TCP/IP slow 1

[LDaveM]

Don't know if this is the right place to start, but here goes. The server W2K Server, 30GB RAID 5, 256 MB RM, P4-1.6.
The service to 12 workstations is very slow. Is there any software to check out if a client or the server NIC's are sending out signals more then they should. Any othe ideas accepted.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[trusted]

You might try installing network monitor on your server. You'll find it in the windows components area of Add and Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

Just capture all the packet destined for the server and look at them. If one of you NIC's is bad it will most likely be very apparent because of the amount of traffic that it is generating.

 

[beerhunter2]

256 MB RAM is very light. I'd bump that up to 1 GB RAM.

Also, what OS are your 12 workstations running?

Help! I've fallen and I can't reach my beer.

 

[bfks3230]

What "service to workstations" is slow? You might want to be more specific about that.

Considering the money you put into some of the other hardware components, the memory is kind of low. It depends on what you are doing, of course.

 

[LDaveM]

The clients are running Win98SE, W2K Pro and XP. The TCP/IP connection is slow.

 

[beerhunter2]

On XP clients:
Make sure IEEE Authentication box is unchecked (under Network Connections > Properties > Authentication tab).
Computer Browser and Web Client services should be Disabled (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).

On W2K Pro Clients:
Some network cards also have IEEE Authentication. If so, Uncheck.

On Win98SE Clients: (nothing)

Some other thoughts and questions:

Is your network connected through a Hub or a Switch? If a Hub, are you getting a lot of collisions? If a Hub, you might consider getting an Unmanaged Switch (about the same price as a Hub these days).

Some network cards if running Full Duplex can cause a lot of extra chatter / collisions. Try setting to Half Duplex.

Make sure all servers and workstations are patched up to the latest Service Pack level.

Make certain DNS and DHCP are configured properly on server and workstations.

Check Event Logs on the server. Are there any problems showing up there?

Hope one of these ideas helps you out.

Help! I've fallen and I can't reach my beer.

 

[Stevehewitt]

Yeah, BeerHunter has it spot on. Also, if take off any NetBIOS you may have. Often causes problems and hardly ever needed.

Are you using DHCP or manual configs? If DHCP, check to make sure that you leases are all correct.

And also like BeerHunter, check DNS. DNS is a big problem for slow TCP/IP connections. Try going to a file share on one workstation with the FQDN, and another workstation that is also having a problem with the IP address. Time it if needed.

Hope this helps,


Steve.

 

[wolfymik]

I don't know if this is related, but I have a similar issue and noticed that the dhcp client service seems to be the culprit on my system, not sure how to resolve it though.

I have 15 Window XP Pro machines with 512mb of ram. I can transfer data from machine to machine just fine and I can transfer data from our Windows 2003 SMB Premium Server with 3GB of ram to a machine just fine, but when I attempt to transfer to the server, I receive rediculously slow transerfer rates(around 1-5% of the network bandwidth).
I am able to resolve the issue by disabling the dhcp client service on the windows xp workstations and then restarting it. When I do this the explorer window goes blank. After restarting the service everything works fine(around 60% network utilization now). However, if I close the explorer window that is open and then open a new window to the server, the issue arises again.

Not sure if this is the same issue, but thought I would throw it out to help narrow the issue down.

Mike