Problems after upgrading to Server 2003 R2 on Proliant ML370

[Ryan Mac]

Hello,

I just upgraded our Proliant ML370 G3 from Server 2003 Standard, to Server 2003 Standard R2. It has two Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz processors and Smart Array 641 Controller -- if that might help.

After the upgrade, this machine is running VERY slow -- for e.g. opening Windows Explorer can take 30 seconds or more; the Start menu freezes for 30 seconds or more at a time, backup jobs are taking much longer than normal to run, etc.

It is currently the PDC and Exchange server -- I'm working towards moving Exchange to another machine. The upgrade was to prepare for adding a second Domain Controller which is running Server 2003 R2.

I believe there must be a hardware compatibility problem (or something else?), but I haven't had any luck finding a solution. I'm not finding any errors in event viewer and I'm pretty much out of ideas.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

[Joshua Small_2]

I know this isn't that helpful, but there are a few things I'm interested in.

Unless you are running NT4.0, there is no such thing as a PDC. Do you just mean it is your only domain controller?

If you are planning to add a domain controller, then you had no need to upgrade the old machine. It could well be still running Windows 2003 RTM.

The R2 upgrade only adds a few features to your server, and those would be unlikely to affect performance. So let's have some guesses...

If your original server was running RTM, then R2 would have applied Service Pack 1. This is still obsolete, so I would apply Service Pack 2 if you haven't already.

Who knows what it did with your drivers. I would apply or reapply the latest HP Product Support Pack.

Perhaps upgrading drivers was the issue in the first place. I would suggest also applying the latest HP Firmware Maintenance CD 8.0, to ensure your drivers and firmware are in line with each other.

Event logs.. anything there?

Finally, this could well be a coincedence. On a DC, any DNS issue will make its performance go to pieces. I would run netdiag and dcdiag and resolve any errors you see there or in your event viewer.

[Ryan Mac]

Joshua,

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Since the problems started with the ML370 on Tuesday (you are right, by "PDC" my intention was to imply that it was the main - and, at that time, only -- DC, sorry to mislead), I added the second DC, configured its DNS, changed its "weight" to 50 to relieve the load on the ML370, and now the ML370 is working what appears to be "normal" again. There were no errors in the Event Viewer, or no processes hogging resources in Task Manager, and I did a full AV system scan, so it was a tricky one.

I will still look into your suggestions of the Product Support Pack, and the Firmware Maintenance CD. I did find information about those in my search to resolve the problem, but ultimately the HP links to those products (that I found) led to dead ends ("Page has been moved" or "not found"). But I'll continue to hunt those down.

Thanks again for your input.

Ryan