Geekery

Master category for geek and technical stuff

Monday, September 18, 2006

Jay: When NICs and Mice Collide

So it turned out that this problem seems to have been caused by either a network card that got subtly fried, or possibly a hardware conflict that shouldn’t really be possible.  It started, after all, when I switched from USB to PS/2 mouse, and the server in question acted funny and required a reboot after inexplicably “installing software for the new hardware.”

As of when I left them yesterday, they could ping each other.  Previously I was getting one-way pings, which is why I said “subtly fried.” I have to test again when I get there this morning to confirm my findings, and someone pointed out a utility I apparently can use to diagnose it as well.  I’m prepared to replace the network card, but for all I know, removing the mouse and forcing the existing primary network card to reinstall will do it.

Of course, I’ve mangled active directory and DNS thinking it was a settings problem, before I noticed event log errors starting at the time I switched mice.  It might still be best to start over, armed with what I’ve learned.  But we’ll see.


08:24 AM | Geekery • Servers & Networks • (0) Comments • Permalink

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Jay: Quick, Where’s the Baling Wire and Duct Tape?

So there were these two networks, right?  One an old, tired NT4 network in current use, with several servers, the newest on Windows 2000 and acceptable to be a firm part of the new network.  The other a new network, two Windows 2003 servers strong.

The trick is, all that is the old network, call it A, must become one with the new network, call it B.  The old Exchange 5.5 mailboxes must move to Exchange 2003.  The old SDE accounting data and old SQL Server 6.5 document management data must move to SQL Server 2005.  The network accounts and computers must move.  And so forth, with it done this way because the old and the new are too many versions and years apart for a smooth, in-place upgrade, or for a shaky in-place upgrade leading to a smooth same-network migration.  So we setup parallel networks, get everything just so, and the in one massive spurt finalize the move.

That’s a simplified version.  In reality, the database parts will come later, and some of the standalone NT stuff will join the new network temporarily.

It’s a whole new world; much more complicated than I’d expected from my limited experience with 2003.  Still, I created the new network, had the two servers seeing each other, had one of them seeing the internet but not sharing it yet - speaking of things more complicated that I’d expected - and had the other one also hooked to the old network.  It appeared I needed to tweak the network settings of the server that will share the internet, so that plus the internet sharing were next.

So now what?  Network B fell to pieces.  Network A is fine.  Network A and Network B can still see each other, via the Network B server where they intersect.  But the two servers of Network B can’t see each other.  Argh!!

Sounds all the world like an unplugged network cable, right?  Wrong, as far as I can tell.  The “hey, a cable is unplugged!” indicator isn’t nagging.  Everything is lit up.  Maybe a reboot will do it, but if it’s that sensitive, I’m not looking forward to managing it once it’s deployed.  Sheesh.

Anywho, I started modifying settings on the rogue server, came down to get the CD it begged for, plus more caffeine, thought I’d e-mail Deb a “look what the stupid thing is doing now” e-mail, and decided to post it instead.  Funny thing is, taking a few minutes to describe and gripe about it has made me more confident and hopeful, as is often the case.


04:37 PM | Geekery • Servers & Networks • (1) Comments • Permalink
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