Server 2003 Question / Network Question

[MrWatchDawg]

Guys i have a problem that I am sure someone can help me out here with.

I have windows server 2003 setup in my dad's office at work. The network had been giving me issues a few days back with the wireless connection being dropped or what not, so I replaced the router and even to the extent of the modem and changed the IP pool, something worked and the network was stable again.

now the problem that we are facing is that my dads laptop, which is part of the domain, when his computer goes in standby or is idle for a bit and comes back when he access's the mapped network drives it asks for his login information again even though he is logged into that computer through a domain. Why would it do that? it never did that before. What would be the best way to keep the connection "Live' on those network drives

Also the second problem is that i setup automatic backup on the server 2003 and it backs up every night BUT it is backing up the WHOLE server, is there anyway i can make it to make backups of just the simple changes because when he comes in the office in the morning it still is backing up. The backup takes like 12 hours

last but not least, the internet itself is sometimes lagging, for example it takes forever to load the website once chrome or IE is open. There are only 5 computers in the office, so what would be the cause of this? I have a 2wire router / dsl modem but than the cicso valet router is setup for the network that connects into that. Is there a setting I need to do to fix this problem?

Thanks for your help!

[MrWatchDawg]

......anyone?

[Owen W Veteran]

now the problem that we are facing is that my dads laptop, which is part of the domain, when his computer goes in standby or is idle for a bit and comes back when he access's the mapped network drives it asks for his login information again even though he is logged into that computer through a domain. Why would it do that? it never did that before. What would be the best way to keep the connection "Live' on those network drives

What Windows version is he running? Have you looked in the Domain Controller event log for any failure audits?

Also the second problem is that i setup automatic backup on the server 2003 and it backs up every night BUT it is backing up the WHOLE server, is there anyway i can make it to make backups of just the simple changes because when he comes in the office in the morning it still is backing up. The backup takes like 12 hours

Get an external backup solution, I'm relatively sure the built in one won't cut it here. Also, please tell me you're using some form of redundancy?

last but not least, the internet itself is sometimes lagging, for example it takes forever to load the website once chrome or IE is open. There are only 5 computers in the office, so what would be the cause of this? I have a 2wire router / dsl modem but than the cicso valet router is setup for the network that connects into that. Is there a setting I need to do to fix this problem?

Thanks for your help!

DNS resolution issues? Try using OpenDNS, does it go faster? Have you performed any nslookups to look for any potential issues?

[MrWatchDawg]

He is using windows XP professional, just like all the other computers in the office. Its just his specific computer that has a problem

Well the backups are being done externally on a network hard drive that i have connected.

and last but not least, i have tried doing a ping and the connection will just sit there or time out. It will be like I will be browsing the internet and it will just hang for a minute or so but than sometimes it will work perfectly fine

[sc302 Veteran]

He is using windows XP professional, just like all the other computers in the office. Its just his specific computer that has a problem

Well the backups are being done externally on a network hard drive that i have connected.

and last but not least, i have tried doing a ping and the connection will just sit there or time out. It will be like I will be browsing the internet and it will just hang for a minute or so but than sometimes it will work perfectly fine

backups should be able to be done by selecting what you want backed up. you can try todo backup from easeus, free and a full bodied backup solution from imaging to individual file/directory backup.

as far as your network goes, take a look at your network card power save properties. when the network card disconnects from the network it drops the connection. also with your internet issue, are you accepting dhcp? where is your dhcp server (is it the 2003 box or is it the router)? how many dns servers do you have in your dns fields (1, 2, etc)? what dns servers are in your dns fields?

The only dns that the computer should be looking at to resolve names should be the 2003 AD server. There should be no other DNS entries on the pc. The server will dictate where the pc needs to go from there. The server should have root hits setup by default, if it doesn't point the dns forwards to your external dns server (web dns servers).

[+BudMan MVC]

"I have a 2wire router / dsl modem but than the cicso valet router is setup for the network that connects into that. Is there a setting I need to do to fix this problem?"

So are you running your cisco valet router as just a wireless Accesspoint? Or do you have it natting as well?

With a domain setup - all clients need to point to your Active Directory for dns. Ie I take it you only have the 1 2k3 server as your DC/FileServer/etc -- so all clients need to point to this machine.

So off the top I can think of quite a few things that could be setup wrong and cause you grief.. What is doing your dhcp - your 2k3 box I would hope. Which would then just hand out the IP address of your 2 wire as the gateway, but would point to itself for dns. Then your 2k3 box dns can then either be setup to query root servers direct for dns - or can be setup to forward to say opendns, googledns or even your ISPs dns -- are you pointing it to your router?? This could cause delays - since most soho routers dns is crap.

If we could get a better understanding of your setup - we can make sure that is correct. Then we can deal with your after standby issue, if everything else is correct - and then deal with your backup issue. What are you using for backup? Built in software? Some other software? A script to copy files - what?

Heading out to lunch - but when get back can draw it up if you like.. But when you mention 2nd router, if that is not setup as just an accesspoint then you could be having all kinds of issues related to that. And need to know how your setup for DNS -- or that could cause you all kinds of grief as well.

[MrWatchDawg]

"I have a 2wire router / dsl modem but than the cicso valet router is setup for the network that connects into that. Is there a setting I need to do to fix this problem?"

So are you running your cisco valet router as just a wireless Accesspoint? Or do you have it natting as well?

With a domain setup - all clients need to point to your Active Directory for dns. Ie I take it you only have the 1 2k3 server as your DC/FileServer/etc -- so all clients need to point to this machine.

So off the top I can think of quite a few things that could be setup wrong and cause you grief.. What is doing your dhcp - your 2k3 box I would hope. Which would then just hand out the IP address of your 2 wire as the gateway, but would point to itself for dns. Then your 2k3 box dns can then either be setup to query root servers direct for dns - or can be setup to forward to say opendns, googledns or even your ISPs dns -- are you pointing it to your router?? This could cause delays - since most soho routers dns is crap.

If we could get a better understanding of your setup - we can make sure that is correct. Then we can deal with your after standby issue, if everything else is correct - and then deal with your backup issue. What are you using for backup? Built in software? Some other software? A script to copy files - what?

Heading out to lunch - but when get back can draw it up if you like.. But when you mention 2nd router, if that is not setup as just an accesspoint then you could be having all kinds of issues related to that. And need to know how your setup for DNS -- or that could cause you all kinds of grief as well.

The way I have it setup is that the Cisco connected into the 2Wire and have setup that with a public ip as a DMZ host.

I never actually messed with DNS on the 2k3 box and on the Cisco Valet i have it to pick up DNS thru DHCP.

The backup solution I am using is the built-in one that 2k3 has in it.

Thanks a mill for the help!

[sc302 Veteran]

well that is your problem I am betting. get the 2003 server dhcp on, and get it push itself as the 1 and only dns server.

[+BudMan MVC]

"have setup that with a public ip as a DMZ host."

So your double natting. So you put the PRIVATE IP address of the ciscos wan IP as your DMZ in your 2 wire?? Thats still a double nat

So you go like this

internet--- <puiblicip> 2 wire <privateIP-A1> --- <privateIP-A2> cisco <privateIP-B1>--- <privateIP-B2>server

So I will ask again -- what are your clients using for DNS? And where does the DC point to for DNS? Itself? Or do you have it pointing to the router?

Also I can not tell from your comments if your clients are getting dhcp from your cisco or your DC? If getting dhcp from the cisco they are pointing to cisco for DNS == PROBLEM!!

And depending on where you 2k3 box is pointing to for dns??? It should point to itself.

Lets forget about the FACT that every member of AD needs to point to its AD dns to function correctly.. In your setup anything asking the cisco for dns, the cisco is just going to ask the 2wire, which in turn then goes and asks your ISP.. And pretty soho routers dns is not very good - so now you got 2 of them inline before you asking your ISPs, which they too can have issues sometimes.. So no wonder sometimes your pages take for ever to come up, etc.

You need to remove that double nat - use your cisco as just an accesspoint, and then make sure you clients are pointing to your 2k3 box for DNS, it should also be handing out dhcp pointing to your 2wire as the gateway. The 2k3 needs to point to itself for dns, and then you need to decide if you want the 2k3 box to just use root servers directly or forward your external dns requests to your ISP or some other public dns.

[MrWatchDawg]

The clients are getting the DNS from the cisco and the Cisco gets it from the 2wire. the server gets the DNS from the cisco also

[+BudMan MVC]

Well thats just WRONG, and would explain your problem..

In AD -- ALL CLIENTS MUST point to the Active directory DNS, period! This is the only way it will work, DNS is at the core of AD -- your routers don't have any of the entries, nor does internet for your AD.. This is why clients must always point to AD dns.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291382

Frequently asked questions about Windows 2000 DNS and Windows Server 2003 DNS

Question: What are the common mistakes that are made when administrators set up DNS on network that contains a single Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 domain controller?

Answer: The most common mistakes are:

* The domain controller is not pointing to itself for DNS resolution on all network interfaces.

* The "." zone exists under forward lookup zones in DNS.

* Other computers on the local area network (LAN) do not point to the Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 DNS server for DNS.

edit: Here I drew up how your network should look - sure you can have some static clients in there if you want.. But this is how a typical soho network would be setup.

[MrWatchDawg]

Ahh I understand what you are saying. Makes more sense.

see right now the way i have it setup is

2Wire is on the IP Pool - 10.0.0.1 > Cisco - 192.168.1.1 > gives rest of the network IP's

So basically I put the 2wire and the Cisco on the same IP pool? and disable DHCP on them? DO i give the Cisco a static IP?

Also how do I go into server 2k3 and configure it to assign IP address's on the computers?

Thanks a mill!

[sc302 Veteran]

Ahh I understand what you are saying. Makes more sense.

see right now the way i have it setup is

2Wire is on the IP Pool - 10.0.0.1 > Cisco - 192.168.1.1 > gives rest of the network IP's

So basically I put the 2wire and the Cisco on the same IP pool? and disable DHCP on them? DO i give the Cisco a static IP?

Also how do I go into server 2k3 and configure it to assign IP address's on the computers?

Thanks a mill!

disable dhcp on the 192.168.1.1 network device. On the AD server, dns1 points to itself, dns2 points to nothing. Install/Enable the dhcp service on the server. Configure the pool activate/authorize the dhcp server. Dns hand out is only the AD server. The AD server will tell all DNS requests where to go, you don't configure any other DNS anything on the AD server (you can put in your ISP DNS servers in your forwards or any other outside DNS server). The DNS on your AD server is smart enough to send traffic where it needs to go with no other configuration, whether it be to www.google.com or pc1.internal.local

AD server is to be the only DNS server that your pc's request from and anything that your AD DNS doesn't understand it will ask the DNS gods of the internet where the right address to send the pc's to when they request to go to www.somewhereontheinternet.com

[MrWatchDawg]

sorry for being a n00b on this but its my first time messing with server environment

so basically go in and disable dhcp on both the 2wire and the cisco

Than go to settings in the server and enable DHCP? is it just under control panel

thanks for bearing with me guys!

[sc302 Veteran]

pm me and we can go through it. we can use teamviewer or a permission based helpdesk portal with ntrsupport. both are ssh tunnels and are secure. you drive, I direct.

[+BudMan MVC]

I would suggest you take sc302 up on his offer.. Or this thread might be on post #100 before anything gets done.. Im sure he can have you fixed up in a few minutes.

[MrWatchDawg]

pm me and we can go through it. we can use teamviewer or a permission based helpdesk portal with ntrsupport. both are ssh tunnels and are secure. you drive, I direct.

Sorry i was out of town for a religious holiday.

I am going to have to take you up on that offer. Let me PM you now.

[Prophecy]

If SC302 cant help, I ll knock it out for you. its a walk in the park.