DL360 G5 constantly freezes

[LNB KS]

Let me start off by saying that Microsoft techs have been monitoring/attempting to fix my problem for a month.

Our DC has to be reset about once a day. Users will freeze when attempting to access shared drives or they just can't login at all. Microsoft has told us the DNS is taking up all the ports which is why people freeze. Resetting fixes the problem, but resetting daily is rediculous.

This problem used to happen with 2003, but the fix for 2003 does not work on 2008 (straight from Microsoft tech support).

We have an HP Proliant DL360 G5 running Windows Server 2008 32-bit edition.

I know this problem is not limited to just us as I've seen other people post the exact same problem on other forums. Is HP familiar with this problem? All the things I've read deal with HP server and no one else.

Please help!

[Saji Thomas]

Hello LNB KS,

Do you mean that you have to restart the DC everyday for everything to become normal??

Also let us know if you have installed any latest drivers or firmware for the server recently?

Regards,
Saji Thomas

[LNB KS]

I have to restart the server to get the problem to go away temporarily. The problem happens at random times during the day (sometimes more than once) and users cannot do anything on a shared drive or log in if they weren't logged in already. I even had Microsoft check my login script that maps the network drives and they said it was fine.

Here is some additional information on what Microsoft has tried:

Updated Network Card driver to latest version.

Registry Changes:
HKEYLOCALMACHINE\System\ControlSet002\Services\DNS\Parameters\SocketPoolSize (500)

HKEYLOCALMACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Services\TCPIP\Parameters\MaxUserPort

HKEYLOCALMACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\EnableSecuritySignature - value 1 changed to 0. (This change was done on all our Citrix servers per Microsoft's request)

Command Line Entry:
netsh int ipv4 set dynamic port UDP start=1025 num=64511

MS uninstalled KB951746 and told us to NOT install KB95748

The problem started on 11/14/2008 and the only change we made near that date was "changed profiles dfs to only 1 server doing it." That change was made on 11/12/2008.

I can give you the MS Case No if you think that would help.

[Saji Thomas]

Thanks for the updates.

I do not need the MS Case no. Few things I would like to know is:
1) Does the users get any specific error when the server freezes or any error generated on the DNS servers?

Also when the server freezes once, does any of the users gets connected to the DNS even for once before the restart?

2) How many DNS servers and DC/PDC/ADC do you have?

3) Number of app. users?

4) Are all the users connected to the server from a single switch or multiple switch?

I am just trying to understand your setup and I also had 2003 but never faced issues like that.

Regards,
Saji Thomas

[LNB KS]

1) Does the users get any specific error when the server freezes or any error generated on the DNS servers?

Answer: No

2) How many DNS servers and DC/PDC/ADC do you have?

Answer: We have the DC and BDC functioning as the DNS servers. We have a PDC but demoted it (to member server) when we got the 2008 DC and BDC. The only reason the PDC is still around is because MS installed a bunch of Office dll's on that machine that all the other Citrix servers need for Office to run.

3) Number of app. users?

Answer: 220-230

4) Are all the users connected to the server from a single switch or multiple switch?

Answer: 3 switches

[Saji Thomas]

Hi LNB KS,

Let us first ensure that everything on the server is fine. Download the firmware maintenance CD from the link below and install all the firmware for the server, inclusing the BIOS and the network/iLO

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=1121486&prodNameId=3288144&swEnvOID=4022&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-73c82be98b5f4eb3ac4b72c2e3

Once you do that, download and install the PSP from teh link below:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=1121486&prodNameId=3288144&swEnvOID=4022&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-32b9841bf69142d5a2438f9046

Check for the issue once you do all this. If the issue still persits, we will concentrate on the DNS and the AD part.

Cheers,
Saji Thomas

[LNB KS]

Ok, I'll give those a shot after hours. I'll leave a response once I have a chance to get it done.

Thanks for the help thus far.

[Saji Thomas]

You are welcome. Just update me so that we can work on this a little more (if required) :-)

Cheers,
Saji Thomas

[LNB KS]

It's been awhile since I made this post but we finally got everything done that you asked. The latest firmware (8.40) and PSP (8.15b) are installed.

We are still resetting the server daily. Symptoms user suffer that require reset are:

1) Users are frozen. Cannot save to shared drives or navigate their sessions.
2) Anyone attempting to login will not get their profile.
3) Anyone logging in will not have their shared drives mapped.

We are going to re-open our ticket with Microsoft now that all drivers, firmware and HP tools are fully up-to-date. All suggestions from HP are welcome as we try to solve this mystery.

[LNB KS]

Starting new ticket