Why does restarting RRA fix lost network?

[Joel Finkel]

Folks,

Ever since I upgraded from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2003 R2, I
have had problems with my two external NICs. Specifically, after some time
(varies from minutes to hours), my external connections are dropped. I
finally discovered that if I Stop and Start the Routing and Remote Access
service (netsvcs.exe), the connections come back up immediately.

The problem exists even if Routing and Remote Access is not installed. I
keep it installed, even though I do not need it, simply because it gives me a
simple way to restore my external connections.

I have never figured out the root of the problem. I wonder if anyone might
suggest what is going on, given that restarting this service seems to
corrects the problem.

Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

/Joel

 

[Joel Finkel]

Kurt,

Thanks for the suggestion. Here is my setup: My ISP has assigned me two
IPs. Each one is serviced by its own NIC. The server also has an internal
IP address, serviced by its own NIC (on the MB). TCP on the two external
NICs are set up identically save for the IP address. That is, they are the
same subnet and have the same Gateway and DNSs.

I have included the IPCONFG/ALL output, below. I also dumped the routing
tables in both a "good" and "bad" state. Please fid them, below. For
security, I have replaced my actual ISP-assigned IP addresses with
placeholders, "ISP IP #1" and "ISP IP #2".

Interestingly, in the "good" state, the Default Gateway is coorectly set to
my ISP's. In the "bad state, the Default Gateway had been set to the
internal address of the server.

So, it seems that what is bringing the external network connections down is
that the Default Gateway in the Routing Table is being changed. So, the
questions are: 1) why, and 2) what can be done to stop it from happening.

Thanks again, Kurt! Your suggestions have helped me a lot so far.
Hopefully an examination of the data, below, will allow you to see what is
going on.

/Joel

-----------------------------------------------------------------
IPCONFIG/ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : sdi-server-ext
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : office.sd-il.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : office.sd-il.com
sd-il.com

Ethernet adapter EXTERNAL-A:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DGE-560T Gigabit PCI Express Ethernet
Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-58-94-CC-4D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : < ISP IP #1 >
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 64.81.139.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 64.81.159.2
216.231.41.2

Ethernet adapter EXTERNAL-J:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DGE-560T Gigabit PCI Express Ethernet
Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-58-94-CC-49
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : < ISP IP #2 >
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 64.81.139.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 64.81.159.2
216.231.41.2

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : office.sd-il.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit
Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-D4-99-3A-4D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.9
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.9
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.11
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.11
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, July 30, 2008 8:15:40 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, January 06, 2009 8:15:40 PM

Ethernet adapter Kerio VPN:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Kerio VPN adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 44-45-53-54-71-D0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 169.254.33.93
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 169.254.33.92
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 05, 2008 12:36:21 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 05, 2008 12:39:21 PM



---------------------------------------------------------------
ROUTE TABLE GOOD


IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x3 ...00 1e 58 94 cc 4d ...... D-Link DGE-560T PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
Adapter - Kerio WinRoute Firewall
0x4 ...00 13 d4 99 3a 4d ...... Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
Controller - Kerio WinRoute Firewall
0x10006 ...44 45 53 54 71 d0 ...... Kerio VPN adapter - Kerio WinRoute
Firewall
0x30002 ...00 1e 58 94 cc 49 ...... D-Link DGE-560T PCI Express Gigabit
Ethernet Adapter #2 - Kerio WinRoute Firewall
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 64.81.139.1 < ISP IP #1 > 10
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 64.81.139.1 < ISP IP #2 > 8
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
64.81.139.0 255.255.255.0 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 30
64.81.139.0 255.255.255.0 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 10
< ISP IP #2 > 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 30
< ISP IP #1 > 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 10
64.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 30
64.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 10
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
169.254.33.0 255.255.255.0 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 20
169.254.33.93 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 20
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
192.168.0.9 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 10
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 30
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 10
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 1
Default Gateway: 64.81.139.1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

---------------------------------------------------------------
ROUTE TABLE BAD


IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x3 ...00 1e 58 94 cc 4d ...... D-Link DGE-560T PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
Adapter - Kerio WinRoute Firewall
0x4 ...00 13 d4 99 3a 4d ...... Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
Controller - Kerio WinRoute Firewall
0x10006 ...44 45 53 54 71 d0 ...... Kerio VPN adapter - Kerio WinRoute
Firewall
0x30002 ...00 1e 58 94 cc 49 ...... D-Link DGE-560T PCI Express Gigabit
Ethernet Adapter #2 - Kerio WinRoute Firewall
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 64.81.139.1 < ISP IP #1 > 10
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 64.81.139.1 < ISP IP #2 > 8
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
64.81.139.0 255.255.255.0 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 30
64.81.139.0 255.255.255.0 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 10
< ISP IP #2 > 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 30
< ISP IP #1 > 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 10
64.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 30
64.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 10
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
169.254.33.0 255.255.255.0 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 20
169.254.33.93 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 20
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
192.168.0.9 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 10
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 30
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 10
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 10
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #2 > < ISP IP #2 > 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 < ISP IP #1 > < ISP IP #1 > 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 169.254.33.93 169.254.33.93 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.9 192.168.0.9 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.9
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

 

[Joel Finkel]

I believe I have solved the problem. There should not be a Default Gateway
set on the internal NIC. I removed it and, many hours later, my network
still has internate connectivity.

Thanks again to Kurt, whose suggestions pointed me in the right direction.

/Joel

 

[Cesar]

Hello,

I was having the exact problem Joel was having but in my case the connection
last days (8 days some times 20 days) then it looss internet connection.

Also a difernece is that I, insted of restarting RRAS, I just desable/enable
external Nic, witch do the same thing, it recreates the routing table.

I remove the gateway on my Internal NIC, lest see what happens..

Thanks for the info.