Network problems - nc3131

[Scott_141]

I have 2 6400R servers, running Windows 2000 SP3 with the NC3131 NICs. I have 1 NIC disabled on each server. On the other NIC I'm running the 5.41.17.00 version of driver.

My issue is that randomly the NIC stops responding, dropping sessions and timing out on pings. This occurs anywhere from once an hour to every 5 minutes during the course of the day. I've checked for any power options, and didn't see anything that might be causing this condition. I've also ran perfmon logs to try to correlate any abnormal performance info, but on average the server is running 15% CPU, 20% memory, and about 12% disk capacity, so I don't think it's because the server is stressed.

Any ideas on what can be causing these drops, or what the next steps should be?

Thanks,
Scott

[Lance Brown]

Any errors listed on the switch side as well as the server side? Have you checked the cabling?

[Scott_141]

Nothing in the event logs, and the switch isn't reporting any dropped packets or alarms on those 2 servers.

[Lance Brown]

Forget the events log, use the CLI on the server. netstat /e is what you want to use. What about no dropped packets, retransmits, etc. Do you have a packet capture system?

[Scott_141]

No discard or errors through netstat /e, and our sniffer isn't showing any retransmits, I can see the packets going to the server, but I don't see any ack's coming from the server during that time period for that tcp session. I'm going to install the 6.1.3.0 version tonight, and restart my logs to see if that improves anything.

Thanks,
Scott

[Ron Kinner]

Appears you are a bit out of date as far as the driver goes. 02/25/2002,6.1.3.0 is the latest driver. Get it at:

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/15498.html

who knows it might fix your problem. There are no release notes with it so there is no telling what they have fixed.

Ron

[Scott_141]

I installed the 6.1.3.0 version of the driver on the 2 servers last night, and the issue is still occurring. Tonight I am going to install a different 10/100 NIC on one of the servers to see if that helps resolve the issue.