Well first off, this is an existing server that I began to work on recently. First thing I did was do a full backup, which coincidentally brought me to my first problem. Ntbackup was giving all kinds of problems with the tape drive. Eventually I gave up and just put it on a hard drive, which I plan to move to a external later. In any event, while I am experienced with computers in general, I am more of a programmer than IT specialist. So you could say I am an amateur that picked up a book to try and learn something. I could use a lot of help and some advice. Here is some basic info about the network I was able to find out:
-Previous IT staff fired several years ago and the server has been left untouched since. According to the NIC its going on 700 days.
-Zero updates and no policies that I can find. It is pretty much stock aside from the users and shared folders.
-10 computers + server acting as DC + switch + hardware firewall
-half of the computers downstairs use DHCP while other half upstairs are manually assigned (which confuses the hell out of me)
-Runs off a T1, but the actual speeds are extremely poor and bursty
-All clients are running Windows XP pro
-Server us virus free
So far I have only formatted one of the stations upstairs that are statically assigned. While trying to reinsert it into the domain I discovered something mind boggling. I could not for the life of me get into the domain. It just did not work. Previously, normal users of the domain could not even log into it from those stations. Eventually I started doubting the hardware and brought the box downstairs to a port that I knew worked. It did work. I added the computer to the domain and it it had full functionality. To make a long story short, I shuttled the box up and downstairs until I discovered the static ip assignment and then I found out that when the computer was plugged in upstairs it was merely using a cached copy of AD users and policies. But the catch is, even though its not fully connected (i think) to the domain it still maintains a connection to the internet. It browses the web just fine, which is its only purpose. This still raises a big question mark in my mind though. It is also very inconvenient and probably not good for security either.
My other problem is really the speed of the internet connection which typically starts out fast then drops down to almost 56k speeds. Even though the internet connection works, I cannot ping anything from the server or the workstations. It just times out, although i think this probably has something to do with the firewall. I know servers are supposed to stay on for long periods of time but could the fact that it has been on for so long be contributing to the speed problems? To be quite frank, I am apprehensive about rebooting the thing because there are too many unknowns. Mainly if I break it, I am not quite sure how to fix it. Is there anything that needs to be done afterward to get the server running again? do I have to start a bunch or services and stuff? I am sure this question serves to illustrate how much of a beginner I am.
In a nutshell:
-What is the deal with the half dynamic / half static IPs and the broken domain connectivity and is there anyway to diagnose/fix it?
-Is it okay to reboot and patch without breaking any functionality
-How can I diagnose or fix the speed problems? Is it the server or the line?
I know these questions may seem foolish to some but I would appreciate any help, advice, or even links to somewhere or someone else who can help.
Thanks,
Aldon Tom