Bit of a mystery
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Posted by Michael C on May 1, 2008, 6:49 pm
Please log in for more thread options any network drives on the server. I could not connect to the server via remote desktop which is something that is always available to me. He restarted the server but this didn't help. 20 minutes later he restarted the receptionists machine at the front desk and everything went back to normal. Is it even possible for a single machine to interupt the entire network? No one would have done anything stupid like play with IP addresses or anything. The front desk machine did crash and refused to restart and appeared to interupt all network operation until the power plug was pulled from the wall. This machine does appear to be a little unstable in that they have reported it turning off without warning before (suddenly just goes to black screen but fans continue torun). Any ideas on what could have happened? Thanks in advance, Michael | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by GlowingBlueMist on May 1, 2008, 10:12 pm
Please log in for more thread options The PC could also have malfunctioned and seized the same IP address as the server. Especially if the rest of the network could still access other devices or the internet while the problem was occurring. The offending PC may have been streaming constant garbage into the Ethernet. Some routers have the ability to sense this kind of streaming garbage and cut off the data from the offending port but they are not too common. If they are using what is commonly known as a "dumb" bridge then nothing could have prevented this kind of problem. It's also possible that the Ethernet card or power supply is defective causing abnormal voltages over the Ethernet cable to the bridge/router causing a lock up. Might also explain the other problems the PC is/was having with abnormal shutdowns. Depending on what is bad with a power supply the fans may continue to run while the PC and other things fail. Bad power supply, Ethernet card, or a partially corrupt operating system... At this time it's anyone's guess. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by DanielEKFA on May 2, 2008, 4:29 am
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>
> >> A customer tells me his entire network went down so that he could not
>> access any network drives on the server. I could not connect to the >> server via remote desktop which is something that is always available to >> me. He restarted the server but this didn't help. 20 minutes later he >> restarted the receptionists machine at the front desk and everything went >> back to normal. Is it even possible for a single machine to interupt the >> entire network? No one would have done anything stupid like play with IP >> addresses or anything. The front desk machine did crash and refused to >> restart and appeared to interupt all network operation until the power >> plug was pulled from the wall. This machine does appear to be a little >> unstable in that they have reported it turning off without warning >> before (suddenly just goes to black screen but fans continue torun). Any >> ideas on what could have happened? >> >> Thanks in advance, >> Michael > Yes it is possible for an individual pc to bring down a network.
> > The PC could also have malfunctioned and seized the same IP address as the > server. Especially if the rest of the network could still access other > devices or the internet while the problem was occurring. > > The offending PC may have been streaming constant garbage into the > Ethernet. Some routers have the ability to sense this kind of streaming > garbage and cut off the data from the offending port but they are not too > common. If they are using what is commonly known as a "dumb" bridge then > nothing could have prevented this kind of problem. > > It's also possible that the Ethernet card or power supply is defective > causing abnormal voltages over the Ethernet cable to the bridge/router > causing a lock up. Might also explain the other problems the PC is/was > having with abnormal shutdowns. Depending on what is bad with a power > supply the fans may continue to run while the PC and other things fail. > > Bad power supply, Ethernet card, or a partially corrupt operating > system... At this time it's anyone's guess. I'd like to add to this, that if it were indeed some malfunctioning hardware, causing not only electrical trouble on the ethernet, but also the crashing of the machine, make sure your PCs are grounded! This is actually not unimportant - we're used to seeing "This Apparatus Must Be Grounded" on the back of much of our equipment, like amplifiers and DVD players, and ignoring it safely (many times the power connector doesn't even have a ground). PCs can build up massive amounts of static electricity if not grounded. I obviously wouldn't recommend anyone to try this, but you can actually kill yourself pretty easily by surfing for a couple of hours on an un-grounded PC, then grabbing a radiator and the PC's casing, thus grounding the system with your body. I repeat: don't try this! ;) Anyway, this hopefully won't be the case, since just one node in a connected network needs to be grounded. I can't think of a single connector (save for fibre networking, or wireless connectors obviously), which doesn't carry a ground, so if the server (or one of its clients) is grounded, then all nodes on its (wired) network are too. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Rod Speed on May 2, 2008, 4:22 pm
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>>> A customer tells me his entire network went down so that he could
>>> not access any network drives on the server. I could not connect to >>> the server via remote desktop which is something that is always >>> available to me. He restarted the server but this didn't help. 20 >>> minutes later he restarted the receptionists machine at the front >>> desk and everything went back to normal. Is it even possible for a >>> single machine to interupt the entire network? No one would have >>> done anything stupid like play with IP addresses or anything. The >>> front desk machine did crash and refused to restart and appeared to >>> interupt all network operation until the power plug was pulled from >>> the wall. This machine does appear to be a little unstable in that >>> they have reported it turning off without warning before (suddenly >>> just goes to black screen but fans continue torun). Any ideas on >>> what could have happened? Thanks in advance, >>> Michael >> Yes it is possible for an individual pc to bring down a network.
corrupt operating
>> >> The PC could also have malfunctioned and seized the same IP address >> as the server. Especially if the rest of the network could still >> access other devices or the internet while the problem was occurring. >> >> The offending PC may have been streaming constant garbage into the >> Ethernet. Some routers have the ability to sense this kind of >> streaming garbage and cut off the data from the offending port but >> they are not too common. If they are using what is commonly known >> as a "dumb" bridge then nothing could have prevented this kind of >> problem. It's also possible that the Ethernet card or power supply is >> defective causing abnormal voltages over the Ethernet cable to the >> bridge/router causing a lock up. Might also explain the other >> problems the PC is/was having with abnormal shutdowns. Depending on >> what is bad with a power supply the fans may continue to run while >> the PC and other things fail. Bad power supply, Ethernet card, or a partially >> system... At this time it's anyone's guess.
> I'd like to add to this, that if it were indeed some malfunctioning
> hardware, causing not only electrical trouble on the ethernet, but > also the crashing of the machine, make sure your PCs are grounded! It wont have been that, because rebooting the receptionist's PC wouldnt have fixed that. > This is actually not unimportant - we're used to seeing "This
> Apparatus Must Be Grounded" on the back of much of our equipment, > like amplifiers and DVD players, and ignoring it safely (many times > the power connector doesn't even have a ground). PCs can build up > massive amounts of static electricity if not grounded. Nope. > I obviously wouldn't recommend anyone to try this, but you can actually kill
yourself pretty easily by surfing for a
> couple of hours on an un-grounded PC, then grabbing a radiator and the PC's
casing, thus grounding the system with
> your body.
Nope. > I repeat: don't try this! ;)
Plenty do that in the millions of PC users using PCs and we dont see any reports of anyone ending up dead that way. > Anyway, this hopefully won't be the case, since just one node in a connected
network needs to be grounded.
You've mangled that completely too. > I can't think of a single connector (save for fibre networking, or wireless
connectors obviously), which doesn't carry
> a ground,
CAT5 doesnt. > so if the server (or one of its clients) is grounded, then all nodes on its
(wired) network are too.
Wrong. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by kony on May 3, 2008, 1:00 am
Please log in for more thread options On Sat, 3 May 2008 06:22:14 +1000, "Rod Speed"
>> I obviously wouldn't recommend anyone to try this, but you can actually kill
yourself pretty easily by surfing for a
>> couple of hours on an un-grounded PC, then grabbing a radiator and the PC's
casing, thus grounding the system with
>> your body.
>
>Nope. > >> I repeat: don't try this! ;)
>
>Plenty do that in the millions of PC users using PCs and we >dont see any reports of anyone ending up dead that way. > So Rod, which planet are you from anyway? On earth we seldom if ever find people surfing the net while grabbing both their system case and a radiator. These three acts tend to be separated for some odd reason, if one is feeling compelled to grab a radiator at all. >> Anyway, this hopefully won't be the case, since just one node in a connected
network needs to be grounded.
>
>You've mangled that completely too. > >> I can't think of a single connector (save for fibre networking, or wireless
connectors obviously), which doesn't carry
>> a ground,
>
>CAT5 doesnt. > >> so if the server (or one of its clients) is grounded, then all nodes on its
(wired) network are too.
>
>Wrong. > I hate to agree but you have a point here, and in fact I've seen more surge damage from switches or hubs that weren't earth grounded, their PSUs weren't plugged into a surge protector - then that surge traveled down the ethernet cable seeking ground through the host computers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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> access any network drives on the server. I could not connect to the server
> via remote desktop which is something that is always available to me. He
> restarted the server but this didn't help. 20 minutes later he restarted
> the receptionists machine at the front desk and everything went back to
> normal. Is it even possible for a single machine to interupt the entire
> network? No one would have done anything stupid like play with IP
> addresses or anything. The front desk machine did crash and refused to
> restart and appeared to interupt all network operation until the power
> plug was pulled from the wall. This machine does appear to be a little
> unstable in that they have reported it turning off without warning before
> (suddenly just goes to black screen but fans continue torun). Any ideas on
> what could have happened?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Michael