# Can't ping Server!



## ant081590 (Sep 17, 2011)

All,

I'm puzzled at an issue with some of my domain controllers. I have 4 total in the company, however I have two locations that each have 2. So to make it simple I'm set up like this - 

Location A:
ADC1
ADC2

~ VPN between the two locations to allow users to access to data/programs between the two ~

Location B:
BDC1
BDC2

Now it in the past 2 or 3 days, randomly, one or both DC at the locations &#8220;disappear&#8221; off the network. This is what I mean by disappear:

I can't ping the DC from any client workstations via it's DNS name or IP
I can log into the DC fine. 
I can ping client workstations from the DC via DNS name or IP
I can ping the DC from the DC via DNS name or IP
I cannot access the internet from the DC 
I cannot access the gateway firewall through the DC (via browser interface)
I can ping the gateway firewall however it intermediately drops. 

A simple restart of the server fixes the problem, but only temporary. All my clients are winning Windows XP Pro and the DC servers are Windows Server 2003. I cannot seem to anything consistent that would make the DC's disappear but the symptoms when they are &#8220;disappeared&#8221; are always the same. At times it's just one of the four, two of the four, etc. I can't seem to find the trigger that causes it. I've done Windows Updates on one server (Location ADC1), leaving the rest alone for now, but that did not solve the issue.

Any help?


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

What sort of connection is between the two locations and are there firewalls between the VPNs? I would check event logs for AD and DNS. Not all services travel across a VPN unless you make accommodations for them.


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## procoit (Sep 19, 2011)

Sounds like some sort of routing or firewall issue to me.


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## ant081590 (Sep 17, 2011)

It's kind of tricky to explain, but our firewall is also our VPN. It has many roles. So yes, there is a firewall at each end and between the two f/w is how the VPN connects.

So maybe I'll look into the VPN settings and just the overall settings event logs of our f/w. Thanks for the ideas! I'll keep you posted.


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## praneet_windows (Sep 22, 2011)

the same issue has occurred to me in my company, i tried a lot & finally the last solution i got is by simply restarting the firewall in my company..


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## ant081590 (Sep 17, 2011)

I'm going to try that (can't durning the day obviously) but is it really a firewall issue? I'm not sayin git's not, but if the local clients can't ping the local DC then what's the firewall have to do it with? Microsofts F/W is disabled on the server (and clients for that matter).

I disabled the anti-virus on the DC for now and that includes the anti-virus's firewall. Maybe it's something in the update from the anti-virus that caused it to go hay-wire?


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## praneet_windows (Sep 22, 2011)

1)have u checked the log files in DC.. i.e ptr record??
2)check weather the system is pinging internally..


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