Windows 2003 Server

[SharonAnn]

Does anyone have any experience using this software?  We just switched at work from a Novell Server and I'm having nothing but problems.  Out of the blue it just kicks everyone off and I must reboot the server at least twice daily.  I think it may have something to do with Norton Antivirus.  Does anyone know of a good source of info?  My outside IT Consultant is stumped also.

[Gambitt]

I think you're going to have to wait for Johnny Castaway to see this one..

I'd love to help, but what I know about servers, can be written on a postage stamp.

[flopnfly]

johnny is the best source of info that I know of  

He's still asleep, but I'm sure he'll give you an answer once he's had his morning coffee.

[JohnnyCastaway]

Hi SharonAnn

unfortunately, it can be a great many things, but here's a check list to start troubleshooting with.

-are all patches and service packs installed on the server?
-when the server kicks everyone off, are you able to still use the console on the server or is it frozen (locked up?)
-when you go to reboot the server, are there any error messages on it?
-You say your using Norton Antivirus, not my preferred choice (many will argue but my experience has proven it's not reliable), make sure that Norton Antivirus is up to date with patches and updates.
-what other software is running on the server?  Mail server? sql server? web server? etc.  Maybe it's one of the components that's crashing and taking the whole server with it?
-it may also be your server hardware.  How much memory? disk space? hardware manufacturer? age of the hardware?(was it replaced  when the server upgrade from Novel was done or is this the original hardware?

-which version of server 2003 (web, standard, enterprise, Small Business server)?
-do you have a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) for the server --> more specifically the APC brand.  if so check if the monitoring software was installed (called PowerChute).  Older versions of the PowerChute software have a built in "time bomb" in them with the java component that expires itself and takes down servers.

this one is the worst case scenario...
is one of your hard drives failing?  when the drives fail, the writable surface of the hard drive becomes unreadable/unwritable, so any data that's on there becomes corrupt.  If that /those file(s) are system files that are called once in a while, then it will lock up when the system tries to access the file.    What is the disk configuration? Single disk, mirrored, duplexed or raid?  IDE, SATA or SCSI?

It could also be be bad memory in the upper range.  when the server is rebooted it starts from the bottom and works its way up.  A bad memory stick in the upper range will cause issues after the server has run for a while, and memory is gradually used up by the system, then it it's the bad range and locks the server up.

There's some places to start.  One thing for certain, make sure your backups are complete and valid!!!! For the obvious reasons, if you have a failing drive, you are in danger of losing data, but you also have to watch out for the fact that you are constantly rebooting your server, chances are that files are open when you are doing that, so you are running the risk of corrupting any open files (as resilient as the servers are to that problem, it is still very much a possibility.  I have seen it happen on many occasions).

I'll pm you my contact information if you need to contact us.  Good luck.