router+switch for 10+ office computers

[k2tile]

I am the IT guy at my work's small office. I think our networking hardware is being overworked and is due for an upgrade...but I'm not really sure how to tell what class of hardware to purchase.

Here's our situation:

We have a Windows SMB 2003 server (running a domain - which someone else setup), 10 desktop computers, two network printers, a few IP phones, and a few smartphones. Total of 15 or so devices active

All of this is running through a Charter Business cable modem (16/2 meg - which we are upgrading soon) connected to a Netgear FSV318. Devices are connected to the network in one of three ways:
1. Directly to the switch via Cat6 cabling in the walls
2. Through NETGEAR FS605 switches
3. Through a Netgear WNR200N wireless router

Our traffic consists of:
1. File-server (a RAID drive on the SMB 2003 server is mapped a a network drive on all 10 computers)
2. ERP software (installed on the server, with several of the computers connected as clients)
3. VOIP (10-12 SIP clients total, one or two on a call at any given moment)
4. Database access (firebird and Access backends, through ODBC)
5. Printing (not much)
6. VPN (using LogMeIn Hamachi, as we couldn't figure out the hardware VPN)

The issues include:
1. Mapped network drives are frequently disconnected, forcing the user to restart their computer.
2. Frequent inability to access the databases through ODBC. Again, restarting helps.
3. Crackly VOIP calls, especially when someone is heavily using the ERP software (ie. adding a big sales order or receiving inventory)
4. Missed VOIP calls (as is the SIP client isn't even connected, so therefore the phone doesn't ring)

I'm far from a networking expert, but I do know that our current hardware is fairly low-end. This equipment was purchased a few years ago when we only had a few computers, two Vonage lines, one network printer, and no databases.

Googling has directed me towards using a separate router and switch, making sure they're both "business grade", and connecting directly to them when possible. One combination I found would be a Cisco RV042 and an HP ProCurve 1700. I also plan to bump up the speed on our cable modem.

Can anyone give me a 2nd opinion? Are these two devices a good choice? Should I look for something newer?

Thanks

 

[thiggins]

From your description, it sounds more like the bottleneck could be the server vs. the network. Popping in a new router isn't doing to do anything for LAN performance, except maybe if it has a Gigabit switch vs. 10/100.

Dig into the server performance monitor and look at CPU, swap, network, memory loads over time. What is the server configuration anyway (RAM, CPU, motherboard, drives)?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Those two devices are good...they're typically used in many of the setups we do. BTW...we live and breath Small Business Server with many of our clients, it's a great package.

However, disconnected mapped drives...and ODBC issues...make me think name resolution isn't working properly on your network. Lets first review your setup.

What IP address is your SBS box? Probably something like 192.168.1.100?
What runs DHCP for your network?
If you sit at a workstation and do an IPCONFIG /ALL...what details does it get? The answer to this will greatly help.

SBS is a domain controller..so it runs DNS. DNS is how computers navigate around networks...both the internet, and..since the Windows 2000 days..internal networks. SBS2K and 2K3 also runs WINS...which is what "prior to Windows 2000" computers used for local network name resolution..but it still can help out newer operating systems in some setups, and especially when it comes to ODBC software which is very sensitive to proper name resolution.

Also what is the hardware that your SBS is running on? How are the hard drives setup?

What are you using the VPN for?

 

[Unregistered]

I'm not surprised you both suspect the server is part of the problem. I'm not versed in how a domain works but get the gist of where you're going with this. My objective here is to understand enough to fix the problem myself, or to coherently ask for help from a local IT professional.

To answer the questions:

1. What runs DHCP? The Netgear FSV318. It's IP address is 192.168.0.1. I disabled DHCP on the wireless router, and am not sure whether the server would be involved in this or not. The server has always had the IP address 192.168.0.5...my guess is that this is set statically on the server (a few other devices also set their own IP address, such as the printers). IP addresses for the other devices do change when they're rebooted.

2. What's the server look like? Xeon 3220 2.40 GHz, 4Gb ram, unsure of the motherboard, one 500gb SCSI drive split into an operating system partition and a data partition...the 2nd partition is shared on the network). The server seems to get the job done for now (ie. I never see the CPU or memory at 100%), but we assume it will need to be upgraded or replaced soon.

3. We use the Hamachi VPN to access the shared network drive. We will (in the future) need to access ODBC. We also use LogMeIn remote desktop to work from home.


Here's the results of ipconfig /all on my own workstation. This workstation is connected directly to the main switch, and is a Windows 7 computer.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Cube2-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : TeamViewer VPN Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-22-31-0A-FC
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-26-2D-27-D3-F6
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d5f0:8962:fa66:15b5%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 14, 2011 3:20:36 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 18, 2011 3:20:36 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890797
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-73-45-A4-00-26-2D-27-D3-F6
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Hamachi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Hamachi Network Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-C3-AC-2A-6D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 5.172.42.109(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.0.0.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 14, 2011 3:20:36 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, July 13, 2012 3:22:43 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 5.0.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 5.0.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8c08:2763:6b2c:fa5%17(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.31.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 14, 2011 3:21:06 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 17, 2011 12:51:06 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.31.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 385896534
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-73-45-A4-00-26-2D-27-D3-F6
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b06c:82d3:6b1b:7676%19(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.239.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 14, 2011 3:21:10 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 17, 2011 12:46:31 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.239.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 402673750
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-73-45-A4-00-26-2D-27-D3-F6
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.239.2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{F1323EF2-703F-4E32-A904-6EB8989C2A13}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2002:5ac:2a6d::5ac:2a6d(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 2002:c058:6301::c058:6301
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{8F2AE0A2-F194-46F8-9EFA-6FDF445B6B7B}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{C6FD58A7-A898-4C81-8AEE-23E6A31DF9A2}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{BAF84C58-A99B-4E63-AE24-80B377D2CCB6}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{22310AFC-9DA5-4507-9035-F63EDB3EE6B1}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #5
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the info. Why didn't you post this under your account name?

You're in very good hands with YeOldeStonecat. He'll get you sorted out.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yup..there ya go, your router is running DHCP. You need to disable that, and have your SBS box do DHCP.

Your workstations need..need..need....to have your servers IP as their one and only DNS server (and WINS will help). You mention your server is 192.168.0.5....so a workstation has to have an IPCONFIG that looks like this.

IP address: 192.168.0.100 (for example..each will be unique)
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.1
DNS: 192.168.0.5
WINS: 192.168.0.5

Right now your workstations are barely finding the server..they're just relying on broadcast. They're actually not properly logging into Active Directory...because they need your servers DNS for that.

It's much better to have a domain controller run DHCP for your network...so that clients registery in DNS as they renew their leases.

You don't need logmein...you have the "Remote Web Workplace" portal of your small business server..it has a web portal that users log into from home, and from their they can get the Outlook Web Access, Sharepoint, and a remote desktop client proxy which points them to their workstations. Sharepoint is a neat feature where remote users can work on documents on shared drives from the server.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks, Stonecat. I knew you'd have the right answer!

 

[GregN]

Yup..there ya go, your router is running DHCP. You need to disable that, and have your SBS box do DHCP.

Impressive bit of debugging.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I wonder what happened to the guy?! Was looking forward to a nice little "straighten out the network and get it setup correctly" thread so he could start enjoying it.

 

[k2tile]

"The guy" is back! Since I accidentally posted anonymously I never got the email alert that you guys were answering my question!

In any case, YeOldeStonecat's advice scares me. I have no idea what any of it means. I think it might be overkill for us to have this domain thing going. Is it possible to turn the Windows Server 2003 box into a "regular" machine, so we can pretend Active Directory, Remote Web Workplace, etc don't exist? It's extremely stable but all these complicated features seem to just get in our way.

Is it blasphemy to replace the server with a Windows Home Server box? All we need is user-based file sharing, and to run a couple lightweight client-server programs such as Quickbooks.

 

[GregN]

In any case, YeOldeStonecat's advice scares me.

He often frightens me too, he's like 'The Shadow' He knows what network problems lurk in the hearts of men.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Nah, nothing scary.

IMO you should stick with your server. You're a business, and you have a small business size network (10x clients or so?). You're an ideal candidate for Small Business Server..which is a great server suite of products that benefit a small business
SBS2003 consists of:
Server 2003..your file and print sharing and user/computer accounts
Exchange 2003...e-mail, very flexible version on SBS also. Built in activesynch, built in remote access via Outlook Web Access
Sharepoint...intranet site for collaboration
Shared Fax...fax from workstations, go paperless
Built in backup
Remote Web Workplace portal...users can access their workstations from home, it's a built in portal with more functionality than logmein or gotomypc

Anyways...although your network "appears" to work, without DHCP (and thus DNS) setup properly..it's not really working properly underneath. Workstations aren't properly logging into the domain (active directory), and name resolution on your network (ability for workstations to fully navigate around the network and server shares) isn't working as best it can.

Lets start with DNS. You open up your browser on your computer, and type in www.google.com....your computer doesn't really know what google.com is...or where it is, so it asks a DNS server. Sort of like a phone book. The DNS server answers the question by telling it to go to the IP address that it knows Google is at, 74.125.91.106.

On your local network...things work the same. Your workstations needs to read a share from the server, it relies on DNS to tell it exactly where on your network that share is. "Server1 is at 192.168.0.5" for example.

Now..if your router is your DHCP server, it will give out itself as the DNS server. Some routers simply hand what DNS servers it gets from the ISP. Some routers hold a local DNS table so they can "sort of" know about the workstations on the network, other simply forward/relay DNS requests to the ISPs DNS server. Bottom line...routers are OK for little peer to peer networks..for DNS, but for a proper network with a server, they cannot do the job of DNS for the server very well.

Now...some routers allow you customize their DHCP properties..so that they can give out the DNS servers that you tell them to, instead of themselves, or your ISPs DNS servers. Some even allow you to enter a WINS server. So you can have your routers DHCP service hand out your servers IP address (192.168.0.5) for DNS...and sometimes WINS. This will definitely be a LOT better than what you have now..but it's still not 100% proper, in my opinion. It's about an 85% decent setup, IMO. For "ease of re-doing your network and keeping it very simple for you"..this may be the approach that works for you.

Another quick fix would be to go around to your workstations and manually enter the TCP/IP information..but this approach is not optimal IMO either. Pain in the butt to manage unless you breath and dream about IP addresses on a day to day basis.

The best approach though, is to disable DHCP on your router, go to your server...and enable/authorize its DHCP service. SBS by default usually sets that up fine for you during the install/built, but if it detects an existing DHCP service on the network it will shut this off (since you don't want two DHCP services on the same network). There's a wizard you can run which will easily get this up and running again. But first..the server MUST be setup properly with its IP address, manually set.

IP address 192.168.0.5, subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.0.5, DNS 192.168.0.5, and WINS 192.168.0.5. netbios enabled over IP.

Now, notice above..I have your server using itself for DNS and WINS? Nothing else!

Refer to this link here..it's an article I did many years ago....old, but most of it still rings true as "best practice".
http://www.speedguide.net/articles/server-based-network-guide-1660

In that article, what I do for the DNS forwarding I talk about...is use OpenDNS servers instead of the ISPs DNS servers. OpenDNS gives you an added layer of protection from malware.

When your workstations use your server as their DHCP server, they use it for DNS, as they log in, they "register" with the server...so that the server knows about them. Name resolution (navigating your network) works much better, and workstations logging into the domain (active directory) is functioning properly.

Glad to help as much as I can, just a heads up...I'm a bit sparse this weekend with great motorcycle riding weather out there...and the following 2 weekends I'm vacationing so won't be around. Weekdays I'll be around.