Windows Server Question for you IT Experts

[gnihcraes]

side note* I just tossed 20 905tx cards in the trash last weekend. Cleaning out my old stash of parts. I probably had a bunch of memory for that server too. o'well.

[buckshotbarlow]

arp cache on the switch or router?

[Kraven251]

put the old cards back in, boot it up and see if everything is normal.

If it is, I would seriously consider leaving it alone. win2k was fragile, and a pain in the ass.

[Skywalker]

Just these NIC's in the 255.255.255.0 and yes, I can ping anything. Sounds like you know your stuff. I would be better with a quick phone conversation if you would. PM if you can. Sorry for the delay.

Are the NICs in the same subnet and are you able to ping your default gateway? Are there any other devices in the subnet/s that you can ping to the server from?

[Skywalker]

During the boot up with the two TPLINK's it ask about keeping the old NIC's and I said yes just in case it didn't work. So, it knows the two new NICS are there and keep the others as well. Because I didn't have pass through to the web I put the 3coms back in and everything is fine but really like to use the 1gb TP's. Yes, it's old but I'm not a server geek but do have a copy of 2008 if anyone would like to help an old guy out. Ha

Server 2000 is not very smart. It could be that it doesn't know the old cards are gone, and it will not allow you to use the same IP on the new NIC. Then again it could be lots of things. DNS would also be a likely cause. Can you try it with only one NIC installed that will help you narrow down the issue.

Not to sound like a jerk, but Windows 2000 is way, way past its' sell-by-date. Bad idea to keep running it. Window 8.1 running as a pseudo-server is much better than Win2000.

[Skywalker]

I would bet your exactly right. I know enough to think everything went well and very straight forward for a small computer guy... but server is not my flavor of OS. I felt like something was needed to iron out a hidden problem. I flushed the DNS and that was as far as I went with the software.

I vaguely remember a similar problem 15 years ago. I know 2k was picky about the nics. I THINK I had to remove the old ones in software first (and maybe delete the 3com) drivers, then put the new ones in one at a time, and configure them, or it would always freak out and bind the gateway to the second nic (my internal). I had to then redo my dhcp scope from scratch even though the IP hadn't changed. It was a pita.

Sorry the brain is a little foggy. I'll see if I have some notes saved in my old Palm data.




Obligatory unsolicited advice, per current internet mores: dump it and install gentoo (or insert distro bias here)

[Skywalker]

Old device is there as I left them for sure.

Server 2003 went end of support in July of last year. The laptop I'm on now likely has more horsepower with far less power consumption than that 12 year-old server.

Check Device Manager and make sure you select the option to View Hidden Devices. The old NICs may still be in there.

Those old 3C905TX NICs were a real pain in the ass with their 'Bus Mastering' feature.

[Skywalker]

I could ping www.yahoo.com and such but didn't try a actual IP on the WAN side.

Can you ping anything internal? That will help ensure the cards can communicate at all. Can you ping outside using an IP? That would help rule DNS in or out. If it was much outside of that this is where I tell my clients to not put any time, effort or money into something this old...

[Skywalker]

I'll give that a try hopefully tonight. Thanks much.

remove tcp/ip for the cards, reboot and put it back. Usually was the fix back then.

**seriously surprised it liked the new nics anyways.

[Skywalker]

This one is over my head and will try and research that. I just don't want to break a functioning machine. I wish I could run through this and sounds like you know your stuff but I was just a small computer guy myself. I love my old server and would rather keep her running. Those NICs and my WAN side router are a bottle neck. COMCRAP upgraded or flashed my SB6141 and after they did that I have lost speed.

Don't overlook ARP cache timeout in your network switch/route stack.

The old NIC MAC address could be the destination for return packets...

Hell, I'd shoot a Win2K problem over a Win7/8 network problem any day. stoopid windurs.