
> just loses network connectivity. More specifically, it does so without the
> system noticing it.
> What happens is this: the network goes down, i.e. all connections such as
> RDP, Shares, etc. break. However, when I log on to the machine
> (physically), no problem is reported and the network appears to be
> working - except that it doesn't. The only way to resolve the issue seems
> to manually dis- and reenable the NIC.
>
> I've already replaced the crappy VIA Rhine II on-board network card with a
> Intel Pro/1000 GT, but no improvement whatsoever.
>
> Going through the Event Viewer, the only incidents I can find that could
> possibly be related to the issue at hand are STATUS_RDP_PROTOCOL_ERROR
> (encryption error) [1] and EVENT_FAILED_TO_RENEW (DHCP problem) [2].
> However, both of these appear to be rather a symptom than a cause (if
> anything) since, form what I've seen so far, they can't account for all
> connectivity losses and are chronologically not close enough.
>
> One other problem I'm having is that the server seems to be somewhat
> underpowered (it's an old Athlon XP 1800+ with 1.5 GB of RAM). I'm running
> two fully encrypted software RAIDs which frequently causes full CPU load
> when copying things around. While this is more an annoyance than a real
> problem, it might be related to the above issue.
>
> I'm pretty much out of ideas as to how to troubleshoot this problem. Any
> ideas where to start?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> raph
>
>
> [1]
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sup...rmDD&LCID=1033
>
> [2]
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sup...DHCP&LCID=1033