"Page Cannot Be Displayed" until IP is renewed.

[Guest]

I'm running a native Windows Server 2003 network with Windows XP Pro clients.
On occasions, I have the weirdest thing happen where clients won't be able
to access the internet UNLESS they're given an entirely new IP address. I
would find myself always excluding their currently assigned IP address under
the DHCP scope so that when they renew, they're given a new IP address. Once
that's done, they're able to access the internet right away.

I've tried ipconfig /flushdns, removing/reinstalling the NIC, pinging
external websites (i.e. www.yahoo.com and get successfully resolved but get a
request timeout each time), I've tried rebooting the PC.. all to no avail.
The only fix that works is to assign them a new IP altogether. I've grown to
about 30 exclusions under my default scope in DHCP, but I need a reason/fix
for this asap.
I have two DNS servers both running Windows Server 2003. All servers are
running on the latest SP and patches/updates as well as the client PC's.

 

[Chuck]

I'm running a native Windows Server 2003 network with Windows XP Pro clients.
On occasions, I have the weirdest thing happen where clients won't be able
to access the internet UNLESS they're given an entirely new IP address. I
would find myself always excluding their currently assigned IP address under
the DHCP scope so that when they renew, they're given a new IP address. Once
that's done, they're able to access the internet right away.

I've tried ipconfig /flushdns, removing/reinstalling the NIC, pinging
external websites (i.e. www.yahoo.com and get successfully resolved but get a
request timeout each time), I've tried rebooting the PC.. all to no avail.
The only fix that works is to assign them a new IP altogether. I've grown to
about 30 exclusions under my default scope in DHCP, but I need a reason/fix
for this asap.
I have two DNS servers both running Windows Server 2003. All servers are
running on the latest SP and patches/updates as well as the client PC's.

Alexander,

Have they tried "ipconfig /release" followed by "ipconfig /renew"?

How about more detail of the symptom? How many computers in total? How often
does this happen? How homogenous is the computer population (hardware,
operating system)? Has this happened more than once for any computers? Are
there any computers that this has NOT happened to? Can any other computers
reuse an address already discarded by one of their peers?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html

 

[Guest]

Hey Chuck thanks for your response.

Actually, whenever I tried ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew I ended up
getting the same IP address issued to me which is why I always end up going
into the DHCP console, excluding that address so it won't be issued out again
to the same MAC address thus guaranteeing I get a brand new IP address for
the troubled computer.

After a while, I periodically go in and delete all the exclusions so those
IP's can be recycled back into the scope again. My network is purely Windows
Server 2003 on the server end and Windows XP Pro on the client side. I've
had a couple of PC's become repeat victims (even on the same day). One
particular PC I can think of I scanned for any missing updates/patches and it
had EVERYTHING up to date.

I haven't kept track of whether it's always the same IP addresses giving me
problems, but I can tell you that there hasn't been any order as to which
PC's are exhibiting this glitch. It's happened to different PC's in
different departments. I should also mention that I have a single segment
network (172.16.1.x 255.255.255.0). My own laptop hasn't had that problem
although mine is on a DHCP reservation. It has happened to two of my servers
(needless to say they're both with static IP's).

I'm boggled...
--
Alexander Sanabia
Network Administrator
http://www.carico.com/

 

[Guest]

Oh and by the way, all PC's are Dell's (Dimension) with Windows XP Pro SP2.
--
Alexander Sanabia
Network Administrator
http://www.carico.com/

 

[GTS]

It's a long shot, but I wonder if you might have a bad switch losing the arp
association.

 

[Chuck]

Hey Chuck thanks for your response.

Actually, whenever I tried ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew I ended up
getting the same IP address issued to me which is why I always end up going
into the DHCP console, excluding that address so it won't be issued out again
to the same MAC address thus guaranteeing I get a brand new IP address for
the troubled computer.

After a while, I periodically go in and delete all the exclusions so those
IP's can be recycled back into the scope again. My network is purely Windows
Server 2003 on the server end and Windows XP Pro on the client side. I've
had a couple of PC's become repeat victims (even on the same day). One
particular PC I can think of I scanned for any missing updates/patches and it
had EVERYTHING up to date.

I haven't kept track of whether it's always the same IP addresses giving me
problems, but I can tell you that there hasn't been any order as to which
PC's are exhibiting this glitch. It's happened to different PC's in
different departments. I should also mention that I have a single segment
network (172.16.1.x 255.255.255.0). My own laptop hasn't had that problem
although mine is on a DHCP reservation. It has happened to two of my servers
(needless to say they're both with static IP's).

I'm boggled...

Hi Alexander,

Well, so far you have me stumped. But that's why I like being here - it's a
learning experience. So I'll work with you, and maybe we both learn something.

Does this happen when something (even your servers no less??) is booted up, and
requesting an address, or does it happen, randomly, during the day? Either way
pretty scary, no? If it happened with the servers, using static IP addresses,
it's not a DHCP issue. You're just using DHCP exclusions as a workaround.

So it really is an IP address issue? I was thinking maybe a nic hibernation.
How did you know to try using another IP address?

Does this just affect Internet access? Any internal symptoms? Right now, I'm
thinking router problem. Any relevant router logs?

Why do you have servers accessing the Internet, if I may ask?

Let's start from the beginning. When did this first happen? Had you made any
network changes previous to it happening? Maybe a new firmware on the routers?

 

[Guest]

Oookkk, let's see... I'm going to answer your questions in the same order you
posted them.

First, it doesn't happen when something is booted up. It happens in the
middle of the work day when users are actually working. Whenever they notice
they can't access the internet, they call me. They are however able to
access all LAN resources, including our company website which of course is
posted on the intranet. I don't think it's a NIC hibernation issue because
it would then affect all network connectivity, not just the internet (I
think). Affected computers only get affected with regards to internet
access, I can't say there are any other internal symptoms.

The reason I have servers who have access to the internet is for support
purposes from some of our vendors like Computer Associates (Arcserve). The
servers do not go on the internet for automatic updating or anything like
that.

Now here's the part I'm thinking may have triggered the whole thing. When I
implemented SurfControl I had to install a managed switch in order to mirror
the ports used for the app. I think, and I could be wrong, but I'm pretty
sure that's when things started to go haywire. SurfControl is working
perfectly though, as well as the switch as far as I can tell. Our network
has a PIX firewall (515) and a Cisco router (2600) in front of it.

In the meantime, is there a way to guarantee a different IP being issued out
whenever a client requests a renewal without having to exclude it first?
--
Alexander Sanabia
Network Administrator
http://www.carico.com/

 

[Guest]

The switch is a pretty new Cisco 2950T. What I am going to do from now is
write down each and every instance this happens to see if I can tell of any
trends or patterns in terms of location or any other parameter.