SBS2003 server running exchange; 4gb of ram, dual processor, serving 15 users - up until about 3 weeks ago everything ran like a champ. Our website and dns goes down from the outside we lose e-mail and website for a few days. from that point on opening files over the network can freeze and then come back. take a very long time or just not happen at all. i know they should not be related but thats the only thing to change. so what have we done in the meantime:

 

-Ran updates to server os and added exchange sp2

-upgraded sonicwall tz170 os

-full virus and spyware scans of the server

- rechecked dns,wins, dhcp

 

-plenty of hard drive space

-all utilizations and tak manager checks show very little spikes, not even close to using the memory up

 

I ran wireshark and saw quite a bit of SMB traffic

 

Any Help Please.

Please, post an ipconfig /all from the server and a workstation. Open a command prompt by opening Start -> Run from the Start Menu and type cmd. From the command prompt type ipconfig /all >ip.txt. Attach this file to your answer.

 

Please, install and run the SBS BPA. Download it from here. Read about it on it's Knowledge base article 940439.

Read the SBS blog about it:
SBS Blog - SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer
SBS Blog - BPA known issues and common questions
SBS Blog - How to use the SBS BPA
SBS Blog - SBS BPA FAQ

i ran the best practices and i am making some of the suggestion changes. did you need info from that as well?

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server ipconfig:

 

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : server1

   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : ourdomainname.local

   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : ourdomainname.local

 

Ethernet adapter Server Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom BCM5708C NetXtreme II GigE (NDIS VBD Client)

   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-8B-4E-30-99

   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.2

   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.254

   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.2

   Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.2

************************************************

workstation ip config:

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

 Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : STATION14
 Primary DNS Suffix  . . . . . . . : ourdomainname.local
 Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

 IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

 WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

 DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : ourdomainname.local

 

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

 Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : ourdomainname.local
 Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)
 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-76-BC-0A-15

 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

 Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.102

 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.254

 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.2

 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.2
 Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.2

 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, May 12, 2008 4:15:19 PM

 Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, May 20, 2008 4:15:19 PM

Ralph,

 

You may also want to read this blog post:

 

The Official SBS Blog : Common Networking Issues After Applying Windows Server 2003 SP2 on SBS:
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2007/04/24/common-networking-issues-after-applying-windows-server-2003-sp2-on-sbs.aspx

Please, also read this:

 

An update to turn off default SNP features is available for Windows Server 2003-based and Small Business Server 2003-based computers:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948496