Network speed issues...

If a network begins to all of a sudden slow down, and there doesn;t seem to
be any issues with hubs, cabling etc... could there be a problem with our
Win2K Small Business Server?

Is it possible that if this server has slowed down (becasue it is quite
sluggish) , that browsing or saving across a network could also be slow?

Just recently some users have complained that speed has drastically dropped
and I can not seem to find any issues. I'm just wondering where I should be
looking... besides the obvious of hardware (ie cabling, hubs etc...)

Thanks,'
Brad

Dave
Fri Jan 28 16:15:51 CST 2005

There are probably several ways to go at this. What I would do is to first
see if the server appears to be as responsive as you'd expect when logged in
locally. If the server itself seems unresponsive, that could very well be
the cause of your problem. In that case, I'd just start trying to narrow
down the cause - usual supects like incorrectly configured AV, lack of free
space on drives, etc. You could start with Task Manager to see what's using
the resources, and try shutting down services one at a time to see what's
making the server unresponsive.

If it's an acutal network issue, and you've ruled out hardware, maybe a
device is generating unusual traffic for some reason. You could determine a
reproduceable way of checking for responsiveness, such as the time to copy a
certain file from your PC to the server. Wait until the end of the day, and
have the users leave all their equipment turned on. Power down anything
network-attached, one device at a time, to see if you can find one causing a
problem. You could have something like a failing NIC or print server, or
even a rogue application.

You may want to check all your desktops and servers for viruses and spyware
(presumably you don't browse from the server so spyware would not be an
issue there).

Basically what I'm suggesting is to eliminate everything on the network, one
device at a time, until you find the source of the problem. Keep in mind
that anything common to all the devices (such as a network hub or switch, or
a server NIC) could be it. You may have to get into some heavier
troubleshooting like performance monitoring, etc. but if you try some of
this stuff first, maybe you can avoid getting into the more technical or
burdensome steps.


"Brad Pears" <donotreply@notreal.com> wrote in message
news:O3fLjPXBFHA.2428@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> If a network begins to all of a sudden slow down, and there doesn;t seem
> to
> be any issues with hubs, cabling etc... could there be a problem with our
> Win2K Small Business Server?
>
> Is it possible that if this server has slowed down (becasue it is quite
> sluggish) , that browsing or saving across a network could also be slow?
>
> Just recently some users have complained that speed has drastically
> dropped
> and I can not seem to find any issues. I'm just wondering where I should
> be
> looking... besides the obvious of hardware (ie cabling, hubs etc...)
>
> Thanks,'
> Brad
>
>

Brad
Tue Feb 01 08:39:05 CST 2005

Thanks for your help... I'll begin by following your directions....

Much appreciated...

Brad
"Dave Nickason [SBS MVP]" <gwdibble@NOSPAM.frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:%23y5BvbYBFHA.1404@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> There are probably several ways to go at this. What I would do is to
first
> see if the server appears to be as responsive as you'd expect when logged
in
> locally. If the server itself seems unresponsive, that could very well be
> the cause of your problem. In that case, I'd just start trying to narrow
> down the cause - usual supects like incorrectly configured AV, lack of
free
> space on drives, etc. You could start with Task Manager to see what's
using
> the resources, and try shutting down services one at a time to see what's
> making the server unresponsive.
>
> If it's an acutal network issue, and you've ruled out hardware, maybe a
> device is generating unusual traffic for some reason. You could determine
a
> reproduceable way of checking for responsiveness, such as the time to copy
a
> certain file from your PC to the server. Wait until the end of the day,
and
> have the users leave all their equipment turned on. Power down anything
> network-attached, one device at a time, to see if you can find one causing
a
> problem. You could have something like a failing NIC or print server, or
> even a rogue application.
>
> You may want to check all your desktops and servers for viruses and
spyware
> (presumably you don't browse from the server so spyware would not be an
> issue there).
>
> Basically what I'm suggesting is to eliminate everything on the network,
one
> device at a time, until you find the source of the problem. Keep in mind
> that anything common to all the devices (such as a network hub or switch,
or
> a server NIC) could be it. You may have to get into some heavier
> troubleshooting like performance monitoring, etc. but if you try some of
> this stuff first, maybe you can avoid getting into the more technical or
> burdensome steps.
>
>
> "Brad Pears" <donotreply@notreal.com> wrote in message
> news:O3fLjPXBFHA.2428@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> > If a network begins to all of a sudden slow down, and there doesn;t seem
> > to
> > be any issues with hubs, cabling etc... could there be a problem with
our
> > Win2K Small Business Server?
> >
> > Is it possible that if this server has slowed down (becasue it is quite
> > sluggish) , that browsing or saving across a network could also be slow?
> >
> > Just recently some users have complained that speed has drastically
> > dropped
> > and I can not seem to find any issues. I'm just wondering where I should
> > be
> > looking... besides the obvious of hardware (ie cabling, hubs etc...)
> >
> > Thanks,'
> > Brad
> >
> >
>
>