Freezes

We have SBS 2003 running here. I can provide specs if necessary. We are a
design firm. Digital design. We have about 16 WinXP machines running on the
network. With 5 file shares through the SBS. When someone is saving a file
everyone connected freezes for about minutes. It is sporatic which is
frustrating because it is not consistant. The logs don't show anything out of
the ordinary. If anyone has any pointers on what to try that would be great.

Larry
Thu Mar 27 14:51:29 PDT 2008

Some additional info would be helpful.

Unless you have really sub standard hardware or outdated cat3 wiring, the
hardware itself is not likely to be the problem.

The basics are:

SBS is the DNS and the DHCP server
with one nic, everything is connected to a switch
with two nics:
the switch and all the workstations are connected to SBS nic1
the inet device /firewall /router are connected to nic2

You should download and run the SBS BPA

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer
http://207.46.19.190/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3874527A-DE19-49BB-800F-352F3B6F2922&displaylang=en

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2008/02/20/small-business-server-2003-best-practices-analyzer-updated.aspx

How to Use the Windows SBS 2003 BPA
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2007/10/22/how-to-use-the-windows-sbs-2003-bpa.aspx


I suspect:
nic drivers
patch cords failing
ports failing on the switch
one or more nics failing, broadcasting all kinds of rubbish.
traffic control on a managed switch
one or more of the nics or the switch set to auto negotiate the speed,
others to speed certain.
anti virus particularly Symantec End Point

--
Larry

Please post the resolution to
your issue so that all can benefit.


"college webmasta" <collegewebmasta@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:AEB6FE6E-8A7A-4F61-A48E-06D62881FB25@microsoft.com...
> We have SBS 2003 running here. I can provide specs if necessary. We are a
> design firm. Digital design. We have about 16 WinXP machines running on
> the
> network. With 5 file shares through the SBS. When someone is saving a file
> everyone connected freezes for about minutes. It is sporatic which is
> frustrating because it is not consistant. The logs don't show anything out
> of
> the ordinary. If anyone has any pointers on what to try that would be
> great.
>

Brian
Fri Mar 28 03:16:52 PDT 2008

"college webmasta" <collegewebmasta@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:AEB6FE6E-8A7A-4F61-A48E-06D62881FB25@microsoft.com...
> We have SBS 2003 running here. I can provide specs if necessary. We are a
> design firm. Digital design. We have about 16 WinXP machines running on
> the
> network. With 5 file shares through the SBS. When someone is saving a file
> everyone connected freezes for about minutes. It is sporatic which is
> frustrating because it is not consistant. The logs don't show anything out
> of
> the ordinary. If anyone has any pointers on what to try that would be
> great.

How large a file is being saved when this happens? Or put another way does
the server become disk bound when this happens - does the server disk light
come on and stay on without blinking when this happens? Might be worth doing
a thorough disk check on the server and a defrag on the server.

I know you said that the logs don't show anything out of the ordinary, but
can I confirm that you have checked at both the server and at the pc that
initiated the save?

Also, can I confirm that at the server you have only one firewall running
and only one anti-virus package.

I did once experience problems with a single pc which turned out to be
because of a faulty port on the switch. Presumably a faulty switch could
cause the same problem (but this is a guess). Do you have a switch or hub
that you could swap in place of your current hub/switch just to rule it out?
--
Brian Cryer
www.cryer.co.uk/brian