need some suggestions

[Patrick Blake]

I've got a client with a brand new server box running Windows Server 2003. The box is made of high quality components, Intel Xeon CPU's (2), Intel SE7501CW2 Motherboard, SCSI controller, Maxtor SCSI hard drive, etc. Very solid machine.

They have since fired the individual that built the box.

They have not yet moved to the new server. The current server is a leased box and they are going to use it until it expires.

They have fired up the box and allowed it to run "continuously". It was then that they noticed it either shutting down or rebooting on its own after about a day and a half.

According to the individual who has kept an eye on this machine it has never, ever gone beyond a day and a half before the problem occurred.

Yesterday, I checked power supply, fans, temps. Everything seems good. I also reseated all connectors.

Right now we're waiting until tomorrow afternoon, which is two days beyond the startup to see if it makes it that far.

In an effort to be more prepared if the problem is still present, can the experts here give me some other ideas as to what could cause this type of behavior? Like I said, the box is merely up n running, it is not yet serving its purpose as a server. By all accounts the system is very clean, no viruses, spyware or other crap.

Thanks for any heads-up info you can provide.

-- Patrick

[Atodini]

Patrick,

Have you looked at the event log?

Random rebooting can be a real pig to sort!!

Incidentally. you only really needed to post this just once!!

John

[Patrick Blake]

Yes, I did check out the event log. I saw nothing indicating that shutdown or reboot was eminent. Actually, it was quite clean ...

Sorry about posting in different forums, I just didn't want to miss out on someones input if they didn't check a particular forum. Also, since this type of problem can be (is) difficult to nail down, I felt it appropriate to post in several categories.

I won't let it happen again ... scouts honor.

[John_K]

Not an expert, but I would start by checking system and application event logs for a common event that happens before the shutdown. You might also uncheck the box in Startup and Recovery that tells the server to automatically restart after failure(control panel -> system -> advanced -> startup and recovery -> settings on WinXP possibly different on 2003). Sometimes it is helpful to see the BSOD message to narrow down on problems. If the individual who built the box had malicious intents you may want to run hijackthis to see what might be lurking around. On the same note check the task scheduler for suspicious apps. This might get you going in the right direction. You may also want to post the various roles the server is playing. That might give someone with more experience than myself some insight on other suggestions.

Good Luck
John

[Gabriel]

Hello,
First thing first - this thread clearly belongs to Tech-To-Tech section.
Other than That - connect the computer to a UPS, check memory (http://www.memtest.org/), check Temprature inside the machine.
Boot the computer with a minimal OS and start "Stress test" for that I recommend on BartPE (though many tools available, learning on BartPE is always fun).

BTW - Does the machine is Branded (Dell, HP, IBM etc.)

Good Luck,
Gabriel

[rgharper]

Have you checked the Event Viewer to see if a cause for the reboot is logged there?

[Mayet]

Check the wake on lan settings in the bios


The power supply may have a fault, that often causes reboots.

[Patrick Blake]

Have you checked the Event Viewer to see if a cause for the reboot is logged there?

Yes, nothing indicative of a shutdown.

[Patrick Blake]

Not an expert, but I would start by checking system and application event logs for a common event that happens before the shutdown. You might also uncheck the box in Startup and Recovery that tells the server to automatically restart after failure(control panel -> system -> advanced -> startup and recovery -> settings on WinXP possibly different on 2003). Sometimes it is helpful to see the BSOD message to narrow down on problems. If the individual who built the box had malicious intents you may want to run hijackthis to see what might be lurking around. On the same note check the task scheduler for suspicious apps. This might get you going in the right direction. You may also want to post the various roles the server is playing. That might give someone with more experience than myself some insight on other suggestions.

Good Luck
John

I did check event logs and saw nothing that jumped out at me as potential cause. I'll see where we are at today, hopefully it made it beyond the normal time that it would shutdown. If problem is still present, I will check out the auto restart - to the best of my knowledge the machine wasn't restarting, it was shutting down - at any rate I'll set it to show BSOD.

I'll keep forum posted.

Thanks

[Damned Angel]

Please refrain from quadruple posting. I have merged all of your threads into this one.

[bookmarkmns]

I don't envy you this one to sort but my two pennyworth would be to take a look at the Power unit(s).
Are they of a similar quality to the rest of the components? Have you tried replacing them and seeing if the reset problem remains?
If you achieve nothing else you remove another potential cause of problems.

[SnowBlindGrafix]

Intel Xeon CPU's run hot, if there is not enough air flow the machine will reboot randomly. Pull the side cover and run the machine. Airflow is the life blood of a duel Xeon machine.

Make sure the case meets Intel specs. Very important!!

[futuretech]

Have you looked at scheduled tasks and see if it has been set to do a scheduled shutdown?
Is there a program that does updates at that time and decides it needs to restart to finish?

[gtiseb]

devil's advocate here, if the previous admin was fired maybe it wasn't on good terms. did ya check for any malvare? root kit?

[Doctor Dan]

There are about a thousand different things that can cause a shutdown... hardware or software... and not just on the motherboard or Powersupply either. Some part over-heating and going open (or high resistance) one spot can make another part drift towards short. After shutdown it can cool off again and restore previous values... So......
Where I would start on that one is probably to try and determine first if it is a software or hardware shutdown. --You will need to take that server out of service for awhile. Power it up to the bios screen - not Windows and let it set there. see if it powers down after awhile (day and a half or whatever. If it does, you likely have a hardware problem (Still a remote chance of a bios virus, but you can check for that.)
If it looks like hardware, pull all the plugin boards, leaving MothrBd and PowSup with keyboard and video. See if it holds in that minimum configuration. If it does, start adding boards back in till it starts again. If it failed with min. configuration, try swapping either MB or PS and try again.
If, back on the first test, you found it was software, then try loading the OS in safe mode. See if it holds, that way...

As someone else alluded, I hate those random shutdown ones, because there are so many things it can be. You will just have to keep narrowing it down till you find out what is up with it.

Good luck - It may take awhile.