Unwell SBS Server :(

Strange indeed!

I used to have a PC that used to do something similar a couple of years ago in XP.  Turned out to be a crappy NIC.

I would check to see if there are any updated drivers or consider using a new high quality NIC.

Paul

Hi Joe,

I have had similar symptoms on a customers box.

I unchecked the following boxes in the "Exchange system manager- global settings – (right click) mobile services – properties window"

          Enable up-to-date notifications …….

          Enable direct push over HTTPs

 The fault cleared and users could logon almost instantly, not sure if this will help but it will only take a minute to test

Rob

Hi Guys,

Tried both your ideas and the server is still unhappy.  A couple of new "features" have presented themselves now on this server.

1. CALs disappear
2. In Task Manager the processes are no longer listed on the processes tab and the performance details are no longer on the performance tab.

A weekly reboot stops the server from crashing but I'd rather get this resolved.

One other thing to add.  I added the /3G /USERVA=3030 switches to the boot.ini file and the server crashed with same symtoms as before but within 6-12 hours.  It seemed to accelerate the process. 

Afterwards I read this http://weblogs.asp.net/oldnewthing/archive/2004/08/06/209840.aspx article which brings me to the conclusion that the server has memory management problems.

I believe the mainboard is AMD and the processor is an Operton 244.

Thanks again
Joe

I know I am going to get my ass kicked for this......

But one peice of advice I always give people when putting together any machine be it a server or a PC is...

Intel, Intel, Intel!!

Have as much Intel as possible: CPU, Mainboard, NICs.

The value of intel isn't in speed etc, it is in reliability.  I have known so many people with seemingly random problems on thier machines which have chipsets/CPUs which are not Intel based.  I don't know for a fact that the two are related, but my own experience shows that Intel based systems seem to experience less problems.

You have my sympathy, problems like this are always time consuming and very difficult to get to the bottom of.

I'd be really suprised if this wasn't a memory fault.

There is a boot disc (floppy LINUX) I can dig out if you like which tests the memory doesn't use the HDDs but these days memory is so cheap - can you change all the memory on the box?

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers, G

Thanks again guys,

We are going to replace and increase the memory on the server.  The issue is that we do see very similar problems on other hardware with AMD processors and mainboards.  

We are installing only Intel now and have done so for the last six months, but that doesn't help with the older servers we maintain.    Of course we don't see any of these problems with Intel hardware. 

Will post reports on how the memory upgrades go. 

Joe

Still waiting for memory but I've been chatting to a tech support agent at the manufacturer.  He claims to have seen similar issues after 'bum' installations of SP1 for SBS.  He advises uninstalling SP1 and reinstalling.

I am going to try this on a test server first but would like to hear of any pitfalls, advice or procedures.

Thanks,

Joe

Joe hi,

If it's a clean server without data etc, go for a re-install (nothing to loose) but if the machine is in production, I'd await the memory being delivered.

We recently had a workstation PC which wouldn't switch on the windows firewall (XP) - turned out to be a faulty motherboard / cpu - I think it's too easy to point to the os / software, in my experience problems like this don't develop without the help of failing hardware.

 

Hi
I have same effects, I found out, that it all starts with

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Popup
Event Category: None
Event ID: 333

This starts as soon I log on as a remote terminal (to do some support tasks)

Then, the server becomes overloaded and all the other messages start to occur. I guess this is caused by a memory leak or a heavy ressource using process.

I removed all programs from startup folder and also automatic login script from Administrator profile.

This didn't prevent the error message from starting a minute after the remote session started. Without using remote session, everything is fine!

My system is fully Intel (hp Proliant ML350 , brand new), German SBS 2003 Premium Svp 1, freshly installed.

Just wondering if MS is having a clue for that ?

Ben

Ben,

I know this is not popular, but I would honestly suggest a call to support. If it is a bug it costs you nothing (you get your cash returned) otherwise it costs around £200.  Potentially costing you much less than your chargeable time

The error you are getting means that one of the applications on the system is crashing - is there any more informatrion in the eventlog - could you hit the copy button and paste the event log entry into the post?

 

thanks

 

David