Server 2003 keeps losing connection

[fudsey]

I run a Server 2003 web/application server for some friends and recently I have been having a strange issue. The server is loosing connectivity to the internet but not really....

I will try to bring up one of the websites on the server from my computer and I will get a "server cannot be reached" error in the browser. I then try to connect to the remote desktop and I will get no response from the server. If I run a CMD Tracert to the ip of the server it WILL find it and I can then connect to the websites and remote desktop.

Has anyone got any ideas about this one?

I searched for some answers to the connection disruptions but turned up nothing that helped.

 

[njem]

Well it's a DNS issue but I'm not sure exactly what. How is your server getting itself listed in dns hosts? When you or your friends try to get to the web pages or RDP are you doing so by domain name or IP?

I run a Server 2003 web/application server for some friends and recently I have been having a strange issue. The server is loosing connectivity to the internet but not really....

I will try to bring up one of the websites on the server from my computer and I will get a "server cannot be reached" error in the browser. I then try to connect to the remote desktop and I will get no response from the server. If I run a CMD Tracert to the ip of the server it WILL find it and I can then connect to the websites and remote desktop.

Has anyone got any ideas about this one?

I searched for some answers to the connection disruptions but turned up nothing that helped.

 

[fudsey]

Using domain names, and the server has been running for over 2 years now and this started happening in the last couple weeks. If it is a DNS error, I will contact my host and see if they are having problems with it.

 

[Zakkas]

A few questions for you:

Have you tried accessing the websites from the server itself?

When you are troubleshooting and tracert/ping the IP of the server are you pinging the internal IP address?

How are the sites being hosted on the server, via Internet Information Services (IIS)? If this is the case open a command prompt on the server and type 'iisreset' and see if your sites/applications start responding.

 

[fudsey]

I think You misunderstand me. If I am connected to the remote desktop of the server, it's works fine. The server is Colocated at a hosting company and has worked fine for the past 2 years. It is located 800 miles from me so I cannot access the desktop directly, only remote desktop. When I try to connect to the Remote desktop or one of the sites being hosted on it I get "Server unresponsive", if I then do a tracert I can connect to both fine. And it is only doing this intermittently...

A few questions for you:

Have you tried accessing the websites from the server itself?

When you are troubleshooting and tracert/ping the IP of the server are you pinging the internal IP address?

How are the sites being hosted on the server, via Internet Information Services (IIS)? If this is the case open a command prompt on the server and type 'iisreset' and see if your sites/applications start responding.

 

[fudsey]

Oh, and it is running IIS.

 

[Zakkas]

Gotcha.

To verify whether or not it is DNS perform an nslookup to the website/server hostname. You can also try issuing ipconfig /flushdns from your machine and attempt to connect.

 

[fudsey]

Well this isn't happening to just me or at one location. It happens to me from my house as well as from my work from different computers as well as an ipod touch. So doing anything on my computer really won't help I don't believe...

 

[Zakkas]

Howdy Fudsey,

Using nslookup after flushing your dns cache will be able to tell if the domain name of the server is even resolving at all. If you haven't already call the host for your web/app server to see if they are having issues.

 

[fudsey]

I might be a little confused, I should do a ipconfig /flushdns and then an nslookup of the domain while connected to the remote desktop? or from my home computer?

I did them on the Remote desktop and it came up ok, Guess I will now have to wait and see if I get the same connection problems. Thanks