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by woody h

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My network consists of 1 NT 4.0 server, sp6a, 1 nt 4.0 workstation, 57 Win 9x computers. The NT server is a PDC. We are also running IIS 4.0 and Exchange Server 5.5, sp3, on the same server. We have a 100MB backbone, 3Com Hub, with 3 10 MB/port switches connecting all the computers to the backbone. We are currently experiencing alot of lockups when access network resources. I believe this is caused by the enormous amount of traffic that is going through our 1 network card on the server. Could anyone help on this matter? Currently, most of our employees keep outlook open to get their email as soon as possible. Could exchange server with all these continous connections be our problem. Help.

Woody

10 replies

by mikeanselmi

I assume that it is your clients that are locking up. Anyway, if you're interested in reducing the traffic you can do the following:
1) remove any unnecessary network protocols from your client machines
2) disable any unused network adapters
3) disable unnecessary services that generate traffic
4) use a network monitoring utility to check on the existance of a broadcast storm that may be caused by a defective NIC.
5) if you are using a regular hub (you said you were using a switch) replacewith a switch
6) if you have a switch make certain that is configured optimally (fragment-free and appropriate broadcast threshold)
7) make certain you're switch is functioning properly
8) make certain that your switch's flash is up to date

by woody h

The client machines are only using TCP/IP as well as the server. The switches are configured correctly and have the lastest flash.

by amagoon

Have you checked your licenses?

Outlook opens many connections per user. Its common for each Outlook user to have 4 or 5 open connections to an Exchange server.

by amagoon

Another resource worth looking at is TechRepublic's own 25 Exchange tips, available in the Downloads area. From the file:

If you have users who connect to your Exchange server over slow WAN connections, they've probably complained that their Outlook or Exchange clients occasionally hang for no apparent reason. While your first thought might be to blame the slow connection, there is a documented bug in NT Server 4.0 that could account for this problem. As Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q232512 (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q232/5/12.asp) explains, NT Server 4.0 TCP/IP can prematurely retransmit packets to clients connected over slow connections and dramatically degrade client/server throughput. This OS behavior is especially problematic for the Exchange Information Store service, which uses RPC to communicate with clients. Service Pack 6a for Windows NT Server 4.0 fixes this problem with the OS, though there are hotfixes available for previous service packs.If you're looking for a reason to apply NT Service Pack 6a to your Exchange Server, this could [...]

by woody h

We are only on a LAN, not a WAN. I have sp6a installed as stated above. I am trying to find out if I need to seperate exchange from our file server to stop the lock ups.

by woody h

When I monitor the network, I get a fine ping rate, however, the average poll time for SMTP is around 5000ms. It has peaked at 7100ms. Exchange is residing on our file server, which is our only server. I hope this answers your question, if socould you suggest something? Thanks

by frobo

Hi,

i seen this before with some Nics, change this or add a second NIC and configure them as AFT-Team with load balancing. (Supported with Intel Cards and/Or Compaq Cards)

Frobo

by woody h

Looked at this option on the microsoft web site, and would not be a solution that upper management would like. Thanks

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