DL360 very slow only with LAN enabled (Windows server 2003)

[Tjeerd van der Lijn]

I have three HP DL360 Windows 2003 servers in my network which are very slow when I enable the LAN connection.
The problem is not in the infrastructure because when I connect such a server with a switch that is not connected to the LAN the server is also very slow. So only a NIC connection slows down the server very much.
OS=Windows 2003 with latest SP+updates and latest HP firmware en Supportpack.
Re-installation of a server solves the problem but takes a lot of time and that is a this moment not possible.

[Pieter 't Hart]

You supply little information about these servers.

Have these servers first functioned ok and later got bad? or have these servers never been connected to the lan?
If this is a fresh installation it sounds strange to hear that re-installation solves the problem.

I think you should first look for an installed application wich tries to locate information on the network.
apearently it detects when the lan is active or not and tries to get some data (updates?) from another server (windows-update, antivirus).
It could also be that it tries to reach a domain controller wich cannot be found anymore. or it could be the profile of the user thats logging in (size, references to other servers, policies).

So check if these servers are member of a domain. is this domain active? is the network reachable (ip-subnets, routing).

another problem can be duplex miscmatch between the server and the network switch so the communication with the lan performs badly, wich in turn influences the server itself. try setting the port of the switch and the nic of the server fixed in speed and duplex setting.

good luck
Pieter

[Tjeerd van der Lijn]

Hi Pieter,

Thanks voor the reply. The servers functioned ok and later got bad and are not re-installed yet. Other terminal servers which had the same problem are ok after a re-install.
The domain, infrastructure and NIC duplex are ok (tested with fixed 100Mb/full and 1Gb).
The problem seems to be in the OS/software of the terminal server: when I connect one server to a switch which is not connected to the LAN the problem stays.
Maybe you know some tools which I can use to monitor?

[Pieter 't Hart]

So they function as terminal servers.
As such they cannot function without LAN connection.
Are these servers member of a domain?
Are there policies in effect?
Have users rights to install their own software? Or is software centrally deployed (SMS)?
What printers do you use? Can a printer driver be installed by a user?
As you mention the server first works ok but at a certain point no more. this should suggest some change (installation, policyrefresh, software distribution, a particular user login).
Maybe some user dos not "logout" but "disconnects" (or reboots its workstation) leaving the terminal-service session open!

There is terminal server manager and terminal server configuration to see how many sessions are active and to configure how long a session is maintained after a client disconnects.
Try minimizing the client options (local shares local printers local sound, local usb devices...).

Eventviewer would be the first to start. Both on the server, on the domaincontroller(s) (if any) and on the workstation hat's slow.

You can try "netstat" to see what connections are active at a certain time