For all you networking guys out there..

[shugknight]

I have a quick question.. Normally I'd be able to figure it out, but I could only think of 1 solution to the problem. Anyways here we go..

Ok the place I work at has part of the server down. Basically 2-3 rooms in the 3rd floor out of possibly 20 has no connection to the internet.. every other room has it.. even the ones next to those 2-3 rooms. I checked the server, looks ok. I tried ipconfig in all, and i got a 169. address, which i know is no connectivity. I've tried different outlets, nothing.

The only solution I have is the fact that part of our server blew during the t-storms we've had the past few days. i just couldnt believe that it could affect only 2-3 rooms. am i missing something?

We've already had a full server blown in the past month, this would make it 2. Actually we also had a wireless router blown. Our company is pretty cheap when it comes to technology. Please somebody tell me there is another solution.

[fishepa]

Re: For all you networking guys out there..

Sounds like a switch problem. Are you getting link lights on the back of the PC's? It sounds like DHCP isn't passing through the switch.

[shugknight]

Re: For all you networking guys out there..

yeah i get an orange and green light on the card. then when i try to renew, it can't reach the dhcp server. I tried different cables, so I know it wasnt a bad cable problem. If its not passing through the switch, what can I do? is that just a malfunctioning switch?

[fishepa]

Re: For all you networking guys out there..

You can try power cycling the switch. I'm guessing those network drops go to a patch panel, then to the switch?

[GBrushTWood]

Re: For all you networking guys out there..

You need to make sure a DHCP server is reachable in whatever VLAN (or subnet) these hosts are located in. By saying this, I mean log onto the actual DHCP server, and see if you have an active connection, both to and from the server.
If that connection appears to be fine, make sure the actual DHCP service is running from an OS/application level perspetive (I.e. - In Windows, go into the services snap-in (start>run>services.msc) and make sure DHCP is started, in any Linux/Unix environment, ps - ef and search for whatever the DHCP server process is called. I don't remember off the top of my head).


If nothing looks sketchy there, then it is most likely a switch configuration problem for those specific ports. I'm not sure what kind of switches you have, but if they are intelligent, level 3 switches, then you probably have all kinds of configurations for each port. It is possible that an entry in the config file for these specific ports isn't set up right. Again, I don't know the specifics of your network; you should know what is the "right" setting for these hosts, so just check that out. Obviously, they should be in the same VLAN as your DHCP server.

I'm not tremendously experienced in playing around with Cisco switches, I've just done basic stuff (setting VLAN's, comment descriptions), so I probably can't be TOO helpful in IOS command line stuff for Cisco gear..