Server 2003 not responding to ping or RDC

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Hey all,

I recently built a server to be used internally for web development. I installed windows server 2003 and SQL 2005 (as well as other bits and bobs).

I have given the main user of this machine a remote desktop connection as the server is in a rack and it has been working well for about 2 weeks without issues.

Then, yesterday out of the blue, the user complained that he was unable to connect to it any more. I tried to ping the server and nothing. So I restarted it and reseated the network cables. Sadly this has had no difference as it still doesn't respond to a ping.

I have restarted the machine again and used a different port on the switch that it is plugged into, this has made no difference.

I am able to ping my IP address (my desktop PC) from the server without dropping any packets at all.

Why would the server be blocking the incoming ping/network requests??

How can I turned this off, if it is in fact doing this??

I have tried reinstalling the network card drives but no difference.

If anyones got any perls of wisdom, please share as I was looking forward to a easy Friday.

Cheers in advance :)
 
first guess would be firewall..
conflicting ip's?


do an ipconfig /all on the server to check, and try and ping that
 
cheers for the reply.

I've turned the firewall off so not to get confused. so thats not it.

The server uses a static IP set by the DHCP server based on it's MAC address, so there's no conflicting IP. (That I can see.)

We've got about 20 servers, so running IP config on them all is going to take a while. Since I set most of them up, I know that the my IP range for the servers is xx.xx.2.xxx so again, I don't think a conflicting IP address is the cause.

Any more for any more??
 
no this isn't the DHCP server. It just runs sql for development reasons.

I'm aware of ipconfig /all giving you more information. it displays the mac address of all connections, DNS severs, IP addresses, gateway address, subnet mask and more.

I'm also fully confident that this isn't a IP conflict.

Could there be anything else causing such behaviour??

Cheers again for your time guys.
:)
 
i'd try this..

connect a laptop/another pc directly to it's ethernet port (and reset the ip's etc) and try and ping each other

^this will rule out 'other' network issues if it fails
 
Ha ha!! Cracked it!!!

I removed the reservation from the DHCP server and rebooted the development server. It then picked up a pool address. I openned the network connections and gave it the static IP it needed directly on the server it's self.

Gave the machine another reboot (to be sure) and Roberts-your-mothers-brother she be working!!!

How odd??!??

I'm still convinced it wasn't a conflict. More of a server wobble!!

Cheers for all the help. Very much appreciated!!
:)
 
my money off the bat would have been on the windows firewall being on but youve said its turned off.

can you ping it by ip rather than name? if so check the DNS entry.

it the above doesnt work you may want to concider swapping out the NIC and network cable too.
 
hmm odd, DHCP entry corruption maybe. the MAC address hadnt changed or anything random (new NIC etc)?

delete the reservation and try resetting it.
 
Try a tracert from the user to the server. Always better than a ping, at least you know where the hop fails... The old commands are the best.
Is it just one isolated user who cant ping, or everyone?
 
Last edited:
It's working fine now.

It seemed to have just wobbled. I removed the DHCP entry and changed the network connecion propties so the static IP was given there.

A quick restart and all is working ok.

I'll re-create the DHCP entry later and move it back over to there just to be sure it's working ok.

Cheers for thr input guys.

As to some of the other questions;

No NIC change at all. I did reinstall the drivers but that didn't make any difference.

I do use tracert but it failed to reach even the first hop.

No, noboby could ping it. I tried from 3 working machines. However there is only one user who uses this machine.

:)
 
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