Print server dropping out

[DVOM]

At work we've got an old w2k machine we're using as a print server. This has worked perfectly for over a year.

Recently, (last 2-3 weeks) the machine will unexplainedly lose connection to the LAN. Which means no other machines can print to it or access any other shares. It doesn't happen very often (5 hrs-2 days) and a reboot always fixes it in the short term.

The machine has 2 NIC's in it and I've switched from the one to the other.

My main problem is that it happens at times when it's not possible to troubleshoot. So I'm left to guessing in the after hours and waiting for it to happen again.

I've completely uninstalled NortonInternet Security and reinstalled.

At this time the only other things I can think of is possibly a intermittently bad CAT5 cable or a bad port in the hub. (we've got 14 IP's from the ISP so no router used)

Anyone have any other ideas? TIA

[Rapmaster]

Is there anything being logged in the Event Log when it loses its connection?

(Check Event Viewer...)

Have you tried leaving Norton Internet Security disabled? Running it on an internal server is a little odd, but I guess it depends on your situation. Your print server is running with a public IP from your ISP? Hmm

[flachebaq]

First off, having a firewall on any internal server is just a bad idea. If your network is behind a firewall already or this PC doesn't have direct Internet access, you're just asking for problems.

Is the PC showing that the cable is disconnected or is it that it just can't receive print jobs? Can this PC do anything on the network? Remember that Windows 2000 Professional has an inbound connection limit of 10. So, if this is a Win2K Pro. box and you're getting lots of print jobs from more than 10 PC's, you may be hitting your connection limit.

[DVOM]

Rapmaster, I'll check the Event Viewer on Monday. Admittedly, this setup isn't the best way of doing things. All machines have IP's assigned by the ISP.

I inherited this network as it is. If I had my druthers I'd put it all behind a router. The owner is reluctant to change anything as long as it works. So if it turns out to be the firewall, things will get changed.

flachebaq, the print server is in fact showing the network cable as being disconnected when connection is lost. As for connections, we've got a maximum of 5-6 machines capable of printing to it. 95% of the time it's only 2 machines printing.

[flachebaq]

Well, if it is showing that the cable is disconnected, here are you possibilities:

• Software issues in the OS
• Bad NIC in the PC
• Bad patch cord
• Bad jack on the wall
• Problem in the wire between the wall and the hub
• Problem at the patch panel... possibly bad punch down (if you have one)
• Bad patch cord between patch panel and hub/switch
• ALT (if you don't have patch panel): Bad end on hub side of wire

[kv]

Originally posted by flachebaq
First off, having a firewall on any internal server is just a bad idea. If your network is behind a firewall already or this PC doesn't have direct Internet access, you're just asking for problems.

I know this is a tangent, but I just wanted to point out that a lot of companies are going the route of installing firewalls on specific subnets or servers. It's just an extra level of defense in case internal machines are compromised. An extreme example is Bank of America, where their ATM's (running embedded XP) were brought down by one of the recent worms, due to an internal system being compromised (usually a notebook), but that incident made a lot of smaller companies take notice.

Sorry about the hijack, we now return back to our regularly scheduled thread...!

KV

[flachebaq]

Originally posted by kv


I know this is a tangent, but I just wanted to point out that a lot of companies are going the route of installing firewalls on specific subnets or servers. It's just an extra level of defense in case internal machines are compromised. An extreme example is Bank of America, where their ATM's (running embedded XP) were brought down by one of the recent worms, due to an internal system being compromised (usually a notebook), but that incident made a lot of smaller companies take notice.

Sorry about the hijack, we now return back to our regularly scheduled thread...!

KV

Except that any Network Administrator worth his salary wouldn't have had end-user PC's of any type on the same network as something like an ATM. I have a customer that runs networked cash registers as well as PC's. They have a completely seperate network for the cash registers as they do for the rest of the PC's. Sure, it cost more, but when one of their PC's got infected with a virus, there was a 0% chance of it getting on the registers and shutting them down.

[patweb]

Hey, so is your server running on DHCP then? You aren't running a domain?

[DVOM]

Thanks for all the suggestions. This took awhile because the problem would only happen every 1-2 days or so.

flachebaq, Hardware wise, the only thing between the print server and the LAN hub was the NIC and the CAT5 cable. I changed both and used a different port on the hub. Same intermittent problem. I figured I was down to a glitch in the OS or a bad motherboard.

So I grabbed one of the two other old w2k machines we had sitting idle and switched out the machines.

So far so good.

Next up, get this network behind a router.