Network Crash Issue

A friend asked me to look at why his network crashes periodically.

He has 12 workstations (a combination of OS's - 1 x Win XP Home, 1 x XPP, 8 x Win7 Pro, 1 Win 7 Home and 1 MacBook plus a Lexmark BizHub and Canon Printer) and a Windows Server 2003. The person who set up the network has long since disappeared.

Not every user accesses the data on the server. In fact, only 2 of the Win 7 machines and the XP Home machine need to connect to the server files.

The server contents include a combination of Word and Excel files plus an MS Access database.

Obviously, this is a very sketchy overview but one thing that was immediately obvious was that the server only had 4 GB of free space of an available 130 GB. In my mind, that's going to be an immediate issue.

While I will likely be advising him to find another network specialist, I would appreciate any initial comments or suggestions on where to look.

Thanks

 

They couldn't really tell me what they were doing exactly, other than to say "the network goes down, we cannot access the internet or any files on the server and we have to shut down and restart the router, switch and all computers ".

He did say it tends to happen toward mid day most of the time.

As another thought, it sounds like it could be a router or switch issue and not the servers' fault.

 

Could also be caused by their ISP's equipment.

 

The ISP is via wireless internet (no land line available) and it does go down during inclement weather (ice & snow) from time to time.

That said, 12 machines drawing on the one internet connection would likely slow it down severely but I wouldn't think that internal network access (to the server) should die as a result of slow or no internet access.

Upon a failure, when they shut down and restart everything, the connection is restored both locally and internet.

I stand to be corrected though

 

Good place to start I would think

 

They're running the entire company on a wireless network?

Many types of devices can cause interference including Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, outdoor microwave links, WiMAX, wireless game controllers, wireless video cameras, Zigbee devices, and so on. Even bad electrical connections can cause broad RF spectrum emissions.

 

The network within the building is wired. They have some laptops that access the network wirelessly however, the ISP source is wireless as they are in a very rural location and can only subscribe to this one provider.

 

Wireless is a shaky foundation, one that can never be 100% reliable.

 

The wireless ISP is a fact of life out here, there is no alternative and, as you can tell by the time taken to re-post, nothing moves fast when summer holidays are involved.

As the drive is full, the first move will be adding an external backup drive to enable a perpetual backup routine, replacing the existing tape drive that gets used "sometimes" then, deleting older files that are no longer needed.

As there are 3 drives in the server (see attached) simply adding bigger drives isn't a possibility. As you can see in the attached image, only 2 of the 3 are lit up. Might this indicate that the third is not working?

 

Then they are going to need to learn to live with it and work around it somehow. Another fact of life is wireless is unreliable.

1) "4.58 GB free" is not near enough. Set it up to send you/someone a warning email when when the free space is less than say 20 GB.

2) A backup should be developed and run _every_ night -- Monday through Friday -- no excuses. And, the backups should be stored offsite, (in case of fire).

1) Yes, it may well indicate the third drive is not working.

2) The server desperately needs some cleanup maintenance, ASAP.

3) It looks like you have room for three more drives.

--

Full disk, no current backup, possible dead drive, filty server . . . someone needs to rattle their cage. 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months of the disaster.

 

Thanks Doc. You have given me the bullets for the gun
I'm on my way to see them now.

 

You're welcome. And good luck.

 

Did this ever get resolved? If not, I can throw in my .02 if needs be.

If it did, please mark it as Resolved!

Thanks.

 

Astonishing.