IIS Aid

Problem: :hammer: User unable to access mail,suspect faulty network card.

Setup:60users,2x48port Nortel Switches and 1xNortel router.

Resolutions and procedures:Disabled original netwok card in Windows,replaced network card and configure IP,DNS,WINS and Gateway settings,still unable to ping gateway.User is able to see other machines(not all of them) on LAN but not on WAN.User from other sites can Ping my gateway and get a reply but i can't ping it .Checked network cable OK,used crossover still no reply. I was now convinced that there is nothing wrong with the PC,network cable and wallbox.The problem should be in the server room.

I had to move my focus to the switches themselves now.

I connected my laptop straight to the switch used the Ping 196.xx.xx.xx -t switch still no reply.I couldn't ping the neither the DNS nor the WINS servers as well.Replaced stacker cable still no reply.Replaced cable from router to switch still no reply.Disconnected router from top switch connected it to the bottom switch,got reply from 196.xx.xx.xx but this exercise kicked other users from their email and applications that run across the WAN from the headoffice so i had to reconnect it back.I disconnected the stacker cable and connected it to the available ports,still no reply from the router.Finally i decided to disconnect a live user and stack on that port and guess what? i got reply from 196.xx.xx.xx,thats when i realised that the problem was on port1 of the top switch because both switches were stacked on port1 of both switches.I connected the user to the bottom switch.I was now able to ping the router,the DNS and the WINS servers and also i could see all the machine on the LAN,across the WAN and all the available domains..

Conclusion: :-D I proved that there was nothing wrong with the network card,no problem with the flylead,no problem with the wallbox.The problem was with the switch,all the available ports were faulty including port1. :hammer:

This excersice taught me two things:1.Patience pays.
2.Its not what you know that's important but it's how you practice what you know that's important.