Windows 2008 R2, Network drops even after rebuild, Please help to diagnose

Question

Hi there,
I've had an issue for a while now and I have been working through it and I'm getting lost and starting to go around in circles.
I have just rebuild up a Server 2008 R2 x64
Configuration is
Server: HP Prolient ML330 G6 Quad core xeon 24GB ram (between 2-3 Years Old)
HDD: Raid1 500GB
ip: 192.168.1.253
su: 255,255,255.0
gw: 192.168.1.1
dns 1: 192.168.1.253 (Was 127.0.0.1) please read on!!!
dns 2: empty
Roles and SW: AD DC, DNS, DHCP and Exchange Server (in 1 box)
My original issue was network dropping out every few weeks, progressively got worse to being daily. Restarts would fix it, tho would disconnect after hours or a day or 2.
Issues would be that during a network outage, I cannot connect workstations to domain, no network shares. Internet was dead, and a heap of Event ID errors
Server rebuild went well, It's a 2008 R2 setup and it runs basically everything in 1 server 2008 R2.. I know its not ideal but it's what they had setup previously.
So After rebuild I was using it for hours and hours and configuring, adding, cleaning, updating. All was good.
I was restoring of some emails and system was loaded medium to high for a while.
I went home thinking all was good and might connect via VPN and do some work and monitor it all, The vpn disconnected after a few minutes.
I called their office and asked is all normal?
They said network shares and emails have stopped. I confirmed this as the network would do the same thing it was doing before the rebuild.
So I restarted the server and Internet/Network drops within minutes of being restarted. tried many things to solve this..
hours later I installed known hotfixes, updated drivers, and tried so many other things to try and solve this...
I had heaps of Event ID errors before the rebuild, and trying to ping anyone was resulting in General Errors, and cannot ping basically
After the rebuild it has same sorts of event id errors. I had same general errors when trying to ping.
In the end at 2am 2 weeks ago, I finally got it running smoother..
I did 2 things which have made the network last longer then few minutes...
1. Disabled the Network Port 1 and Enabled the 2nd Port. (Both On board FYI)
2. Changed DNS in the TCPIPv4 from 127.0.0.1 to (192.168.1.253 (Servers IP))
Since this change, I no longer get event ID errors.
When network stops working the network icon stays normal.
And network is lasting days rather then hours.
Things I've spoken to others about,
- 127.0.0.1 and changing to 192.168.1.253 these 2 are basically the same both being loopback to server. They both point to itself..
- The fact the problems reappeared after a rebuild points towards hardware
- I think the summer heat might have cooked the NIC :p as same day the server crapped itself my clients home wifi setup also died. The range extender died! weird coincidence
- So I am seriously thinking it cannot be the DNS IP Configuration setting, I know that running all roles on a single server is hard for a server. But I find it hard to believe it was the DNS which caused this error
I have continued to work on this issue through the weeks.,
The following information is newest
28th March,
After 2 days of sweet operation.. IE Just after the switch to 2nd port.
The server's network went down.., 
I can ping only 127.0.0.1 or 192.168.1.253 ok
but ping gateway or workstations times out.
Netstat shows heaps of ipv6 and very few ipv4 addresses
I restarted the server, applying computer settings sat there for a while..
dunno if it was coincidence or not but unplugging the Gateway and replugging it made the CTRL-ALT-DEL come up right away.
after boot everything has been ok for 14 hours now...
Now the Network Ports (2 of them are on the server, most likely sharing controller)
Please take a look at my ping/netstat and please make any comments.
----- Ping.txt -----
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Administrator>ping 192.168.1.1
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
C:\Users\Administrator>ping 192.168.1.253
Pinging 192.168.1.253 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.253: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.253: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.253: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.253: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.253:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Users\Administrator>ping 127.0.0.1
Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Users\Administrator>ping google.com
Ping request could not find host google.com. Please check the name and try again
C:\Users\Administrator>netstat
Active Connections
Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP 192.168.1.125:6008 192.168.1.118:49683 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.1.253:6008 192.168.1.120:55103 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.1.253:6008 192.168.1.121:49703 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.1.253:6674 WORK-SERVER:19928 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.1.253:19928 WORK-SERVER:6674 TIME_WAIT
TCP [::1]:389 WORK-SERVER:6012 ESTABLISHED
TCP [::1]:389 WORK-SERVER:6013 ESTABLISHED
TCP [::1]:389 WORK-SERVER:36939 ESTABLISHED
TCP [::1]:6012 WORK-SERVER:ldap ESTABLISHED
TCP [::1]:6013 WORK-SERVER:ldap ESTABLISHED
TCP [::1]:36939 WORK-SERVER:ldap ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:135 WORK-SERVER:19932 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:135 WORK-SERVER:32574 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:135 WORK-SERVER:35314 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:135 WORK-SERVER:35353 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:135 WORK-SERVER:56321 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:135 WORK-SERVER:64583 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6684 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6685 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6686 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6687 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6689 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6692 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6694 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6712 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:6765 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:17256 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:17327 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:19074 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:19075 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:19077 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:19896 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:19902 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:24754 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:36936 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:36944 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:36946 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:41165 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:56317 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:56319 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59239 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59243 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59244 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59245 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59258 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59262 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59263 ESTABLISHED
TCP [fe80::9142:b19d:a6d0:d31d%14]:389 WORK-SERVER:59327
A HEAP MORE IPv6 but msg too long
I have noticed currently using the Cisco Gigabit switch the network will last 24-48 hours.
3th April
I have tested a 10/100 16port netgear and the network lasted for 5+ Days.
8th April
I noticed network and sharing centre icon has no exclaimation mark looked normal.. so on server I tried to open google website.
Nothing....
I pinged loopback. was ok
Ping the modem and not ok.
So I restarted the adsl modem. Within a minute server resumed internet..
I am unsure if the router caused this dropout. And my thinking spans now using a maximum speed of 100mbps it has taken 5 days to drop. WHY is this?
Either the modem is causing this. Or its the server nic running at only 100mbps
Does it make any sence?
Can a nic on server cause a drop only to restart the gateway to make it startup again.
From my post do you think the port on the gateway is flaky? As you said maybe too much for it to handle.
The modem has 4 lan ports.
Would it make sence to connect more than 1 lan cable from switch to modem?
Thankyou
Cheers

Answer 1

Make sure you have the latest ROM bios and proliant support pack.
http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdHome/?sp4ts.oid=3948599&spf_p.tpst=swdMain&spf_p.prp_swdMain=wsrp-navigationalState%3DswEnvOID%253D4064%257CswLang%253D%257Caction%253DlistDriver&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken
Install the rom bios, then easiest to boot the HP smartstart to prepare for operating system deployment, then install the complete PSP next.
Regards, Dave Patrick ....
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.