Networking Does Not Start After Reboot

[John A. Bailo]

We have several Windows 2000 servers on a subnet. Every weekend we do a
maintenance reboot. The problem is that typically one or more servers don't
connect back to the network and have to be rebooted again.

They all have static IP addresses. They are on the same subnet, connected
to the Internet and to another subnet via a router.

Why won't the network start on reboot? Is there a way to have the server
restart it's networking without a full reboot (something that I could put
into a script or in the scheduler to happen five minutes after boot)?

This issue has been plaguing us for years and I have never found an answer...

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

We have several Windows 2000 servers on a subnet. Every weekend we do a
maintenance reboot. The problem is that typically one or more servers
don't
connect back to the network and have to be rebooted again.

They all have static IP addresses. They are on the same subnet,
connected
to the Internet and to another subnet via a router.

Why won't the network start on reboot? Is there a way to have the server
restart it's networking without a full reboot (something that I could put
into a script or in the scheduler to happen five minutes after boot)?

This issue has been plaguing us for years and I have never found an
answer...

- What exactly do you mean with "Don't connect back to the network"?
- What error message(s) do you see?
- What do you get on a problem server when you execute these
commands from a Command Prompt?
ipconfig /all
ping aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd
(where aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd is your router's IP address)
dir \\OtherServer\c$
dir \\sss.ttt.uuu.vvv\c$
(where sss.ttt.uuu.vvv is the IP address of some other machine
that is fully operative)

 

[John A. Bailo]

- What exactly do you mean with "Don't connect back to the network"?

The server is not reachable by ping from outside. If you log into the
server, you cannot access the network or Internet.

- What error message(s) do you see?

None. There are no dr. watson's or Event log entries that I'm aware of.

- What do you get on a problem server when you execute these
commands from a Command Prompt?

The server is statically IP'd so it simply shows the configured address.

However, all networking is non-functional. The server, however, does not
seem to be aware of this and does not restart or retry networking. The only
fix we have is to reboot it again.

(Note: This server is at an ISP's cage, so all my information is from the
technicians there and what I can see via terminal server once the networking
is restored).

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have seen a few machines where networking was not
functional. It every single case, the command ipconfig /all
reported a problem. The Event Viewer would have a few
error reports to, usually some service(s) that failed to start.