Shared network folder problem

Discussion in 'Software' started by Stoney, Dec 9, 2006.

  1. Stoney

    Stoney Megabyte Poster

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    Hello,

    I have a problem with a Shared folder on a network. When one person views the share or sub-directories all is ok. If someone else starts to view the directory whilst there is another user viewing/modifying the directory, the 1st user gets kicked off the share. The directory tree in explorer just closes up.

    Users also have issues copying files larger than 2MB (approx) to the directory. Part way through copying an error is returned saying, 'The specified network name is no longer available'.

    I have checked the user permissions for the share and they all seem correct. The folder is set to use the maximum number of connections (10) and there's only ever 3 users who may be in this directory at any one time.

    The licensing for the server appears ok, 5 user CAL's, again more than enough.

    I am wondering if this could be a faulty/poorly configured network card or even something to do with the hard disk. To be honest I have no idea what is causing this and I am struggling to find any information :blink , so I hoped maybe someone on here may have had an experience with this.

    The shared file directory resides on a secondary volume on a hard disk, Windows 2003 server o/s acting as a secondary domain controller. Client pc's are Windows XP SP2, users connect to share via a mapped drive on their system.

    Any help appreciated.

    Cheers

    Paul
     
    Certifications: 25 + 50 metre front crawl
    WIP: MCSA - Exam 70-270
  2. simongrahamuk
    Honorary Member

    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    Do they connect to the share through a Hub or a Switch? Sounds likely that this could be part of the problem.
     
  3. Stoney

    Stoney Megabyte Poster

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    Hey Simon,

    The server is housed in a data-centre up the other end of the country so i'm unsure of the setup. I was planning to phone our hosting guys next week but wanted to eliminate all possibilities from our end first.
     
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  4. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Have a look at this page from MSKB.

    Searching for that error in google finds a very diverse set of problems that can cause it. :ohmy

    Harry.
     
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  5. r.h.lee

    r.h.lee Gigabyte Poster

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    Stoney,

    Are the computers in a workgroup or domain?
     
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  6. Stoney

    Stoney Megabyte Poster

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    Nearly all are on the domain, but there are a couple of users who work from home on their own personal pc's so these would just be on their home workgroup. The problem is not isolated to users on the domain or workgroup.

    I was thinking maybe it could have something to do with the MTU size. All the pc's communicate to the servers over a PPTP VPN connection. I wonder if the router is having to defragment frames because the MTU size is to big and thus causing the problems?
     
    Certifications: 25 + 50 metre front crawl
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  7. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Have you tried pinging the server to find out if the connection response time is sufficient? Also try path ping as there might be a problem with a router\managed switch in the connection.

    Also it might be wrong trying pinging and then output to a text file. At the command line type:

    C:\ ping <ip address of server> -t >output.txt

    Come back to your PC later and press Ctrl+C to close the command line and then open up the output.txt file which will be in the root of the C: drive. 8)
     
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  8. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Paul, has this just started happening or has this problem always existed?

    It's probably an issue at the server end as you say it affects people at home and in the remote office.

    It could be an issue with the VPN.
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  9. Stoney

    Stoney Megabyte Poster

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    Hey guys,

    Sparky: I've pinged the servers and pathpinged them. Everything seems to be ok. I connected remotely to the servers and can only ping between them in the data centre and not outbound on to the internet. Probably need the hosting guys to open a port on the firewall.

    Bluerinse: The problem has been here since before I joined the company, which is about 3 months now. I do think there could be an issue with the VPN because it can take along time for Outlook to connect to the Exchange server in the mornings or after a user has disconnected.

    All the pc's in the office are connected on a LAN, the office LAN is connected to the server LAN by using VPN routers. I imagine that the setup is supposed to be a Gateway to Gateway VPN connection but it operates more like a client to Gateway. When remote users connect to the server LAN they can not connect down to the office LAN. If you dial in remotely to any of the servers on the server LAN you can not connect to the office LAN either. Remote users connect to the server LAN using the WIndows VPN connection.
     
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  10. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Well Stoney, personally i would want to speak with the folks that manage the servers and the VPN. All you could do in the mean time is to try setting up the clients with either half or full duplex to see if that helps. It mentions issues with these settings in Harry's link.
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)

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